SOUTH BRUNSWICK, NJ — As warmer weather approaches, many Middlesex County residents are eager to return to gardening. However, many people want their gardens to be free of synthetic pesticides as they grow food or care for landscaping.

 If you want your garden and landscape plants to be healthy with little or no pesticides, the Rutgers Cooperative Extension of Middlesex County is offering a garden workshop entitled Mastering Organic Gardening and Landscaping.

This free workshop is scheduled for 1 to 3 p.m. Saturday, April 5 at the EARTH Center located in Davidson’s Mill Pond Park, 42 Riva Ave., South Brunswick.

The workshop will introduce the concept of Integrated Pest Management and examine how simple practices, such as monitoring for pests and providing adequate moisture, will keep your plants healthy. Interpreting soil sample results and light requirements for various species will also be examined.

The recent interest in alternative approaches to gardening comes from the idea of leading a more “green” lifestyle and lessening one’s impact on the environment. This workshop will address concepts and techniques important to the foundation of this style of gardening.

 To register, call 732-398-5262 by March 28.

Middlesex County Agricultural Agent Bill Hlubik, a professor at Rutgers University, will be the class instructor and explain the values of these planting practices.

 “I encourage residents to attend this informative workshop,” said Freeholder Kenneth Armwood, Chair of the County’s Business Development and Education Committee.  “Learning to garden without the use of pesticides will ensure that the County remains a beautiful and healthy place to live.”  

 “The EARTH Center offers a host of environmental services to the County,” said Freeholder Director Ronald G. Rios. “Here, residents don’t only learn about greener approaches to gardening, but can also purchase soil test kits, pesticide application test manuals, or submit pest and disease samples for evaluation.”  

 The County’s Extension Office is part of a nationwide network that brings the research of the State land-grant universities to local people. Rutgers Cooperative Extension offices throughout New Jersey are cooperatively funded by the County Board of Chosen Freeholders, Rutgers University-New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station and the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

The EARTH Center is located in one of Middlesex County’s most beautiful parks, Davidson’s Mill Pond Park. The Center’s 300-plus acres feature ponds, wooded trails and open fields. Educational displays at the park include a demonstration vegetable garden, hard-scaped herb garden, and a water-conserving rain garden. These displays are used to spark conversation about earth-friendly gardening techniques, local agriculture, and topics that are the focus of Rutgers Cooperative Extension’s Agriculture Natural Resource Management Department. 

 Visitors can also find out more about the Center and its events by calling 732-398- 5262. 

Home Builders Association of Southeastern Michigan (HBA) is sponsoring the Novi Home Garden Show, March 28-30, 2014, at the Suburban Collection Showplace in Novi.

Anything and everything you need for your home and garden can be found under one roof. Walk through over 25,000 square feet of landscaped gardens with patios, outdoor kitchens, water highlights and plants.

The Novi Home Garden Show will host a variety of entertaining seminars and shows, designed to teach attendees useful gardening and home improvement tips and tricks.

• The “Green Thumb Theater” area will provide a variety of fun and informative seminars on gardening and landscaping. Featured presenter Don Engebretson, The Renegade Gardener, will bring three great hands-on seminars to the show.
• The Home Garden Marketplace will display many vendors including: crafters, local businesses, and food merchants.
• Live broadcasts by “America’s Master Handyman” Glenn Haege of WJR throughout the show.
• Buy perennials right at the show! A great selection from the best area greenhouses and nurseries will be available.
• Tour a home being built for Macomb Habitat for Humanity by the students of Dakota High School’s building program. House move sponsored by Huntington Bank.

At the show, enter to win Treasure Chest prizes. Enter by filling out coupons and dropping in boxes throughout the show. Discount $1-off coupons are available at www.novihomeshow.com, Metro Detroit Dunkin’ Donuts, Indoor/Outdoor magazine and area newspapers. Visit your local Metro Detroit Home Depot store for $2-off advance tickets.

The Novi Home Garden Show will be held at the Suburban Collection Showplace March 28-30 and is open Friday 2-9 p.m., Saturday 11 a.m.-9 p.m. and Sunday 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Adult admission (ages 13 and up) is $9; seniors (ages 55 and over) are $8 and children ages 12 and under admitted free! With show ticket purchase, you will receive a 1-year subscription to Better Homes Gardens.

