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INTERN PRESENTATIONS DIVERSE, INFORMATIVE AND ENTERTAINING
Each October and November, our Carver/Scott Master Gardener meetings are devoted to 10-minute gardening presentations from first-year interns. Topics of the interns' choosing are always entertaining and informative. I missed the October presentations but took notes during the November round and thought some of the highlights might be of interest.
Dale showed slides of St. Paul's Como Park Japanese Garden and discussed how subdued green and brown color shades and a mix of garden-material textures are characteristic of all Japanese gardens. While Japanese gardens are designed to look unplanned, they all follow very formal rules. Unlike many American gardens, they "reveal" rather than "tame" nature.
Lily discussed rodent-free bulb planting. Rodents generally don't bother tulips and daffodils but mice, voles and squirrels love to dig up crocus bulbs. Using discarded plastic perennial containers, she demonstrated how to place soil and bulbs inside the containers, cover the containers with galvanized hardware cloth, and then "plant" the containers in the garden. While this method is labor-intensive at the time of planting, it will ensure richer and larger clumps of crocus and other bulb plants each year for up to 10 years.
Eileen focused on steps for growing a successful vegetable garden. Two critical steps, she explained, are mapping the space each year to facilitate crop rotation and minimize plant diseases, and thorough fall cleanup to eliminate over-wintering of disease pathogens.
I know I promised a month ago that I wouldn't write any more advice in 2002 about buckthorn but I need to mention that, in Mike's presentation on controlling buckthorn, he demonstrated how to remove buckthorn trees up to two inches in diameter, roots and all, using a mechanical device called a Weed Wrench. The device can be rented from some hardware rental outlets or you can purchase one from the manufacturer (www..canonbal.org/weed.html).
Mandy showed slides to illustrate how she converted a 20 ft. x 60 ft. shaded weedy area under three mature bur oaks into an inviting shade garden. Her accomplishment involved lots of sweat and toil to first remove prickly ash, chokecherry and box elder and other woody plants and then to till and amend the soil so shady perennials could flourish. Her shade plantings include pagoda dogwood, brunnera, pulmonaria (lungwort), heuchera (coral bells), tiarella (foamflower)...plus a wooden bench and some decorative rocks. I was impressed.
Marie presented a diary of her year as a Master Gardener intern and volunteer. She had a very busy year. One of the most valuable lessons she said she learned in Master Gardener training was this extremely useful response to nearly every gardener's question: "It depends." The truth is, there seldom are simple answers to gardening questions. So many variables come into play...sunlight/shade, moisture, disease history, insect infestations, plant growing zone, soil pH and nutrient level...you get the idea.
Marlys amazed us with facts and statistics about daylilies. Did you know that daylilies have been grown since before 479 BC, that the entire plant is edible, and that there are more than 40,000 registered daylily cultivars? Each year, 300 daylily hybridizers create 1,000 new cultivars but the one color that has never been achieved is blue. Marlys said one daylily breeder has predicted that he will have produced a blue daylily within five years but most daylily hybridizers are skeptical, saying a true-blue daylily will never happen.
We especially enjoyed Shirley's talk on food dehydration because she passed out samples of dried apples and they were delicious. Fruits and vegetables can be dehydrated using the sun (the method used since the beginning of time), a kitchen oven, a microwave oven, or a food dehydrator. She said her family never travels without a container of dehydrated fruit - usually apples -- in the car because it's a healthy, nutritious and tasty alternative to fast food and sweets.
The last presenter was Larry and he said the only reason he couldn't offer samples was the prohibition at the Carver County government center against alcohol. Larry grows grapes and produces his own wine. His wine has gained such a reputation that each of his children requested that it be served at their weddings. Grape varieties that will perform well in Minnesota include Swenson Red, Edelweiss, Beta, Bluebell and Frontenac.
To grow grapes successfully in Minnesota -- for table use, juice or wine -- you will need a sunny, south-facing site, well-drained soil, good air circulation and a willingness to master the art of grapevine training and pruning.
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PUTTING DOWN ROOTS:
A Delightful Blend of
Gardening Wisdom, Wit
and Whimsy
$10 + $2 for shipping
by Cliff Johnson |
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