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How to Save Water and Have a Beautiful Garden in California

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SACRAMENTO, CA, Jul 01, 2013 (Marketwired via COMTEX) —
Can you have a beautiful garden and save water too? The answer is
yes — if the right plants are planted.

Sunset Western Garden Collection, the first live plant collection to
focus exclusively on top performing plants for the Western gardener,
and Save Our Water, California’s statewide water conservation public
education program, have joined forces to make it easier for
California gardeners to pick plants that will both thrive and save
water. Twenty out of 29 of the plants in Sunset’s new line of plants
bear the Save Our Water logo to help Californians identify the right
plants for the state’s Mediterranean climate.

“Californians can definitely have lush, colorful gardens that don’t
use a lot of water,” says Janet Sluis, a program developer with Plant
Development Services’ Sunset Western Garden Collection. “Amistad
Salvia, Hot Pink Riding Hood Pestemon and Little Miss Sunshine Cistus
are just a few of the water-wise plants that will give homeowners the
pop of color they want in their landscape without using a lot of
water.”

The Save Our Water program was created by the California Department
of Water Resources (DWR) and the Association of California Water
Agencies to educate consumers on ways to reduce their household water
use. Because more than half of residential water use goes to lawns
and outdoor landscaping in many areas of the state, Save Our Water
has a heavy focus on outdoor water conservation.

“Picking the right plants, fixing sprinklers, using drip irrigation,
shrinking or eliminating lawn and investing in a smart controller are
all ways the people can have beautiful landscapes and substantially
reduce their water use at home,” said Julie Saare-Edmonds, a
California master gardener and water efficiency expert at DWR.
“Californians have so many beautiful choices of plants that will do
well without a lot of water. The Sunset Plant Finder is a great tool
to help people learn what plants to buy.”

Sunset Western Garden Collection plants, which were developed in
partnership with trusted experts at Sunset magazine, are currently
sold at select independent garden centers and Orchard Supply and
Lowe’s locations throughout the state. Consumers can easily locate
the nearest retailer of the collection by visiting
http://sunsetwesterngardencollection.com/find-retailers/.

Learn more about Water-Wise Gardening
For Californians who would
like to learn more about water-wise gardening, they can start by
visiting the websites of Save Our Water, Sunset and Sunset Western
Garden Collection.

Save Our Water unveiled a new online web resource this spring,
Sprinklers 101, which offers homeowners a host of online resources to
help improve their landscape health and reduce their outside water
use. For those looking for landscaping inspiration, the program’s
Real People, Real Savings campaign features photos and videos of more
than 40 California homes which have water-wise landscaping. Another
dozen will be added this summer.

Sunset’s Plant Finder is the online companion to popular gardening
Bible — the Sunset Western Garden Book. California’s gardeners can
search its database for lists and descriptions of plants that fit
their particular climate zone, yard size, sun and shade, favorite
types of plants, and special needs. The Plant Finder allows gardeners
to:







        
        --  Search plants by color, size, type, and growing needs
        --  Browse our A-Z plant list by common and botanical names
        --  Find their Sunset Climate Zone -- the key to knowing what plants will
            thrive
        --  Use the Advance Search page to find plants for:
            --  birds and butterflies
            --  rock gardens
            --  slopes
            --  dry areas
            --  shady areas
            --  and more special situations
        --  Filter your selections by your climate zone, color, size, and more.
            Then choose your plants and save them to a favorites list to print and
            take to the nursery.

In addition, the gardening sections of Sunset.com and Sunset Magazine
are filled with information on water-wise gardening, irrigation
how-to’s, hardscape ideas and more. For more information about
Sunset’s recent garden titles, including The 20-Minute Gardener, and
to download the interactive edition of The New Sunset Western Garden
Book, go to www.sunset.com/wg.

The Sunset Western Garden Collection’s website gives gardeners
detailed information on how to successful use their plants in
residential landscapes and gardens, as well as additional information
on:







        
        --  Six Simple Steps to a Water-Wise Garden
        --  Combatting Weeds without Chemicals
        --  How to Prepare the Soil
        --  Great Plants for Container Gardens
        --  How to Attract Birds and Butterflies
        --  Firescaping
        --  And more!

About Save Our Water
The Save Our Water program, which was created by
the California Department of Water Resources and the Association of
California Water Agencies in 2009, educates consumers on ways to
reduce their household water use. To learn more about the Save Our
Water program, visit www.saveourh2o.org or follow us on Facebook or
Twitter.

