Category Archives: AGC Garden of the Month

Garden of the Month: June 2015

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The lovingly tended VictoriaB Street 1n house at 386 B Street, at the corner of Third, is now surrounded by colorful gardens.  After purchasing the 1886 house in 2011, the current homeowners replanted the front in 2013 with design and labor by Banyan Tree Landscape and the back in 2014 with partial design and labor by Sage Hill Landscape.  But the gardeners who live there are having fun developing the gardens themselves.

B Street 2The gorgeous colors in the front and side, including an extra wide planting strip B Sreet 5between the sidewalk and Third Street were chosen to blend with paint colors of the house—blues, pinks, purples, and whites.  They were also chosen to provide color throughout the early spring through late fall, with heather blooming first, then lobelia, then phlox, and finally germander and thyme.  Dwarf daphne, laveB Sreet 3nder, and Santa Barbara daisy add to the colorful display in season.  They have also added trees; peely-bark maple, crepe myrtle, Japanese maple, redbud, magnolia, and dogwood—a few of which are still struggling to get thoroughly established.  All of the plantings outside the fence are drought-tolerant and deer-resistant.

There are recirculating water features in front and back, statues of Buddha and Mary, metal sculpture cranes, and other eye-catching elements throughout the garden.

B Sreet 4Older, larger trees on the property include box elder, walnut, and cedar.  They have added olive trees at the side and back.  Near their guest cottage, there is a gorgeous smoke tree  (cotinus “Golden Spirit”) in a huge pot with oregano that spills over the side later in the season.  In the side-back area executed by Sage Hill Landscaping, they have added arborvitae to increase privacy and also passion vine, pomegranate, Phormium atropurpureum, Stipa tenuissima, hops, Agastache “Firebird,” Salvia “Hot Lips.”

by Carol Walker

Garden of the Month: May 2015

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There is a spectacular IMG_0256garden at 777 Jacquelyn Street where Claire Marie has her home and runs a Waldorf preschool aptly called The Children’s Garden. Inspired by Tasha Tudor who was the creator of magical gardens as well as children’s books, Claire aimed to achieve a woodland paradise and fairy habitat, and has made huge strides toward that end on her ¾ acre property that edges Clay Creek, since she moved to Jacquelyn Street 15 years ago.

Claire had help from landscape designer Ian Wessler, who drew up plans for the hardscape from Claire’s ideas. She also credits Carol McBride and Micheline Wessler for their help, and Victoria Eckart (of Bi-Mart’s plant department) for advice on plant selection and help with planting. With assistance from many willing hands, Claire planted 4,500 bulbs in 2012.IMG_0269

The front yard is anchored by a large maple tree; redbud trees; a gorgeous Japanese maple; a prolific cherry tree that many people enjoy, including her graduates who return at cherry-picking time for the bounty; mock orange; fringe plant; and foundation plantings of otto luychen laurel. There is a low privet hedge behind the white picket fence and a Cécile Brüner rose on an arbor near the garage.  There are peonies, rhododendrons, daffodils, narcissus, and Mariposa tulips that deer don’t eat!

IMG_0102The side yard has English laurel, crepe myrtle and a crab apple tree plus many varieties of bulbs, including bridal pearls.

The back yard is anchored by many large trees, including ash, aspen, and spruce, plus six varieties of apple trees, and blueberries. There are helleborus, oriental poppies, bleeding heart, columbine, roses, ferns, snowdrop, lily-of-the-valley, forget-me-not, lilac, dogwood, anemone, clematis, photinia, and allium—just to name a few.IMG_0263

There are far too many different plants to even begin to list them all. Among the more unusual are fritillaria meleagris, epimedium, erythronium, eranthis hyemalis, camasia quamash, ornithogalum, and calochortus.

IMG_4417In addition to the lush plantings, there are charming arbors (one covered with wisteria), gates, playhouses, a sandbox, a large deck, and a tree house for the enjoyment of her students and other visitors to the garden.  There are sculptures of angels, mushrooms, St. Francis, Buddha, and other charming features throughout the landscape.

by Ruth Sloan

Garden of the Month: April 2015

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Spring has arrived (though, it feels like it began in January) and gardens all over Ashland are making us take notice. One such garden is found at the home of Beverly and Dick Gergen who moved into their Ashland home August 2003. The Gergens previously lived on six acres above Talent where they created large flower and vegetable gardens. After deciding a home closer to town with a smaller yard made more sense, they moved and set about creating the lovely garden you see.

Originally, the front held a flat, grass covered area struggling with large tree roots, all competing for water and nourishment. This also meant that people walking by looked past the yard and into the large living room windows. Beverly and Dick decided to create something more interesting for the passersby and to enhance their pleasant and friendly neighborhood.

Beginning in 2006 Ian Wessler, a friend, fellow Siskiyou Singers member, and garden designer, was asked to help convert the front into something more beautiful. As you will see, he definitely did! Working with Beverly and her vision, this Asian inspired planting is on its way to being a standout even beyond their immediate neighborhood.

Before planting, a berm of fertile soil, supported by huge granite boulders, was created and became the foundation for the plantings: Japanese maples, rhododendrons, several varieties of daphne (including a lavender color, currently in bloom), weeping hemlock, scarlet oak, fern-leaf false cyprus, dwarf Norway spruce, shore juniper, dogwood, skimmia, viburnum, Japanese snowbelle, enkianthus, helleborus, lamium and others.

