Gallery: The most mistletoe-able men in 2012
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Down on the farm in downtown Magnolia
IF YOU GO on this year’s Magnolia Holiday Tour of Homes, when you get to Jennifer and Elroy Carlson’s house, you’re going to do more than traipse through a charming little house with the perfect urban garden out back. Ring-necked doves cooing in their aviary, puffy Buff Orpingtons scratching at the earth inside the chicken coop.
You’re going to learn a thing or two.
“Aviaries need to be horizontal,” Jennifer instructs. “Birds do not fly vertically. They fly horizontally.” Like that.
There certainly is no moss growing under Jennifer Carlson. Oh, sure, it’s out there between the permeable pavers, but it wouldn’t have a shot beneath Carlson. She designs landscapes; tends bees; teaches garden-to-table cooking classes; illustrates; quilts; makes her own holiday ornaments and teaches others to do the same; sells eggs, lavender products and cut flowers; leads garden tours; spins her Angora rabbit’s fur into fiber; and, in her spare time, is writing a book about sustainable-and-modest living.
I’m sure there’s more, but this will do for our purposes.
“I’ve been thinking,” Carlson says from the dining table of her urban farmstead, surrounded by walls a golden glow. She chuckles. “Whenever I say this my husband knows he just has to sit and listen.”
The Carlsons have lived in their newly remade 1,860-square-foot “contemporary cottage” for a year now. Jennifer, bursting with curiosity and energy no canned drink can provide, spent the nine months of their remodel working on the details with contractor Bob Cole of Bob Cole Construction.
“I grew up with Dutch doors, so we have them everywhere,” she says.
Towel racks are downed Magnolia Boulevard madrona branches. She designed the flower brackets for the stair railings, crafted by Iron Design Center.
In the master bedroom (the headboard is the old fireplace mantel), a white panel is affixed to the ceiling. Carlson hits the thermostat. Heat descends “and it feels like the sun hitting your head and shoulders. Each room has its own thermostat. It was developed by the founder of Skagit Gardens for even greenhouse heat.”
What the Carlsons liked about this house was not the house at all. It was the lot, an actual stone’s throw from town. “I grew up not far from here in Magnolia. And we have always lived near shops and schools and libraries,” says Carlson, a veteran of two previous remodels, mother of two kids, grown.
“The house was very sad. A lot of people had lived here for a very short time, until they could buy their view property. It wasn’t a home. It was a holding center.”
The interior spaces were re-imagined by interior designer Paula Devon Raso. Carlson credits her with the open horseshoe staircase, the fun-to-be-in kitchen and opportunities for light everywhere.
By the way, Jennifer and Elroy met over housework years ago. As neighbors in Ballard. He was fixing the place next door. “I thought, ‘Hey, a cute Swede!’ I gave him some beets. He asked me if I’d like to have some borscht. I said, ‘Sure.’ I didn’t even know what borscht was.
“Our goal here is to say that it’s not the size, it’s the detail,” Carlson says. “We want to be true to ourselves.”
Rebecca Teagarden writes about design and architecture for Pacific NW magazine. Benjamin Benschneider is a magazine staff photographer.
Labyrinth as landscape element gets popular
Broad and flat landscapes give an expansive feel and can be experienced in a single glance from any spot. A garden must be visualised not as a two dimensional picture, but as a sculpture – a sculpture in three dimensions. In contrary, to create mystery in the landscape, a typical architectural frame is required.
A strong use of architecture can greatly add mystery to a lush, sensual look of the garden. Architectural elements such as hedges, fences and walls may be used in combination with paths to shape the experience of a vista with a focal point in a negative or positive space to instil drama into the landscape to energise it and bring it to life. An element of curiosity can be introduced for a visitor as he moves through the place. Design aspects can be such that they make him wonder as to what is in store ahead while negotiating the curves and paths of a garden. A well conceived frame work in landscape gives the place its signature and a feeling of seclusion and mystery.
