SAC is a grassroots organization dedicated to the revitalization of Ardmore, Pennsylvania’s business district based on community input, consensus building, sound and comprehensive planning, and the preservation of our architectural heritage.
<!–
[rss:www.saveardmorecoalition.org/node/feed:1::bullet-nolead:] –>
Placing a water feature in a garden is a good way to get people to use the garden, said Rick Perry, owner of Falling Water Designs and Falling Water Gardens, a regular exhibitor at the Northwest Flower and Garden Show, where this garden won a silver medal in February.
When it comes to creating a dream garden, Judith Jones and Rick Perry probably are the Sky Valley’s most qualified experts.
Both own garden and landscaping businesses; Jones owns Fancy Fronds, a specialist fern nursery in Gold Bar, and Perry owns Falling Water Designs, a landscape and water-feature supplier in Monroe.
Both are also regular exhibitors—and award winners—at the exclusive Northwest Flower and Garden Show, at which this year each won medals for their elaborate gardens built in the Washington State Convention Center for the duration of the show.
Planning any landscape requires some thought; planning an exhibit at the Northwest Flower and Garden Show can take a year or more of preparation, including forcing entire trees to bloom before transplanting them, roots and all, into the Convention Center, then adding entire ponds or streams, patios, greenhouses and hundreds of plants and shrubs.
Jones and Perry have a lifetime of experience building spectacular garden-scapes, but there are some basic principles that go into garden design, and anyone can use them. Here are top tips from the Sky Valley’s top garden designers:
Widen the frame A typical Pacific Northwest home has a yard shaped like a rectangle, bordered by a picture-frame bed in which there are some shrubs, roses or flowers all planted in a line against a fence, wall or sidewalk.
There are several easy ways to make that sort of yard a whole lot more interesting, said Perry, whose art-inspired garden “Monet Dreamed Here,” created in partnership with McAuliffe’s Valley Nursery and Under the Arbor Landscape Design, won a silver medal at this year’s garden show.
“For one thing, three feet is never wide enough for a planting bed,” he said. “That’s only one shrub.”
People tend to think that the border beds are going to be a lot more labor intensive than the lawn in the middle, but that’s just not the case, said Perry.
“It’s just the opposite,” he said. “Lawns are what take all the work.”
A six-foot wide bed offers a lot of room for creativity. “That is much more practical for creating layers,” he said.
“You can put plants that are four feet high and three feet wide in the back, then place plants two feet high and two feet wide in the middle and foot-tall plants in the front. That’s how quickly you can fill a six-foot bed,” said Perry.
Think outside the box
Most lawns have corners. But not only is that boring, it’s unnecessarily difficult to mow, said Perry.
“Let your borders curve,” he said. “We try to make lawns and take away the corners, so you don’t have to push a mower in and then pull it back out and turn. Instead you just mow in concentric circles, moving in the center.”
Unless you really want a formal look or like a geometric, angular design, a curvy edge to your landscape softens lines and adds interest, he said.
Plant densely All too often, gardeners plant shrubs spaced widely apart and cover the ground in between with beauty bark. While tidy enough, a garden like that is missing out on a lot of potential, and a lot less work.
Plant things so their edges meet. That allows you a lot more color, variety and interest, and allows for a lot less weeding. “You don’t want too much open space,” said Perry. “Where you don’t have plants, you’ll have weeds.”
Create a better backdrop
When stuck with an unattractive backdrop, distract the eye with flags, such as these used by Judith Jones, owner of Fancy Fronds Nursery in Gold Bar, who won a gold medal for her garden at the Northwest Flower and Garden Show.
In urban environments, chances are you don’t get to choose what makes the backdrop for your garden. A neighbor’s fence, a blank brick wall, or a scraggly hedge can make it difficult for you to create your perfect space.
That certainly was a challenge for Judith Jones at the Northwest Flower and Garden Show, where the space she was given to create her gold medal-winning garden “The Art of Upcycling” was at the edge of the convention center and backed up to an enormous wall of corrugated grey metal.
She solved the problem by building a low wooden fence in front of it, placing shrubs behind the fence that were tall enough to peek over, then affixing bright, gaudy, six-foot-tall flags to the top of fence, thus creating enough visual interest in front of the wall as to draw the eye completely away from the unattractive backdrop.
