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Surfrider Foundation provides workshops for DIY water-conservation landscaping – Pasadena Star

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Another view of the Culver City house shows how roof greywater not absorbed by the permeable landscape is directed to a dry streambed, which feeds a seasonal, recirculating fountain found in the vertical rock. The water is stored in a tank under the rock. Courtesy the Surfrider Foundation




FREE WATERSHED WISE LANDSCAPE PROGRAMS

Ventura County Waterworks: 6767 Spring Road, Moorpark. 9 a.m. to noon Saturday. RSVP: 508-378-3000.

conservation groups

Surfrider Foundation: Learn more about Ocean Friendly Gardens and workshops, 949-492-8170, www.surfrider.org.

G3 Green Gardens Group: 149 S. Barrington Ave., Suite 758, Los Angeles, 310-694.8351, www.greengardensgroup.com, and its Watershed Wise Landscaping Programs, www.watershedwisetraining.com.

When water from sprinklers, a hose or rain flows down the street toward the storm drain, it picks up pollutants: fertilizer, motor oil, brake pad dust, trash, dog poop. This, says the Surfrider Foundation, is the No. 1 cause of ocean pollution.

But the nonprofit organization, dedicated to protecting the world’s oceans, believes it can be stopped.

Several years ago, Surfrider launched an Ocean Friendly Gardens program aimed at promoting water conservation and soil absorption at home, which would prevent pollution from entering the ocean through urban runoff. With so much of the region paved over, TreePeople estimates that for every inch of rain that falls on Los Angeles, 3.8 billion gallons of water pour into the Pacific. That’s close to half of the more than 8.5 billion gallons of water used outdoors by households in the U.S. every day, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.

“It’s like a giant pipeline to the ocean,” says Paul Herzog, who coordinates the Ocean Friendly Gardens program. “If we can use that water for our plants, then we won’t have to rely on imported water or ground water and we’ll eliminate pollution from urban runoff. It’s a great two for one.”

Part of the program focuses on hands-on workshops led by Los Angeles-based G3 Green Gardens Group. Do-it-yourselfers learn how to transform a garden into a sustainable, urban wildlife habitat with California native and climate-appropriate plants.

“By planting plants that are from our area, it connects us to where we are instead of just having palm trees and grass everywhere,” Herzog says. “You get the birds and the bees and the butterflies dependent on those native plants. The monarch butterfly’s young depend on milkweed, so that would be a great plant for everyone to have.”

The three-hour class walks participants through every step, including turf removal and soil preparation through sheet mulching (also known as the lasagna method, with its alternate layers of paper and mulch). Installing irrigation and adding dry stream beds and other permeable hardscapes, such as decomposed granite, capture water so it can soak into the ground, providing hydration for plants and replenishing the aquifers.

“If you have these little ‘sponges’ everywhere, you’re so much more likely to not only prevent runoff and pollution, but you don’t need a big solution anywhere,” Herzog says. “It’s difficult to clean up water at the end of a storm drain — it’s high volume, it’s moving fast and you need a lot of room or you need some expensive technological device.”

But to have small solutions all over the region?

“It creates multiple benefits,” he says. “You get plants and healthy soil, you get habitat and food for native wildlife. If you plant a tree, you get shade for your car or house. These are things you don’t get by putting a filter at the end of a pipe.”

Tips for a small or thirsty garden

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May 16, 2014

Tips for a small or thirsty garden

Improving the soil will increase vegetable yields


By Jennifer Forker


Associated Press

Fri May 16, 2014, 12:00 AM EDT

How can you get the most yield from a garden where space is limited, and water is too?

Plant smart, and pay attention to the soil.

“Your garden is only as good as your soil,” says David Salman, chief horticulturist at High Country Gardens, a Santa Fe, N.M., catalog that specializes in native and low-water plants.

Find out what nutrients your soil has — and what it’s missing — with a soil test, available through local cooperative extension offices at a nominal fee (home soil-test kits are less reliable, according to the Colorado State University Extension).

Encourage plant health by fertilizing with natural, organic fertilizers, which include fish emulsion and liquid seaweed, says Salman. Limit the use of chemical fertilizers because they don’t help build the soil.

