Author Archives:

Angel Fire Garden Club plans tour

Leave a reply

More Information

For information, contact Mackie at (575) 613-6518.


Posted: Wednesday, June 26, 2013 12:00 pm


Angel Fire Garden Club plans tour

Staff report

The Taos News

|
0 comments

Angel Fire Garden Club is holding its 11th Annual Garden Tour, July 20.


Registration will be at the Angel Fire Visitor Center from 8-9:30 a.m. The gardens will be open until noon.

The after-tour luncheon and silent auction will be held in Elements at the Angel Fire Country Club, 12:30-2:30 p.m.  Tickets for the tour and luncheon are $25; tour-only tickets are $10.  

Tour and luncheon tickets are limited to 150 and will be sold until gone or July 10, whichever comes first.

Tour-only tickets may be purchased in advance or during registration at the Visitor Center. Tickets may be purchased at: Angel Fire Visitor Center, Angel Fire Chamber of Commerce, Alpine Gardens and Gifts, Enchanted Landscaping, Rio Grande Ace in Taos, or Petree’s Nursery and Greenhouses in Taos.  They may be purchased by mail:  Make check payable to:  “Angel Fire Garden Club” and mail it to: Fannie Mackie, AFGC Garden Tour, P.O. Box 405, Angel Fire, NM  87710-0405.

© 2013 The Taos News. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Posted in
Lifestyle,
Home and garden

on

Wednesday, June 26, 2013 12:00 pm.

Local landscape architecture an inspiration in UK

Leave a reply

Local landscape architecture an inspiration in U.K.

Staff Report

The Rockford Area Convention and Visitors Bureau (RACVB) has announced that Rockford — known as the City of Gardens — is at the center of a competition for landscape architecture students at Gloucestershire University in the United Kingdom (U.K.).

Using Rockford as inspiration, the students designed garden concepts that were judged by a panel of experts from Rockford. The winning design will be featured at the Malvern Autumn Garden Show in Malvern, Worcestershire, in the U.K. this fall, which is expected to draw 64,000 people.

The RACVB has a dedicated representative in the U.K. to promote the region and build relationships. This project was a result of that activity.

“As the City of Gardens, we were thrilled Gloucestershire University focused their competition on Rockford,” said Lindsay Arellano, of the RACVB. “Our goal is to gain awareness for the region and tout Rockford as a tourist destination. Having the winning design on display with Rockford’s name on it speaks volumes to the thousands of people who will be in attendance at the show.”

Five Rockford garden design concepts were considered for the competition. The students each made a 2-minute video presentation highlighting the details of their design. The videos are featured on the RACVB-UK YouTube channel and can be viewed at http://www.youtube.com/gorockfordUK.

The judges from Rockford included Tyler Smith, president of Tyler’s Landscaping and Rockford Park District commissioner; Tim Gruner, curator for Anderson Japanese Gardens; and Jim Wojtowicz, landscape architect for Klehm Arboretum. The judges selected Jake Poloni and Steve Mann as the winners of the competition.

“I was excited to see so much creativity focused on this concept,” Smith said. “Each design group had a unique perspective on how to best represent our great city. I applaud all of the designers for how well they researched and incorporated our history into their projects.”

Poloni and Mann now have the opportunity to build a 15-foot by 15-foot replica of the garden to be displayed at the prestigious Malvern Autumn Garden Show. To learn more about the Malvern Autumn Garden Show, visit www.threecounties.co.uk/malvernautumn.

From the June 26-July 2, 2013, issue


Bookmark and Share

Print This Article

Read

Read in Local News Online Exclusives

Local landscape architecture an inspiration in UK

Leave a reply

Local landscape architecture an inspiration in U.K.

Staff Report

The Rockford Area Convention and Visitors Bureau (RACVB) has announced that Rockford — known as the City of Gardens — is at the center of a competition for landscape architecture students at Gloucestershire University in the United Kingdom (U.K.).

Using Rockford as inspiration, the students designed garden concepts that were judged by a panel of experts from Rockford. The winning design will be featured at the Malvern Autumn Garden Show in Malvern, Worcestershire, in the U.K. this fall, which is expected to draw 64,000 people.

The RACVB has a dedicated representative in the U.K. to promote the region and build relationships. This project was a result of that activity.

“As the City of Gardens, we were thrilled Gloucestershire University focused their competition on Rockford,” said Lindsay Arellano, of the RACVB. “Our goal is to gain awareness for the region and tout Rockford as a tourist destination. Having the winning design on display with Rockford’s name on it speaks volumes to the thousands of people who will be in attendance at the show.”

Five Rockford garden design concepts were considered for the competition. The students each made a 2-minute video presentation highlighting the details of their design. The videos are featured on the RACVB-UK YouTube channel and can be viewed at http://www.youtube.com/gorockfordUK.