Create focal points
Focal points such as this school of ceramic fish chosen by Perry in his art-themed garden can balance a larger focal point elsewhere in a garden.
A long row of rhododendrons, perhaps interspersed with some juniper shrubs, is a ubiquitous sight in Pacific Northwest neighborhoods.
But a much more interesting alternative is to instead place one large item of interest at a prominent point in the yard, and then pull the theme through the rest of the space.
“Say you have a fabulous focal point tree, and it has yellow leaves,” said Perry. “You can repeat the yellow in other ways throughout.”
A giant rhododendron with purple blooms could be repeated with mountain lupine elsewhere in the garden, or a snowy white cherry tree could be reflected with sweet alyssum or andromeda at two or three other points in the landscape.
Other focal points could include a large tree stump, a granite boulder or a piece of art such as a sculpture.
If you have more than one such focal point, don’t stick them all in the same place, said Perry. For example, don’t put a columnar basalt fountain right next to your largest flowering tree.
Instead, look for opportunities to give each one its own area of interest.
In Jones’ garden, a rainbow-hued bench that reflected the colors of the flags lining the fence rested at one corner of the garden, while a whimsical yellow greenhouse with a small patio set rested at the other. In between were several small works of art, including a glass sculpture and a ceramic snail.
And in Perry’s garden, which was dominated by a grass-framed pond and a patio, at a far edge a school of sculpted fish swam over densely-planted beds of grasses and low shrubs.
“You need balance,” said Perry. “Don’t cluster all your gorgeous things in one place.”
But clustering things that are not focal points can look great, he went on. Instead of one cyprus shrub in a corner, try putting three or five together. And if you have room, three small trees in a group creates a visual event.
“That way, as you move through the garden, there is always something to see,” said Perry.
Pick two or three colors
There are so many hues of flowers and plants that it’s tempting to try to include them all in your garden. But it’s generally a lot more restful to the eye and spirit to hold to just two or three colors, said Perry.
“It’s just like interior design,” he said. “Pick the colors and repeat them in different ways, large and small.”
As you choose your plants, do be aware of what they look like throughout the year. When planting a plant that dies off in the fall, make sure there’s something behind it so that autumn doesn’t leave you with a gaping hole in the landscape.
And be sure to include plants that look great in the winter, such as shrubs with red bark, or interesting evergreens.
Add a water feature
Gardens are best when kids can play in them, said Jones, who added a child-friendly water feature to her garden that allows for wading.
Photos by Polly Keary
Both Jones and Perry included water features in their award-winning gardens, and that’s because there’s hardly anything more inviting.
Many homes have a second-floor patio with stairs down to a backyard, Perry said.
“People almost never go down the stairs,” he said.
But if you place a water feature such as a koi pond with “spitters,” or small fountains, that appeared in his display garden, somewhere in the backyard, suddenly the backyard will get a lot more visits.
“Put the feature from where you can see it from the deck,” he said. “Then maybe put a second little patio next to it; maybe with a bench where you can sit with a cup of coffee or a glass of wine and look at your fish.”
Given that the weather of the Pacific Northwest isn’t terribly inviting half the year at least, also make sure you put your water feature, which could well be the biggest investment you’ll make in your yard, somewhere you can see it from the house.
And for Jones’ ideal garden, a water feature should invite play, especially for children. The water feature in her garden was a shallow stream that ran over a bed of river rock and made a shallow little wading spot.
After all, she noted, the purpose of a garden is more than simply to plant pretty flowers. A garden, she said, should be created to be enjoyed.
Falling Water Gardens, the Monroe branch of the Falling Water Company, is holding a special Mother’s Day event Mother’s Day weekend, Saturday and Sunday, May 10 and 11 at 17512 SR 203 in Monroe. Mothers get free flowers, as well as a plant in a four inch pot, and there will be refreshments served.
For more information see http://fallingwaterdesigns.com.
To learn more about Fancy Fronds, visit www.fancyfronds.com.
My gardening expertise depends heavily on folklore. Such as:
Plant your potatoes on Good Friday.
Don’t move flowers outside until after Mother’s Day.
Spread fertilizer when the lilacs bloom.
Some of it may be valid. Some of it, well, not so much. Nonetheless, I thought of such sayings over the weekend when the weather was beautiful and raking old, dead leaves from the backyard wasn’t satisfying.