In recent times to incorporate that element of mystery in landscape, the form of labyrinth is adopted by the landscape architects. The notable labyrinth form of landscape is located in the central garden of Getty Center at Los Angeles. The 1,34,000-square-foot Central Garden is the work of artist Robert Irwin.
Planning for the garden began in 1992, construction started in 1996, and the garden was completed in the year 1997. Irwin was quoted as saying that the Central Garden ‘is a sculpture in the form of a garden, which aims to be art’. A maze of azaleas floats in the pool, around which is a series of speciality gardens. More than 500 varieties of plant material are used for the Central Garden, but the selection is ‘always changing, never twice the same’. Labyrinth is a symbol known to exist for at least for 4,000 years. Thought to enhance right brain activity, different cultures and religions have used it as a representation for the journey of life. A hiatus for quite a long period later, the concept of labyrinth is back as a favourite these days and most of the contemporary labyrinths could be found set up in outdoor environment.
In Mahabharata, the labyrinth form called ‘Padmavyuha’ or ‘Chakravyuha’ was used to arrange the soldiers to trap the enemy in warfare. Abhimanyu, son of Arjuna who knew how to penetrate into such an arrangement was killed as he was unaware of the exit route. It has become a popular design element in landscaping throughout the world.
(The authors are architects and can be contacted at ‘archineers212@yahoo.com’)
Ruth’s Tips: Consider adding Agave striata to your garden – Enterprise
Walnut Creek’s Ruth Bancroft is a national authority on drought-resistant gardening. Twice a month, she and her staff share their knowledge with readers.
When people think of an Agave, they usually picture something along the lines of the classic Century Plant, Agave americana. With its swordlike leaves, which bear stout teeth along the edges and are tipped with a sharp spine, it has an imposing presence.
But Agave is a very diverse group, and many kinds look quite different from Agave americana. One of these is the delightful species Agave striata, a modest-sized plant with heads of needlelike leaves that are roughly 2 to 3 feet in diameter. It is sometimes mistaken for a Yucca because of its resemblance to Yucca whipplei (alternatively named Hesperoyucca whipplei and sometimes called Our Lord’s Candle).
While Agave striata and Yucca whipplei look alike, the leaves of Agave striata are narrower. Yucca whipplei leaves are straight, while those of Agave striata tend to curve. Over time, Agave striata becomes a multiheaded cluster of rosettes, while Yucca whipplei usually remains single — though some forms produce offshoots and form clumps.
Yucca whipplei can range in color from gray-green to blue-green to silvery. Agave striata has a greater range of leaf hues, including green or blue-green. But Agave striata may also be tinged with pink, red or purple, especially in hot, dry conditions.
Like
other Agave species, A. striata grows for many years without flowering, then puts out a tall stalk from the center of the rosette for a final burst of flowering before it dies. The stalk, which has no side branches, rises to 6 and 8 feet. Its lower portion bears wispy threadlike bracts, which are actually miniature modified leaves. The upper part holds the tubular flowers, which can be straight or curved and are surprisingly variable in color — yellow, yellow-green or vivid emerald green, sometimes tinted with red or purple, or completely dark purple.
The pollen-bearing stamens extend well beyond the petal tips, putting the yellow pollen on prominent display. In its native northeastern Mexico, A. striata is a spring- or summer-blooming species, but our plants at the Ruth Bancroft Garden seem to obey no rules and flower at any time of the year. This fall, we have four plants in bloom, with a fifth starting to send up its flower stalk.
Agave striata makes a wonderful garden addition with its neat “spike-ball” rosettes. It may be tempting to seek out particular plants with pink or red leaves, but it is worth noting that the coloration might not persist after planting, unless grown in soil that is not too rich, with lots of sun and little water.
If you have a question for the Ruth Bancroft Garden, email info@ruthbancroftgarden.org.
How to design a pathway in your garden
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Pebbles and stone make a great mix. Photo/Courtesy
In Summary
A garden walkway is a wonderful way to guide visitors through your garden, as well as cut down on mud coming into your house or when you are working around you plants during the rains.