Contact:
Erin Schmotzer
Email Contact
Agency: All Seasons Communications
Phone: (586) 752-6381

Every Extension Master Gardener has been asked the same questions time after time.  What do Master Gardeners do?  How can you get to be a Master Gardener?  So, it is time to answer those questions.

The process of becoming an Extension Master Gardener begins with an application to your local Extension office.  There is a selection process and then candidates complete course work through the University of Minnesota Extension.  Volunteer time and additional continuing education is done each year.

Who are we?  We are your neighbors, co-workers, friends and relatives.  We are a true cross section of the community.  We are volunteers who enjoy gardening or landscaping, have a desire for life-long learning and have a strong interest in sharing what we learn with others.

What do we do?  Extension Master Gardeners educate, educate, educate.  We do that by answering your questions and explaining how to achieve the results you need.  The pest and disease recommendations are based on University of Minnesota’s best practices in care and management of plants and promote a healthier environment. You will find Ask a Master Gardener booths at garden centers, civic celebrations, farmers markets and the County Fair.  We are in schools working with young people, in churches and retirement communities. At times we offer classes.  For example the April 12th Home and Landscape Fair at Bunker Activity Center offers 21 concurrent sessions on perennials, vegetables, landscaping, habitat, etc. (Further information at the web site http://anokamastergardeners.org).

We work with Habitat for Humanity providing landscape design and instruction and also design beautiful demonstration gardens for non-formal and formal learning experiences.  We answer horticulture questions via the Arboretum Yard and Garden line and Extension’s Ask A Master Gardener web site.  We provide outreach services through a therapeutic horticulture program.

Extension Master Gardeners in Anoka County also help residents identify plants and diagnose common insect and disease problems at Plant and Insect Diagnostic Clinics at Bunker every Wednesday mid-May through August.

We also support organizations such as Great River Greening, local watershed districts and Anoka County Parks and Recreation and conduct research for University of Minnesota Extension.

The Anoka County Master Gardeners invite you to visit our web page http://anokamastergardeners.org/    Have a wonderful spring and summer. You will be seeing us and we will be there for you.

Barbara Harlan is an Anoka County Master Gardener.

The urban cool of rooftop gardening can easily transfer to smaller cities and rural areas as well.

“Creating a green roof or a roof garden is a great way to utilize space that you already have,” says Corbett Miller, horticulturist at Taltree Arboretum and Gardens in Valparaiso.

From the simplistic—potted plants and containers brimming with blooms—to sophisticated seating arrangements, walking paths and plantings, these gardens create more outdoor living spaces or, at the least, turning the top of a small outbuilding such as a garden shed or even a dog house, into a visual focal point that becomes another part of an eye catching garden design.

But, for those of us new to the concept, there’s a distinction between green roofs and rooftop gardens.

“For a green roof, think of it as more like a prairie transported to the top of you building, something solidly planted sometimes with pathways,” says Allan Smessaert, Owner and General Manager at Acorn Markets based in Kankakee, who has created rooftop gardens in Northwest Indiana. “Rooftop gardens are more like a living space with no hardscape. It’s more about the seating with built in and portable container.”

At Taltree, one of only eight arboretums in the world to be awarded Level III accreditation by The ArbNet Arboretum Accreditation Program sponsored and coordinated by The Morton Arboretum in Lisle, Illinois, they’ve created a green roof in their Adventure Garden using a preexisting roof structure to harbor species of plants tolerant of weather conditions like high heat and low water. For this particular roof, three varieties of sedum were planted in a diamond shape central design because this hardy perennial, with its thick, fleshy leaves retains water, tolerates both intense sun and periods of drought, requires little to no maintenance and upkeep and look as good in fall as they do in the spring.

Other plants that work well when designing a rooftop garden are hardy daylilies, ajuga—which is good for attracting butterflies and ornamental grasses like Blue Fescue and Maidengrass.

“In the city everyone has a rooftop garden because they don’t have any other space,” says Ann Marischen, owner of Flower Power Gardens and Chicago Mayor Daley’s Landscape Award winner in both 2000 and 2001, who created many roof top gardens in Chicago.

Marischen, who moved from Chicago to Valparaiso over a decade ago, is currently creating a 60-foot-long by 30-foot-wide rooftop garden atop of a converted commercial building that is now a residence in Valparaiso.