“You will have more nutritionally complete vegetables if you have healthy soil,” he promises.

One trick Salmon recommends, especially for gardeners living in new housing developments, is adding a soil inoculant called mycorrhiza, a beneficial fungi. It’s found naturally in healthy soil, but often needs to be added to a new garden.

“New gardens in new subdivisions, their soil is scraped off as part of construction,” says Salman. “You need to put beneficial fungi back in.”

Peas, beans and soybeans could benefit from legume inoculants, which are species-specific (a soybean inoculant cannot be used to improve peas’ growth). Read product labels carefully or ask your gardening center for assistance.

“Your beans will do OK (without it), but if you really want to crank out the beans, you can do that with the inoculant,” says Salman. “It’s kind of a ‘grandma’s secret’ to growing great beans.”

Plants that can offer high yields with low watering include leafy vegetables such as kale, lettuce and spinach; beans, snow peas and sugar snap peas; and some varieties of cucumbers and squash, he says. Plant vining beans and peas if you have space or can grow them up a fence or trellis; plant bush beans and peas in large pots if space is limited.

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Gardener: Tips for growing great tomatoes – starting off right

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What would spring be without a refresher on tomato growing success? Even veteran gardeners can experience challenges in growing these beauties to perfection. To be sure, I’ve had my share of challenges along the way. But over the years, I’ve honed my skills to master even the greatest challenges Mother Nature can throw my way. So here are a few of the non-negotiable steps you should employ now and every season to improve your tomato growing talent and get your plants off to the best start possible.

– Location is key. Pick a sunny spot that gets at least six-hours per day. More is better so find the sunniest spot that works. Your plants will be fuller, fruit will form faster, and taste best the more sun they get. Next, don’t plant too closely together. Keep your plants separated by at least two-feet in all directions. It’s amazing how large they will get and they need room to grow while receiving adequate light and air circulation. Your plants will be much healthier for it.

– Start with great soil. Starting with great soil and a healthy plant puts you well on your way to an abundant harvest. You can eliminate most of your tomato growing challenges with these two simple mandates. Well-amended soil, full of rich compost and other organic material can be your secret weapon to having the best tomatoes around.

To illustrate this point, last year I grew tomatoes in raised beds, amended with about two-inches each of compost and composted cow manure. As an experiment, in a neighboring bed, I grew tomatoes in just topsoil – no compost or manure. Over the next three months, the composted tomato bed outperformed the competition in every way, in spite of my best efforts to nurture the non-amended tomato plants to perfection. The composted plants grew vigorously, free from pests and diseases. As the season matured, so did the plants. They were heavy with abundant, delicious large red tomatoes right up until frost. The plants in the other bed did okay but fell short in every category. They were not as lush, and had more disease issues and ultimately less fruit.

– Plant them deep. Planting seedlings deep, very deep is a unique technique used for tomato plants. They’re one of the few vegetables that will grow roots along the stem if they’re in contact with soil. I leave about two sets of leaves showing above the soil when I plant new seedlings. This step will ensure a larger root area and a more vigorous plant.

In the planting hole, I add a tablespoon or two of dolomitic limestone and mix it into the soil. This step can help ward off a condition known as blossom end rot in emerging fruit. Cover the plant and water it in thoroughly. You may want to provide some liquid fertilizer now for a quick boost. As an organic gardener, I prefer to use fish emulsion and sea kelp. This adds nitrogen and phosphorus to get the plants off to a good start.

– Manage the water. Tomato plants like deep watering while keeping the soil consistently moist. A soaker hose is best for this because it allows the water to soak deeply into the soil, without saturating it to excess. Soakers are also great for not wetting the foliage above. Leaves that remain wet for too long can promote diseases that can be avoided by keeping water off the plants.

– Add Mulch. The final step for a great start is to add a two or three inch layer of mulch once the plants are settled. Mulch will help keep the moisture in the soil, prevent soil-borne diseases from splashing on plants and reduce weeds.

These guidelines will get your tomato plants off to a great start. Like with so many examples in gardening and life, how you start out makes all the difference in the world with the success of the harvest.