The judges from Rockford included Tyler Smith, president of Tyler’s Landscaping and Rockford Park District commissioner; Tim Gruner, curator for Anderson Japanese Gardens; and Jim Wojtowicz, landscape architect for Klehm Arboretum. The judges selected Jake Poloni and Steve Mann as the winners of the competition.

“I was excited to see so much creativity focused on this concept,” Smith said. “Each design group had a unique perspective on how to best represent our great city. I applaud all of the designers for how well they researched and incorporated our history into their projects.”

Poloni and Mann now have the opportunity to build a 15-foot by 15-foot replica of the garden to be displayed at the prestigious Malvern Autumn Garden Show. To learn more about the Malvern Autumn Garden Show, visit www.threecounties.co.uk/malvernautumn.

From the June 26-July 2, 2013, issue


Bookmark and Share

Print This Article

Read

Read in Local News Online Exclusives

Creating a vertical garden

Leave a reply

Whether you’re tight on gardening space or are just looking to create a planting arrangement that is visually unique, vertical gardens are a quirky, fun way to display your verdant friends.

Supplies you’ll need:

  • pallet
  • staple gun and 5/16-inch staples
  • roll of landscape fabric
  • roll of burlap fabric
  • potting soil
  • plants

Directions:

1. Make friends  with a landscape architect (as I did) or ask your local garden center where you can find a recycled pallet.

2. Once you have your pallet, cut two pieces of landscaping fabric a few inches longer, layering them on top of one another and stapling to the back. Fold the excess landscape fabric at the bottom of the pallet over the base for reinforcement and staple. This is to ensure that potting soil won’t spill out of the bottom.

3. Next, cut burlap fabric to cover the landscaping fabric on the back and staple. You don’t need to do this step, but I suggest it for aesthetic purposes.

4. Lay the pallet flat on its back and pour potting soil into the slats, making sure to press it firmly against the pallet walls, but also making sure to leave enough room to plant annuals.

5. As you plant each annual, make sure to surround it with potting soil and secure in place. This is to ensure that when you tilt the pallet on its side, it firmly stays put. I planted nine 1-pint plants per row, totaling 45 plants. I chose alyssum, marigolds, and dianthus for flowers, and dusty miller and creeping jenny for greenery. Be sure to pick different colors, texture and heights for dimension and visual interest.

6. After you are done planting, water plants according to directions.

7. Wait two to three weeks so that roots take hold in the soil. Then turn the pallet on its side and lean against a wall. Voila, your vertical planter.

With the DIY and pallet obsession, I was dead set on turning my pallet garden into a vertical herb garden, but after some research, I found out that some pallets are treated with chemicals. So, be sure not to grow anything edible in your pallet garden to avoid toxins.

Creating a vertical garden

Leave a reply

Whether you’re tight on gardening space or are just looking to create a planting arrangement that is visually unique, vertical gardens are a quirky, fun way to display your verdant friends.

Supplies you’ll need:

  • pallet
  • staple gun and 5/16-inch staples
  • roll of landscape fabric
  • roll of burlap fabric
  • potting soil
  • plants

Directions:

1. Make friends  with a landscape architect (as I did) or ask your local garden center where you can find a recycled pallet.

2. Once you have your pallet, cut two pieces of landscaping fabric a few inches longer, layering them on top of one another and stapling to the back. Fold the excess landscape fabric at the bottom of the pallet over the base for reinforcement and staple. This is to ensure that potting soil won’t spill out of the bottom.

3. Next, cut burlap fabric to cover the landscaping fabric on the back and staple. You don’t need to do this step, but I suggest it for aesthetic purposes.

4. Lay the pallet flat on its back and pour potting soil into the slats, making sure to press it firmly against the pallet walls, but also making sure to leave enough room to plant annuals.

5. As you plant each annual, make sure to surround it with potting soil and secure in place. This is to ensure that when you tilt the pallet on its side, it firmly stays put. I planted nine 1-pint plants per row, totaling 45 plants. I chose alyssum, marigolds, and dianthus for flowers, and dusty miller and creeping jenny for greenery. Be sure to pick different colors, texture and heights for dimension and visual interest.

6. After you are done planting, water plants according to directions.

7. Wait two to three weeks so that roots take hold in the soil. Then turn the pallet on its side and lean against a wall. Voila, your vertical planter.

With the DIY and pallet obsession, I was dead set on turning my pallet garden into a vertical herb garden, but after some research, I found out that some pallets are treated with chemicals. So, be sure not to grow anything edible in your pallet garden to avoid toxins.

