Time to get Ready for Bed

      Last month, my husband and I, & two dear friends had the great pleasure of taking an Alaskan cruise together. One of the many sweet surprises included in the cruise was our room steward pulling our curtains and leaving chocolates on our pillows, as if to say, "You've had a fabulous day, and now it is time to get ready for bed." 
As an avid garden tender, I can do the same thing for my home landscape. I need to prepare my flowerbeds for the winter's nap. I had a small bin full of organic compost ready to be dumped on my flower beds with the message, "time to get ready for bed." I love the whole composting concept, but have to admit I wasn't very good at it this past summer. It was a hit and miss thing for me. That's certainly not to say, I don't believe in the benefits. I was either too busy or too lazy to turn my bin regularly and keep the brown & green layers coming along with moisture. In spite of myself, I still garnered good compost.
   Laying down organic compost, allowing fallen leaves to remain on the ground, and cutting back spent blossoms and foliage prepares your garden for rest.
Just as spring calls for garden preparation, so does autumn. If you don't live in a typically wet region, its wise to give your trees a nice deep soak before the first ground freeze. Spread mulch around the base of your more tender perennials, and check your plants for any broken branches or stems. Plant the bulbs you want to enjoy next spring. 
As the daylight decreases and temperature drop, go ahead and start preparing to pull the shades and leave chocolates on the pillow of your garden.

Gardening Practices I like to Practice

       Have you ever heard of Natural Gardening Practices?         If you answer "No", you're in good company. I wouldn't be familiar with them if I hadn't become a Master Gardener. There are Eight practices (my favorite number) so I feel even more compelled to abide by them. 
                  
     1. Right Plant/Right Place
In basic terms this means consider the gardening zone you reside in, the type of soil composition you have to work with, and sun exposure. I live in the beautiful PNW so I'm not going to plant a big ole cactus in my garden. Besides the fact that I don't care for cactus, it wouldn't survive. You have to be careful while visiting most big box garden centers, and even some local nurseries. They want to sell you all the things, and a lot of the time its not something that will do well in your garden. I wish we could trust these places to only sell zonal plants but $$$ is the name of the game. 

     2. Create & Protect Native Habitat
With forested areas being torn down in lieu of subdivisions, its more important than ever to follow this practice. We live in an area that is guilty as charged of tearing out the tree canopy. Where our house sits, a forest used to be. I can't shake my finger at developers, mainly because it would do absolutely no good, but I can create an area that welcomes a plethora or birds and critters. The components of habitat are shelter, water, food, space and arrangement. As I write this, I'm watching a robin splash in a birdbath while its raining....double the fun. There are scrub jays, red-tipped black birds and hummingbirds flitting around while a squirrel is literally hanging upside down on a feeder. I highly suspect these winged and furry friends were here before I came. The least I can do is welcome them in!

     3. Protect Water Quality
It probably comes as no surprise that Master Gardeners aren't big on the use of herbicides or pesticides. Every time I think about the use of something like Round-up...my skin crawls. We live right above Salmon Creek that eventually winds into the Columbia River. When we carelessly use weed-n-feed and various herbicides/pesticides they leach out into run-off by way of rain or sprinkler over watering. The gutters lead to the stream. Get my picture? The same is true with washing our cars and allowing harmful chemicals to go down the street. This is meant to make us stop and think about our water. Out of sight should not mean out of mind. Yes! I will hug a tree too!

     4. Use Integrated Pest Management
I'll attempt to keep this simple because volumes are written on the topic. Currently, I am monitoring a mole/vole/rodent situation. Advisement includes setting a threshold for taking action, monitor and identify pests, prevention, and control. For obvious reasons, I don't want this situation to get out of control, but I am not going to run out and set off a bomb killing everything within sight.