Also, I had Ground Works’ newest project on my mind, one that requires a lot of collaboration. Last week, the Sioux Falls Parks Recreation Board approved the establishment of a teaching garden at the Mary Jo Wegner Arboretum.
The project will be announced officially Wednesday night at a fundraiser at Landscape Garden Center on Wednesday.
“Eighteen months ago we approached the Arboretum education committee with the broad idea of an arboretum teaching garden and demonstration center, which would allow space for (South Dakota State University) Extension, Ground Works and others to provide training to teachers, the community, educators and environmental educators in how we access that teaching garden as an outdoor classroom … and how we make this work at the actual school site,” says the Rev. Tim Olsen, Ground Works’ executive director.
The proposal was finetuned as it made its way through channels, and a teaching garden leadership team established itself, with representatives from Sioux Falls Parks Recreation, several Minnehaha County master gardeners, an elementary school teach, two representatives from Koch Hazard Architects and Lance Meyerink from Groundwater Inc.
It was Meyerink, a landscaper, who suggested that a rain water harvest system could be established, using precipitation collected on the raised-bed gardens. Koch Hazard agreed to make the teaching garden its office project, with employees taking afternoons to help.
“One of the most important things for us is how do we help our classroom teachers learn how to access the gardens and make it a useful tool for their gardens,” Olsen says.
That is particularly important because the number of schools hosting gardens is growing steadily. Chris Zdorovtsov a community development field specialist with Extenson, could not put a number on how many schools have gardens but says it is growing steadily.
Ground Works itself is working with two elementary schools in Sioux Falls, Lennox, Dell Rapids and Knollwood Heights in Rapid City.
“O’Gorman Junior High has something ready,” Zdorovtsov says. “Baltic is starting, Brookings is starting. As far as the total number, the list is big.”
Lessons learning in a teaching garden extend much further than people might expect, says Cindi Heidelberger Larson, Ground Works’ director of communication and marketing.
“We asked a music teacher, can you draw parallels to art or music, and he said, ‘Teamwork, and the listening and the leadership that has to take place in constructing this. There’s one basic sheet of instructions, and that’s it. You have to work together to solve the problem,'” Heidelberger Larson says.
This summer the teaching garden will start small, but organizers already are thinking big for future years. Spring is an appropriate time to dream those dreams. Spring also, as perennials emerge from the soil and trees leaf out, is an appropriate time to look to the future.
“It’s not just about growing gardens, it’s about planting sustainable hope,” Heidelberger Larson says. “It’s sustainable hope in the lives of students. We’re giving something back to the future.”
Reach Jill Callison at 331-2307 or jcalliso@argusleader.com.
If you go
WHAT:
Growing Hope 2014, presented by Ground Works, a grassroote community development nonprofit
WHEN:
6 to 7:30 p.m. Wednesday
WHERE:
Landscape Garden Center’s greenhouse, 7201 S. Minnesota Ave.
COST:
Free fundraising event for Ground Works and its network schools. Meal and program provided by Ground Works donors and sponsors.
ONLINE:
GroundWorksMidwest on Facebook
RESERVATIONS:
Call Cindy Heidelberger Larson at 275-9159 or 201-5549 or email gwgrowshope@gmail.com.
David Myers of Backyard Orchards and David of Jami’ Mosque pose in front of a newly planted pear tree in Buffalo’s East Side.
Just in time for the growing season, a start-up landscaping business is sprouting in Buffalo with a new focus – sustainable garden design rooted in ecology. Backyard Orchards Landscape Design, owned and operated by David Myers, strives to design and create gardens that “not only sustainably support our lives, but also play an integral role in our region’s ecosystem.”
As an artist and holder of a fine arts degree, Myers certainly has an appreciation for the role of landscape design as a tool for aesthetic improvement. However, his goal is to create landscapes and gardens that not only look beautiful, but also contribute to the well-being of the environment and the owner. “All we have to do is tweak the old model of home landscaping a little bit and create resource-making landscapes instead of resource-wasting landscapes,” Myers said.
Myers studied fine art at Rochester Institute of Technology and would spend his summers in college doing landscaping work to make ends meet. “I gradually started looking at landscape as an artist’s medium,” he said, “so then I decided to study landscape architecture in grad school.” He took a summer program at Harvard’s graduate school of design and pursued his masters in landscape architecture at SUNY College of Environmental Science Forestry.