A walkway is easy to install, and can easily be completed in a weekend if you plan well in advance.
Gravel
The first thing that you need to do is decide on what material you want to use for your walkway. Gravel or what is popularly known as ‘kokoto’ is inexpensive, but will need to be added to or topped up frequently. Stone and brick pavers cost more initially, but require less maintenance afterwards. The choice of what to use is basically a matter of personal taste. All of these materials are readily available. Once you decide on your material, the next step is to prepare the surface.
Layout
Begin by planning your layout. Where do you want your walkway or path to begin and end? Do you want it to go from your verandah or back door to a point in the garden or from the car park to the back where the garden is?
You can actually draw out on a piece of paper how you envisage your garden to look when you are through with your project. Do not make a straight line, but rather a gradual arc.
If the path will be very long, you can even let it bend first in one direction, and then another. These small bends will encourage visitors to slow down and enjoy the view of your garden.
Mark the path with flour or lime, and then prepare the area you want to work on. If you are using gravel, you simply need to level out any major bumps that may cause someone to trip.
If you are using paving stone like cabro or stone such as mazeras, you need to remove the top layer of soil in order to get a good grip on the soil. Mazeras stone look beautiful especially if varnished to look shiny.
You can also simply use concrete slabs laid out neatly to get a beautiful pattern. This may not be the most creative material but it can be made to look beautiful.
Lavender
If you are using gravel, all that is left to do is to get a lorryful and dump it out in the desired area and level it along the path with a rake. The material should be between four and six inches deep. This is deep enough to slow weed growth along your path, but shallow enough to be easy to walk on.
You may also want to plant some low growing flowers along your path to give it a little more structure. Lavender, which grows well in the sun is a good choice, and as you brush against it, you release the wonderful scent into the air. It is also a perennial, so you do not have to worry about maintaining the edge of your path each year.
Stone
If you are using brick or stone, you will get a load of sand and dump it into the area that you are building your walkway in.
It should be about an inch deep, this helps to hold the stones in place and cushions them as well. The bricks or stone are then nestled right into the sand.
For a formal look, press the cabro stone as close together as possible, for a more informal look, you may want to leave an inch or two between each paver, and not be as uniform in your placement.
Once you get your stones in place, you are done, although you may want to plant some small flowers between the stones for an elegantly charming look.
Start Garden, Design West Michigan forge connection
The venture seed fund and the economic building-block nonprofit are partnering for a night of friendly interaction.
John Berry, executive director of Design West Michigan, said in a memo to members that as West Michigan creativity grows, so do the opportunities for good ideas to become a reality.
“We believe that design is an economic building block and that Design West Michigan should help provide design professionals with opportunities for growing ideas into implemented business,” he wrote. “The purpose is to provide 200 DWM members the opportunity to learn more about Start Garden, hear from Rick DeVos, founder of Start Garden, and David Rosen, new president of Kendall College of Art and Design, and become familiar with how Start Garden might work for you.”
The event will last from 5:30-7 p.m., Dec. 4, at Start Garden’s headquarters, 50 Louis St., downtown Grand Rapids. Refreshments will be provided and comments start at 6 p.m.
“The Design West Michigan event we’re hosting is connected to something we’ve recognized since the inception of Start Garden, that our region has an incredibly deep talent pool of designers,” said Paul Moore, Start Garden’s marketing director. “We want Start Garden to be the go-to resource when a designer has a potential business idea he or she would like to experiment with for a few months. In fact, Hip Shot Dot and Children’s Wallet Cards are Start Garden funded projects by designers in West Michigan. We’d love to see more projects coming from that community.”
Space is limited to the first 200 registrants. To register online, visit Eventbrite.com.
Holiday home tour showcases best of Northwest Valley
Part one of three
The holidays have arrived, and a 30-year-plus Northwest Valley holiday tradition is just around the corner.
Sun Health Foundation’s 2012 Holiday Home Tour — Inspiration, Gifts Memories is scheduled from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Dec. 1.