Joe Lamp’l is the host and executive producer of Growing a Greener World on national public television, and the founder of The joe gardener� Company, devoted to environmentally responsible gardening and sustainable outdoor living.

Gardening tips on bees, violets and tulips

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Question: I have this horrible weed/flower invading the grass in my front yard. It had little blue flowers in early spring and has spread through about half of my yard. How do I get rid of it?

Jean Konda-Witte, Abbotsford

 

Answer: You have violets in your lawn – and violets are hard to eradicate. I don’t think a broad-leaf herbicide will kill them, and a broad-spectrum herbicide would kill everything.

You might try covering the lawn with black plastic for a couple of years, then removing the surface soil removing violet seeds), bringing in new soil and seeding the grass. But this is so onerous it’s almost unworkable.

In any case, I wonder where the violets came from? If the source of the violet seeds (neighbours? city land?) is still there, seeds could blow in again, and you’d have the violets back.

Your best bet is to shade the violets out by cutting the grass to about seven centimetres and treating your lawn so well that it stays lush and thick. The violets will remain because they have very deep roots, but they won’t be as visible because they’d be submerged in long grass. Nor will they spread as fast because grass is a strong competitor.

 

Question: Last year my zucchinis all fell off the stems when they were about five cm long. Any advice?

Neil, Langley

 

Answer: Your zucchinis have a pollination problem. This is happening to more gardeners now that honeybees are vanishing from gardens.

But bumblebees and many tiny wild flies (resembling wasps) still pollinate flowers. Mason bees aren’t much help with zucchinis and other late-flowering vegetables because mason bees are dead by the beginning of June.

It would be best to plant pollinator-attracting flowers near your zucchini area. These include dill, chervil, coriander, mint, fennel, and Sweet Cicely. If you let a few carrots, cabbage or parsnips go to seed nearby, they’ll also draw masses of pollinators

Your alternative is hand-pollinating the zucchini flowers. The female flowers have a small, round knob in the centre of the bloom. The male flowers have spiky stamens. You could take a new paintbrush and brush pollen from the male flowers into the female blooms.

Hand pollinating is more work than adding pollinating plants but you’ll need it, if your first female zucchini flowers open before the pollinator-attracting flowers do.

 

Question: I want to move some tulips for next spring. Shall I leave them where they are or can I store them until the fall after the foliage has died back? How do I do this?

Lorraine Davis, Vancouver

 

Answer: Digging and storing is best. That’s because tulip bulbs need thorough drying otherwise they tend to get fungus diseases.

Some tulips can come back for several years if the bed they’re in is never watered in summer and we have a dry summer. But if we have a wet summer, fungus diseases will strike.

For storing, dig up your tulips when the leaves turn yellow and take them inside till they completely dry. Then clean off the soil, discard any diseased or damaged bulbs and let them dry more. Then store in a mesh bag or in cardboard boxes and replant next fall.

 

Anne Marrison is happy to answer garden questions. Send them to her via amarrison@shaw.ca. It helps if you can tell me the name of your city or region.

© Royal City Record

Tips for High Yields in a Small or Thirsty Garden

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Associated Press

How can you get the most yield from a garden where space is limited, and water is too?

Plant smart, and pay attention to the soil.

“Your garden is only as good as your soil,” says David Salman, chief horticulturist at High Country Gardens, a Santa Fe, N.M., catalog that specializes in native and low-water plants.

Find out what nutrients your soil has — and what it’s missing — with a soil test, available through local cooperative extension offices at a nominal fee (home soil-test kits are less reliable, according to the Colorado State University Extension).

Encourage plant health by fertilizing with natural, organic fertilizers, which include fish emulsion and liquid seaweed, says Salman. Limit the use of chemical fertilizers because they don’t help build the soil.

“You will have more nutritionally complete vegetables if you have healthy soil,” he promises.

One trick Salmon recommends, especially for gardeners living in new housing developments, is adding a soil inoculant called mycorrhiza, a beneficial fungi. It’s found naturally in healthy soil, but often needs to be added to a new garden.

“New gardens in new subdivisions, their soil is scraped off as part of construction,” says Salman. “You need to put beneficial fungi back in.”