About Sunset Magazine
Sunset (www.sunset.com) is the leading
lifestyle brand in the West. Through magazines and books, events and
experiences, and digital and social media, Sunset covers the West’s
best flavors, destinations, design trends, and innovations. Sunset
engages and inspires an audience of over five million educated,
active and affluent consumers every month through its five regional
print editions — Pacific Northwest, Northern California, Southern
California, Southwest and Mountain — as well as via all tablet
devices and its website. In addition to its print and digital
publication, Sunset showcases the region’s unique lifestyle and
noteworthy destinations through its flagship events, established home
programs, licensing partnerships, books and International Wine
Competition. Sunset is part of the Time Inc. Lifestyle Group.

About Plant Development Services
Plant Development Services works
with the world’s top growers and breeders to bring to market plants
that impact landscapes with recognizable, marketable improvements.
Plant Development Services also introduced the number one
multi-season blooming azalea, Encore(R) Azalea, and the Southern
Living(R) Plant Collection, featuring innovative new plants selected
for superior performance in Southern gardens. For more information,
visit plantdevelopment.com.







        
        Media Contacts:
        Jennifer Persike
        Association of California Water Agencies
        916-441-4545 or 916-296-3981 (cell)
        Email Contact
        
        Nancy Vogel
        Dept. of Water Resources
        916-651-7512 or 916-796-3048 (cell)
        Email Contact
        
        Tara Henley
        Plant Development Services
        251.533.2916
        Email Contact
        
        Dana Smith
        Sunset
        510.682.3141
        Email Contact

SOURCE: Association of California Water Agencies







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Filed Under: gardens and landscaping

Penn State Extension: Community Garden shed gets green roof

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Community Gardens are popping up all over the country. Why? As people become more concerned about what they eat and what has happens to their food prior buying it, the desire to grow your own food is evident. In cooperation with the Adams County Commissioners, Penn State Extension provided a community garden for those that wanted to garden that either didn’t have the opportunity on their own property or just enjoyed the sociable nature of community gardening. The gardens have become a regular educational opportunity here at the Agricultural and Natural Resources Center for the community involved in the program.

As gardeners, we all know that proper tools become very important in our daily chores of planting, weeding, and irrigating. Recognizing this need, a garden shed needed constructed. Instead of building a traditional shed only for storage, Penn State Extension and Adams County Conservation District wanted to show how gardeners could retrofit current sheds with a green roof. This shed has become an additional educational stormwater best management practice to the self-guided tour at the Agricultural and Natural Resources Center.

So what is a green roof? A green roof is a roof that has plants instead of traditional asphalt shingles or metal. Compared to a traditional rooftop, a green roof captures and stores a high percentage of rain. This reduces stormwater runoff that causes flooding in our local streams. By capturing rain before it becomes runoff, less tax dollars are needed to fix stream bank erosion issues. Not only are green roofs environmentally friendly, there are many other reasons why you would want one. Information concerning how green roofs are built and other benefits are available at the community garden shed.

The shed was constructed by the Gettysburg School District’s Career and Technology Department led by David Snyder. His class worked on the project from estimating and ordering supplies to the construction of the building. Because of their efforts, the community garden shed will continue to be an opportunity for the community to learn more about green roofs.

Filed Under: gardens and landscaping

Home and garden notes for July 1

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Meetings

Central Oklahoma Bonsai Society, 7 p.m., July 9 at Will Rogers Exhibition Center, 3400 NW 36. Video program is “Introduction to Bonsai — Part 1.” Visitors welcome.

Weed and Seed Club, 11 a.m., July 13 in the Children’s Garden at Myriad Botanical Gardens, 301 W Reno. For more information email sstephens@myriadgardens.org or call 445-7080.

Workshops

Community Gardening workshop sponsored by Oklahoma County Master Gardeners 1 to 3 p.m. July 9, Oklahoma County Cooperative Extension Service, 930 N Portland. Workshop will focus on starting a community garden, choosing a site for a community garden, coordinating and training volunteers and garnering support from local organizations and businesses. Free. For reservations call 713-1125 or go online to oces.okstate.edu/oklahoma and click the “Contact Us” link.

Water saving landscapes, 9:30 a.m. to noon, July 12, Will Rogers Exhibition Center, 3400 NW 36. Save time and money growing a vibrant, low-water landscape. Participants will learn about plant selection, proper watering practices and the difference between drought-stressed and heat-stressed plants. Free. Call 943-0827.

