Friday, November 21, 2008

I love to visit gardens - all over the world!

I am a bit of a garden addict and fuel my addiction visiting gardens all over the world. See where I've been from my tripadvisor map along with my favorite places here:


Monday, November 3, 2008

I love Fall Clean up!

Cleaning up my garden in fall is one of my favorite tasks. I use the time to plot out spring plantings, tuck in a few spring flowering bulbs into bare spots that need some extra color early in the year, and tuck my precious plants into bed for the winter.

Fall is a great time to move trees and shrubs that are crowded or not doing so well in their present location. I am always moving things since I am a big believer in "right plant, right place" and I wont molly coddle a poorly performing plant too much - I'll move it, once or twice, then compost it if it still doesn't come right!

This month, so far, I've moved a Redbud tree, which was crowding my vegetable garden. I dug up an entire garden to make way for a new barn - so a bay laurel hedge was moved (over 6 feet tall) - during which I discovered that when these bay laurels were originally planted (not by me) the poor babies had the burlap and red twine left on their root balls. One had been looking sickly this year and I could not find any virus or bug that would cause the symptoms - but once dug up it became painfully obvious - this poor shrub was being ringbarked by red twine. I hosed off all the roots and pulled off everything I could find then replanted them, so I hope they do better now! Also in that bed were boxwoods, which went into pots to go back beside the new barn, day lilies, which I moved to a sunnier location, two dogwood trees, which I moved to different locations, one in the middle of my yard, and on along my boundary since my neighbor also likes dogwoods and this way she gets to look at it too. I keep in touch with my neighbor and coordinate my plantings on our mutual boundary with hers, so its flowing together nicely now with burning bush, lavenders, and red maples on both sides.

So its been a busy fall so far, and I havent even started digging up the dahlias - my first year growing them with a cheap bag from Costco that did amazingly well and are still flowering like crazy. And planting the daffodils - I dug over every inch of dirt in the bed I had to move so as not to abandon any poor daffy bulbs!

So thats my news, here's tips from the Oregon State University Master Gardeners for the month of November:

Clean up and cut back garden before winter weather arrives
By: Carol Savonen
Source: Ross Penhallegon
CORVALLIS, Ore. - Before cold weather sets in, clean up in your yard and garden – it will help protect
your landscape from the ravages of winter.
There are several tasks best done in October and November, according to Ross Penhallegon,
horticulturist with the Oregon State University Extension Service.
Mulch your empty garden beds for the winter if they don't have a cover crop on them yet. Mulch will
protect from erosion. Even flat beds experience soil erosion and compaction from rainwater. Mulching
will add organic matter to the soil. And it will encourage earthworm activity and keep weed germination
down.
Control the weeds that have recently germinated from early fall rains. It is a much easier job now than in
the spring. A hoe or hand pulling will do it. This is not a good time of year to use herbicides. The damp
soil makes it easy to hoe or pull weeds, big or little.
Apply slow-release nitrogen fertilizer to lawns, if needed. Use just enough to keep the lawn green, but
not enough to cause need for additional mowing. Don't use quick-release fertilizer, as it will just leach
away. Don't apply fertilizer to trees, flowers or shrubs this time of year, as it may reduce their cold
tolerance.
Cut back late flowering perennials like asters and chrysanthemums to a few inches. Peonies can be cut
back all the way to the ground. Mulch the crowns with compost to protect them from hard freezes.
Prune late summer and fall flowering shrubs like butterfly bush (Buddleia) abelia, clethra and hydrangea
several weeks before icy winter weather or hold off until mid-February to do your pruning. Trim back
roses to knee height so winter winds won't cause damage.
Keep your perennial gardens free of wind-blown plant refuse. Continue to rake your lawn, as more
leaves fly. Add the leaves to your compost pile to turn them into humus.
Pull up spent summer annuals like snapdragons, marigolds, zinnias, cosmos and nasturtiums that have
died back.
Dig and store summer flowering bulbs and tubers (if you live east of the Cascades), including dahlias,
calla lilies, canna lilies, gladiolus and tuberoses. Store them in a dark, dry and cool (above freezing)
place, safe from rodents.

Sunday, October 5, 2008

I cant give up gardening just because its cold out


Winter doesnt mean gardening is over for me. Luckily - since being in Portland means we have quite a long winter!

In late September I planted Broccoli, Cauliflower, and spinach, with pansies.

Here are some other great suggestions from Sunset Magazine:



When to start fall crops
Use this chart to plan when you plant your seeds and seedlings

Your cool-season kitchen garden

Thursday, August 7, 2008

Join Project Budburst


Join Project Budburst to help collect important climate change data on the timing of leafing and flowering in your area through watching your own garden (which we Master Gardeners do anyway, right). Thats my confession, I stalk my garden waiting for plants to flower!

According to the website, budburst.org, this national field campaign targets native tree and flower species across the country.

With our help, they will be compiling valuable environmental and climate change information around the United States.

Plus, the site helps you track your own garden, which helps you plan and improve.