Peas, beans and soybeans could benefit from legume inoculants, which are species-specific (a soybean inoculant cannot be used to improve peas’ growth). Read product labels carefully or ask your gardening center for assistance.

“Your beans will do OK (without it), but if you really want to crank out the beans, you can do that with the inoculant,” says Salman. “It’s kind of a ‘grandma’s secret’ to growing great beans.”

Plants that can offer high yields with low watering include leafy vegetables such as kale, lettuce and spinach; beans, snow peas and sugar snap peas; and some varieties of cucumbers and squash, he says. Plant vining beans and peas if you have space or can grow them up a fence or trellis; plant bush beans and peas in large pots if space is limited.

Sarah J. Browning, an extension educator for the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, suggests planting radishes, carrots, peppers, zucchini and summer squash for summertime bounty. Peppers grow well in dry conditions, says Browning, and root crops such don’t need frequent watering.

“If you watered them well and then mulched them, I think you could get a crop with fairly small amounts of water input,” she says.

Plant radishes early in the season or in part shade, and mulch them and other plants to retain moisture and combat weeds.

Browning recommends the cherry tomato cultivar Sun Gold and the slicers Big Beef and Celebrity as great-tasting high producers. Also look for disease-resistant tomato varieties, which are easier to grow. Browning refers tomato lovers to Pennsylvania State University’s College of Agricultural Sciences Extension’s “Tomato Report 2011,” which lists the best varieties in its tomato trials.

Melissa Ozawa, a features editor for gardening at Martha Stewart Living magazine, recommends growing okra and Swiss chard; both are heat- and drought-tolerant. Melons also can handle less water once established because of their deep root systems, she says.

Not all vegetables grow well in all regions, so read seed packets, matching days to maturation to your region’s growing season, Salman advises.

Logan Square Artist ‘Humbled’ by Citywide Design Competition Win

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Alex Gilbert’s poster design was among those chosen for the City of Chicago’s City in a Garden design competition , which called on local residents to use Chicago’s motto — “Urbs in horto” (city in a garden) — to create a “powerful, attention-grabbing, memorable poster, incorporating what it means for Chicago to be a sustainable city.”
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LOGAN SQUARE — A Logan Square resident’s posters promoting a greener Chicago will be displayed around the city this summer.

Alex Gilbert’s poster design was among those chosen for the City of Chicago’s City in a Garden design competition, which called on local residents to use Chicago’s motto — “Urbs in horto” (city in a garden) — to create a “powerful, attention-grabbing, memorable poster, incorporating what it means for Chicago to be a sustainable city.”

Gilbert, 25, channeled the style of renowned Chicago designer John Massey in his prize-winning submission, he said. That work will be displayed around the city in June.

His winning design is “very minimal and focused more on color,” Gilbert said. “The plane of green intersecting Chicago’s colors is reminiscent of the city intersecting with sustainability and the environment.”

He tried to keep the symbolism clean and simple, he added — the design is even further simplified by an impactful white space, reminiscent of Chicago architecture and its iconic skyline.

“I think every designer will tell you they’ve been drawing since they were young, but my real start came from Harrington College [of Design],” Gilbert said. “I always wanted to pursue the arts — designing was a practicality more than anything else but it ended up turning into a strong passion of mine.”

His work with nonprofits and community arts organizations like Spudnik Press and the Chicago Design Museum helped hone his skills in recent years, he added.

“The idea of sustainability falls under a larger umbrella of doing something that is meaningful and impactful,” he said. “Something I’m really passionate about is working for causes that are noble. It’s such an important topic in this current climate, to have that sustainable lifestyle — coexisting in a way that’s not a detriment to our environment.”

Gilbert described winning among such talented competition as a “humbling experience” and motivation for his work moving forward. His work will be displayed on city bus shelters and he’ll receive $500 cash.

“Something that I’m always interested in is being able to share these interests with other people and to combine my interest with different fields,” Gilbert said of his plans for the future. “I guess the options are endless.”

A water-wise landscape can save you time and money on the water bill

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Following on the heels of such a dry winter, and with two hits of early heat already, spring rains are a welcome sight this year. Gardening and landscaping to reduce the need for watering can be a really good way to reduce water bills and conserve water. As our population grows, and the variety of ways we use our land grows with it, demand for water resources may outpace the present-day supply. 

