Thursday night, right after the doors closed on Day 1 of the 2014 Connecticut Flower Garden Show, the many professional landscapers who created the show’s 20 lush, live gardens on-site gathered.

More than two dozen design awards were presented by Kristie Gonsalves, President of North East Expos, organizer of the 33rd annual show. A panel of horticulture and landscape design experts strolled the gardens earlier in the day and selected the winners.

A Berlin garden store was honored with one of the top three awards on the evening: Best Horticulture Award was presented to Hillside Landscaping Co. of Berlin (landscape #12).

Best of Show was awarded to Pondering Creations of Terryville (landscape #1) — for the second year in a row — and Best Design Award was presented to Supreme Landscapes LLC (landscape #4) of Bristol.

Awards are on display in front of all of the winning landscapes.

The Connecticut Flower Garden Show continues Friday through Sunday, Feb. 23, at the Connecticut Convention Center on 100 Columbus Blvd. in Hartford.

Find out more about the show at www.ctflowershow.com or call North East Expos at 860-844-8461.

Based off a release from the Connecticut Flower Garden Show.

Manipulate the odds

I will not advocate hunting or trapping, and live-trapping and removal often just places the animal where it’s someone else’s problem – or puts it in a hostile, overpopulated environment anyway. My preference is to try to protect natural habitat wherever possible, in an attempt to balance the prey and predator populations. Give the rabbits a home, but also respect the needs of foxes, hawks and other predators.

For gardens and landscape plants, a few techniques can tilt the odds in favor of plant survival, with the goal of sending Cutie Bunny to eat something other than our plant collections. They all work, to some extent, depending upon our persistence and the rabbit population.

• Fencing: For rabbits, a 2-foot chicken wire fence usually suffices, the bottom buried a few inches into the soil – but remember that in winter the fence must reach well above snow level. In spring, a chicken wire or screening/mesh hoop or tunnel over bulb plantings – edges well buried – can protect the buds of young bulbs or plants. Take the wire off in time to enjoy the flowers or when guests are coming. (Having written this, I know that many gardeners will be quick to tell me about the time they took the fencing off the just-blooming tulip display, only to have every stem chewed down overnight.) Wire tree-guard cylinders with ½-inch mesh, sold in many garden centers or home supply stores, can protect young tree trunks.

• Shrub Coats and Covers: I wish I had covered a few more precious shrubs, including dwarf conifers, with one of the Shrub Coat line of products this year. Plants under the green teepees or sacks (UV-treated, knitted shade cloth) emerge from winter bright green and undamaged by deer, rabbits, wind and salt. The product is much better than burlap, that easily turns ragged and is readily chewed by animals. Shrub Coats were invented by a WNY professional landscaper, Steve Bakowski, and can be viewed or checked out online or at some local garden centers.

• Repellent sprays and sprinkles: I have observed good results with most commercial repellents as long as I repeat the applications often, especially after rain or snowfall. (There’s the rub – will we get to it often enough?) Many contain coyote or fox urine, and the product Thiram – well tested for effectiveness in deterring both rabbits and deer. Apply these just when you plant something new, because deer are creatures of habit; it helps to convince them early that a certain planting is not good. Similarly, I think it helps to persist with deterrents in spring and early summer when young deer are beginning to explore what they like and don’t like.

• Homemade products: Testimonials abound, claiming that deer or rabbits shun the odors of mothballs, dryer strips, human or dog hair, strong smelling soaps, garlic and human urine. Some folks report success with motion-activated light or sound systems, or scary props that resemble owls or snakes. These can’t hurt, but I just can’t promise they will save the hydrangeas.

Cambria gardeners are licking their wounds. The Cambria Community Services District adopted the Stage 3 conservation measures and restrictions on the use of potable water at a special meeting last month.

Across the board, both residences and businesses have been hit hard on strict conservation measures because of a three-year drought and the fact that, over decades, our CCSD board has been unable to find an alternative water source.

Residents of this town have always supported businesses and even more so in the past few years when events have been created in the hopes of keeping businesses alive and well. Yet, there has been little vocal support for homeowners when it comes to maintaining the physical beauty and value of their property.