“We’re looking a maybe adding a pergola as well as some big planters for trees,” say Marischen, who also creates containers with evergreens, shrubs, grasses and perennials as well – for year-round beauty. “We’ll have seating areas and lounging areas and maybe, because of upkeep, artificial turf.”

Smessaert says sees rooftop gardening as not much more difficult than land gardening except for technical issues.

“You need to consult with an engineer or architect to see how much load an area can hold,” he says noting that dirt adds a lot of weight to a rooftop. “And you have to watch everything you add to the garden because it really adds up. I have an eight foot container that’s eight foot tall and looks like aged copper but it’s not. Those types of containers are perfect for rooftop gardens.

Though flat roofs lend themselves more easily to creating an up top garden, Smessaert says that even pitched roofs can be garden-able.

“They do it a lot in Europe and some even have goats grazing on them,” he says. “And if you just want to have a green roof for energy savings, it’s very doable as long as it’s not too high of a pitch. What is important is that it’s planted heavily and the roots are holding, like you find on a hillside.”

Maddie Grimm, Director of Education at Taltree, says that gardens on top of roofs are a great place to show gardening techniques that are both simple and aesthetically pleasing. She notes that besides being attractive some of the other benefits of a green roof and/or roof garden include an increased lifespan of roofing materials because there’s less erosion and weather damage and the gardens provide insulation by keeping hot sun from affecting inside room temperature in summer and decreasing heat loss through the roof in winter.

Public buildings are also adding rooftop and green roof gardens as both places to gather and to enhance the view.

Bill Hutton of the fifth generation Hammond based Hutton and Hutton Architects and Engineers says that when they worked on the design of the Hammond Academy of Science and Technology (HAST), they look at outdoor areas and rooftop gardens as a place for students to study and meet.

“We developed the concept of having several areas with seating and plantings,” he says.

A rooftop garden was also part of the design when planning the North West Indiana Veteran Village in Gary which provides supportive housing as well as other facilities for veterans.

Smessaert, who has designed rooftop gardens in New York where the weather is milder, says that Chicago and Northwest Indiana have more severe weather and the cold and the wind are more intense up on the roof which needs to be taken into consideration when landscaping.

“It’s a whole other world up there,” says Marischen about rooftop gardens. “You really have to make sure everything is weighted down. In the summer it’s very hot, very dry and all year round it’s very windy. It’s easier to take care of a ground garden but rooftop gardens can be so distinctive and so special.”

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Article Summary:
Bienenstock Furniture Library Gardens to debut during High Pont show.

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The Bienenstock Furniture Library will officially unveil The Pat Plaxico Gardens during the April 2014 High Point Market. Show visitors are encouraged to check out the Library, enjoy the gardens, its interior spaces and resources.

Named in honor of designer Pat Plaxico, whose distinguished service to the furnishings community has earned her a reputation for excellence, the gardens are a place where anyone with an interest in furniture and design, can find inspiration. “The sculptures, landscaping and additional parking, made possible by donations from friends of the Library,” explains current Library Board President, Russell Bienenstock, “unify its interior and exterior spaces, making the new campus ideally suited for hosting furniture industry groups and events.

The garden project is just the latest facilities update undertaken by the Library. It’s book collection was recently re-cataloged and the entire Interior re-designed. A new conference room available for meetings, seminars, lectures, and events was added, and the building expanded to improve access, and accessability.

For those who have not visited before, BBFL is one of the most interesting specialty libraries in America. It is located on North Main Street in High Point, just a mile North of the Market’s center. Open all year, it is used by furniture designers, interior designers, students, manufacturers, industry suppliers and retailers.

The collection of more than 5,000 books and periodicals include significant volumes on design, furniture, interiors, architecture, textiles, finishes, and construction published since 1640. Rare books such as original works by the 18th century furniture masters Chippendale, Sheraton and Hepplewhite, plus hundreds of others can be viewed in a temperature and humidity controlled rare book room.
“The garden includes several outdoor spaces which lend themselves to meeting areas, notes Pat Plaxico. “Paired with the spaces available inside the library, there are opportunities to have lectures, retreats and seminar space for groups up to 25. It is very heartwarming that so many folks have contributed to the gardens. It has literally been a ‘grass roots’ effort. I really love all the pieces of sculpture which add to the fun and playful nature of the gardens. The gardens are a little gem of solitude on a busy city street.”