“Obviously in grad school I learned a lot about humans’ interaction to the built environment and the landscape and how much of an effect we have on the environment, but also how much of an effect the environment has on us – both good and bad,” Myers said. “The last step was working on big fancy landscape architecture projects and realizing that there’s too much bureaucracy and politics involved. It’s nice to work on big fancy projects, but at the end of the day everybody has a front or backyard and there’s thousands and thousands of homes in Western New York that have all this space that could be used to help the health of the environment and our own health.”
Backyard Orchards’ services range from simple seasonal yard clean-ups to full scale landscape design work. Their focus remains on each individual client and what will suit their needs and that of their landscape. “Some people just want low maintenance gardens they don’t have to worry about,” Myers said. “Others maybe want to create a fruit or vegetable garden for their church or community. Each one fits that property owner’s lifestyle and that’s what efficient gardening is all about.”
Through his work with Buffalo Niagara Riverkeeper, Myers has also become experienced in habitat restoration. “That really made me value picking the right plants and the right elements for a landscape to get the greatest benefit for humans and for animals on a restricted budget,” he said. Now he hopes to educate homeowners on proper plant selection and how to attract pollinators to their gardens. “A lot of plants that run-of-the-mill landscapers pick are not native to this area. Beautiful birds and butterflies don’t recognize them as food or shelter sources, and even though it’s green, you’re actually creating a barren landscape without life,” he said. “Some simple things you can do is choose different plants that attract birds and butterflies – not in a messy way, but in a way that’s entertaining to you and your family and is beneficial to the neighborhood.”
Myers’ work in the co
mmunity has him looking forward to doing more projects that will help improve the look and quality of life in Buffalo’s neighborhoods. He has previously worked with Groundwork Buffalo on designing a community garden for a summer day camp at the African American Cultural Center. Myers also organized a tree donation drive at the Universal School on Genesee Street, where families donated fruit trees and he worked with a group of 7th and 8th graders on planting cherries, peaches and apples. “Almost immediately on this formerly rough landscape, all of a sudden more kids came and played basketball and more birds came and landed on the trees,” Myers said. “A little really went a long way.”
Backyard Orchards has already begun working with clients on spring cleanups and garden design. The company is also collaborating with Michigan-Riley Farm and Artfarms on a landscape plan for the corner of Michigan Avenue and Laurel Street. Myers also hopes to offer zero-emissions lawnmowing as a service in the future and will be spending 10 days at the Whole Systems Design Research Farm in Vermont this summer to study permaculture. To contact the company about consultations or services, call Myers at (716) 984-4164 or email byorchards@gmail.com. To learn more about their mission and services, visit the website at backyard-orchards.com or Facebook page.
A variety of free children’s activities will be available at the 3rd Annual Central Florida Landscape Garden Fair.
Posted: Monday, April 21, 2014 6:00 am
|
Updated: 11:29 am, Mon Apr 21, 2014.
dailycommercial.com
The upcoming Central Florida Landscape Garden Fair is a family-friendly weekend event, featuring not only expert gardening classes for adults, but a range of educational activities for children.
Free children’s activities include the Children’s Passport, a seed necklace craft and entrance into the butterfly garden, maze and five senses area, Elisha Pappacoda, a county public information officer, said in a press release.
Kids under 16 may complete the Children’s Passport by stopping at the six designated locations on the event’s program map. After visiting each garden, they can exchange the completed passport for a free meal voucher from Chick-fil-A in Mount Dora.
“The Central Florida Landscape Garden Fair is designed to be a fun, educational event for the entire family,” said Brooke Moffis, Residential Horticulture Agent.
The fair will be held May 3-4 at Discovery Gardens, located at the Lake County Agricultural Center, 1951 Woodlea Rd. in Tavares, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday and from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Sunday.
Discovery Gardens is nestled on over 4 acres behind the Lake County Agricultural Center and features 20 themed gardens, including a string of lush courtyards and six specially designed children’s gardens.
For adults, expert guest speakers will present on a variety of garden and landscape topics including native plants, edible plants, no-turf landscaping and geocaching.
The fair will also provide visitors an opportunity to browse and purchase goods from exhibitors specializing in landscaping, gardening, irrigation, fertilizer, composting and hardscapes.