This also includes pests of the insect nature. If I spot aphids on my honeysuckle I can't grab and spray the first pesticide I find on the shelf listing aphids. This will directly affect the hummingbirds feeding on those gorgeous blooms. There may come a time in pest management where action needs to be taken. We need to educate ourselves and consider all options and their affects on surrounding area.

     5. Compost on Site
Composting was one of my favorite sections of certification. The idea that we can use our fruit and vegetable scraps to improve our soil is so interesting. Healthy soil translates into healthy plants. Composting isn't rocket science, but it does require forethought and attention. To effectively compost, we provide a equal amounts of greens (vegetable & fruit waste, coffee grounds, grass clippings) and browns (dead leaves, twigs, egg shells) and water. The green material provides nitrogen while browns supply carbon and the water provides moisture to help break down the organic matter. Composting is so rewarding!

It requires you to turn  and keep moist. You'll know its ready to be added into your waiting garden when you can't distinguish any of the ingredients. All you want to see is dark, beautiful, rich organic matter. You're not only supplying your plants with beneficial nutrients you are reducing methane emissions from the landfill. Composting is all win!

     

    6.Avoid and Remove Invasive Plants

This can easily be described as plants that are highly competitive, adaptive and successful in reproducing. They attempt to replace native plants. Have you ever tried to tackle a blackberry patch? Invasive! While we love the fruit, the bush is not conducive to manageable gardening. Avoid & Remove! Another invasive plant that comes to mind is English Ivy. It can climb into the tree canopy and actually suffocate the trees. If you see an ivy climbing a tree, give it a good ole tug and tear down what you can..... the tree will thank you. 

     7. Incorporate Native Plants
A few years back if you would have told me to incorporate native plants, I would have replied, "What the heck is a native plant?"  Native plants are indigenous to a given area. They have developed, and occur naturally. I live in zone 8 and some of the native plants I have woven into my garden are ferns, heuchera, vine maple, lupine, and columbine. Native plants require far less water while providing vital habitat for birds and other wildlife. I like to think walking my garden would be like wandering into a natural area.

     8. Reduce the use of Turf
Grass requires a whole lot of attention and water. Can I get an Amen? If you have good grass.... I'd like to say Congratulations. Unfortunately, grass /turf is constantly susceptible to all the weed seeds forever floating thru the air. We have battled so many different villains ie. clover, crabgrass, invasive grasses, dandelions etc. and what do we generally resort to? Herbicides that sometimes control the problem, but most times leach out into run off water and go to our streams, lakes, rivers etc. Does this sound familiar?
The answer to this nagging problem is.......reduce the use of turf.

Use stone, rock, water wise plantings. When our next door neighbor painstakingly tore out his entire backyard I thought he was nuts. Now? He's a genius! He build raised garden beds, enlarged his patio with beautiful pavers and hung baskets of flowers. He cut his water usage by more than 70% and uses drip lines around his vegetable and flower boxes. Personally, I am on the way to reducing the use of turf in our yard by building stone pathways. They will naturally fill in with moss and succulents. 

I need to remind myself of these 8 garden practices often to keep me on the right garden path. 

Inspiration

Recently, I had the pleasure of touring Gaiety Hollow & Deepwood Estates designed by Lord & Schryver in Salem, Oregon. You may be wondering why this blog is entitled 'Inspiration'  Well....Elizabeth Lord and Edith Schryver began their landscape architect business in 1929! Imagine for a moment, 2 women entering a male dominated career in, I repeat 1929! Not only that but, in 1929 the stock market crashed and the Great Depression began. It was a difficult time in history for all people across the board.
Lord & Schryver designed together for 40 years, creating 250 gardens for domestic, civic and institutional clients all around the Northwest. 

As I wandered the gardens, I couldn't help but wonder what their design boards looked like and the conversations that ensued while considering space and content. How I would love a time capsule to transport me into their drafting space. 

Landscape design is personal and meant to reflect not only the era/space/region but also the client. Lord & Schryver created what they called outdoor rooms where one could meander through a yard or park and encounter several different 'rooms' with decidedly different design elements.