Water Wise Landscaping: Outdoor Water Conservation, 9 to 11 a.m., July 13, Children’s Garden Porch, Myriad Botanical Gardens, 301 W Reno. Promote conservation through proper outdoor watering and drought-tolerant landscaping. Experts from the Oklahoma State University Cooperative Extension Service will provide information on different techniques from irrigation to proper plant selection followed by a walking tour through the gardens to show how these principles can be applied to create a beautiful, water-wise landscape. Free. Call 297-3995.

Events

Mid-Week Market, 4 to 8 p.m., Wednesdays, July 3, 10, 17, 24, 31, Sheridan Lawn, Myriad Botanical Gardens, 301 W Reno. Join the Urban Agrarian for the freshest, most delectable local fruits, vegetables and other goods like jams, jellies, sauces, pastas and baked goods. All locally grown and produced. Don’t be surprised to find a beer garden, sporadic entertainment, food trucks and more as the market grows. Call 297-3995.

Third Thursday — An Evening Garden Lecture Series, 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. July 18, Oklahoma County Cooperative Extension Service, 930 N Portland. Hear presentations on topics like soil fertility, plants for Oklahoma, tree selection and planting, container gardening and more. Third Thursday of each month through October.

Filed Under: gardens and landscaping

Urban Backyards: 5 Ways City-Dwellers Can Use Small Outdoor Spaces

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From Networx’s Steve Graham:

City dwellers often rely on botanical gardens and city parks for their outdoor fix, but many may have a perfectly good garden space in the back yard. Of course, the small backyard space may covered with concrete or overrun with weeds and worse. That doesn’t mean there is no hope.

You can never magically expand a small space into a lush suburban garden escape, but there are good ways to use small urban backyard spaces. Here are five of the best options for a small urban garden.

List and captions courtesy of Networx

Loading Slideshow

  • Vegetable Patch

    The idea of a vegetable farm may conjure huge rural spaces, but plenty of food can be grown in a very small space. Some companies such as a href=”http://www.minifarmbox.com/products/” target=”_blank”Minifarmbox/a specialize in products for small vegetable gardens, urban and otherwise. The company suggests an ambitious city dweller can grow 80 heads of lettuce, 70 pounds of tomatoes, 50 pounds of beets and more in a a href=”http://www.networx.com/article/how-to-grow-pounds-of-food-in-a-tiny-gar” target=”_blank”four-foot-by-four-foot raised garden bed/a.

    Of course, it takes some planning and strategy to optimize an urban vegetable garden. Ideally, most vegetables want six to eight hours of full sun, so you may need a raised bed on wheels to help chase the sun. Also use a good rich planting mix and fertilize regularly, particularly if using raised beds, where you have not access to the natural nutrients in the soil. Also focus on dwarf varieties. Miniature eggplants, tomatoes and more are packed with plenty of flavor you can’t find at the supermarket.

  • Wildlife Habitat

    The National Wildlife Federation will register a href=”http://www.nwf.org/How-to-Help/Garden-for-Wildlife/Create-a-Habitat.aspx?CFID=21346211CFTOKEN=ec0ed91b082aacd2-6E964B52-5056-A84B-C3E89FCF8D59A17E” target=”_blank”certified wildlife habitats/a as small as apartment balconies. In the dense concrete jungles of cities, it is particularly important to ensure safe spaces for birds and other wildlife. The NWF has four requirements for its certified wildlife habitats:

    • You must provide food for wildlife, which can be as simple as a hanging feeder or a a href=”http://www.networx.com/article/permaculture-work-smarter-not-harder” target=”_blank”few native plants/a.

    • You must supply water for wildlife, which may include birdbaths or small puddling areas for butterflies.

    • You must create cover for wildlife, including birdhouses or even dead trees.

    • You must have a space for wildlife to raise their young, which can include a nesting box, mature trees, caterpillar host plants or a planting of dense shrubs.

  • Dining Room

    For an episode of HGTV’s “a href=”http://www.hgtv.com/holidays-and-entertaining/urban-backyard-wedding/pictures/index.html” target=”_blank”Landscape Smart/a,” one couple hosted their wedding in their long-neglected urban back yard. The centerpiece of the project (and the stage for their ceremony) was a circular flagstone patio, created by a a href=”http://remodeling.networx.com/remodeling-contractors/CA/Oakland/” target=”_blank”contractor in Oakland/a, CA.

    With all the concrete all over the city, it may seem counter-intuitive to pave over an existing yard space, but a nice flagstone patio, plus plants and furniture equals an outdoor dining room for the warm months.