For information or to register as a vendor or sponsor, contact Tina Chavez at 352-343-9647 or tchavez@lakecountyfl.gov or visit www.lakecountyfl.gov/gardenfair.
Posted in
News
on
Monday, April 21, 2014 6:00 am.
Updated: 11:29 am.
| Tags:
| Location Tags:
By Tom Atwell
This weekend is the start of gardening season in Maine. It’s Patriots Day, and time to plant carrots, lettuce, beets, peas, onion sets and maybe potatoes. You can also plant hardy perennials and shrubs.
March 20 may mean spring in other parts of the country, but in Maine this weekend is when spring really hits.
This year we need it more than ever. The winter was so awful that even doing spring raking while half the yard was covered with snow was enjoyable – and I usually hate raking.
This will be a busy gardening summer for us. First, our home will be part of a garden tour to benefit the arboretum at Fort Williams in Cape Elizabeth. When we were part of the University of Maine Cooperative Extension Locavore Day two years ago, it seemed like we spent every spare minute we had that summer primping the garden. Because we love Fort Williams, approve of the attempt to remove invasive plants from the park, like the first garden created as part of the arboretum and actually like having people see our garden, we agreed.
At least this tour is June 28, more than a month earlier than Locavore Day was, so we can kick back during the rest of summer.
But the lawn will have to look better. Last year, I began using corn meal gluten to control weeds, but my timing was a little late. The gluten should be applied while the forsythia is in bloom – and that should be about when this column will appear. The bag of gluten is in the garage as I write this, waiting for southern Maine gardens break out in gold.
MOVING DAYS
Last year, we also began moving our high-bush blueberries from the backyard, where they are being shaded by a neighbor’s Norway maples, to a sunnier location in the vegetable garden. We will move the rest this year – once we’re sure that the bushes we moved last September survived the winter. We have to decide what shade-tolerant plants will replace the blueberries. This is a great opportunity, because after almost 40 years in the same house, with most of the gardens jammed full, we have few opportunities to bring in new plants.
Except maybe for daylilies. For about a decade we have grown ornamental grasses next to our patio – but a couple of years ago we decided we want more color. We will be getting some Barth Daylilies from O’Donal’s in Gorham. My wife, Nancy, has ordered some good ones online from Fedco in central Maine, and we will be searching for more whenever we go to a garden center.
Another backyard project involves the traffic pattern. The most convenient way to get to the backyard now is through the garage – which isn’t always neat, and even when it is, is crowded. Unlike many other people, we actually keep vehicles in our garage. We are planning to create a backyard entryway at the north side of the house – not a gate, just a narrowing with a path, so it looks like an entrance to what is a separate garden “room” (landscapers use the word “room” to describe divisions in gardens, say the vegetable garden as one “room,” the outdoor kitchen as another). We need at least two shade-tolerant and striking shrubs – one for each side of the entryway. Another chance to buy new plants.
ABUNDANT ASPARAGUS
We will also expand the asparagus bed. We planted our asparagus in about 1980, and production has declined for the past few years – with gaps in the row where some of plants died. We needed about 10 plants to fill in the row, but Fedco sells the roots in packages of 25 – so a bigger bed is in the works. We won’t be able to cut asparagus from the new plants until 2017. Asparagus is my favorite vegetable, so we can always use more, but even well-grown asparagus roots take time to establish themselves in gardens.
I got some Maine Blue Bombs from the McLaughlin Garden’s booth at the Portland flower show, but I won’t plant them until fall. The Blue Bombs, lupine seeds in balls, created with clay and McLaughlin Garden compost, would have to have been kept in the refrigerator for six weeks if I’d wanted the seeds to spread this year. The Blue Bombs were created by the Foothills Garden Club as a fundraiser for McLaughlin programs.
Other than the asparagus, not much will change in the vegetable garden. I will continue my eternal quest for more bountiful baby carrots – but I think I just have to do a better job of thinning out the plants once they have sprouted. And we are trying some new varieties of squash and watermelon.
We haven’t chosen our tomato and pepper varieties yet. We’ll do that when we go to the farmers market and see what they have available.
It’s a chance to do more plant shopping, and that’s a chance I’ll never pass up.
Tom Atwell has been writing the Maine Gardener column since 2004. He is a freelance writer gardening in Cape Elizabeth. Contact him at 767-2297 or at tomatwell@me.com.