Here’s a quick preview of the six participating Sun City Grand and Sun City West homes:
SUN CITY GRAND HOMES
HOME 1
Quiet elegance describes this 2,800-square-foot Hampton model bordering the North Golf Course at Granite Falls Golf Club. Blending inviting hues of aqua and peach, the home captures the grandeur of Arizona’s stunning sunsets. Through the expertise of Deb Fowler Designs, it uses exquisite furnishings, fabrics, slip covers, draperies and rugs as well as an artful blend of traditional furniture styles to create a welcoming, truly unique and lovely living space.
HOME 2
History, heritage and culture are combined with unmistakable style and serenity in this 1,900-square-foot Desert Rose model serving as a testament to a lifetime of travel, treasure hunting and stories waiting to be told. Its eclectic interior, boasting one-of-a-kind works of art from around the world, is complemented by lush landscaping reflective of the homeowner’s roots in the Pacific Northwest. The use of rich colors and perfectly paired patterns illustrate the value of taking risks to create a living space that’s all your own.
SUN CITY WEST HOMES
HOME 3
Plantation shutters, extensive tile work, updated cabinetry, granite and marble counters as well as built-in entertainment area and display niches serve as backdrops to original Native American pottery, paintings and objects d’art in this renovated and expanded San Carlos model.
The fireplace is electric and the adjustable flame effect is from glass pebbles and mirrors, the newest in contemporary fireplaces. It has a glass front with a tile surround.
With an extended patio and pool overlooking a pond and fountain on the fourth fairway of Echo Mesa Golf Course, this comfortable home featuring the latest in modern amenities epitomizes luxurious yet relaxed living indoors and out. Tour attendees are also welcome to view a 1938 Jaguar replica built from a kit by the homeowners.
HOME 4
Wonderful white provides the backdrop in this Monterey model overlooking the fourth tee and lake at Echo Mesa Golf Course.
Among the features are innovative gadgetry designed and installed by the homeowners, including a 9-foot television screen descending from the ceiling and a “secret door” between the kitchen and dining rooms.
Also hidden just off the master bedroom and behind electronic screens is a full spa for relaxation, including Jacuzzi tub, soft lighting and aroma therapy.
HOME 5
Capturing the homeowners’ love of the ocean and years spent in Florida, this home’s décor and details deliver a soothing blend of casual elegance sprinkled with contemporary comfort.
With an oval-shaped butcher block kitchen island, feature fireplace that ignites glass beads rather than logs and a cozy backyard fire pit, it’s hard to find just one focal point in this 2,800-square-foot expanded Montera model on Trail Ridge Golf Course.
HOME 6
From the collection of unopened bottles artfully displayed inside the well-stocked wine cellar to a “man cave” adorned with a Super Bowl trophy and memorabilia highlighting a lifetime love of sports, this house captures the personal and professional passions of those who call it home.
A coordinated blend of carpet, wood and tile flooring coupled with granite counters and nooks with recessed lighting resulting in gallery-like displays tie together the many distinct features of this 4,300-square-foot Fitzpatrick Ranch home.
In addition to the holiday decorations and décor ideas, guests will also be able to enjoy food and wine tastings from delicious caterers including Anacapa Restaurant, Caballero Grill, Outback Steakhouse, Rio Mirage Café and Vogue Bistro.
And if they want to leave the driving to someone else, for an additional $5 guests travel to each of the homes aboard a luxury coach thanks to To My Surprise Airport Shuttle Service and Sun Health Senior Living’s Grandview Terrace.
Tickets are $30 for a self-guided tour and $35 for guests wishing to take a roundtrip tour on the coach, which will be departing continuously throughout the day from The Colonnade, 19116 Colonnade Way in Surprise.
The Colonnade will also be hosting this year’s Gift Boutique, where guests can get a jump on their holiday shopping by browsing through decorative household and seasonal items, jewelry and accessories, all sales-tax free.
Call 623-832-4931 for more information or tickets, or visit the Holiday Home Tour page under the Events tab at www.sunhealthfoundation.org.
