Tag Archives: Garden of the Month

Garden of the Month: July 2019

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1313 Clay Street

The Country Willows Inn, at 1313 Clay Street, is the Ashland Garden Club’s Garden of the Month for July.  It is an extraordinary property, five acres in all, that has been lovingly developed by Kara and Dan Burian since they purchased the property in 2010.  The original farmhouse dates to 1896.  They added the small picturesque barn near the entrance to the property and have converted the original barn mostly to lodging space.

Dan, who has a keen eye for design, has directed the many landscape projects, relying on Sage Hill for hardscape installation, Karen Marshall of Naturescapes Designs for plant selection and design advice, Jenny Kuehnle of Ahimsa Gardens for maintenance of the raised beds and container plantings, and L&M for lawn, orchard, and planting bed maintenance.  Every project has been created with pollinators in mind.  They recently added a birding program to the list of amenities that they offer at the Inn.

The Burians have enhanced ponds and streams.  They are working assiduously to convert open pastures into wildflower meadows, battling native grasses that want to dominate.  Right now in the garden, hydrangea, gaura, lilies, agapanthus, and crocosmia are at their best.  In the Spring, rhododendrons, weeping cherry trees, and Spring wildflowers abound.  At other times, the lavender, ornamental grasses, and blueberries are sensational.  The willow tree is always majestic.

In an effort to assure privacy and tranquility for guests of the Inn, they ask that Ashlanders hoping to see the gardens call first to schedule a convenient and non-disruptive time.  See more beautiful photographs and learn more about the Country Willows Inn at their website: https://countrywillowsinn.com/.

Garden of the Month: June 2019

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265 Ohio Street

There are several nice garden surprises at the unpaved end of Ohio Street, northwest of Laurel.  One is the fabulous garden and fence at 265 Ohio Street.  This garden, designed and maintained by Gene Leyden, is the Ashland Garden Club’s Garden of the Month for June.  This is a naturally wet parcel (note the giant pond next door) where dampness- and shade-loving plants thrive and carefully placed sun-loving plants also flourish.  Gene planted the willow tree, now enormous (14 feet in circumference!), when she moved in with her family in 1987, transporting it to the site from the nursery in the back of the Volkswagon bus.  Garden observers can walk or drive down the alley to the right of the house to get more views.

In addition to the prospering plant life, there are remarkably beautiful constructions by Gene’s friend, the artist and carpenter Nathan Sharples.  Look carefully at the gorgeous fence, installed only three years ago.  Note the unusual wooden screen door.  Now catch a glimpse of the fabulous gazebo in what appears to be the back yard but is actually the front of the house which was moved to this location shortly before Gene moved in.   Sharples built the gazebo of many species of wood, rarely using straight planks, but fitting curved pieces together with exquisite workmanship.  Multicolor glass in clerestory windows adds light to the interior.

Also salted throughout the garden are sculptures by Gene’s friend Cheryl Garcia, as well as other items of interest.

Gene has the advantage of access to Helman ditch water.  She has had to amend the soil over the years because the site was ill-used before she (and the house) arrived.  She refers to it as a “wild garden” that reseeds itself each year and “does its own thing.”.  She insists that she doesn’t spend as much time working on it as its beauty suggests, and she does have help now with weeding and mowing.  Gene says she has a special fondness for fragrance in the garden and chooses many plants on that basis, including roses, jasmine and nicotiana.

Among the many highlights in the garden are a selection of huge hostas loving their location under the willow, Lady Banks and Cecile Brunner roses climbing through the vegetation, and a smoke tree and smoke bush lending their rich dark foliage as contrast to the riot of greens plus colorful blossoms.  There’s a little bit of everything here. This is clearly the work of people of great imagination, especially the primary gardener.

Article by: Ruth Sloan

Garden of the Month: May 2019

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164 Sixth Street, Ashland OR

There is a special quality to the gardens at 164 Sixth Street, the Ashland Garden Club’s Garden of the Month for May.  It’s not just that children are so welcome and comfortable here and that plants seem always to be blooming, but that they are such interesting combinations of plants and hardscape.  This is Karen Loop’s garden, where she has lived for 25 years, raised her two children–now adults, and has run a preschool, Sunflower Cottage, for 18 years.

Over the years, Karen planted everything on the property except the street tree, and created every pathway, planting bed, deck, and fence.  Ten truckloads of soil were brought in.  She collects heart-shaped stones that are displayed throughout.  With both help and hindrance from young children, Karen maintains the garden with three-to-four hours a week of work, on average.  The bare spot on the right side of the front yard is destined to be a tiny patio when Karen has recovered from a back injury.

This is a magical space where children are encouraged to explore.  Right now, the dogwoods are in bloom, along with redbud, daphne, lilac, and viburnum.  Among Karen’s favorite plants are peonies, feverfew, and foxglove.  Camellias, Rose of Sharon, pieris, hellebore, hydrangea, and rhododendrons abound.  There are beds for vegetables, blueberries, and raspberries toward the back, and play equipment in its own area.

Article by Ruth Sloan

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

Garden of the Month: Sept. 2018

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204 Alicia Avenue

You can often tell, just by looking at a garden (house too) that someone artistic lives there.  Such is the case at 204 Alicia Avenue which is the Ashland Garden Club’s September Garden of the Month.  This is the home of Betsy and her husband Chuck.  Betsy is a Crafts Artisan in the costume shop at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival.  They have lived in the home for eight years.IMG_1

The house remodeling and garden hardscape were a collaborative design effort with James Stiritz of Dragonfly Construction.  Wonderful details abound in the decorative fencing, garden screens, and car arbor.

Betsy prefers curves to straight lines in the garden and she is conscious of textures and scale as well as color.  Irrigation and original plantings were by Carol’s Colors, but Betsy has moved, replaced, and added to the vegetation in the intervening years.  In the summer, she spends a couple of hours a day working in the yard.Img_4

The musical notes of a seasonal creek and pond add to the calming ambiance of the backyard retreat.IMG_6

Among the many interesting plants are a smoke tree, grasses, ferns, spirea, rock rose, morning glory, euphorbia, and eucalyptus.  Edibles include plum, cherry, and crabapple.IMG_7

 

Article by Ruth Sloan
Photos by Larry Rosengren

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.
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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