Were you interviewed for this story? If so, please fill out our accuracy form
If you haven’t made it to Lush Lean yet this year, you are missing out. Presenters have offered many helpful water-wise gardening and landscaping pieces of information.
Jackye Meinecke of Enchanted Gardens of Las Cruces recently shared key principles of achieving success in your gardening endeavors.
“At Enchanted Gardens, we are not all about sales; we want to help make successful gardeners,” Meinecke said.
Meinecke can tell you what edible plants work best for this area, and what grasses are most drought tolerant.
“To be a successful gardener, you have to have the right plants in the right places,” explains Meinecke.
It’s good to have different “zones” in your landscape, she says, in which you place plants with fellow plants that need the same type of nurturing.
“Plants that need more water can go in an ‘oasis’ zone closer to your home where they are less exposed to the heat,” said Meinecke. “Those requiring less water can go into an outer zone. Your yard does not have to be restricted to rock and cactus; you can have blooming plants native to this area or from similar climates.”
Plant placement in the yard matters if you want your garden to flourish.
“Even in your own yard, you have micro climates,” said Kathryn Hovey, who attended Meinecke’s Lush Lean workshop. “It takes time to learn what they are and to get used to those micro climates. Jackye emphasized our responsibility to use the water that we have wisely; in order to do that we have to choose the right plants.”
All Lush Lean workshops start at 6 p.m. on Thursday evenings at the Women’s Improvement Association Building, 340 N. Reymond Street at W. Court Avenue, on the east side of Pioneer Park.
For information, visit facebook.com/LushAndLean or the City Water Conservation website at las-cruces.org/waterconservation.
The next workshop will be April 24 with Dr. Natalie Goldberg explaining how to diagnose and manage plant disorders in ornamentals, vegetables and turf grass.
In the meantime, Meinecke is always happy to help with any planting questions you may have when you visit Enchanted Gardens, 270 Avenida de Mesilla.
You can reach Las Cruces Utilities at 575-528-3511 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday-Friday. Las Cruces Utilities provides gas, water, wastewater and solid waste services to approximately 100,000 Las Cruces residents.
We are a community built on waterways. That sense of place not only inspires major public gardens, such as the new Anderson Healing Garden at Mercy General Hospital, but our own backyards.
That river-friendly theme can be seen, from very different perspectives, next Saturday during two garden tours. One offers a rare glimpse into a beautiful private garden along Carmichael Creek. Another explores the possibilities of living within our water limitations while being kind to our waterways.
Pauline and Irv Faria have nurtured their 1-acre woodland sanctuary in Carmichael for more than 50 years. Nicknamed “Pauline’s Garden” after the woman who does the work, their oasis was featured last November in The Bee.
“We still continue to receive requests for garden visits,” Irv Faria said. “The public response has been appreciated and motivating.”
Each spring, the Farias open Pauline’s Garden for one day to the public. Visitors can wander among scores of graceful Japanese maples and blooming azaleas in the shade of massive heritage oaks.
“I don’t know why, but the garden has never looked better in spring,” Faria said. “It was probably that heat spell we had, followed by a lot of rain. The azaleas are magnificent right now. The dogwoods are all out. The foxgloves are 4 feet high. Everything else is just blooming out of this world.”
Don’t be surprised if a bevy of quail scurries out from under a rhododendron or a wild turkey salutes with a loud gobble from an oak perch. This garden is a Certified National Wildlife Habitat, and the Farias welcome many animals and birds to share. Deer are regular visitors, too.
“Through the garden, we have attempted to satisfy our need to stay in touch and exist in harmony with wild nature,” said Faria, a retired university professor, when we toured the garden. “It has been our fortune to have a garden sanctuary set apart from the everyday world. It’s our private world we enjoy sharing with others.”
If you visit, wear sensible walking shoes; the property is steeply sloped along the creek sides. Eight terraces offer places to sit and view wildlife, or just relax amid the fragrant flowers. Whimsical wind sculptures and bronze statuary decorate the winding paths.
The sound of water provides a steady and relaxing soundtrack. Among the many water features are large frog ponds, a hillside waterfall and cascading fountains.
Water keeps flowing in the creek, too. “It’s fed by two other creeks,” Faria noted. “It’s mainly runoff, but it just hasn’t stopped.”
