Tuesday, August 11, 2009

“Home & Garden briefs - Santa Rosa Press Democrat” plus 3 more

“Home & Garden briefs - Santa Rosa Press Democrat” plus 3 more

Home & Garden briefs - Santa Rosa Press Democrat

Posted: 11 Aug 2009 11:03 AM PDT

He created not only a wonderful deck, but an outdoor living space that will become the place of great memories, said Bob Mion, marketing director for the association, based in Pleasant hill. He really worked with the landscape and developed a deck that highlights redwoods warmth while blending in with the surroundings.

Leavons has been building redwood decks for years.

Its a beautiful wood and so easy to work with, he said. You can get creative with redwood and create fabulous outdoor living areas.

His winning deck for a Sonoma County client covers almost 400 square feet. It is constructed with DeckMaster hidden brackets and sealed with a natural finish product to protect the distinctive warm red color of the wood.

Leavens prize is $3,00 in free redwood products from Mead Clark Lumber in Santa Rosa.

With the fall planting season approaching, kitchen garden expert Steve Albert has wisdom to share about growing cool-season crops like greens and root vegetables.

Albert, who teaches landscaping through UC Berkeley Extension and is the author of the ``Kitchen Garden Grower's Guide'' and the blog harvesttable.com, will demonstrate how to sow seeds directly into the soil, plant in flats or transplant, during a free workshop today in Sonoma.

The hours are from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at the Sonoma Library, 755 W. Napa St.

For more information call 565-2608 or visit sonomamastergardeners.com.

The Occidental Arts ad Ecology Center is offering a two-hour tour Sunday focusing on its efforts at Permaculture.

Permaculture is a philosophy of living based on sustainable land use concepts and practices.

The tour, which begins at 9 a.m. will focus on the centers bio-intensive gardens and heirloom seed-saving program, its watershed and wildland restoriation work and its natural building methods.

Brock Dolman, the director of the Permaculture Program, will lead the tour. A donation of $10 is suggested.

The center is located at 15290 Coleman Valley Road, Occidental. For information call 874-1557, ext. 201.

- Meg McConahey



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Final tea party for 'The Secret Garden' is Saturday - Spectrum

Posted: 11 Aug 2009 01:04 PM PDT

CEDAR CITY Take a look behind the scenes and experience the magic of The Secret Garden on Saturday at the Utah Shakespearean Festivals Garden Tea Party. The Garden Tea Party will be held at the 1897 Iron Gate Inn Bed & Breakfast at approximately 4:30 p.m. directly following matinee performances of The Secret Garden. Tickets are $10 per person when purchased in advance, and $12 per person at the door. Cash or check only will be accepted at the door.

Children and adults will have the opportunity to meet and take photos with cast members of The Secret Garden, while enjoying light refreshments. Children will participate in a short gardening presentation by Big Trees Nursery and take home a packet of seeds to start their own "Secret Garden."

Tickets to the Garden Tea Parties and The Secret Garden are on sale now at 800-PLAYTIX and bard.org.



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Garden path to civic pride - Reading Evening Post

Posted: 11 Aug 2009 09:44 AM PDT

Reading's riverside garden Caversham Court reopened on Friday after a year of restoration. Reading Borough Council's parks development manager CAROLYN JENKINS tells us about the historic site's background

Around a small dwelling for a few monks in Caversham, a grand old house and gardens renowned for their beauty grew up.

The splendid former rectory of St Peter's Church has long been demolished, but its peaceful grounds have been restored by the council, with £1.2m assistance from the Heritage Lottery Fund.

Caversham Court Gardens has a 900-year history. A church was established soon after the Norman conquest and Caversham Court was originally the garden of the Old Rectory of Caversham, and part of a much larger estate.

Built early in the 12th Century, it was owned by Notley Abbey for four centuries before being passed to Christchurch College during the Reformation. Over the next 250 years, the property was leased to some of the most influential families in Reading, who extended the house and established the gardens.

In the early 1800s, the freehold was sold to the Reading brewers, the Simonds family, and the house and garden walls were rebuilt to create a grand mansion.

The site was sold to Reading Corporation in 1933, and the house was demolished to build a road that by-passed St Peter's Hill, but after the Second World War there was public pressure to preserve local heritage and no money for road-building. The gardens therefore remain.

The restoration work has revealed the entire foundations of the older and later houses, as well as old Tudor beer cellars, Regency wine cellars, the outdoor privy, and the vinery, with its pond intact.

Visitors can now enter the restored gazebo as well as the old vaults alongside the vinery, and walk paths trodden by residents for hundreds of years. The footprints of the old houses can be followed; brickwork traces out the older house and limestone, the newer mansion.

The impressive stone battlemented entrance is a faithful replica of the original gateway, of which several photographs survive.

Care has been taken to preserve the sense of place of a private garden; instead of park benches, seating has been incorporated into the features, and public information is mainly displayed in indoor spaces or built into paving.

The re-creation of a garden of beauty has been as important as the repairs to the historical framework; the project is almost unique amongst Lottery-funded restorations in that a significant part of the budget was set aside for planting.

There is a lavender bank behind the House Footprint Lawn, and borders beneath the Long Walk. The vinery features houseplants and new trees have been planted.

There is no doubt that a major refurbishment of a public park flames community enthusiasm and civic pride.

There has been huge public interest in the restoration project, and it is hoped that the park – and its new tea garden – will become a valuable resource for local visitors of all ages as well as a tourist destination.



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Care for plants during drought - Carroll County Online

Posted: 11 Aug 2009 04:18 PM PDT

In Carroll and surrounding counties, the land is parched. If you're a gardener you can probably tell by looking at your own garden which plants are suffering the most. Individual plants respond to drought in various ways. Plants may slow or restrict their growth, wilt or curl up in response to lack of water. Most newly established plants and trees need about an inch or so of water per week; however, those that are established can get by with somewhat less.

Some plants, such as grass, become dormant after prolonged periods without water. It's nature's way of protecting the grass. The good news is that grass does grow back, so there's no need to water your lawn during a drought.

Here are some recommendations that may help deal with the current conditions:

If you are allowed to water, do so in the morning before 8 a.m. or the early evening when your plants will have the ability to take up water more efficiently than during hotter parts of the day. This will also minimize the amount of water lost by evaporation, saving it for your plants. Water deeply to encourage roots to grow deep, which in turn protects them from drought.

Mulch your plants. Even though it's midsummer, plants still benefit from having the ground around them protected from heat and sunlight, reducing the evaporation of water from the soil. Mulching has the added benefit that by keeping additional moisture in the soil, the surrounding plants have to compete less for water.

Perform "triage" on your garden, and decide what you can live without. For instance, if you have annuals, you may decide to let them fend for themselves without water. This includes vegetables such as tomatoes and zucchini. If you're a plant lover or someone who takes pleasure in watching your garden mature and evolve throughout the summer, this can be a tough decision. Take heart, drought is a natural phenomena letting the plants go is part of this process.

As a last resort, you can reuse "gray" water from your kitchen and bath to water your plants. However, don't apply gray water to edible vegetables, since it does contain salts that could be harmful.

Planning ahead

When you're planning what to do with your garden next year, think about the following strategies.



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