Task force park plans take shape
After nine months of meetings and community input, the Parks Master Plan Task Force has a number of specific plans in place for parks and trails in Cloquet.
There’s some bold thinking in those plans. At Athletic Park on 14th Street, for example, a draft plan shows no baseball field. Instead there is a multiuse field in the center of the park, with a band shell in one corner, a basketball half court, the existing playground, a restroom pavilion and a skate park/special use area.
“It goes back to the neighborhood park concept and having a multiuse facility,” explained Caleb Peterson, assistant city engineer who works with the Parks Board and the task force. “Now with the [high school’s] baseball field taking up so much space, it doesn’t really serve that purpose. But talking with the coaches and Braun Park [officials], they’re very much in favor of centralizing locations and moving the high school down to Braun Park. We’d keep the lights at Athletic, though, and the field could be used for anything.”
Not shown on the plan for Athletic Park is an ice skating rink.
Peterson said he didn’t know if that was part of the plan or not, noting the consultants working with the task force and the city haven’t designated winter versus summer use.
“Ice rinks are a question we’ll have to answer and figure out if they can stay in the current plans,” he said. “That’s one of the points of having a community meeting: to present these plans and start taking feedback.”
Residents of all ages are invited to attend a community meeting at 6 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 29, in the commons area of Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College to talk about the specific park plans and priorities. It will be the third community-wide meeting; the first attracted close to 30 residents while only a handful turned up for the second.
“Anyone, of any age, who’s passionate about the parks system is more than welcome to come and participate,” he said, stressing that the various drawings are simply planning documents and subject to change. “The whole process was designed with the idea that we want community input and we want people to get involved now, rather that when the construction plans are on the table.”
The group has not completed a plan for every park in the city, Peterson said, but there are ideas outlined for each of the parks that would qualify for funds from the recently passed local option sales tax, as well as any parks that would see larger scale change.
The neighborhood park theme makes repeated appearances.
Plans for Hilltop Park – currently the soccer epicenter of Cloquet with three fields and substantial parking – show an additional multiuse practice field/rink north of the park (behind the 14th Street Apartment complex). North of that plans show a 9-hole disc golf course, more parking and a restroom pavilion. A smaller parking lot at the eastern end of the park would also serve as a basketball court and the existing, fairly old, playground would be renovated.
Peterson said the consultants at LHB suggested the disc golf course.
“I was surprised, but a disc golf course wouldn’t limit development of more fields in the future and it fits in nicely with the natural features there,” Peterson said. “It’s also not really expensive to develop.”
Veterans Park, at the intersection of Highway 33 and Cloquet Avenue, would retain a large multiuse field but gain a hillside amphitheater and lots of landscaping, in addition to the existing picnic pavilion, flag plaza and veterans’ garden.
Plans for the entire Pine Valley complex – with two hockey shelters, ski jumps and cross country ski/nature trails – propose a new route from Pine Valley to the Washington Street intersection, a reconfigured parking lot by the ice rinks, paved and expanded parking by the ski area, a zip line, mountain bike trails, an enhanced chalet and renovated ski jumps. The senior center and “The Barn” ice rink would also be renovated.
Also falling in the category of “big” changes is the riverfront area in downtown Cloquet. Plans for that area show a river trail loop (including a pedestrian bridge across the river and boardwalk through wetlands at the eastern end of the loop, among other things).
Peterson said those who attend the meeting will talk about the individual plans for the parks as well as priorities.
“Is it best to focus on an individual park and take it from start to finish or make little improvements in various parks?” Peterson said. “We have to figure out how we’d go about making the improvements, too.”
This will be the last parks planning meeting until after the holidays, Peterson said.
Those who can’t make the community meeting are invited to fill out a new survey linked to the city’s website at www.ci.cloquet.mn.us. This is a different survey than the one the city posted originally.
Residents without internet access can contact Caleb Peterson at City Hall at 218-879-6758 for a paper copy of the survey.
Express Yourself
Community Meeting Three: Refining the Plans
Date: Thursday, Nov. 29
Time: 6-8:30 p.m.