Charles Sutton, past Board President adds, “The labels of icon, legend, Renaissance woman and creative genius all do apply to Pat for her contributions to our industry, the Furniture Library, her profession, the community and state. But what I have always admired about Pat is that she is a ‘get it done worker’. If she is on board with a project, she is always a 100% contributor; giving her thoughts and time pro bono to the effort”.

In the near future the Library intends to add a scholarship for Landscape Architecture and Garden Design to complement the existing design competition scholarships for Interior and Furniture Design. Also on the drawing board are the addition of a high tech space for collaboration, and the launch of the “Speaking Volumes” design seminar series.

About Pat Plaxico: Plaxico is a nationally recognized interior designer renowned for the reuse of historic buildings — adapting old structures for new purposes. Her portfolio includes Historic Market Square, the EJ Victor building, the Phillips Building (now High Point Convention and Visitors Bureau) and the Bernice Bienenstock Furniture Library. She’s been a member of the Furniture Library board for 38 years.

About the Library: The Bernice Bienenstock Furniture Library is a worldwide center for research, design and collaboration, which holds the world’s largest collection of rare and significant books on the history, and design of furniture. Founded in 1970 by Furniture World and the Bienenstock family, the Library is devoted to the advancement of knowledge about design, furniture, interiors, architecture, textiles, finishes, and construction.

For more information visit http:// www.furniturelibrary.com.

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Furniture World is the oldest, continuously published trade publication in the United States. It is published for the benefit of furniture retail executives. Print circulation of 20,000 is directed primarily to furniture retailers in the US and Canada.  In 1970, the magazine established and endowed the Bernice Bienenstock Furniture Library (www.furniturelibrary.com) in High Point, NC, now a public foundation containing more than 5,000 books on furniture and design dating from 1620. For more information contact editor@furninfo.com.

Rachel “Bunny” Mellon, the heiress and paragon of understated luxury who late in life was linked to a presidential campaign scandal, died Monday at age 103.

For decades, Ms. Mellon was regarded for her elegant taste and sense of style, and for gardening and landscaping, all handled with minimum publicity.

She had homes in the Massachusetts enclaves of Cape Cod and Nantucket, and in Antigua, Paris and Manhattan. She…

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Under the shade of a white kale, next to a river of iridescent glass rock, a fairy lounges alongside a wooden wishing well while a brown rabbit perches nearby.

Fairy gardens, the latest trend to hit the world of landscaping, provide an outlet for “people to be creative and to reconnect to the outdoors,” said Dawn Whittington, marketing director for The Home Garden Center in Longview.

Fairy gardens, or gypsy gardens, are miniature landscapes created in almost any kind of container you can imagine, out of almost anything you can dream up.

These whimsical dioramas can feature fairy or gnome figurines and a variety of woodland animals.

Regina Dyer-Smith introduced fairy gardens to her son and daughter last summer as a means to keep them busy during school holidays.

“They will actually play with them like they’re dolls or action figures,” she said.

Tony, 8, and Bella, 6, have a sports-themed gnome garden and a fairy garden with six or seven sprites in colorful dresses.

“Bella’s all about the bling,” Dyer-Smith said, laughing.

For the sports-themed garden, Dyer-Smith originally cut a wedge off of an old basketball and filled that with dirt and some cactus plants, but Tony quickly outgrew the small container.

“Honestly, now it’s in an old tray,” she said.

Bella’s fairy garden required a bit more work.

“I distressed an old dresser drawer and painted silver swirls on it,” she said. “Then we filled it with dirt and river rock, and topped it off with glass rocks.”

That fairy garden also has pink chiffon canopies for the fairies, Dyer-Smith said.

Begun as a basis for container gardening, fairy gardens sometimes house a resident fairy and sometimes just provide an idyllic setting to attract a fairy to come live there, Whittington said.

“Some people like to believe that if they create it, fairies will come,” she said with a smile.

Brittany Humphrey is the Fairy Garden Coordinator for the The Home Garden Center.

“I didn’t think I’d get into it at first, but now I’m addicted to doing these,” she said. “They’re so much fun.”