After Mother Nature’s gentle blessing this last week, my spirit is rejuvenated. Our gardens have relaxed and plant cells have swelled with recent hydration. Gardeners, who are restricted from using potable water on landscaping, are not about to “dry up and blow away.” Some of us have a rainwater catchment system that will sustain watering as long as there is a bit of rain. But many of us believe that you can’t trust rainfall to be the provider of all our water needs, no matter how large the storage facility. Nor should the CCSD rely on rainwater-dependent wells to continue to supply water in a severe drought. Trusting that this board will do what it takes to provide us with water, I’ll do my part.

In order to have any garden at all this year, I’ll start by reducing the water requirements of our landscape. To begin with:

• I’ll remove plants that require excessive amounts water: hostas, foxglove, columbine, primula and wallflower, among a few.
• My four vegetable boxes will be “out of commission” this year. I’ve filled them with dry leaves and a dash of chicken manure in hopes it will create compost by next fall.
• Shallow potting “bowls” will be washed and stored.
• Hanging pots will be taken down, cleaned, and stored.
• Small potted plants will be planted in the ground in a shady area and I’ll water them with grey water.
• Potted plants of any value, including succulents, will be put in a semi-shady place.
• I’ll make deeper furrows around plants and shrubs to catch “run-off” from rain that is sure to come.
• We’ll read our water meter several times a month so we can monitor our water use.

It would be a lovely thing if the rain continues to moisten our soil but, if we are left “high and dry,” I’m going to pull myself up by my “rainboot straps” and hope for a wet and soggy summer.

“You can take the gardener out of the garden, but you can’t take the garden out of the gardener.”

Lee Oliphant’s column is special to The Cambrian. Email her at cambriagardener@charter.net; read her blog at centralcoastgardening.com.

The
flowers are blooming, the water features are flowing and some 120 exhibitors
are ready to talk gardening as the 2014 version of the Pennsylvania Garden Expo
gets under way today at the Farm Show complex along Cameron Street in
Harrisburg.

Did
it scare away the cold temperatures?

Maybe
not quite, but this year’s 3-day show features 11 very spring-looking display
gardens covering more than 55,000 square feet inside the complex’s Northwest
Hall.

Blouch’s Landscaping of Harrisburg,
for example, built a covered pavilion that houses an outdoor kitchen, patio and
fire pit, all surrounded by a stream and blooming rhododendrons, azaleas, witch
hazels, daffodils and tulips. 

Earth Tones Hardscape of New
Cumberland has a backyard retreat with a fireplace and twin basalt fountains
gently oozing water. The landscaping around it, designed by Ruth Consoli,
features a mix of yellow, white and green spring perennials, evergreens such as
spruce, holly, cypress and boxwood, and flowering woody plants such as dogwood,
cherry and winter jasmine. 

And last year’s Best in Show winner,
Hummel’s Landscape of Harrisburg, is back with a display that includes an
outdoor kitchen with travertine paving, a koi pond, two styles of overhead
shade structures and beds of blooming bulbs, perennials and shrubs. 

Other landscaper firms that have
built gardens include: The Greenskeeper of Palmyra; Levendusky Landscape of
Mechanicsburg; Nature’s Way Nursery of Lower Paxton Twp.; Utopian Landscapes of
Harrisburg; Strathmeyer Landscape Development of Dover; Dreamscapes
Watergardens of Lebanon; Daniel J. Reed Landscape of Harrisburg; Davis
Landscape of Harrisburg, and GoldGlo Landscapes of Millersburg.

Most
of the display gardens include landscape lighting for when the show dims the
lights periodically to show what the gardens look like lighted in the evening.

Many
also include water features.

Some
of the other highlights at Garden Expo 2014:

*
A judged, 2,400-square-foot flower show within the show called “Musical Magic,”
presented by the Garden Club of Harrisburg and the Penn-Cumberland Garden Club.

*
Some 120 vendors and exhibitors, offering such fare as bonsai plants (Nature’s
Way Nursery), herbal products (The Rosemary House), garden books (St. Lynn’s
Press), plants (Stauffers of Kissel Hill), gardening accessories (Lewisberry
Gardens and Gifts) and more.

View full sizePa. Garden Expo shoppers in action.Pa. Garden Expo
*
Dozens of gardening talks and seminars throughout all three days at three
different show-floor venues.