Many Asian touches lie within the garden – a slightly tipsy crane greets visitors coming down the path, glass floats live near the water feature, bells hang in the trees, and beautiful pottery and lanterns nest among the shrubs. One clever feature I particularly liked is a “lawn” pathway, much easier to walk on than gravel, and small enough to maintain. Even an old family bear stands back among the trees, keeping watch.
Like so many other gardens in Ashland, this one was planted with deer in mind. Nearly all the plants are considered deer resistant, and except for a few nibbled azaleas, the choices appear to be working.  While the deer can take a lot of fun out of gardening, Beverly says, “the planting, pruning and general garden maintenance are therapeutic. When my garden is happy, I am happy.”

I know I’m happy, just looking at it.
by Kaaren Anderson

Garden of the Month: September 2014

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Garden of the Month: 913 Mary Jane
by Kaaren Anderson

Richard Lee moved into the house at 913 Mary Jane and began the first steps to grow plants and landscape the yard, beginning with the foundation plants of nandina, green spirel euonymus, and Oregon grape.
Paige joined him in 2005 and together the couple created the garden you see today. In that year, the front landscape changed dramatically when the house was remodeled. This process created a mound of excess soil which they creatively decided to leave, adding plants that began with dwarf nandina and mugo pines.

Richard installed a 1400 square foot greenhouse in the backyard where he began raising plants from seed, including perennial geraniums which are planted inside the yard as well as on the street side of the photenia hedge. For color they have annual geraniums, hibiscus, dahlias and zinnias, with the zinnias currently reaching a height of 64”. On the street side, also grown from seed, are echinacea and coreopsis. On the mound was added a cercis tree and a bakers Cyprus which is a native tree to the Siskiyou mountains. In front of the picture window is a coral bark maple.  Access to TID water for part of the summer helped keep the plants happy and healthy.

In the springtime you will also see columbine, lilies, gladiolus, daisies, crocosmia and camilias, which I know would make the garden even more spectacular than it is now. But though Paige worried that her garden wasn’t at its best, I assured her that even at this time of year, and in one of the the hottest summers on record, it stood out as a jewel.

Thank you Paige and Richard for sharing your garden with us!

Garden of the Month: August 2014

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Tim and Kathy Simonsen established their garden in 2006.  The front of the house was uninteresting so they added a wide craftsman style 1133 Beswick Waycovered porch. This just invites you to sit down in the comfortable rockers and enjoy the view. Two hanging baskets of red geraniums adorn the porch and two large pots with sweet potato vine and some other greenery bracket the stairs.

Ken Cobb designed and installed the compact flowing garden.  First he removed junipers, ivy and St. John’s Wort. Then he designed a wide curving walkway out of tan colored stamped concrete with a few steps. This separates the upper garden from the lower area. Next the Simonsen’s wanted a large water feature; and after looking for just the right boulder Ken built the waterfall to the left of the stairs. The birds love to stop by for a drink and sit to enjoy the melodious sounds.The pond is kept full with a couple of “drippers” with the irrigation system.

The upper terrace has Pieris Japonica, Gold Mound Spirea, a Japanese Maple, Heavenly Bamboo, a Mugo pine, a Japanese Maple and Scotch Moss.

Below the path is Blue Star Creeper with a small swath of green lawn at the owners request. Mugo pines, Yellow Twig dogwood, Red Twig dogwood, a Strawberry Tree and three more Japanese maples with Phlox, Wooly Thyme and Kinnikinnick fill in the lower terrace. The mature garden is now a very natural and interesting place. The low maintenance garden does require pruning, weeding and shaping two or three times a year to keep it looking it’s best.

Tim and Kathy have a lovely hillside garden to enjoy and share with the many walkers who stop to admire and chat.

Submitted by: Karen O’Rourke

Garden of the Month: July 2014

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At first glance, past the tastefully built fence, is a small front garden, struggling a bit as are all of our gardens at this time of year and in this weather. Many of the plants are drought resistant – lavender, rosemary, and ornamental grasses leading up to the front porch. The fence was originally built by the owners, Alan Steed and Jo Wayles. Later, probably as the deer multiplied, Dale Shostrom added an extension that looks like it has always been there.01-P1010141
The real treasure is the garden in the back of the home.
Originally a gravel driveway leading to the garage, the back was fenced off and the garden planning began. After a lovely remodel and addition, Ted Loftus, Landscaper, graded the area, adding terraced elevations, walls, walkways and an inviting private patio laid in a circular design – a trumpet creeper climbs above the bench.02_image[1] 2
Fruit trees, heavy with peaches, pears, plums and the first season of cherries, dot the garden. Blueberries and raspberries grow among a Japanese Maple, penstemon, dahlias and honeysuckle. And, much to my surprise, barely July and the earliest red ripe tomatoes I’ve ever seen. 
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In addition, from Leave Your Mark, a beautiful rock water feature stands at the top of the garden amid lilies and springtime tulips.
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Alan and Jo will open their garden for Ashland Garden Club members.
The date and time has been email to members.  Alan will be available to answer questions

05_P1010140by Kaaren Anderson