    Of course, city thieves will prey on anything not nailed to the ground (and some things that are nailed to the ground), so scour city garage sales, freebies and thrift stores for cheap outdoor furniture.

    A paved space can still have landscaping of sorts. Put all your plants in containers, and you can move them around to chase the sun or accommodate groups of various sizes. If you use large containers, consider putting empty plastic bottles or other filler in the bottom of the containers to keep them from getting prohibitively heavy.

  • Meditation Or Relaxation Area

    Can anybody meditate among the honks, shouts and bustle of the city? With a dense relaxation garden, the answer is yes. The smells and sights of a garden are naturally relaxing and healing. An urban meditation space just needs to be more compact, dense and vertical than most.

    Moreover, beekeepers say their hobby is fairly meditative, and (careful) urban backyard hives are generating quite a buzz. Beekeeping also can help bring back an insect that seems to be mysteriously dying off.

  • Playground

    If you can secure the yard, you can let the kids run free in an urban backyard playground. Everything is built up vertically in the city, and urban playgrounds are no exception. Most kids naturally want to climb, so the sandbox can be under the swings, which can be under the monkey bars, which can be under the fort.

    A quick daily hose-down of all the toys and playground equipment will pay off in the long run. The alternative is periodic scrubbing of grime and soot, or accepting that the children will “look like the chimney sweeps from Mary Poppins,” as one a href=”http://www.brickunderground.com/blog/2011/06/my_backyard_nightmare_the_upper_east_side_version” target=”_blank”New York blogger/a noted when she became disillusioned with her Manhattan playground space.

    As noted above, there are some unique challenges and additional work involved when establishing and using an urban back yard, but you may be surprised by how much use and joy you can get from a small space.

Filed Under: gardens and landscaping

WCC’s ‘Green’ Building Gets Native-Plant Landscaping

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The Divney Tung Schwalbe planning, engineering and landscape architecture firm chose Westchester Community College as the site of its annual “do-it-in-a-day” volunteer landscaping project.

The partners in the firm along with the company’s employees recently designed and planted a garden at the entrance of the college’s Gateway Center on the main campus in Valhalla. They planted a variety of native plants donated by a member of the Westchester Community College Foundation Board.  

The Gateway Center, designed by the internationally recognized Ennead Architectural firm, is the first county-owned “green” building. 

Gateway received LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Gold certification. Ecology and sustainability were central to the design, from the building’s overall siting and massing strategies to the integration of energy efficient systems and selection of materials.

Divney Tung Schwalbe partner Jerry Schwalbe, an alumnus of the college, is a licensed civil engineer with more than thirty years experience in site engineering, municipal infrastructure design, and project management and development. He supervised the garden project in coordination with members of the college’s Physical Plant Department and the college’s Native Plant Center.

“This was truly a labor of love,” says Schwalbe. “It was very special for me to be able to give something back to the institution that provided the educational foundation for my career,” he says.

The Native Plant Center was established by the Westchester Community College Foundation on the grounds of the college in 1998 to educate individuals on the importance of native plants of the Northeast. 

As the first national affiliate of the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center in Austin, Texas, The Native Plant Center builds on the work begun by the former First Lady to promote the use of native plants. 

The Center maintains demonstration gardens and educates the public about the environmental necessity, economic value, and natural beauty of native plants through conferences, lectures, field trips, classes, and its Go Native U certificate program.

“This space was truly transformed by the crew at Divney Tung Schwalbe,” says Carol Capobianco, the director of the college’s Native Plant Center. “Their attention to detail, extraordinary design skills, and just plain hard work made this project happen. Now we have a native garden showcase at the entrance to this building, which is an architectural jewel,” she says.  

Divney Tung Schwalbe, which was founded in 1972, is a team of land use professionals who help clients to envision and achieve successful and responsible development projects. The company serves a wide range of private and public clients throughout the New York Tri-State Region and beyond—from corporate headquarters and institutional facilities to residential communities, historic properties, and recreational sites.

Filed Under: gardens and landscaping

Dakota County news briefs: Nominations due for gardening contest in Burnsville

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    Sunday is the last day to nominate gardens and landscaping in the annual contest for Burnsville residents and businesses sponsored by the Burnsville Convention Visitors Bureau and Cal’s Market Garden Center.

    In previous years, the contest was sponsored by the city of Burnsville. This is the second year the convention and business bureau has coordinated the contest.

    “This event gives us an opportunity to show our appreciation to residents and business owners who keep the community looking great,’’ said Convention Visitors Bureau Executive Director Amie Burrill. “A beautiful city makes our job of attracting visitors just that much easier.”

