Tag Archives: nature

Garden of the Month: August 2013

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It’s tempting to suggest that you rush to see the front garden at 745 Park Street  immediately because the colors are so vivid right now and everything looks healthy and fresh. But it often looks great because it has been so well planned.
  IMG_0076 The homeowners have been serious about their gardens for 15 of the 17 years they have been in the house.  Initially, they had design and installation help in the back garden from Carol’s Colors.  In 2003 they met landscape designer Sharon Creek Siewert, whose practical and creative design ideas have transformed both the front and back.   Sharon ’s husband, Steve Siewert, also offers a variety of horticultural services.  Dubbed the “Tree Whisperer,” he saved the blue spruce in the front yard after it was blown over in a windstorm–among other significant contributions.  Kai Van Aken oversees garden management and weekly maintenance.
They have successfully screened the view of an apartment house over the back fence by planting Leland IMG_0075cypress, deodar cedars, and a giant sequoia, all of which are thriving, in a back area they call “the woods.”  Also in the back garden adjacent to the wood deck is a charming corner known as the Japanese garden with specimen rocks, a tiny stone bridge, azalea, and lacy Japanese maple.
 
 Flowers currently in bloom in front include roses, rudbeckia, heather,IMG_0073 gaura, penstemon, and salvia.  Other times of year, peonies, Dutch and Japanese iris, and lavender abound.  A crepe myrtle is on the verge of bursting forth.  When they moved in 17 years ago, the front garden was largely juniper.
IMG_0074In addition to the woods and Japanese garden in back, there is a lovely terraced area anchored by a large locust that shades the back deck and patio, plus dogwood, fig and apple trees.  Also rhododendrons, more roses, fuchsias, rosemary, gladiolas, erigeron, crocosmia, barberry, hostas, yarrow, photinia, and many more beautiful plants.  Annuals impatiens and snapdragons provide seasonal color.
 This garden is an unexpected treat in a dry (and this year smokey) month.
— Ruth Sloan
 

Nan Quick’s Travel Diary: Historic Charleston, SC

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All-
    My latest travel article has just been published. It’s the first in a two-part series about
Charleston, South Carolina.
     Here’s the link for
     SPRINGTIME SAUNTERING THROUGH HISTORIC CHARLESTON, SOUTH CAROLINA
 Best- Nan

Garden of the Month: May 2013

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IMG_0030The first thing you notice upon arriving at 1120 Prospect Street is the natural quality of the garden – simple, elegant plantings that look as if no one has fussed over them at all. But this garden has been 15 years in the making. At first a tangle of ivy and bushes, it has been transformed into one filled with rhododendrons and peonies that carpet the light-filled, woodsy property. A variety of trees, including Japanese maple, oak, blue spruce and deodara cedar, provide the shade that make this garden thrive. TID water is the only irrigation used to maintain the simple beauty.

P1000721Jonathan Warren, the current owner and creator of the garden, moved 15 years ago into the home formerly owned by the Cotton family. Built in 1948, it was the first home on the hill above the university from Siskiyou Boulevard. The garden fills two acres. In addition to the trees and the 245 rhododendrons and peonies, there are numerous cherry trees, lilacs, iris, an enclosed berry garden filled with 100-year-old transplanted raspberry plants, and an abundance of blueberries.

P1000723Looking beyond the garden, you’ll see a home that fits the property. Built in the style of Frank Lloyd Wright, it is constructed of clear red cedar. But the most prominent feature is a large boulder that lives both outside and inside the home, creating a small pond in the living room. Talking with Jonathan, there is an obvious sense that both the home and garden are well loved.

P1000719All are invited to drive by and view this property as the plants begin to bloom throughout the month of May. From Siskiyou Boulevard take S. Mountain Avenue to the top where it intersects Prospect.  Number 1120 will be the garden in front of you.  Don’t miss the street views from S. Mountain and Elkader after they dogleg around the property.

Enjoy!–Kaaren Anderson

Ashland Firewise: Ali True

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Greetings,
Fire season is around the corner! Are you prepared?  It may be March, but fire season will be here before we know it. Now is the time to get ready!

First, a brief update on the status of Firewise Communities in Ashland. As of 2012, there are 12 nationally recognized Firewise Communities in Ashland. Those are neighborhood organizations that have undertaken the simple 5 step process to become prepared together, for a wildfire. Ashland leads the state as the municipality with the most number of Firewise Communities. Way to go Ashland!