Did you know that our area uses up to two to three times as much water in summer months than during the winter? When dry conditions impact our area, water consumption can become a problem. If you want to try something new in the garden and yard this spring, here are some ideas you might consider to conserve water:

Get to know your yard

Just like our great state, your yard contains several microclimates, which are areas with specific growing conditions. One patch may be sunnier and drier; water may tend to pool in another corner.  Take time when planning to notice conditions such as the intensity and duration of sunlight, humidity, soil type, and wind direction in each part of your garden. Selecting the right plant for the right place will reduce failed plantings and frustrations. Putting each plant in the right place can reduce the costs of watering or help soak up extra water, preventing runoff.

Plant a resilient rain garden

In soggy spots of the garden, plants that soak up rain water can really thrive, and they can slow the delivery of water to the sewer. But how do rain gardens fair when the weather is dry? Surprisingly well, if you select the right plant for the job. Many Pacific Northwest native plants can tolerate both wetter and drier conditions, making them perfect for tolerating droughts between rains. In sunnier areas, try bald-hip rose, red twig dogwood, or western fescue, among others. In shadier areas, vine maple, Oregon grape, or small-fruited bulrush may work well. 

Plant a drought-resistant oasis

Xeriscaping, on the other hand, is the practice of selecting plants that are drought tolerant to reduce or eliminate the need for adding water. And it doesn’t have to mean a yard filled with rocks, either. A major water hog for many families is the lawn, which has a tendency to turn crisp and brown in times of drought. One strategy for reducing water use during the summer may be to build up your own tolerance of a dry and dusty yard. If that isn’t for you, consider seeding with more resilient grass species that can take the heat, such as blue wild rye or annual hair grass, or substitute groundcovers like kinnikinnick, creeping mahonia, or stonecrop.  

Compost and mulch

Improving the health of the soil by adding more organic matter will help to increase the soil’s ability to hold moisture, reducing the frequency with which you need to water. Our soils in this region are composed mostly of sand and clay, with some silt and loam mixed in. Adding more organic matter (you might think of it as the original quicker-picker-upper) especially helps to speed up abortion of water and slow down its release. Once water has made it into the soil, you probably wouldn’t want to see it just bake away on a hot, sunny day. Even in our cooler and moister climate, garden beds can benefit from three inches of organic mulch to help shade, cool and keep moist the soil below. Just be sure to look for weed free versions. 

Weed-free means water-less

Become a Weed Watcher and help prevent weeds from robbing your garden of moisture! These uninvited guests in our yards and gardens rob soils of moisture and nutrients, making it difficult for the plants we cultivate to compete for resources. Keeping a vigilant eye out for weeds and removing them properly or reporting them is essential to healthy and water-wise plot! Also, consider watering in the cool evening hours to slow down evaporation and transpiration.  If you and your family are really excited about better understanding Oregon’s climate, consider contributing as a citizen-scientist to the Community Collaborative Rain, Hail and Snow Network, where you can help track weather.

Much of the information in this article is drawn from the Regional Water Consortium’s 7 Basic Steps for Creating Water Efficient Landscapes, which is an excellent resource for starting to think about water-wise gardening. For more information, feel free to contact the Tualatin Soil and Water Conservation District at tualatinswcd@gmail.com.

How to … make your yard a certified wildlife habitat

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    The National Wildlife Federation supplies homeowners with landscaping and feeder tips. These wildlife-friendly projects will help attract more colorful birds such as this male rose-breasted grosbeak.

    Photo: Bill Marchel • Special to the Star Tribune,

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    After a long winter, the return of spring is most welcomed. The grass is green, and the trees and shrubs are sprouting leaves and colorful blooms. Most of the vibrant summer birds have returned, much to our delight.

    If you enjoy wildlife in your garden or yard, why not have your property recognized by the National Wildlife Federation as a Certified Wildlife Habitat.

    I certified my back yard a few years ago and during the procedure learned some new ideas for future wildlife landscaping and feeder projects. The certification process is easy and costs only $20, which includes a full year’s membership to the National Wildlife Federation and a one-year subscription to National Wildlife magazine.