You can purchase pieces for your garden and put it together yourself, or Humphrey can create a custom landscape based on your ideas.

She’s done a beach and tea party themes, and she’s even created a fairy garden in a rusty old wheelbarrow.

“I have so much fun. I feel like a kid when I do them,” Humphrey said.

She blends different textures of rocks, mulches and plants, creates dynamic heights with tall plants or ground covers, and incorporates the fairy elements in a way that is artistic and masterful.

You can use live plants or artificial, depending on your level of gardening expertise and where the fairy garden will be placed.

“There’s so much creativity and flexibility that goes into it,” Whittington said. “You can change it up, add, subtract, make multiple displays, use different accessories … the sky is the limit.”

In addition to the fairy garden, the gypsy garden is hugely popular.

“It’s basically the same thing, just with brighter colors,” Whittington said.

While fairy gardens tend to have a more organic, vintage feel, gypsy gardens boast bold colors such as fuchsia and lime green and sparkly features, such as tiny crystal chandeliers and bright accents.

Spring is a hot time for the fairy gardens, Whittington said, but it’s a hobby that can easily be changed on a seasonal or even weekly basis.

“We have people come in to buy new pieces each week,” she said.

The gardens are more than just a cute display.

“Gardening is such a forgotten art,” Whittington said. “It’s a great way to introduce children back to nature without having to use an app or a piece of technology. It’s also great common ground children and grandparents can enjoy together.”

Humphrey and Whittington have created fairy gardens to be featured at area businesses including Nanny Goats (complete with a goat and wine bottles), Lollipops and Lace, Mathnasium, Tiny Turtle and Ruffled Feathers Boutique.

Embrace spring early with fresh DIY home and landscaping projects

Get a jumpstart on your landscaping projects by removing traces of winter from your yard.

Embrace spring early with fresh DIY home and landscaping projects

Early preparation can give you a chance to enjoy your patio as the temperatures begin to warm up.

Posted: Friday, March 14, 2014 10:54 pm

Embrace spring early with fresh DIY home and landscaping projects

(BPT) – People across the country are feeling the winter blues after an unusually cold and snowy winter. But with warmer weather arriving soon, you can create a feeling of spring indoors and out with some simple do-it-yourself projects.

Roll up your sleeves and embrace the season of growth with these home and gardening tips:

A fresh coat of paint is the perfect way to bring springtime indoors. Find inspiration from outdoor hues such as fun yellows, vibrant blues or a bright blend of pinks, oranges and reds. Start with an accent wall, which you can complete in just a few hours for under $50 with supplies from your local home improvement store.

Spread the spring theme from your freshly painted walls into your outdoor gardens. Start now by planting seedlings indoors for delicious edible plants and beautiful, colorful blooms you can enjoy all summer long. Lowe’s garden center offers regionally relevant plants and the tools necessary for potting, planting and transplanting seedlings into your backyard garden once spring arrives and the ground thaws. In the meantime, cherish the beauty of your indoor garden as it reminds you of the warm weather on the way.

As temperatures begin to warm, time to enjoy the outdoors is just around the corner. Soon enough you’ll be relaxing with family and friends on your deck or in the backyard around a fire pit. Take time now to get prepared for spring and summer days. Decorate and furnish your outdoor space with allen + roth patio furniture from Lowe’s. From bistro sets perfect for enjoying breakfast to conversation sets that will make your guests linger during longer days, you can create a specialty look at affordable prices.

Get a jumpstart on your landscaping projects by removing traces of winter from your yard. As soon as the snow melts and the ground thaws, pick up or mow leaves and fallen twigs, trim or prune the bushes and give your grass a professional look by edging along paved pathways. Kobalt offers all the tools you need in its new outdoor power equipment line. Launched this spring, the line includes seven cordless tools that all operate off a single, interchangeable, 40-volt lithium ion battery. The selection includes two push lawn mowers, a chainsaw, pole saw, string trimmer and edger, blower and hedge trimmer. No need to wait for all the batteries to recharge – just switch them out from tool to tool and you can spruce up the yard in no time.

Spring is calling with these simple, affordable DIY projects that are sure to leave the winter blues behind you. In a weekend or less, your home and backyard will feel a sense of spring renewal that will provide long hours of enjoyment for months to come.

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