    Burnsville residents and businesses have until the end of today to nominate favorite homes, neighborhoods and Burnsville businesses that have impeccable landscaping or gardening. To qualify, nominees must be located within Burnsville city limits, be visible from the street and match criteria for the submitted category.

    Nominations will be reviewed by the visitor’s bureau board of directors in early July. Prizes in each category are a $100 gift card to Cal’s Market Garden Center, a $50 gift card to a Burnsville restaurant, and four tickets to the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum.

    To submit a nomination, go to www.Burnsvillemn.com/Garden-Contest. cfm or pick up a form at any Burnsville Convention Visitors Bureau, Burnsville City Hall, Cal’s Market and Garden Center and Jo Jo’s Rise Wine. All submissions must have a photo.

    Winners will be notified by phone.

    APPLE VALLEY

    Police handled 568 cases in 2012

    The Apple Valley Police investigations division investigated 568 cases in 2012, according to a department report.

    They included 128 background investigations, 91 thefts, 91 financial cases, 41 criminal sexual assaults, 25 burglaries, 22 assaults and 12 robberies. In 2011, cases investigated numbered 603, and in 2010, it was 498.

    EAGAN

    Sculptures chosen for art installation

    Two sculptures have been selected for installation on the Eagan Art House grounds by the end of August.

    The first, “Metamorphosis,” by Eagan artist Melvin Smith, is a 21-foot orange-painted metal sculpture of circles and geometric shapes designed to portray celebration and change through color, shape and what they city describes as a “framing of nature and community.” It was funded through a grant from the Metropolitan Regional Arts Council.

    The second, “Sentience,” by Minneapolis artist Marcia MacEachron, is a 6-foot steel sculpture of two intersecting oak leaves with cutouts to produce changing shadow forms surrounding the piece. It was designed to provide diverse shadows on the surrounding ground, encouraging interactive experiences. It was funded by the 2013 Parks Recreation Park Site Fund.

    DAKOTA COUNTY

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    Filed Under: gardens and landscaping

    Ohio couple’s garden brings beauty, mystery to backyard

    by Leave a Comment

    Thomas Moore, the spirituality writer, praises gardens for their role as the reconcilers of “human art and wild nature, hard work and deep pleasure, spiritual practice and the material world.” A garden at its very core is “a magical place because it is not divided,” he writes in his book The Re-Enchantment of Everyday Life.

    Moore could have been penning these words from Marie Sweeney and Fred Taylor’s screened-in back porch while enjoying the wild green vista that extends outward. At 10,345 square feet, this garden seems to go on forever.

    The front yard of their modest, blue Clintonville home provides no clue of what is thriving out in the back 40. The front’s floral inhabitants include sundrops, coneflowers, foxglove, lamb’s ear, yarrow, lavender and coreopsis. A sundial stands sentry off to the side of the yard. A black bear statue extends its arms and paws in welcome.

    But step beyond the Sweeney-Taylor doorway, through their calm, orderly living room, past the friendly kitchen to the screened in porch, and a totally different scene emerges. This is a garden primeval. The expanse of bushes, trees, flowers and ferns is immediately overwhelming.

    The eyes pick up an unexpected pop of color from the pink and purple curtains waving in the breeze. They take in the white and yellow daisies, the purple butterfly bushes, the oranges and yellows of the daylilies, the flash of goldfish swimming in the pond, the ferns, the herbs. It is only the first week of June, but the water lilies are blooming.

    There’s more to NCR than what you read online. Explore our Global Faith special section.

    “And we’ve had lettuce for a month,” Sweeney says.

    Each spring and summer, neighbors and friends share the bounty of raspberries, blueberries, strawberries, cucumbers, squash, heritage tomatoes, sweet peppers, hot peppers, sugar snap peas, edible pod peas, kale, Swiss chard, spinach, bok choy, Brussels sprouts, purple cabbage and onions. Of her husband’s gardening genius, she grins fondly and says: “Fred is like God in abundance — too much of a good thing.”

    And then, during this garden tour, one notices two more ponds that don’t have any goldfish or water lilies. These are strictly utilitarian. An antiquated garden hose is spouting a continuous stream of running water into them. They are designed to catch gray water from the kitchen sink, bathtub and washing machine. Old carpeting, rescued from one of Taylor’s dumpster-diving sessions, serves as mulch around the ponds.