The Farias usually open Pauline’s Garden later in spring, Irv noted. “But everything is coming out (into bloom) so much, we were afraid to wait any longer.”
So far, the garden has survived the drought very well, he added. “We’ve cut back a lot in our water use, but it’s holding up really well. We have so much shade; that helps.”
So does mulch. “I brought in a truckload of shredded cedar bark and spread it all over,” Faria said. “That’s helped tremendously.”
‘Greener Gardens’ tour
Saving water while helping waterways is the focus of the Elk Grove Greener Gardens expo and garden tour, also next Saturday. This all-day event includes hands-on demonstrations, vendors, industry experts, plants sales and more at a do-it-yourself expo in Elk Grove’s Miwok Park. Master gardeners will staff a plant clinic and solve garden mysteries; bring your questions (and examples of pests or problem foliage in a sealed plastic bag).
“The free expo is designed to teach the public how to incorporate sustainable and river-friendly principles into their own landscapes,” explained organizer Soleil Tranquilli. “Our free garden tour showcases several local residential landscapes featuring lawn conversions, drought-tolerant landscaping, river-friendly landscapes and water-conserving landscape designs. Two special ‘all-star’ gardens will be revisited this year. (Labeled) plant names help you identify favorites for your own garden.”
Also on the tour are three public gardens: Elk Grove Rain Garden Plaza, the River-Friendly Inspiration Garden and the Elk Grove Community Garden.
See a virtual tour of gardens featured on previous tours online at www.ElkGroveGreenerGardens.org. Via the website, you also can register in advance for this year’s tour and get the map to homes.
The current drought will prompt many people to see these attractive examples of water-wise, mostly lawnless landscapes. But even in rainy years, this low-water philosophy offers dividends, Tranquilli noted.
“Landscape watering accounts for over 50 percent of residential water use, largely spent on watering lawns,” she said. “According to the American Water Association, converting a 2,500-square-foot lawn to low-water-use plantings saves 372 gallons of water per day during the growing season. In just one year, a homeowner who converts their traditional landscaping can save 44,640 gallons of water.
“Water conservation is just one piece of the ‘Greener Gardens’ mission,” she added. “By encouraging river-friendly landscapes, we aim to conserve water, protect our local waterways from flooding and contamination from the overuse of pesticides and fertilizers, and contribute to recharging groundwater.”
It all links back to those rivers and creeks, those waterway ties that bind us together.
“Even when a local stream cannot be seen visually, all areas are watersheds and thus connected,” Tranquilli said. “We know that personal landscaping choices do affect local waterways. Showing this connection is the first step to making positive changes.”
• Events calendar: More garden tours, events
Call The Bee’s Debbie Arrington, (916) 321-1075. Follow her on Twitter @debarrington.
Learn more:
For details or to inquire about participating in the festival, contact samplegarden@charter.net or call plant sale co-chair Joe Kutniewski at 704-489-6420.
Everywhere you go in L.A. you see bright, green lawns and blooming flowers. Manhattan Beach residents Sarah and Steve Olsen saw something different.
On March 1, California Governor Jerry Brown signed a bill giving an additional $500 million to water agencies that implement conservation plans. It’s already having a trickle-down effect.
“The vast majority of water goes into landscape, and especially if you have a big lawn,” Steve said.
Some say not enough Californians feel the drought, but the Olsens do. They decided to cut back.
California officials are encouraging residents to redesign their gardens with native plants to conserve water in today’s drought.
The Olsens have a water drainage system underneath their garden to collect rain that will slowly seep into the plants’ roots.
“Drough tolerant landscaping typically only takes 20 inches of water per year, whereas grass turf takes about 80 inches per year,” said Long Beach Water Department’s Kaylee Weatherly.
Long Beach encourages conservation through an incentive program that pays residents $3 for every square foot of grass they remove. Homeowners can earn up to $3,000 if they make the switch to drought-tolerant landscaping. Santa Monica has a similar program, paying residents $2 for every square foot of grass.
Santa Monica resident Emilie Moore is taking steps to limit water usage beyond her garden. She changed her high-pressure showerhead to a low-flow device.
“It’s just important for people to realize that small changes at home…can really make a difference,” said Moore.
The Olsens say replanting their garden not only saves them money in the long-run but makes them feel like good citizens.
“It’s certainly good to know that we’re doing our part to contribute to something that really belongs to the whole community,” said Steve.