The use of paving bricks, arbors, water features, stone benches, statues, perennials, annuals, and bulbs compose a truly lovely & inviting space. 

I left those gardens deeply inspired to design and create beautiful spaces right here in my own community.

Whimsy

Whimsy-noun anything odd or fanciful;a product of playful or capricious fancy.

To most, Whimsy would be a foreign concept to incorporate into landscape design. While it probably wouldn't fly in the grander scale landscapes, it can certainly hold its own in small yards & gardens. I believe the element of whimsy falls right into line with the story telling of the garden. It can be anything from a winding stone path, to tucked in artistic elements.

Butterflies have been my 'thing' for as long as I can remember, so they show up in my garden in many forms.

When our grandsons visit, they both like to go out into the backyard and follow the stone pathways, counting the stones or imagining a new adventure around the corner. We play our own version of "where's waldo' with a rock caterpillar named Rocky. He's been known to traverse the gardens. The trick is to find him! 

Our garden is small (by choice), and just as each planting is deliberate, so are the elements of whimsy. As far as I am concerned there are no rules to garden whimsy. If a birdhouse, chartreuse watering can, fairy garden, or garden gnome speaks to you, ...go ahead and add it to the landscape. Our gardens should be our outdoor living space reflecting who we are and what is important to us. Don't be afraid to leave your footprint.

Come Wander with Me

Ever since I was a little girl I have felt the magic of a garden. In the growing months, I could always find my mom kneeling over a flower bed beating the soil into a brown sugar texture with a hand trowel. A well tended garden tells a story of unfolding beauty, intrigue, sometimes a dash of mischief, and always delight.
If you were to walk through my garden gate, you would see a story open before you. I used to be a haphazard gardener buying any and everything at the nursery and plunking it down wherever I found empty dirt. Not any more. Through trial and error, and becoming a master gardener in both Idaho & Washington, I have become a very thoughtful gardener.  Every plant, bush, and tree tells a story. One of the Master Gardener practices is 'Right Plant Right Place'. What that means to you & me is considering what zone we live in, soil type, sun exposure, function  & how much care  we are willing to give. Above all, I want my garden to thrive, so I'm going to purposefully plant things that like where I live. The last few years I've become vitally aware of native plants & their significance. Fortunately for me, I live in the PNW where there are so many magnificent native plants to incorporate into the landscape. Okay, lets get back to the garden gate. We are welcomed by a hanging basket of trailing petunias. My mom had a thing for annuals, which I did not understand for many years. I thought they were a waste of money since they only had 1 growing season. I don't feel that way anymore. Annuals contribute long lasting color and texture, and many of them provide seeds to start again next year. As we walk past the hanging basket along the stone pathway, you will see a snow ball bush that reminds me of the long winters I endured in SE Idaho. There are beautiful English Lavender soaking up the afternoon sun and providing a lovely fragrance as we wander by. Lavender brings tranquility into a space, something I always welcome. 

Heuchera (coral bells) are dotted throughout the yard. Heuchera are native plants to this area, and now there are many hybrids. When I design a landscape, I always make space for coral bells...it could be said they are my signature plant. In the shady spots, you'll see all types of ferns. My love of ferns spans decades, hence part of my website name. Tassel, ostrich, sword, deer and maiden hair are a few of the species I treasure.  I have introduced a few new species to my 3 year old garden. Native mountain hemlocks, vine maples, honeysuckle vines, blueberries and Hummingbird mint to name a few. There are several water features and bird baths

scattered throughout the yard welcoming a plethora of feathered friends and a number of furry visitors. 
Of course, hostas and astilbe reside in my lovely shaded areas. 
The path will lead us to a covered patio where we might sit & watch the birds enjoy the feeders or indiscreetly bathe before us. 
My garden gate will always bid welcome to anyone who wants to step inside and allow the story to unfold before them.