* Central Penn Parent Family Night, slated
for Saturday from 5 to 8 p.m., which features hands-on family activities
throughout the show.

The
Pennsylvania Garden Expo runs Friday and Saturday, Feb. 21-22, from 10 a.m. to
8 p.m. and Sunday, Feb. 23, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Tickets
are $13 at the door and are good all three days of the show.

Senior
citizens (ages 55 and up) get in for $8 on opening day from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.,
then all active and retired military, police, firefighters and first responders
get in at no charge opening day from 5 to 8 p.m. (all other adults get in for
$5 during those hours).

For
Central Penn Parent Family Night on Saturday, adults are admitted for $5
between 5 p.m. and 8 p.m.

Children
12 and under are free at all times during the show.

Farm
Show parking is $8.

Harrisburg-based
Journal Multimedia, best known for publishing the Central Penn Business Journal
and Central Penn Parent magazine, operates the Garden Expo.

PSECU
is show sponsor, and Watson Supply Inc. sponsors the display gardens.

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Some surprising and dramatic findings were released from the citizen engagement report of urban agriculture on Feb. 18.

The study was completed via council directive back in March 2013 to look at residents thoughts on how urban agriculture would affect their community. Administration surveyed 289 residents.

Included in those numbers was a letter we received that (was in support) of urban agriculture from the Village Community Association, said Amanda Ginn sustainability coordinator with the City of Airdrie.

Residents were asked how they felt about the development of urban agriculture within city limits and were asked to rank whether they supported or opposed keeping bees, hens, community gardens, edible landscaping, front yard edible landscaping and rooftop gardens in residential areas or in city owned lands such as parks.

The report indicated high levels of support for urban agriculture initiatives on public lands and City-owned spaces, and lower levels of support for initiatives on private property.

Residential support for City-operated community gardens came in at 94.3 per cent in favour, rooftop gardens received 88.6 per cent support, edible landscaping garnered 85 per cent approval rating and beehives on public lands received 57.9 per cent approval. The report indicated residents support for private/backyards were slightly lower at 81.6 per cent for front yard edible gardens, backyard hens received less support at 57.1 per cent and backyard bees just garnering 50.7 per cent support.

The predominant concerns mentioned with regard to public/City initiatives included ongoing maintenance and vandalism, Ginn said.

Citizen concerns regarding private/backyard initiatives included allergies to bees and concerns about noise and odours associated with backyard chickens.

Residents who supported urban agriculture suggested developing rooftop gardens on a future library building; partnering with the food bank to supply them with edible plantings from public gardens, creating signage for edible landscaping; locating beehives away from high traffic areas such as sidewalks, sports fields and playgrounds and developing additional community gardens.

As you know, Im all for this and I support it 100 per cent, Alderman Candice Kolson said.

I have full faith that you will do your research with regards to bylaws regulations. A large area like the Village would be a perfect spot.

Members of the Village Community Association Pat McMann and Larry Skadden told council during question period that the homeowners in Village community are in favour of urban agriculture and suggested using their area as a potential pilot program.

Many of the neighbours are interested in it and are keen to take part in it, McMann said.

Council voted unanimously in favour to initiate steps to begin a pilot urban agriculture program.

A date for the public information sessions for the program was not known at press time.

THE success of Lancing’s Sensory Garden project was recognised when it reached the finals of a national garden-design competition.

The garden, designed by David Pope of The Project Centre, was shortlisted for the 2013 Society of Garden Designers (SGD) award for Designing in the Community.

Landscape architect Mr Pope said the hard work of Lancing residents had deservedly put the village on the garden-design map.

“One of the rewards of being a landscape architect is making a positive change to a place like Wenceling Garden in Lancing, and seeing your work appreciated and enjoyed by others,” he said.

“To have my design recognised by the Society of Garden Designers as worthy of being a finalist in their annual awards is really the icing on the cake.

“It doesn’t matter that we didn’t win in our category – to see pictures of our little garden up on a big screen next to the work of the UK’s top designers was deeply satisfying.”

The project was instigated by the Lancing Regeneration community group and funded through a combination of the Adur Pot of gold, funds from West Sussex County Council, Lancing Parish Council, Lancing and Sompting Lions, the Sussex Gardens Trust, Southern Water and Sussex Police, and through other private donations.