    Taylor began digging the ponds himself by hand more than 20 years ago after his first wife, Ann, was killed in an automobile accident. Fred sustained painful tissue injuries himself. When he left the hospital, his grieving process led him to their backyard, where “I just started digging.” Taylor didn’t have any specific plans in mind. The three ponds eventually emerged.

    And what about those purple and pink curtains hanging over there in the corner? They are for keeping the critters away from the raspberries and strawberries.

    Both of the Taylor-Sweeney gardens serve as the pallets for their ongoing spiritual practice. “They are my church, my hobby, my avocation and my gymnasium,” Taylor says. “Gardening and landscaping are a meditation that takes me from thought to action without thinking.”

    He elaborates: “God is nature, and nature encompasses all that there is. In the garden, I feel closer to the beauty and mystery, the messiness and magic of the cycles of life and death.”

    For Sweeney, gardening is “participating in the imagination of God. It’s all real with the ‘what ifs.’ Let’s have beauty, some symmetry, but not too much. It’s a balance between creativity and predictability.”

    Through gardening, she is reminded of generosity, and she is thankful. “Opulence is picking breakfast. When I go to the raspberries and bow down to pick them, it is like a sacred dance.” When Sweeney accidentally breaks off a branch, she apologizes to the plant.

    Does she believe in fairies and plant spirits? “Of course. I’m Irish. When the lightening bugs come, I know the fairies are there, too.”

    The story of the Taylor-Sweeney gardens intertwines with the couple’s own lives. As a kid, Taylor helped out in his dad’s hobby garden, but it wasn’t a particularly enjoyable experience. The elder Taylor earned a living for the family by operating an auto parts business in Geneva, Ohio. He loved tinkering with cars and everything mechanical. But as far as young Taylor was concerned, there were too many machines around, including the farm tractor. There was too much preciseness and orderliness muddying up his life. He hated the monotonous rows of green beans.

    “When I picked them, I used to wonder if I would ever get to the end,” he says. The result: Taylor rebelled against machines, precisely planted rows and too many green beans. He went the academic route, graduating from Ohio State University with a chemistry degree. After working as a chemist, he switched to a career in massage therapy. As he matured, Taylor also rebelled against the rigidly stern rules of his Catholic upbringing. During the 1970s, he became an environmentalist. By 1979, he was composting, a practice almost unheard of at the time.

    While Taylor was learning to dislike mechanical things, orderly gardening and churchy religion, Sweeney, an Irish Catholic, was growing up in Boston. She loved the ocean and the beach. Every afternoon, she walked along the seashore with her dad and little brothers. During junior high, she spent every minute she could visiting a family friend’s dairy farm. “Chasing cows brought me alive,” she says.

    Sweeney planted her first garden while serving as a Sister of Charity of Nazareth, Ky. On assignment to a children’s home in Nashville, Tenn., “I wanted to let the kids know where their food came from.” After moving to Columbus, she was a member of the pastoral staff at the Ohio State University’s St. Thomas More Newman Center for several years. She eventually left her religious community to go into hospice work. Throughout these transitions, gardening remained the constant in her life.

    A mutual interest in ecology brought Sweeney and Taylor together. His garden was already an advanced work in progress when they started dating. But Sweeney was a little puzzled at first by the deep holes in Taylor’s backyard, the old scrap metal and bedsprings, and the ratty-looking carpeting “I knew we were both environmentalists, but I did get a little nervous at first,” she said.

    As she would learn, repurposing and letting things evolve in utilitarian chaos were part of Taylor’s gardening process. Through 16 years of marriage, the couple has learned to combine their respective utilitarian-aesthetic approaches.

    A few years ago, though, one neighbor not at peace with the backyard goings-on reported Taylor and Sweeney to the city of Columbus for perceived code violations. Taylor, however, had been on top of things early on. When he first decided to put in his ponds, he inquired about permits, but “nobody had ever heard of a water garden.” So Taylor simply continued with his plans.

    Following the neighbor’s call, however, three carloads of officials from the water, sanitation and health departments arrived unannounced to inspect the garden for themselves. Taylor showed them that there was always running water in the ponds, “that there were no wigglers” and that the gray household water ends up in a nearby creek.

    The inspectors were satisfied and asked him to make a couple of inexpensive minor tweaks to the operation, which Taylor did.

    One of the bureaucrats, however, went into an unbureaucratic state of awed appreciation by what she saw during her garden tour. “Oh, my God, this is beautiful,” she exclaimed to a colleague. “These people are doing great things.”

