Author Archives: Ashland Garden Club

Ashland,Oregon: 2019 Firewise Clean Up Day

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Announcement City of Ashland, Oregon

Save the Date!   Firewise Clean Up Day –  Saturday May 4th, 2019!

Recology Ashland, Ashland Fire & Rescue and the Wildfire Mitigation Commission are proud to announce the eighth annual
FREE Green Debris Drop Off Day!

Create a Firewise yard before fire season starts by removing the “fuel“ from a potential wildfire. Ashland residents are invited to drop-off their green debris free of charge!

When: Saturday, May 4th, 2019 from 8 AM to 3:30 PM
Where: Valley View Transfer Station 3000 N. Valley View Rd.
Who: All Ashland residents showing proof if id (drivers license, utility bill, etc)
Why: Removing fine fuel like leaves, pine needles and small branches away from your house and gutters can significantly reduce your wildfire risk and help prevent the spread of wildfire within the city of Ashland
How: Remove leaves, branches & other green debris from your yard and drop off FREE OF CHARGE to the Transfer Station. Volunteers will be on site to assist with removing green debris from your vehicle, trailer, etc.

ACCEPTED MATERIALS: Only organic green debris will be accepted.  This includes leaves, pine needles, small branches, brush and other green debris

PROHIBITED MATERIALS: Please leave trash, stumps, logs, firewood, & treated lumber at home.  If you bring your green debris in bags they need to be emptied and taken home.

 

https://www.ashland.or.us/Page.asp?NavID=16961

Jackson County Master Gardeners: Soil Testing

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Soil Testing for Gardens and Home Landscapes

Date: Thursday, April 25, 2019
Time: 5:30—7:300 pm
Where: OSU Extension Auditorium, 569 Hanley Rd in Central Point.
Get set for an interactive class in taking a soil sample and interpreting results to improve your garden or home landscape. OSU Extension’s agriculture expert, Dr. Gordon Jones, joins OSU Master Gardener Program Coordinator, Erika Szonntag in evaluating the soil sample you bring—from advance soil sample collection instructions.
Cost: $10 in advance; $15 at the door ($5 discount for Master Gardeners & other Extension volunteers).

Register: Online at http://bit.ly/JacksonMGWorkshops or call 541-776-7371 for info.

Garden of the Month: April 2019

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500 Parkside Drive

Since 2000, the Ashland Garden Club has been selecting Ashland gardens as Garden of the Month, from April through September.  From late fall through early spring, no gardens are chosen because most gardens don’t look very good at that time of year.  The garden at 500 Parkside Drive is the exception.  It looked good all winter, looks great right now, and is being honored as Garden of the Month for April 2019.


 This property is owned by Terry and Barbara Oldfield.  This year they spent the coldest months of the year near grandchildren in Arizona, while the Ashland house and garden were looked after by family and neighbors.  Terry usually does the garden maintenance.  The side and back yards were designed by Banyan Tree Landscape about three years ago and the front was designed by Solid Ground Landscape five years ago.

 
Mostly this garden is attractive because the plants were chosen to look good all year and/or because of their early- or late-season beauty.  Among them are hellebore, nandina, pieris, and heathers.  The colors are especially nice right now.  The plants are also situated nicely, with larger plants framing smaller plants.  In the back yard, a magnolia is blooming now, the daffodils are just finishing up, and strong shoots herald a lovely display of peonies in the coming months.  There are many comfortable spots to sit and enjoy the view.

There are surprising features in this yard which are small lawns of artificial turf both on the side and in back.  While some Garden Club members applaud its water-wise qualities, artificial turf is not without its detractors, and a garden with fake grass has never been selected as Garden of the Month before.  While air pollution caused by power tools to mow, blow, and trim real turf counter the oxygen-providing benefits of real grass, fake grass contains known allergens, potentially harmful substances that leach into the earth beneath it and into waterways from runoff, and is not, at the end of its approximately 25-year life, biodegradable.  It’s difficult to remember drought after the wet winter and early spring we have had, but it must be anticipated, and this is certainly one way to maintain an attractive green space.

Article submitted by: Ruth Sloan, AGC Garden of the Month Chairperson

Birds in the Garden

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The following is a summary of Wild Birds Unlimited owner, Laura Fleming’s, talk on “Birds in the Garden”

There are 4 key elements to attracting birds to your yard.

    1. Water   2. Shelter   3. Nesting Spaces   4. Food

      Photo from Wild Birds Unlimited – Nature shop

Water: it’s VERY crucial to birds, so providing a birdbath with fresh water, or a saucer of water on the ground is very beneficial in attracting birds to your yard.

Shelter & Nesting Spaces: Different types of birds need different types of habitat, so planting a variety of plans in your gardens encourages birds of all kinds to visit your garden. By planting a mixture of deciduous and conifer large trees, small trees and shrubs in your yard provides natural shelters and nest building areas. Birds are attracted to edges where they can escape, so a plant hedgerow and/or a variety of small & large shrubs & trees on the perimeter of your yard.

Read here: Plants for Birds

Food: Many kinds of flowers and grasses provide food and also nesting building materials.  Some natural food sources in your yard should be: Seed-producing flowers, berry-laden shrubs, a healthy insect population living in leaf litter and fruit trees.  Be a messy gardener; leave leaf litter and dead trees (snags) in your yard to enhance your bird habitat.  Supplement food sources with bird feeders. Different birds like different foods so supply a variety of foods in many feeders throughout your yard; hanging at a different heights.

* Read here: Seed Preference Guide

Submitted by: Carlotta Lucas