It was coordinated by Lydia Schilbach, of Red Hen Projects, who said seeing all the effort recognised at a national level was hugely rewarding.

“Lancing’s Sensory Garden Project was a community project from start to finish with a relatively small budget and a tight time-scale,” said Ms Schilbach.

“This standard of high-quality design should be something that local councils, developers and communities should be constantly working towards in Lancing.

The competition’s judges said they were looking at the circumstances behind the garden design and the affect it had had on the community that used it.

SGD chairman Juliet Sargeant said the annual SGD awards had gone from strength to strength.

“Members of the SGD undertake every kind of exterior project that you could imagine,” she said.

“The SGD awards has burst onto the landscaping scene and I am tremendously proud of the excellent standard of entries received and the exciting showcase it has become.”

Work begins this month on Headborough Gardens.

Frosts Landscape Construction is to create the gardens on the next series of ITV’s Love Your Garden show presented by Alan Titchmarsh.

The new series of Love Your Garden, which begins filming in the spring, will help eight deserving families by landscaping their gardens to improve their day-to-day quality of life.

Frosts Landscape Construction, part of the Frosts Group, will be responsible for designing gardens to meet the individual requirements of each chosen family and constructing them. The TV programme follows the process from start to finish and combines social interest with a horticultural and landscaping lilt.

The opportunity of working with horticultural icon Alan Titchmarsh is already creating a real buzz at Frosts. Ken White, managing director of Frosts Landscape Construction, said: “Alan is without doubt one of the most recognisable personalities in horticulture. His passion and support of the industry has been tireless. This will be the group’s first venture into the exciting world of television with its unique set of challenges.”

The Frosts Group is made up of four Garden Centres and Frosts Landscape Construction, which offers a full range of landscape construction and maintenance services to both the commercial and private sectors.

Alan Titchmarsh said: “Frosts are one of the most respected contractors in the country and I look forward to building eight stunning new gardens with them for the new series of Love Your Garden.”

Matt Young, executive producer, said: “Love Your Garden is the most watched gardening programme on television and this year ITV have set us the task of building eight gardens for the primetime series as well as a very different garden for an ITV special that will be broadcast in 2015.

“We are thrilled that Frosts, one of the best landscape contractors in the business, have accepted the challenge. When we met Ken and his team they impressed us immediately with their professionalism, enthusiasm and attention to detail. As Love Your Garden continues to go from strength to strength we look forward to working with them on what we hope will be our best series yet.”

Jubail’s 16th Gardens and Plants Festival will kick off on Wednesday.
Organized by the Royal Commission in Jubail and represented by the Landscaping and Irrigation Department, the festival will take place at Al-Fanateer beach under the slogan “Jubail: a homeland’s destination.”
A total of 45 institutions and companies specialized in agriculture, plant nurseries, aquariums and lighting fixtures will participate, together with several governmental agencies.
Several Gulf Countries, including Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates, represented by the Emirate of Ajman and city of Al-Ain, are also participating in the event.
The festival is expected to attract more than 250,000 visitors.
The 10-day festival aims to raise visitors’ awareness about the environment through the promotion of plants and flowers, highlighting their benefits, the types appropriate for the environment and how to take care of them.
In addition to a display of agricultural products and various house garden supplies that contribute to form ideal house gardens, the festival is also complemented by several events, including activities and recreational and cultural competitions.
According to Saleh Al-Mutairi, director of the Landscaping and Irrigation Department and chairman of the festival’s organizing committee, the Gardens and Plants Festival’s widespread reputation transcends the boundaries of Jubail Industrial City due to its programs and activities, which form a mixture of education, culture and entertainment.
Al-Mutairi told Arab News that the annual festival promotes tourism and encourages visitors to take care of their home gardens and preserve the environment, landscaping area and public property in parks and public gardens.
He said, “The festival’s organizing committee has been keen to diversify and provide various competitions and activities that contribute in creating a large public base from the city visitors, either inside or outside.”
“New elements in this year’s festival include the exhibition of more than 200,000 plants, increasing the festival site area by 60 percent compared to last year’s area, dedicating a special area for festival mascot ‘Muzher’ and doubling the number of participating restaurants and coffee shops,” he said.