    Filed Under: gardens and landscaping

    Brandywine Valley Water Garden tour set

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    BERWYN — State Sen. Andy Dinniman, D-19th of West Whiteland, recently joined volunteers from the Brandywine Valley Water Garden Tour to announce that this year’s tour will take place on Saturday, July 27 and Sunday, July 28.

    “Last year, the Brandywine Valley Water Garden Tour raised almost $15,000 for the Chester County Food Bank. This year we know we can build on that success,” Dinniman said. “The tour is a great event that supports a great cause. I want to thank all of the volunteers and residents who open up their homes to share with us their picturesque ponds, winding streams and lush gardens.”

    In its 10th year, the tour offers an opportunity to visit homes of local residents and neighbors who have created beautiful waterscapes in their backyards.

    Proceeds from the tour will benefit the Chester County Food Bank and Gleaning Program, which supports local food banks and provides fresh, healthy foodstuffs to those in need.

    The two-day, self-guided tour has grown significantly over the years to include more than 50 water features and gardens throughout Chester County. Purchase of a ticket includes a map with a listing of locations so participants can plan their own routes. In addition, this year a bus tour is being offered.

    With the purchase of a ticket, participants are also welcome to attend the opening night barbecue featuring live entertainment, a silent auction and raffle at Turpin Landscaping in Wagontown on the evening of July 27. All of the proceeds from the tour and barbecue go to the Chester County Food Bank.

    Dinniman, said he was impressed by the amount volunteers who have gotten involved in the highly successful community partnership.

    Filed Under: gardens and landscaping

    Green Infrastructure and the Path to Recovery

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    With the stock market seesawing wildly in response to cryptic statements by Federal Reserve officials about the future of the central bank’s massive bailout program, we are reminded daily that the financial crisis never found resolution but instead gravitated for a time to the Fed’s balance sheet.

    One impact of the Fed’s blank check policy for finance is that the bankster paradigm of economic growth remains intact. In recent months, the big banks have been able to write their own regulatory rules and fend off calls for accountability.

    The New Deal teaches us that overcoming a financial crisis is not about giving the keys to the kingdom to the speculator class, as we have done, but instead requires investing heavily in public infrastructure and other productive sectors.

    While the austerity frame adopted by politicians from both parties at the behest of corporate-funded think-tanks impedes conversation on a national infrastructure program, a vital movement dedicated to building smart cities with quality public transportation, green affordable housing and cleaner waterways is gaining steam at the regional level. New rail systems are under construction in places like Cincinnati, Denver and Phoenix. Cities as varied as Nashville and Portland are implementing regional sustainability plans to limit sprawl and build vital neighborhoods.

    Cleveland, thanks to the Evergreen network of co-operatives, recently saw the opening of the largest urban farm in the country, producing 3 million heads of lettuce annually. And in Baltimore, Milwaukee and Buffalo, community-based partnerships have led to a dramatic expansion of the green building retrofit sector.

    Among the smart city sectors, urban water conservation projects, including the removal of industrial-age contaminants, the reduction of raw sewage flowing into lakes and rivers and the expansion of public access along waterways, rank high both in terms of the potential to create jobs and the transformative impact that clean water and publicly accessible waterfronts can have on city life.

    The Blue Economy is particularly ascendant in older industrial cities along the Great Lakes, where miles of formerly industrialized waterfront are being returned to recreational access and large investments in combating combined sewer overflow (CSO), which results when storm water overwhelms antiquated sewer systems, have begun to improve water quality. In many cities, CSO-related investment was initially prompted by EPA enforcement actions related to the Clean Water Act. From Milwaukee to Buffalo, Blue Economy movement leaders are making the case for ensuring that the greatest freshwater resource in the world is restored as a public good for generations to come.

    According to a report by Green for All, sewer overflows contaminate U.S. waters with 860 billion gallons of untreated sewage annually, an amount that could fill 1.3 million Olympic size swimming pools. The EPA estimates the need for investment of $188.4 billion to manage stormwater and preserve water quality. More than 1.9 million jobs could be created in the process.

    Given the scale of the urban infrastructure market, finance is angling to get a piece of the action with new infrastructure finance products and a range of public-private partnerships. But, as a Brookings Institution report showed, the devil is in the details. While private capital may add value to some infrastructure projects, it has also led to waste, excessive costs to taxpayers and loss of local control, most famously in the case of the Chicago parking meter privatization debacle. Rahm Emanuel’s plan to launch an infrastructure trust in Chicago has been met with widespread skepticism as experts question whether the new partnership structures are any more cost-effective than tried-and-true municipal bonds.

