Flowering in AGC member Janie Burcart’s garden today are yellow and pink abutilons, both from the Italio Garden in Medford, roses & crepe myrtles.
Today in the Garden:August 23, 2026
Tag Archives: Rogue Valley Gardening
Garden of the Month: July 2026
Beach Creek Homes Subdivision, Ashland Oregon
It’s fascinating to watch how a parcel of land can be transformed into a community in just a few short years. Ten acres of farmland in Ashland’s Mill Pond district was conceived as a sustainable living neighborhood of fifty-three homes by KDA Homes with site development actively underway by July 2022. Four years later the landscape welcomes the gardener to take a closer look at the careful selection and layout of vegetation to enhance its natural setting. Beach Creek Homes off N. Mountain Avenue has been selected as the Ashland Garden Club’s Garden of the Month for July 2026.
In laying out the building lots and roadways, the developer, Laz Ayala, made a conscious decision to not construct any homes along Beach Creek, instead choosing to preserve the land as a community asset asking Lomakatsi Restoration to restore the ecosystem of native plants and enhance the wildlife corridor. Coordinating with multiple community organizations, including Jackson County Soil & Water Conservation District, more than two hundred native trees and shrubs were planted with the goal to achieve stream bed stabilization, erosion reduction, water quality improvement, and wildfire reduction.
More than four hundred trees were planted on this ten-acre site but placement ensured that view lines of the surrounding hills from each home were preserved. Many of the street trees are columnar in nature, notably the Persian Spire Ironwood, Scarlet Sentinel Maple and Pyramidal European Hornbeam. Trees with broader canopies, such as the Rocky Mountain Glow Big Tooth Maple, Forest Green Italian Oak and Black Tupelo, provide striking fall color. Others offer up their beauty with springtime blossoms: the Satomi Dogwood, Pink Flair Cherry and Japanese Snowbell. Smaller in stature but nonetheless appealing are the Coral Bark Maple and Lace Leaf Japanese Maple with its graceful weeping habit.
And while consistency of both architectural and planting design is evident throughout the community each front garden is a testament to the collaborative nature of the design process: home owners working with KDA or landscape designers or both to achieve the desired results. Drought tolerant and bee-friendly native plants are encouraged but as each gardener knows a
garden is always a work in progress! Rockrose, salvia, euphorbia, yarrow, blanket flower, liatris, cone flower and Russian Sage all provide abundant blooms!
The plant palette in the Beach Creek common areas strives to be in compliance with Firewise Ashland Guidelines and KDA was commended by AFD for use of river rock as a ground cover rather than mulch. No large conifers were planted in the development and ornamental grasses were planted primarily in the medians, a minimum of ten feet from the foundation.
However, it is in their private gardens behind the fence or gate that home owners have been given the opportunity to express their individuality.
Ornamental metal gates and privacy fencing throughout the HOA are especially distinctive and further enhance the landscape design experience.
In addition, a recently completed community garden with raised beds and an inviting seating area will encourage community gatherings with a pot luck planned at the end of summer.
But it all began with a vision, to aspire to “live lightly upon the land.” Inspired by the setting with its views of the rolling hills an architect set to work and crafted homes that the like- minded would appreciate. Landscape designers reinforced those principles which in turn were nurtured by the home owners themselves. In a few short years those street trees will cast shade over sidewalks. Pollinators will find the nectar necessary to sustain their brief lives and hopefully the salmon will find their way upstream in Bear Creek. Neighbors will come together to share their harvest bounty. And music and laughter will carry over the night air bearing witness to a community supporting one another in their common endeavors.
Submitted by Elizabeth Essex with appreciation to Marko Bey with Lomakatsi Restoration, Marni Owens with KDA Homes, Lucretia Weems with Lucretia Weems Design and Sandi Paris, homeowner. All photos by Elizabeth Essex.
The Ashland Garden Club has been selecting Gardens of the Month from spring through fall for more than twenty-five years. Nominations are gratefully received at gardenofthemonth@ashlandorgardenclub.org. Readers are invited to check out the club’s
website at ashlandorgardenclub.org for information on meeting times and places.
March – Gardening Tasks
March Garden Tasks (Rogue Valley, Oregon)
Vegetable Gardens
Seeds to direct Sow in mid to late March: Peas, radishes, spinach, lettuce, kale, arugula, chard, carrots, beets, and parsnips. Also Plant: Onion sets, and perennial roots like asparagus, artichokes, and rhubarb.
Seeds to start indoors for May Transplanting:
- Tomatoes & Peppers:Essential to start NOW for transplanting in mid-to-late May.
- Brassicas:Broccoli, cabbage, kale, cauliflower, and Brussels sprouts.
- Herbs:Basil, parsley and cilantro
- Other vegetables :Celery, eggplants, and leeks
- Potatoes:Buy seed potatoes, sprout (“chit”) them in a cool, dark place, then plant.
Fruit & Berry Crops
- Planting:March is ideal for planting fruit trees, strawberries, and cane-berries (raspberries and blackberries).
- Pruning:Finish pruning fruit trees (apples, pears, cherries, peaches) before buds swell.
