A dedicated group of AGC members have been planting and gardening North Mountain Park’s Heirloom Garden for years, The Club calls them ‘The Heirloom Gardeners’. The community of Ashland enjoys the Heirloom Garden in all seasons, but spring is especially delightful.
Ashland’s Japanese Garden in Lithia Park is closing soon to be resigned. This project has been in the works since 2018, but the physical work starts this month (Nov 2020) and will take 2 years to complete. Ashland Parks & Recreation is working with landscape designer Toru Tanaka to create an authentic Japanese Garden. Mr. Tanaka was trained in Japan and has more than 35 years of experience creating Japanese Gardens. He is the founder and president of Portland Landscape Design and Japanese Garden Specialty. Ashland’s new garden was made possible by a generous grant from Jeff Mangin, and the Marechal family of Normandy, France, who donated all the funds for this new Japanese Garden in remembrance of Jeff’s wife, Beatrice Marechal.
Article by: Carlotta Lucas, AGC Member
Photos by: Lucretia Weems, AGC member
Garden Tour: AGC members visited the Ashland Creek Ponds Monday June 1st, where teacher Mia Driscoll of Helman School lead a tour of the area. Helman School has been a recipient of Club donations for the Ashland Ponds Project for several years. Ashland Pond is hidden away on north side of Ashland in Quiet Village. This pond was re-discovered in 2008, but it was severely overgrown with invasive species. An ongoing community effort began to restore the pond to a natural riparian habitat. Ashland students, Lomakatsi Restoration, Bear Creek Watershed, the City of Ashland, along with many volunteers and community organizations worked to clear 12 acres of invasive plants and replant native trees and vegetation. All this effort created a wonderful place to stroll, bird watch and be in nature. The Ashland Creek Pond is a secret garden in the city. The area is used as an outdoor learning experience for Ashland students and last year AGC made a donation for binoculars so students could observe nature closely. The Ashland Creek Pond is open to the public.