In addition, over 100 residents completed individual grants last year through our Firewise program to create defensible space in their own yards. Each and every resident who creates defensible space helps to save their own home, as well as limit the spread of wildfire within the City. Many of these residents worked with their immediate neighbors on property line plantings that endangered both homes, and now are safer.

The Firewise Commission has also been busy preparing events for Firewise Week, the first week of May. More info on that soon! In 2013, Ashland Firewise is partnering with Ashland CERT to combine the popular programs of Firewise and Your Neighborhood Redness program.  The optional combination, called “Map Your Firewise Neighborhood” offers residents information about defensible space standards and wildfire preparedness, in addition to other disasters. We are hoping this pilot project helps to disseminate Firewise information to all neighborhoods in Ashland. For more information, contact myself, or Terri Eubanks, Ashland CERT Coordinator.

I am happy to announce the Firewise grant program for 2013. Additional funding has been secured to offer Ashland residents reimbursement for removing fire-prone vegetation near homes. The terms of the grant are very similar to years’ past; this year the max amount is $500. The grant requires a home assessment first, and is only for people who have not previously participated in a grant program. For more information, please visit ashland.or.us/grants. If you or your neighbors still have juniper, Leland cypress, or arborvitae around your homes, this grant may benefit you!

Remember that more than vegetation matters when making your home Firewise. Construction features and regular home maintenance can play a huge role in your  home surviving a wildfire. For more preparedness info and tips, contact myself, or check out the comprehensive website, ashlandfirewise.org.

Whether it is installing 1/8 inch mesh screening under your deck, moving your woodpile, or cleaning out your gutters, all of these tasks can make a difference! Please check out the Ashland Firewise  on Facebook.  Great tips, photos, events reminders, and more are posted regularly. Take a quick moment to Friend or Like Ashland Firewise on Facebook, or follow on twitter. Just follow the links in my signature. Ashland Fire & Rescue is your resource for wildfire preparedness and information. Let us know how we can help.

Thank you,
Ali True/Firewise Communities Coordinator
Ashland Fire & Rescue
541-552-2231
www.ashlandfirewise.org

Wildfire-Embers signature banner - March 11 2013

fireadapted.org

Cool-Season Crops

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Get a head start gardening in western Oregon with cool-season crops:

CORVALLIS, Ore. – Is this dry winter making you anxious to dig in the dirt again? There’s some good news if you garden in western Oregon and are an optimist.

Cool-season plants can be directly seeded into the ground in March in the Willamette Valley and southern Oregon , said Bob Reynolds, the Master Gardener coordinator for the Oregon State University Extension Service in Jackson and Josephine counties.

Cool-season crops include peas, arugula, carrots, cabbage, cilantro, fava beans, kale, kohlrabi, spinach, chard, turnips and lettuce.

Reynolds said he’s getting questions from the public already about when to start planting and how to tell when soil is ready.

“It depends on how experienced they are and how long they’ve lived here,” Reynolds said. “If they’ve lived here long, then they know a week of 60-degree days doesn’t mean spring is here. You may be anxious, but you hold yourself back.”

Reynolds recommends using a soil thermometer to check your soil temperature to decide whether to dig in. Soil rather than air temperature is the bellwether of whether to plant, he said. Seeds such as peas will germinate at an average soil temperature of about 50 degrees. Each species has different temperature requirements for germination. Generally, cool-season plants can survive air temperatures as cold as 28 degrees, Reynolds said.

Cover the new plantings with clear plastic to protect the soil from getting too saturated by rain.

Snow provides a nice incubator for new plants, acting as a blanket to keep the coldest air from penetrating, Reynolds said.

You can start hand weeding any time. Wait until plants have established themselves before fertilizing them.

As for gardeners in central and eastern Oregon , they’re going to have to be patient. Direct seeding for cool-season crops is not possible until late April or May, said Amy Jo Detweiler, an Extension horticulturist in Redmond . Seedlings can be transplanted in May and June.

“We tell people that March is a good time to clean and sharpen your garden tools and take care of your houseplants,” Detweiler said.

March is also a good time for high-desert gardeners to study seed catalogs and prepare seed tapes. Seed tapes are good for plants that require thinning, such as radishes. To make a seed tape, cut a 2- to 3- inch strip the length of a newspaper or use tissue paper strips, 2-3 inches wide and however long you need it, Detweiler said.

When it’s time to plant, bury the seed tapes in the soil at the seed appropriate depth and the tissue paper or newspaper will break down into the soil, Detweiler said.

By Denise Ruttan, Oregon State Extension
Source: Bob Reynolds, OSU & Amy Jo Detweiler, OSU
This article is online at http://bit.ly/OSU_Gardening2236