This year’s festival will be accompanied by a one-day landscaping forum in its first day at the Al-Fanateer Conference Hall, an event that will be attended by several specialists and experts in environment, architecture and urban design. The event will include several work papers that discuss the most-up-to-date methods of landscaping in modern cities.
Local and international speakers will also give lectures on other topics.
Moreover, several international municipalities will participate in sharing some of the lessons they learned with their audience. Subjects will cover landscape architecture as a profession and its relation with the urban fabric.
The forum aims, furthermore, to elevate the level of awareness regarding landscape architecture and their effects among professionals.

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Emaar Properties

Gardens reduce property selling time by 15%, as global landscapers race to enter their masterpieces before DIGC deadline
UAE, Dubai, 18 February 2014: In a sign of the overwhelming level of interest in the first annual Dubai International Garden Competition (DIGC), a higher-than-expected number of garden designs has been received before the submission deadline of February 16th. The competition is held under the patronage of Dubai Municipality, with strategic sponsorship from Dubai Tourism Commerce, Dubai Calendar and support from the venue sponsorship partner
Emaar Properties
. The first edition of the region’s most anticipated garden showcase will take place from April 3rd to 6th at ‘The Venue, Downtown Dubai’ at the foot of Burj Khalifa — the world’s tallest building, developed by
Emaar Properties
.

Dubai’s rising property prices are riding a wave of optimism in anticipation of World Expo 2020 bid, but property owners could boost their investments even further through landscaping improvements. According to a study by landscape economist John Harris, exceptional landscaping can increase a property’s value by a remarkable 28%. Even a simple upgrade from a ‘good’ to an ‘excellent’ garden can help a property’s value to appreciate by 7% and reduce the selling time by 15%, according to research by Clemson University in the US.

This lucrative opportunity has put Dubai’s property owners and real estate players on high alert, as they eagerly wait to discover awe-inspiring design concepts in the first-ever DIGC. The garden extravaganza is the brainchild of Purelife Events, Conferences Exhibitions, which has pioneered a revolutionary concept to totally revamp the world’s perception of Dubai from a dry, arid desert hub, to a green haven blooming with creativity and innovation.

Nasser Khan, CEO of the competition organizers Purelife, gave a fascinating behind-the-scenes look at the preparations so far: “We have brought three judges all the way from the UK, who are celebrities within the landscaping world. We’re helping Dubai learn from the best, to become the best. We have masterminded this competition because gardens are so much more than just flowers and grass; they encourage Dubai’s population to spend more time outdoors, which greatly enhances family bonding, fitness and emotional serenity.”

Nadeem Abass of Purelife added: “We are thrilled to be ‘painting the city green’, and unleashing a shower of ‘flower power’ through these masterpieces. Dubai relentlessly pursues perfection and it’s now part of the city’s DNA to accept nothing but the very best. Hence Purelife has attracted the “best of the best” from pretty much every continent except Antarctica, and the entries have surpassed our wildest expectations.”

Worldwide, garden competitions have proved enormously successful in helping host cities to blossom – a perfect example being Liverpool, which was in rapid decline in the mid-1980s and had become a concrete jungle of abandoned industries. It then held a garden festival that attracted over 3 million visitors — putting the dying city on ‘life support’, and it was eventually selected as the European Capital of Culture.

In the same way Dubai is the Middle East’s nerve center of architecture, art, lifestyle trends, real estate and scientific innovation – hence Purelife selected it as the inaugural host of this first-of-a-kind event.

Among the globally popular landscaping trends that will possibly be showcased is recycled garden art and low maintenance gardens that use minimal water.

DEWA, AlBaddad International () and Danube Buildmart are lending their support as partners of this event. Interested landscaping organizations, businesses, community groups, architects and other participants can register or find more information on www.digc.ae

About Dubai International Garden Competition (DIGC)
Dubai International Garden Competition (DIGC) is the UAE’s first landscaping competition that has been specially created to showcase the beauty of Dubai’s gardening masterpieces to the region and the wider world. It brings together the world’s best landscapers, architects, designers, botanists, engineers, scientists, real estate experts and other professionals. The first edition will take place from 3rd – 6th April 2014 at The Venue, Downtown Dubai at the foot of Burj Khalifa. The competition is facilitated by Purelife Events, Conferences Exhibitions, under the patronage of Dubai Municipality.

© Press Release 2014

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