Monday, June 30, 2008

Cleaning Green Store Opening

As a Master Gardener, you learn all about the insects in our gardens that help keep our gardens (and hence planet) humming along. We learn all about safety issues with common chemicals. But what surprises me is that most of us use more chemicals in our homes than we do in our gardens. A lot of us are very conscious about not killing the ladybugs but we spray cleaners in our house that have all sorts of nasty potential health effects. So I was very pleased to hear about this new store opening in Main Street Tigard, stocking Green Cleaning products and options. The grand opening is Thursday July 10.
Here is a recent press release:

Unique to the Pacific NW, Cleaning Green is opening its doors at 12568 SW Main Street in Tigard, Oregon Thursday, July 10th at 9:30am.
According to John West (Owner/ECO), “Cleaning Green is a specialty store that provides cutting edge green cleaning products for your home and office environment. We hand select all products based on how sustainable the product is and how sustainable the companies that manufacture it operate. We are proud to offer some of the best and most innovative brands on the market today. ”
Opening day specials include 20% off your purchase of Mrs. Meyers, Twist Sponges, and Seaside Natural products. There will be a free raffle, goodie bags, opening day discounts and other specials throughout the month of July. There will also be light refreshments and appetizers.
“Our products range from toothbrushes and razors made from recycled yogurt containers, trash bags made from cornstarch, soy candles, doggie bio bags and a multitude of great cleaning products. Our goal at Cleaning Green is to carry eco-friendly products that are biodegradable, don’t contain VOC’S (volatile organic Compounds) and can be recycled or is compostable. Our products are gentle on our environment, on you, your children, and your pets.” says Shelly West (Owner).

Cleaning Green will be open Monday through Friday from 9:30 to 5:00.

Wednesday, June 25, 2008

Gardens of Natural Delights Tour Portland Oregon July 13th

Don't miss out on this great event in the Portland area.

"Peek into the beautiful backyards of passionate home gardeners and learn their secrets to chemical-free success with Metro’s natural gardening techniques tour. The free, self-guided tour is 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday, July 13, 2008."

I am a Docent on one of the gardens, and most gardens have at least one docent present to answer questions about sustainable and natural gardening techniques, so its a great opportunity to see a wonderful garden and get some questions answered if you're thinking of going green with your garden!

You do have to preregister and space is limited so go to the website below for more information on how to register. You have to be a resident of Multnomah, Clackamas, or Washington counties to register.

See below for more details.
Click here for more details

Thursday, June 19, 2008

I am Addicted to Gardening Books!

Confession: I am addicted to gardening books!
I love to sit in the evenings (when I should be weeding!) and read gardening books. There are so many wonderful books out there and all full of great tips and new ideas. While some of my favorite books are newly published (I am one of the reviewers who selects books to be stocked at our College store) I also love older gardening books, and for those I really like this book swap service. I get to send people my paperbacks and in turn request books from others, including gardening books. I have found some real gems here.
Plus I love the sustainable aspect: Instead of buying new books, try a book swap! This service below is one I use and really enjoy because it has such a huge number of members there are tons of books available on every topic. Apart from the cost of mailing (and you can use media mail), it is currently free to swap!
Yes, the library works too, but if you are like me and always returning library books late, that can get expensive!

New Video on YouTube

You are cordially invited to view a video of a recent presentation I gave at the Spring Open House for Australasian College of Health Sciences in Portland Oregon on starting seeds. There are two parts - part one is posted now, part two will be coming in the next 24 hours, so please check back :)
Click here for Part One

Tuesday, June 17, 2008

Weeds!

Weeds! And What to Do About Them


I am an Oregon State University Extension Service Master Gardener. So, you would think my garden would be immaculate, right? Well, no. That's my first confession - my garden is full of weeds. 


I have a no spray policy (although Master Gardeners do sometimes use sprays responsibly) for a bunch of reasons involving treading lightly on the planet, saving the bees, and not poisoning my daughter (and husband - who would be the one tasked to apply it). 


So I use sustainable weed management strategies:



  • Mulch - lots of it! And failing to do it in time this year has caused my weeds to take off like nobody's business. Generally - apply a good two to three inches of quality mulch in mid spring (after - in my garden at least - the "volunteers" or self seeded annuals and perennials have come up and can be identified). Then you can apply another layer in late fall to protect your garden and "put it to bed" for the winter. 

  • Hand weeding. This is the bit that takes the time and has to be done regularly - there is a saying that you have probably heard - one years seeding is seven years weeding. Well we bought a fairly abandoned estate property so  who knows how many years seeding we are dealing with. A lot! And nasty weeds - dock especially, and broom, and purslane. So you just have to pull it. With that in mind, tools help - a good sharp hoe make the job much easier if you have enough room around your plants. Otherwise, hand weeding, after you have watered so the roots come out easily. 

  • Speaking of space- thats my next trick. Plant everything closer together. That way the weeds dont get enough light and moisture to really thrive, and the ones that grow up are easy to spot. I recently got a new gardening book (a weakness of mine) called Matrix Planting and its brilliant since it justifies my habit of putting things really close together and letting nature take its course. 

  • Selective watering is really important. Overhead watering will encourage every little weed seed to sprout. I have seen this dramatically this year in my garden as I started a new garden on a bank that was basically clay post construction of an addition. Since I havent had a chance to put in any soaker hoses, I plunked out a sprinkler and put it on a timer. Within a week I had a lawn of weeds! Thats taking the most time to weed even though it makes up a small fraction of my garden. So note to self - dont do that again.

  • Corn Gluten Meal is supposed to work to stop seeds germinating, but I havent personally tried it since I have been starting a lot from seed directly in the beds and the corn gluten meal will stop poppy seeds just as well as dock I assume. But once the bed is established, I am going to buy me a sack!


I am sure there is another good thing to do, but its late and I've forgotten... so check back next week....