    Strategic investment by cities and municipal sewer authorities in green infrastructure measures such as rain gardens and bioswales, which can be installed on vacant urban land to divert massive quantities of rainwater from the sewer drain, can create jobs accessible to urban residents, forge new community-based partnerships. and measurably impact water quality. Rain gardens, when designed with aesthetics in mind, can also beautify neighborhoods with vast swathes of vacant land and expand public access to green space.

    In Philadelphia, city agencies and community organizations have partnered on an integrated approach to combating sewer overflow which includes a range of next generation infrastructure investments. The city’s “Green City, Clean Waters” plan will result in $1.6 billion in green infrastructure and approximately 15,000 jobs.

    In Pittsburgh, the 3 Rivers Wet Weather Demonstration Project, led by a nonprofit organization that pioneered community-based strategies to reduce sewer overflow, is employing a range of interventions, including porous pavement, rain gardens, green roofs and improved tree maintenance.

    Here in Buffalo, Buffalo Niagara Riverkeeper has already generated more than $50 million in Blue Economy activity through major investments in river dredging, stormwater management and waterfront access projects. A new Blue Economy Initiative, which seeks to drive economic revitalization through the restoration of the health and integrity of the Great Lakes watershed, envisions expanded cooperation on green infrastructure projects in neighborhoods through partnership with community organizations like the Center for Employment Opportunities and PUSH, which I direct, and the Buffalo Sewer Authority.

    And in Syracuse, a training program aimed at developing career pathways for new refugee residents in the Blue Economy has been established at the state university. Students learn the basics of rain garden installation and sustainable landscaping in 10-week modules and then do internships with private firms in the growing Blue Economy sector.

    Green infrastructure has also jump-started several growing social enterprises with roots in low-income communities. In Portland, OR the nonprofit Verde advocates for increased investment in green infrastructure and has founded nursery and landscaping companies employing low-income residents, who work on a range of urban water management projects.

    Intelligent green infrastructure planning can save money for sewer authorities by reducing the volume of water treated at municipal facilities. With projected savings on the balance sheet, sewer authorities can float bonds to pay for needed improvements.

    By investing in tangible projects that conserve precious water resources, create jobs in low-income neighborhoods, and make cities more livable, the green infrastructure movement, offers a powerful alternative to austerity economics and speculation-based growth models. With its strong roots in communities devastated by deindustrialization and its triple-bottom-line impacts, the movement could help awaken policymakers and elected officials to the reality that relying on financial speculation for growth does not offer a viable path to prosperity.

    Filed Under: gardens and landscaping

    Rothschild villa and gardens a must-see for visitors to the French Riviera

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    Béatrice Ephrussi de Rothschild‘s turn-of-the-century folly is today a glorious gift to visitors to the Cote d’Azur where her villa and 10 acres of formal gardens stand as one of the loveliest diversions in the area. The ornate palace and holdings encompass 17 acres atop a promontory overlooking Cap Ferrat.

    From 1907 to 1912, the divorced heiress devoted her time to overseeing construction of her magnificent winter home — an architectural wedding cake that reveals inspiration from the Italian renaissance with elements of Gothic and strong emphasis on Venetian palace design, all as dictated by the somewhat eccentric heiress. The pink and white villa is laden with swaths of red Verona marble, white Carrara marble, light grey marble and bass reliefs from Catalan cloisters, just to name a few of the whimsical motifs employed.

    The landscaping, which required seven years to complete, features nine different garden styles. 

    The landscaping, which required seven years to complete, features nine different garden styles ranging from Spanish to Florentine to Japanese and includes a formal French garden. Reflection pools, dancing fountains, lily ponds and waterfalls punctuate the vast landscape that can command a half-day for proper exploration.

    On our recent visit we began in the small screening room where a presentation on Madame de Rothschild’s life, including her unfortunate marriage to and ultimate divorce from a wealthy Parisian banker, Maurice Ephrussi, provided an entertaining and informative introduction to the villa and gardens.

    Then off we went to explore the various salons and private living quarters that remain elaborately furnished and decorated, just as Madame de Rothschild had left them when she bequeathed the property and its contents to the Académie des Beaux-Arts in 1933.

    Among the riches that visitors will find while exploring the vast mansion are Aubusson carpets, Goeblin tapestries, Meissen chandeliers, Sevres porcelain dinner services and porcelain vases dating from the late 1700s. Her eclectic collections include medieval and renaissance works of art and objects from the Far East and furnishings from around the world. On her death, she left more than 5,000 works of art to the Académie.

    Filed Under: gardens and landscaping
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