Place: Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College Commons
Take the new Park and Trail Priorities survey online at www.ci.cloquet.mn.us or contact Caleb Peterson.
Tags:
parks plan, news, cloquet, updates
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Edible plants idea to beautify High Street
GROWING a garden of edible plants along the High Street is one suggestion to turn Whitstable into a flowery oasis.
Whitstable Improvement Trust has been given a pot of money worth up to £12,000 to encourage people to beautify the town for gardening competition South East in Bloom.
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BLOOMING BRILLIANT: Whitstable Improvement Trust chairman Roger Seijo has high hopes for the town GIIS20121114B-002_C
Residents and community groups are being challenged to come up with ideas to turn neglected corners of the town into horticultural havens.
Chairman Roger Seijo said ideas included wildflower seeding on Tankerton Slopes and felling “badly maintained” trees outside the library but that it was up to the community to decide how to spend the cash.
He said: “Whitstable is not a traditional seaside town with floral displays on the promenade and floral clocks. I’m interested much more in large-scale landscaping and taking up the Transition Town idea of edible landscapes.
“There’s an edible garden outside the library and I don’t see why the medical centre shouldn’t grow medicinal herbs.”
He added he would like to see the “bland, harsh industrial scapes” such as Gorrell Tank car park made into something special.
Mr Seijo added: “There are all sorts of neglected patches of land that could be used by the community.”
A landscape architect and teacher of eco-living by trade, Mr Seijo designed Deadman’s Corner in Whitstable harbour and seeds have now been planted in the back wall.
The trust also created planters in the harbour, seating at Cushing’s View, signs around the town and the tearoom gardens on Tankerton Slopes.
It plans to improve the garden in front of its shop as part of Whitstable in Bloom.
Mr Seijo said: “The trust has run Whitstable in Bloom for a number of years and this is about upping the ante and entering South East in Bloom. Herne Bay and Canterbury have been very successful and we have been left behind.
“Once we’ve identified the various groups that want to take this forward we’ll come up with a strategy.”
The trust expects to put the town forward for the contest in two to three years’ time but work needs to start as soon as possible.
To get involved, call 01227 770060.
Mark Cullen: The ‘immunization effect’ of a garden
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November 23, 2012
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“To the mind that is still, the whole universe surrenders.”
— Lao Tzu, father of Taoism
This is flu season. You can take some comfort in the fact that you can wander into your local drugstore for a flu shot and not have to enjoy the wait in a stuffy doctor’s waiting room for the joy of a jab.
It is timely, then, that a growing body of scientific evidence supports gardening as a way of minimizing the risk of many health maladies.
A recent University of Washington study reveals that road rage is less likely to occur when nature is in plain view. Having a look at a healthy stand of trees — or even a green playing field — has a substantial positive effect on our behaviour when we view it just prior to a stressful experience, like some idiot cutting you off or tailgating you through an amber light. Green, living things give us perspective we otherwise (sometimes) lack. The authors of the study have coined the phrase “immunization effect” in reference to this phenomenon. I call it a reality check. Is road rage, after all, worth the excess blood pressure? Never.
Benefits of Green Spaces
Landscape Ontario, the Horticultural Trades Association for our province, has compiled research that points to the social benefits of green spaces.
According to Landscape Ontario, a 30-year study at Morden Arboretum in Manitoba reveals that crime is lowered and children’s self esteem is heightened when landscaping projects are promoted in communities, neighbourhoods and housing projects. Prison populations are also positively affected when access is granted to green spaces. Go to tiny.cc/r1i1nw to read more.
Building Communities
According to studies conducted by the Human Environment Research Laboratory at the University of Illinois, “(public) green spaces are gathering places that create close-knit communities and improve well-being — and in doing so, they increase safety.”
The same study reveals that residents of buildings with more trees and grass reported that they knew their neighbours better, socialized with them more often, had stronger feelings of community and felt safer and better adjusted than did residents of more barren but otherwise identical buildings. I reflect on the potential role of greener communities in Toronto’s high risk neighbourhoods. While trees and landscaping would hardly provide a complete answer to the burning questions that revolve around urban crime, surely they are part of it.