- Fertilizing:Feed raspberries and blueberries with organic, acidic fertilizer.
Flower Beds & Landscaping
- Clean & Mulch:Clear away dead foliage, apply compost, and mulch beds to suppress weeds.
- Divide Perennials:Divide and transplant summer-blooming perennials.
- Bulbs:Plant dahlia, lily, and gladiola tubers.
- Pruning:Prune winter-flowering shrubs after they bloom and ornamental grasses.
Maintenance & Pests
- Slug Control:Actively monitor and manage slugs using baits like Sluggo or traps, as they love new spring growth.
- Soil Care:Avoid walking on or tilling heavy, wet, or saturated soil to prevent compaction.
- Fertilizing:Apply fertilizer to evergreen shrubs (rhododendrons, azaleas) and roses.
- Lawns:Sharpen mower blades and set the mower height to 1.5–2.5 inches. Apply Lime to increase alkalinity, boost nutrient uptake. Treat lawn for moss with ferrous sulfate (iron sulfate).
Roses in Ashland
Janie’s roses are lasting through the heat!
Photos and roses by: Janie Burcart, AGC Member
Today in the Garden
Member Goly Ostovar shares her summer flowers.
Sacred Datura, planted from seed. Flowers open in a half hour window from bud stage to full bloom at dusk, they have a heavenly aroma and last for a day.
Canna lilies are putting on new shoots.
AGC Garden of the Month August 2025
1044 Park Street
To the casual observer, someone driving past perhaps, the garden at 1044 Park Street might appear unkempt, even neglected. But upon closer inspection, more details emerge and the neighbor out for an evening stroll might pause to reflect and begin to appreciate how successful the owner, Denise Crosby , was in achieving her landscape objectives.
No mow Eco Grass vibrant after the winter rains. Photo by Louis Desprez
The reader may remember the familiar term of Xeriscape landscaping introduced in the early ‘80s when the Denver Water District promoted water conservation in their city. Handsome groupings of native and drought tolerant plants, drip irrigation and dry creek beds became popular features of many gardens. Over the past several decades climate warming has reinforced these principles and more recently our community has added pollinator friendly and deer resistant plants, defensible space, and fire-wise to the vocabulary.
When Denise purchased her new home three years ago, she wanted to leave behind the boxwood borders and expansive lawn of her large corner property and lean into the ancient Japanese philosophy and aesthetic of wabi-sabi that imphasizes finding beauty in imperfection, impermanence, and the natural cycle of growth and decay. She also appreciated that Ashland was a mountain town, nestled in a bowl surrounded by forests and rolling hills and wanted her new-found residence to reflect these attributes.
Denise considers herself very fortunate in connecting with a landscaper who appreciated these same values and her conversations with Louis Desprez of Castle Landscape & Design led to a design that she quickly approved. It is minimalist in nature, encompassing drought tolerant grasses, specimen trees and colorful ground cover enhanced with an artful composition including a rusted iron water feature and cedar screen. The hardscape materials are rich in texture and color.
Water feature designed by Mike Kline, fabricated by Denny DeBay, Ashland Forge, Cedar screen crafted by Louis Desprez Photo by Elizabeth Essex
The existing sod lawn was replaced with Eco Grass to soften the harsh reality of a wide street and driveway. This dense, low growing, deep rooted, no mow grass reflects the changing seasons we so love in our surrounding hillsides. A soft breeze creates a living palette of greens, turning to golden, then to blonde. A cluster of ornamental grasses (‘Karl Foerster’ Feather Reed Grass and Tufted Hairgrass) add screening to a small rise adjacent to a seating area. The blossoms of a Flowering Cherry announce that spring has arrived and a Lace Leaf Japanese Maple greets guests by the entry walk. A Japanese Black Pine anchors the intersection where the driveway meets Park Street. Creeping Phlox and Veronica add splashes of color during the seasons.
Mid-season transition Photo by Elizabeth Essex
It’s impossible to arrive at the front door without admiring the geometry of the walkways. Note the rhythm of bordo block embedded in the decomposed granite chosen to replace the traditional public sidewalk. The colored, stamped concrete of the primary walk is banded on either side with squares of concrete pavers alternating with planting pockets filled with Crocosmia and multi-hued Mexi Pebble Mix. A shorter, softly curved path of crushed Blue Ridge gravel edged with the same bordo block leads from the driveway to the door. In spring the visitor is greeted with the scent of Lilac; in summer, it is aromatic Calamintha. Various boulders of local heritage are included to add authenticity to this landscape, reminiscent of an alpine meadow, complete with scree.
Hummingbirds are attracted to the bright blooms of Crocosmia. Photo by Elizabeth Essex
Ultimately garden design is a subjective art, very much dependent on the viewer’s interpretation of harmony and balance, scale and proportion. The viewer may have developed a critical eye but the design will not resonate unless it is compatible with one’s true self. As introduced above, wabi-sabi is a philosophy that encourages a more mindful and accepting approach to life, embracing the present moment and finding beauty in the everyday. Altogether, this front garden at 1044 Park Street reflects the philosophy of the owner, Denise Crosby. Beauty truly can be found in the eye of the beholder,