Gardening news and notes: gnomes; tips; and lawn

Leave a reply

gnome.JPGView full sizeGnomes are part of a controversy over IKEA ad.The Oregonian

GNOME CONTROVERSY: I’m not particularly fond of gnomes, but wouldn’t go so far as to be afraid of an ad by IKEA that’s got people up in arms. They don’t care, though.

According to a story on The Huffington Post, Peter Wright, a marketing manager for Ikea’s U.K. branch, said the commercial was merely a “light-hearted” way of showing a family defying “the ultimate embodiment of everything that’s tired and dreary about British gardens – the garden gnome.”   

Watch the video and vote.

MUSEUM KNOW-HOW: I tend to believe when Jonathan Kavalier, chief horticulturist for the Smithsonian Gardens, shares tips he and his colleagues have acquired over the years. Check out a video on pruning. 

GRASS AFFAIR: Americans love their lawns, says author Thomas Mickey in his book “America’s Romance with the English Garden.”  

“I want people to understand how we became obsessed with the lawn,” said Mickey, a master gardener and professor emeritus of communication studies at Bridgewater (Mass.) State College. “This ideal is something we’ve inherited and it’s difficult to get rid of.”
 
— Kym Pokorny

Gardening news and notes: gnomes; tips; and lawn

Leave a reply

gnome.JPGView full sizeGnomes are part of a controversy over IKEA ad.The Oregonian

GNOME CONTROVERSY: I’m not particularly fond of gnomes, but wouldn’t go so far as to be afraid of an ad by IKEA that’s got people up in arms. They don’t care, though.

According to a story on The Huffington Post, Peter Wright, a marketing manager for Ikea’s U.K. branch, said the commercial was merely a “light-hearted” way of showing a family defying “the ultimate embodiment of everything that’s tired and dreary about British gardens – the garden gnome.”   

Watch the video and vote.

MUSEUM KNOW-HOW: I tend to believe when Jonathan Kavalier, chief horticulturist for the Smithsonian Gardens, shares tips he and his colleagues have acquired over the years. Check out a video on pruning. 

GRASS AFFAIR: Americans love their lawns, says author Thomas Mickey in his book “America’s Romance with the English Garden.”  

“I want people to understand how we became obsessed with the lawn,” said Mickey, a master gardener and professor emeritus of communication studies at Bridgewater (Mass.) State College. “This ideal is something we’ve inherited and it’s difficult to get rid of.”
 
— Kym Pokorny

Vermont backyard gardening tips

Leave a reply

Burlington — In her book, “Trowel and Error”, author Sharon Lovejoy covers over 700 gardening shortcuts, tips, and home remedies for plant problems.

Under the category of tools, consider these ideas and items:

• Use a mixture of equal parts white vinegar, rubbing alcohol, and water to scrub and clean dirty tools and white salts residue from pot rims.

• Old kitchenware can be reused, such as kitchen tongs for picking up prickly plants or stinging nettles, grapefruit knives for weeding containers, and apple corers for “dibbling” in small bulbs and plants.

• Heavy-duty paper clips (the kind that hold stacks of paper together) have many uses, such as holding shade cloth to frames, or tightening glove cuffs to keep out unwanted insects and soil.

• Keep a used soap dispenser, filled with mineral oil, near your tools; after done for the day, wipe dirt from tools using a scouring pad if needed, then wipe with the oil.

• Save those wide-mesh tomato or fruit baskets (as you often get with strawberries). Line next spring with paper, then fill with soil, before sowing seeds of melons, squash or cucumbers. Then plant the entire basket, the roots being able to grow through the mesh openings.

• Use old colanders and laundry baskets to harvest produce, then wash with the hose outdoors to save a mess and clogging sinks with dirt indoors.

• Use Velcro tape for attaching vines to surfaces.

• To keep garden twine from getting tangled, place in an old coffee or grated cheese container, then guide the string through a hole in the top. An old watering can serves similarly, the twine coming out through the spout.

• Mark inch and foot marks on handles of tools, such as hole diggers, shovels, and hoes, to know how deep to dig or spacing for transplants for instance.

• Laminate seed packets, then attach to popsicle sticks or tongue depressors for garden labels. Cut strips of old miniblinds for labels to write on with permanent marker.

These are merely a sampling of the ideas from Lovejoy, with other categories on home potions, attracting allies to help with pests, success with seeds, soil-related tips including composts and mulches, and indoor plants.

Gardening for Geeks: A book with tips worth knowing

Leave a reply

If you read enough gardening books, you’ll pull out a few tips or tricks. But they often contain a lot of techniques developed in the author’s own yard, which may or may not be useful to you.

I am as guilty of this as anyone in my gardening columns, but I do try to point out that what works in my particular micro-climate and soil profile may not work for you.