Horticultural Therapy
The idea that horticulture (gardening) provides benefits that can be harvested in our health institutions and seniors’ homes is not new. A whole industry has sprouted up over the past generation that is called horticultural therapy. It is now possible to get an education and become certified as a registered horticultural therapist. More details are available from the Canadian Horticultural Therapy Association (chta.ca).
Let’s look at the experience of some horticultural therapists who can teach all of us a thing or two about the benefits of the gardening experience. In a recent edition of the CHTA newsletter, Amy O’Brian talks about gardening as the “wonder drug” for a wide variety of human ailments.
In her article, she quotes Christine Pollard, a registered horticultural therapist from the Cowichan Valley in B.C., who has been a horticultural therapy for over 25 years and now finds herself on the leading edge of a discipline that is growing in popularity. “What I love about horticulture therapy is that we don’t look at what people can’t do. We look at what they can do and go from there.”
As an example, Pollard worked with a man who was blind and autistic, but had an interest in plants. He learned how to identify plants by feel and smell.
“Gardens are seen as a safe place to be and gardeners are seen as safe people.” She says. Perhaps this sheds more light on the theory that green space, trees and gardens of all kinds help to reduce crime.
If gardening is “the great leveller,” as Pollard says it is, what is the role of community and allotment gardens? Based solely on my experience and observation, their role is substantial, indeed.
Bring together a group of like-minded people with an interest in growing food and you will always have lively discussion. There is an exchange of ideas, questions, answers, and even a bit of bragging. In short, gardening cures shyness. He who has little to say otherwise is likely to share his recipe for green tomato chutney without much prompting, if he is a gardener.
Where people swap vegetables, fruit, compost, gardening tools and recipes, there is hope for a better world. “Nobody cares about your income or your job,” Pollard says. “They only want to know if you grow good tomatoes.”
Back in the United States of Gardening (versus the Dominion of Gardening up here), Rodale News (rodale.com), which has been the No. 1 voice of organic gardening for two generations, offers four “benefits of gardening.” According to the editors of this esteemed publication, you can count on the following if you just take the time to get some dirt under your nails from time to time:
• Improve your satisfaction with life. Who wouldn’t want to do that? Science now proves that older adults who garden rate their zest for life, levels of optimism and overall resolution and fortitude higher versus non-gardeners. The University of Texas provides the results in a study of 298 participants.
• Lower your osteoporosis risk. The physical activity involved in gardening leads to weight loss and better overall physical health. Researchers from the University of Arkansas found women involved in yard work and other types of gardening had lower rates of osteoporosis than joggers, swimmers and women who did aerobics.
• Lower your diabetes risk. Active gardeners easily get more than the required 150 minutes of exercise per week (during the gardening season). According to research from Kansas State University, if you grow your own food you have another diabetes-management tool at your disposal: fresh produce. Several studies found that diabetes rates are lower in areas with community gardens and places where backyard gardening is more common.
• Better sleep. Back to horticultural therapy. Therapists have discovered that gardening activities help calm people with dementia and psychiatric disorders, leading to a better night’s sleep.
Finally, last word to Christine Pollard: “If you take responsibility for a garden, you take responsibility for yourself.”
I could not say it any better. I rest my case.
Question of the Week
Q: I would like to grow an amaryllis for the first time. Does a larger bulb really make a difference?
A: Yes. A larger bulb has more energy reserves. This produces more blooms and increases the chance of a second flush of blooms this winter.
Mark Cullen is an expert gardener, author, broadcaster and garden editor of Reno Decor magazine. You can sign up for his free monthly newsletter at markcullen.com, and watch him on CTV Canada AM every Wednesday at 8:45 a.m. You can reach Mark through the “contact” button on his website and follow him on Twitter @MarkCullen4 and Facebook. Mark’s latest book, Canadian Lawn Garden Secrets, is available at Home Hardware and all major bookstores.
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