    To be eligible as a Certified Wildlife Habitat, a yard must furnish wildlife with various habitat requirements. Specifically, a yard must provide one or more necessary elements from each of three wildlife habitat categories: food, water, and cover and places to raise young.

    The food category breaks down into two subcategories ­— plant foods, such as fruit and nuts, and animal-feeder types. The plant food subcategory lists eight sources of food providing wildlife with seeds, nuts, berries, fruits, nectar, sap, twigs and pollen.

    I satisfied this requirement since my yard is landscaped with various plants that provide all of the above food sources. I planted green ash trees to provide seeds, red oak trees to supply nuts, Juneberry, chokecherry and elderberry for their berries, and crabapple, plum, mountain ash for their fruit.

    The second food subcategory — feeder types — lists five styles of feeders including seed, suet, hummingbird, squirrel and butterfly. I have at least one of each style of feeders in my yard.

    Water is the second essential wildlife habitat element. Wildlife needs water for drinking, of course, but also for bathing. There are several subcategories from which to choose.

    I fulfilled the water requirement by having a pond excavated in my rural back yard, but a simple birdbath also meets the requirement.

    The third essential element is cover and places to raise young. A back yard should provide nesting sites, shelter from bad weather and places to hide from predators. The National Wildlife Federation lists 14 ways to fulfill this category, but a certified property must meet only three.

    I met at least three requirements by planting several white spruce trees and hedges of red-osier dogwood, highbush cranberry and other shrubs. As a result, I’m currently able to verify 15 species of birds nesting within 30 yards of my home.

    To obtain an application to have your property recognized by the National Wildlife Federation as a Certified Wildlife Habitat, call 1-800-822-9919 or apply online at www.nwf.org.

    Bill Marchel, an outdoors writer and photographer, lives near Brainerd.

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    Plans for new library continue to develop

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    Several weeks after Half Moon Bay Library staff held the first of several meetings to poll community members about a new library, ideas are rapidly emerging, and more meetings to refine them will take place soon.

    Beginning in April, library staff held formal and informal open house and community meetings at the library, Shoreline Station and the Coastside Farmers Market, to gather feedback from the public as to what features it wanted in a new library.

    Meeting organizers used “information boards,” or 8-foot-high black boards on which photos representing design ideas and options were posted, to present a broad range of ideas contributed by the public. Attendees then posted colored dots to indicate support or thumbs-down for each idea.

    Further meetings this month are designed to refine those ideas, said library Branch Manager Annie Malley. A third round, scheduled for June, will continue to hone and refine the ideas and feedback.

    As the process continues, Malley said, library staff will revisit earlier meeting locations or approach new ones, in order to bring the information boards to as broad a spectrum of community members as possible. She said they will visit schools, Pescadero, eateries like Happy Taco, and Senior Coastsiders to get feedback from the community’s youth, Spanish speakers, and senior citizens.

    “We want to touch as many people as possible,” Malley said.

    She said the meetings have brought in feedback from around 900 Coastsiders, and organizers hope for more.

    Early meetings she said, focused on desired library programs and site strategy, including rough layout of the proposed building’s interior and exterior. From those meetings emerged a preliminary idea of a two-story library building, with space and facilities for children and teens on the first floor and meeting rooms and space for adults and community rooms on the second.

    Round 1 began with a basic question: What do you want in your library? Attendees each had colored adhesive dots to attach to ideas they either favored or wanted nixed.

    In order of popularity, the desired aspects of a new library that emerged from those meetings, Malley said, were a children’s space, digital lab, “people spaces” where library patrons could sit, read, study or meet, a cafe offering coffee or light refreshments, space for teens, a quiet study area, space for technology where computers would be available, a gaming room with digital and/or board games and “collaborative” space such as a meeting or community room.

    Early rounds also touched on exterior design. Attendees looked at photos meant to represent aspects of the exterior including: warm and inviting (wood décor), sustainable, rural and rustic (wood and a peaked roof), something that would fit the overall area (landscaping and plants) or expressive (multiple or bold colors).

    Each round tightened up and customized the initial ideas a little, said Malley. “We kept going deeper into the plan” as the process continued, she said.