What I really like to find in a gardening book is well-reasoned, evidence-based advice on how to do particular things and the physical requirements of plants that I want to grow (or tried to grow and failed for reasons that are not yet obvious to me).

The best book for food gardeners in southwestern B.C. is Steve Solomon’s Growing Vegetables West of the Cascades. He has since moved to Tasmania, so the book in all likelihood will not be updated again.

But I have been thumbing through a more recent text, Gardening for Geeks, which appeals to me because it is so instructive.

The author Christy Wilhelmi lives in Los Angeles and like all California-based gardening writers, she undoubtedly has unique challenges of her own. Ordinarily that makes their books useless to British Columbians. But not so for Wilhelmi.

Her advice about arranging crops from shortest to tallest, south to north to take advantage of the sun’s rays works no matter what the latitude. She includes the important exception for tender lettuce in the heat of summer: plant lettuces to the north of taller plants or trellised vines to protect them from full sun.

Measurements and sketches will guide you to soundly designed garden boxes, raised beds, paths and simple garden structures such as tomato cages. Instructions for building a hot compost heap and a worm box are easy to follow.

Wilhelmi zips through basic introductions to double-digging, biodynamic growing and French intensive agriculture – just enough so that you will know whether or not to seek out more detailed instruction.

I also like that she gives good basic information about how to plant and grow a couple of dozen common vegetables from arugula and beets to spinach and squash, plus a chapter on herbs.

If you are just starting out and aren’t quite sure what kind of gardener you are yet, Gardening for Geeks will probably help you figure it out.

Harbor Links Gardens

Leave a reply

By Carol Stocker

The Old Northern Avenue Bridge, an important pedestrian link between the Rose Kennedy Greenway and the Seaport District, has been spruced up with 12 giant planters of flowers spanning Fort Point Channel. A ribbon cutting ceremony Tuesday morning celebrated the project, called the Harbor Links Gardens, which is an example of public and private cooperation.

Representatives included Michele Hanss and Leslie Wills of The Boston Committee of the Garden Club of America, which contributed $50,000 to the project, Vivien Li, president of The Boston Harbor Association, and JoAnn Massaro, Commissioner of Public Works for The City of Boston and Antonia Pollak, Commissioner of the Boston Department of Parks and Recreation, who originated the idea. Also on hand were David J. Warner of Warner Larson Landscape Architects, which provided pro bono services for the design and oversight of the installation and designer Sameer Bhoite. A reception sponsored by the Milton Garden Club followed at the ground floor facility for public accommodation at 470 Atlantic Avenue.

With rooftop gardening becoming more popular, innovations in lightweight products were employed to protect the historic but fragile bridge, including “Roof Lite” growing media donated by Read Custom Soils.

Other companies that contributed to the project include BH Brown Landscape Design, Mahoney’s Garden Center and Greentop Planters of Rockport, who built large but light weight containers from fiberglass and aluminum with polystyrene cores for maximum insulation in heat and cold with a minimum of weight. These are a long way from the old concrete municipal planters that were once the standard.

“Making horticultural and open space available in this important area of Boston is consistent with the Garden Club’s mission of supporting horticultural projects that can have an impact upon the greatest number of people,” said Hanss. “We want to show developers that this kind of beauty and greenery should be part of the new waterfront. Mayor Menino has done a great job and I hope whomever the new mayor is, he or she keeps green space and beautification on the City’s agenda.”

The 1908 metal truss “swing” bridge” has “always been gritty, a connection to warehouses and railroads,” said Li. “No one really thought of it as an entry to an ‘Innovation District,’ We took a rusty bridge and made it a beautiful connector.” She praised Mayor Menino and his staff for his support. “Think about this: The Garden Club gave us the money in November and the project was executed by June.”

The planters are moveable because long term plans for stabilizing and refitting the bridge for multiple uses are still in the works. In the meantime, plants have been installed that can withstand punishing summer sun and winter winds in a very exposed location.

Shrubs and trees include blue holly, Japanese black pine and white pine, purple leaf sand cherry, Icy Drift rose, Blue Pacific Shore juniper, and Color Guard yucca. The tough perennials are equally well chosen. Leading the field is the wonderful reblooming clear yellow Happy Returns daylily bred by Darrel Apps. Also up to the challenge are May Night salvia, Moonshine yarrow, Little Spire Russian sage, black eyed Susan, Angelia sedum, Black Beauty coral bells, Walker’s Low catmint, Elijah blue fescue grass and Hamlen fountain grass, Potato vine, petunia and purple verbena are the annuals used, along with driftwood for a sculptural effect.

Funding from the Boston Committee of the Garden Club of America is raised from a membership of 1100 women from 14 garden clubs in Greater Boston and southern New Hampshire.