Tag Archives: Ashland Landscapes

Garden(s) of the Month: June 2021

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The Ashland Garden Club’s Garden of the Month for June 2021 is unusual.  It’s unusual because it is three gardens and unusual because they are back gardens.  Gardens selected for GotM honors must be substantially visible from the public right-of-way (street or sidewalk ordinarily) so that usually means front gardens.  These three back gardens qualify because they are visible from Ashland Creek Park (on Hersey near Oak) and these three are all in a row. 

Directions: From Hersey Street, walk along the right (east) side of the park about half way from front to back and watch for signs.  Please stay in the park.  You will see some gorgeous gardens.

The first (geographically) of the selected gardens is the furthest south of the three; the back garden of Deborah and Jeff Wihtol of 589 Oak Street.  They started their garden with a rounded patio and gently winding path that Jeff designed.  Then in 2017 the Wihtols had Solid Ground Landscaping plan and install most of the plants.  Since then, they’ve made changes on their own.  The recent loss of a large box elder tree brought more sun to the south side of the garden than it had in the past, to which they are adjusting.  And most recently they arranged for Jane Hardgrove to refresh the landscape and accommodate the new sun situation.  Among Deb’s favorite plants are hydrangeas, daphne odora, cape fuchsia, and orange sedge.  Routine maintenance is by Juan Guerrero.

Wihtol Garden
Wihtol Garden

The second selected garden belongs to Ursula and Marvin Webster of 603 Oak Street whose historic 1897 home influenced plant selections.  Sage Hill Landscape installed the hardscape and initial plantings in back following guidance from the Websters.  As Ursula put it, “What would grandma do?” was her guiding principle.  A massive trumpet vine, stone walls, ivy, and treasured perennials survive from the house’s earliest days.  Among her favorites are plants that she considers “romantically old fashioned” such as hydrangea, peonies, erigeron, and catmint.  The hillside setting dictated stairs, and aspen trees thrive in the lowest parts of the garden, nearest the park.  Their quaking leaves add movement to the garden.  Ursula handles routine maintenance with assistance from Juan Guerrero.  The small building at the back of the garden is a straw-bale office built by EcoNest.

Webster Garden
Webster Garden

The third selected garden belongs to Susan McKennon of 615 Oak Street.  The yard is dominated by a huge old oak that some believe is the tree for which Oak Street was named.  That mighty tree is a picture of health thanks to Susan’s care and Canopy’s regular maintenance.  Her dazzling stand of iris stems from an early gift from Schreiners, friends of the family—well known for iris cultivation. Susan brought the iris starts from a previous home.  Solid Ground designed the landscape in 2013, bringing in tons of boulders to stabilize the steep terrain and installing stairs to help people negotiate the hill between the house and the park.  Solid Ground brought in many trees except the old oak, including Japanese maples and a dwarf gingko.  A friend’s gift of an elderberry bush draws attention at this time of year with its dark purple foliage and pale pink flowers.  Rudolpho Ramirez and his crew maintain this garden.

McKennon Garden
McKennon Garden
McKennon’s Tree viewed from Webster’s Garden

Article by: Ruth Sloan, AGC Garden of the Month Director

All photos by Larry Rosengren

Garden of the Month: August 2018

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622 Drager Street:

Earlier this year, Alison Lerch, the Fire Adapted Communities Coordinator with the Ashland Fire Department, gave a presentation to the Ashland Garden Club about firewise landscaping. She mentioned a garden that was not only firewise but waterwise, calling it the perfect Ashland Garden. Since then we have discovered that the garden at 622 Drager Street, is also pollinator-friendly and deer resistant. The perfect Ashland garden indeed!01_622 Drager

Nancy Garriott is responsible for this wonderful garden. She and her husband Ted had the craftsman house built on the corner lot five years ago and took on the landscaping project themselves, relying on knowledge accumulated over the years.02 summer garden

Nancy has been creating gardens all of her adult life. Each of the eight gardens in her past taught her something about the secrets to gardening success. Early on she immersed herself in gardening publications and classes. Later, she found each plant was teaching her what it liked and what it needed. She says, “It turns out that getting your hands dirty does have a ‘grounding’ affect and is a great way to learn how to care for your plants.”03 summer garden

Nancy and Ted started with the hardscape of small rock retaining walls and garden borders, flagstone and gravel paths, and drip lines. They found a stone mulch that looks like wood but is obviously not fire-prone. Nancy propagated many of the perennials, including favorites that are drought tolerant, deer resistant, and non-invasive with colorful, long-lasting blooms. Among them are echinacea, gaillardia, helenium, coreopsis, rudbeckia, crocosmia Emily McKenzie, sedum autumn joy, and yarrow. She discovered that a bonus is that these plants are great pollinator plants too. She also propagated several varieties of sedum which she likes because they are evergreen, drought tolerant, come in many colors which adds interest to the winter garden, and spread easily without being invasive. Then Nancy developed a list of shrubbery that would enhance the small space but would add an evergreen element to the winter garden when the perennials die back. She focused on dwarf varieties of native, drought tolerant, deer resistant plants, looking for a variety of textures and colors which she thinks helps the plants contrast with each other and stand out visually. The plants she settled on were low growing manzanita, arbutus, nandina, evergreen candytuft, myrtle, hebe, and choisya (Mexican orange). She also found that some evergreen herbs such as sage and basil make good aromatic border plants.

04 summer garden

In designing the new garden, she applied the knowledge that she needed to leave enough room around each plant to accommodate its growth, put taller plants in the back, and create a color and texture balance. She also leaves room for her favorite annuals which are gazanias and many varieties of zinnias. These also happen to be drought tolerant and deer resistant and add joyful color to the garden.05 summer garden

Nancy says that “The favorite thing about my garden is that we live in an accessible part of Ashland where I can share my garden with the many people that walk by.”

Submitted by: Ruth Sloan

Photos by Nancy and Ted Garriott.

Garden of the Month: July 2018

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995 Park Street-

The selection committee for the Ashland Garden Club’s Garden of the Month program has had its eye on D’Anne and Steve Shaw’s charming garden at 955 Park Street for a very long time.  The first time we approached them, they said that the back yard was not ready for prime time.  The next year, the giant incense cedar in the front yard was felled.  The year after that, they were remodeling the house.  Every year something happened because these homeowners are never idle.  Finally, the time has come:  This is the July 2018 Garden of the Month.
IMG_3604

The wedge-shaped garden is gorgeous, both front and back.  D’Anne and Steve both love color and work hard, each averaging ten hours per week despite their busy careers.  They share responsibility for design and maintenance.  They consider it a work in progress, continually making changes.  The garden is entirely organic and is a designated pollinator garden.  Don’t miss the Pollinator Garden tour on July 15 (https://www.ashland.or.us/Page.asp?NavID=17460).  The Shaws were part of the tour last year but have made way for new gardens this year.IMG_3600

Steve reports that he was introduced to gardening as a child by his father who taught him the value of hard work from an early age and gave him a deep appreciation for gardens.  Three pretty Gingko trees were given to D’Anne in one-gallon pots a long time ago and she cared for them in the pots for years until settling on this property. IMG_3609

You will see how much they have grown and thrived in the 18 years since being planted in the ground.  The unusual round metal arbor in the corner of the front yard was made for them for their wedding.IMG_3605

Among the many beautiful flowering plants are roses, hydrangea, peonies, lilies, foxglove, columbine, ground orchids and dahlias.  Walk or drive by to see how prettily these things and many others look together.IMG_3607

Article by: Ruth Sloan

Photos by Larry Rosengren