    Round 3 will delve more deeply into ideas that came out of Rounds 1 and 2.

    The third stage will seek to polish and flesh out specific ideas presented in preliminary rounds. For example, just how big should the children’s area be? What special areas might still be needed?

    “We keep getting deeper in,” Malley reiterated, adding that suggestions for more ideas and more options are welcome.

    Landscaping is another aspect that is going through the scrutiny of the process. Proposed ideas include landscaping in a coastal theme, or xeriscape which indicates a low-water, sustainable landscaping, or lush landscaping.

    The meetings scheduled for the third round include an open house from 4 to 6 p.m. and a community meeting from 7 to 9 p.m. on Thursday, June 5, at the Half Moon Bay Library at 620 Correas St. in Half Moon Bay, and 9 a.m. to noon at New Leaf Community Market, and 1 to 4 p.m. at BrazzleBerry in Strawflower Village, Saturday, June 7.

    Feedback from Coastside community groups is welcome, said Malley. “Any group which wants us to bring the boards to, we’ll bring them,” she said.

    Results so far are posted on the Web at www.smcl.org/en/content/library-building-projects.

    OCtech Foundation symposium energizes gardening crowd

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    The chatter was all about plants and gardening. As the crowd mingled during the two-day OCtech Foundation’s Home Garden Symposium, people exchanged growing tips and admired the ribbon winners at the flower show. They tapped into the plethora of knowledge that speakers Amy Dabbs and Andy Cabe came to share. And no one went away empty handed as the Orangeburg Master Gardeners handed out free zinnia plants.

    Each year, the lineup of presenters, the flower show and the silent auction are declared “the best they have ever seen” by many attendees. This year, the “friend raiser,” as OCtech College President Dr. Walter Tobin likes to call it, brought the public wonderful opportunities to learn even more about gardening.

    Amy Dabbs, Clemson extension agent from Charleston, gave the crowd plenty to think about as she presented tips on how to best go about buying plants for their yards. Dabbs emphasized doing a little planning and research before even heading to the store. Making a list and keeping to it as well as being able to recognize a healthy plant are important if you want your yard and garden to thrive, Dabbs said.

    “My personal plant list includes oakleaf hydrangea, Echinacea, creeping plum yew, Hibiscus Texas star — all plants I really like and that do well in my yard,” she said.

    Dabbs shared her personal experience of landscaping the yard around her newly-built home and finding ways to solve problems by selecting the right plants for each situation. She also cautioned against impulse buying, which often results in poor plant choices.

    Her presentation was followed by “Dueling Designers” Vonnie Bozard and Lynn Garrick, who potted up two shade-loving planters, demonstrating two very different design ideas.

    Wednesday’s events began with a sumptuous buffet and viewing of silent auction items. Bids were placed on a wide variety of donated plants and garden-related items. OCtech Sustainable Agriculture students were on hand to sell vegetable and bedding plants grown in the campus greenhouses.

    Andy Cabe, director of the gardens at Riverbanks Zoo and Gardens, awed the crowd with a presentation on “The Top Fifty Plants for Southern Gardens.” As pictures of the chosen plants were shown on the wall screen, Cabe touched on the outstanding features that make each plant special and worthy of including in the home garden.

    “For me, the selection changes over time, but what you see here today are things that grow well here and that we rely on at the botanical gardens,” he said. “You can depend on them.”

    Cabe also shared his Top 10 List of plants the botanical gardens will feature annually that are the “cream-of-the-crop choices that can work well in any garden and will add beauty and interest to any landscape.” The list can be viewed on line at

    http://www.riverbanks.org/botanical-garden/top-10-pick-list.shtml.

    “Everybody owes it to themselves to splurge every now and then and make a ridiculous (plant) purchase — buy something expensive,” Cabe told those attending. “You deserve it for all the hard work you put into your garden.”

    Jim Elliott of the Avian Conservation Center finished out the afternoon program with a Birds of Prey flight demonstration. Three different trained birds from the center flew over the indoor audience on command. Elliott’s presentation included information on how birds are rehabilitated at the Charleston facility and the importance of all birds in the ecosystem.

    * Contact the writer: 138 Nature’s Trail, Bamberg, SC 29003.