DC Urban Gardeners

Oehme on Bringing American Plants to America Corcoran Gallery of Art Mon 3/30

Photo by Roger Foley

Sure, it's the Federal Reserve building in D.C. but I promise no alarming news about the economy, just visions of the stunning landscape by the world-famous firm of Oehme van Sweden Landscape Architects. (Here's their page about the project.) This two-acre garden on top of the Reserve's parking lot is not just gorgeous but a great example of the "New American Garden" style created by this team. And as Oehme mentions in this short interview, the garden uses American plants that were popular in Europe but not here, until they brought them here and popularized them.  Like what?  Most famously, Rudbeckia. 

Don't miss the residential landscape by Oehme van Sweden in this month's Garden Design Magazine.  And if you're in the DC area, Wolfgang Oehme is speaking about "Bringing the American Garden Home" at the Corcoran Gallery of Art next Monday evening, March 30.

Photos by Roger Foley.

Posted by Susan Harris

DC Urban Gardening Events at Historical Society

Presented by the Historical Society of Washington, DC Urban Gardeners and Washington Gardener Magazine.  The talks all take place at the Historical Society auditorium, 8801 K Street, N.W., Washington, D.C.  Check the Historical Society website for more details.

The events are from 1 pm to 2:30 except where noted with an asterisk.

All events are FREE and open to the general public.

March 28: Urban Tree Care and Tree Giveaway Program by Jim Woodworth, Casey Trees

April 18: The Best Vegetables to Grow in DC by Cindy Brown, Green Spring Gardens

May 30*: Landscaping with Natives by Cheval Force Opp, Garden Tours

(*10:00-11:30)

June 27: Growing the Perfect Tomato by Elizabeth Olson, Maryland Certified Professional Horticulturist

July 11: Rain Barrels and Water Management by Barry Chenkin, Aquabarrels

August 22: Canning Your Harvest Bounty by Liz Falk, 7^th Street Gardens

September 19*:Raising Winter Greens by Brett Grohsgal, Even Star Organic Farm CSA  (*2:30-4)

October 3: Building a School Garden by Grace Manubay, DC Schoolyard Greening

November 7: Putting Your Garden to Bed for Winter by Kathy Jentz, Washington Gardener Magazine

December - None

Free Events about Sustainable Gardening at Homestead Gardens

(Looks like a great bunch of speakers this year, and it's all free.  Homestead is only 15 minutes east of the beltway off Route 50 (Directions here).  Susan)

Homestead Gardens will host their annual spring garden show entitled, "Homesteading…the Sustainable Garden.

March 14 - 22, 2009

In these times of economic uncertainties, Americans turn inward, and their homes and gardens become their refuge. This year’s Garden Show addresses this trend by placing emphasis on gardening in the Chesapeake Watershed, sustainable techniques, and growing edibles in the garden and landscape. 

An incredible roster of speakers has been assembled for this event, including leading horticulturalist, author, and lecturer Allan Armitage; American Horticultural President Emeritus Katy Moss Warner; and organic gardening guru Mike McGrath. Homestead Gardens' experts will be available throughout the Garden Show to provide gardening advice, ideas, and inspiration. The schedule of special activities is as follows:

Friday, 3/13 6-8 pm

Preview Party

Be the first to explore our new Garden Show layout, while enjoying wine and cheese and live music. Be one of the first to arrive and receive a free pansy (while supplies last).

 

Feb 21 "Rooting DC" Forum Looks Awesome

When:  Saturday, February 21, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. (a light lunch is provided) 

Where:  Carnegie Library, 801 K Street, N.W.

How Much:  FREE

Workshops this year will include:

• Joy of Growing and Using Herbs by Fannie Hamilton

• Pruning by Gene Sumi (Homestead Gardens)

• Container Gardens--Focus on Edibles by Liz Falk (7th St Garden)

• Season Extension by Vinnie Bevivino (Master Peace Community Farm)

• Composting by John Wasiutynski (DDOE)

• Fruit Trees by Christopher Walsh (UMD)

• Natives/Invasives/Habitat Gardening by John Peter Thompson

• Gardening with Youth by Lola Bloom and Rebecca Lemos (City Blossoms)

• Rain barrels, rain gardens, and protecting DC's rivers by Jim Foster (Anacostia Watershed Society)

• What is Permaculture? by Hem Dhakal (Ecovida)

• Green Roofs by Sarah Murphy (Canopy Green Roofs)

It's all here on the Rooting DC website!

Pointsettia Festival Nov 22-23 at Homestead Growers

Plant-lovers, you may be suffering from those first jolts of of garden-withdrawal, but do you think 53,000 pointsettias might perk you up?  That's how many they have at Homestead Growers in Davidsonville, MD, and they're giving free tours next weekend of the pointsettia operation (Saturday 10-4 and Sunday noon-4).  I took the tour for garden writers today and learned a LOT.

 

Just go to Homestead Gardens (and here are the directions), 15 minutes from the beltway east on Route 50.  They'll shuttle you over to the growing facility for the tour with some knowledgeable staff person, like head grower Oliver Storm pictured here.

And if you're buying pointsettias this season and would like to keep them alive to perhaps rebloom someday, here's the dope on how to do that.

 

Tukey says: Take your lawn organic this fall

Paul Tukey, one of the top environmental crusaders on the American landscape, brought his message to us at the Historical Society of Washington, D.C., and we it was so valuable and inspiring, we just wish you were all there.  Next best thing?  Read on. 

Why is Paul Tukey?  In addition to his writing, magazine editing and for several years, his TV show, he heads up the nonprofit foundation SafeLawns.org with these important goals: 

• Reduce the use of synthetic fertilizers and pesticides AND gas mowers.
• Reduce lawn size and offer alternatives to lawn.
• Promote organic lawn care and teach homeowners how to transition to it.
• Engage the green industry, towns, and public gardens in this crusade.

ONE LANDSCAPER'S JOURNEY
So what turns a lawn care company owner into an anti-toxin crusader?  In Paul's case, winding up in the hospital with acute toxicity caused by the products he was spreading.  (And acute toxicity doesn't go away; he'll be dealing with it forever.) Despite all that, Paul hasn't turned against turfgrass itself and says he loves lawns.  Where else ya gonna play volleyball, badminton and touch football?  On his own 3 acres he measured exactly the space needed for those forms of family fun, and the rest is planted in trees, shrubs, wildflowers and veggies.

MURDER ON THE NATIONAL MALL
Remember the demonstration organic lawn that the SafeLawns folks installed on the National Mall last fall?  You may remember, too, that it was destroyed by the tarp laid over it for a private event, which tarp was allowed to bake in the summer heat for over a week.  Never mind, says Paul, he's still "thrilled" that they did it and will be renovating the 4-acre plot again this month. That's the spirit.

HERBICIDE HELP ON THE WAY
Paul gave us the good news that two new selective organic herbicides are on their way - one from Canada and one from Germany.  They work, they're safe, and they'll be on the market in 2009.  Overall, Paul predicts a "tsunami" for organics in the next 3 to 4 years.

START YOUR CONVERSION TO ORGANIC
Here's my summary of the fall lawn conversion steps in Paul's talk and his Organic Lawn Care Manual, and I hope he and others will chime in to clarify as needed.  October's a great month (at least here in Zone 7) to put your lawn on the road to health, and here's how:

• Remove weeds, rake up thatch.
• Optional:  Add lime IF a soil test indicates it's needed.
• Mow to 1-2".
• Optional: Aeration is helpful but not required in most situations.  Hand aerators are fine, as are the larger ones you can rent.
• Apply ½ inch fully decomposed compost.  And Paul has a video showing how it's done - using rakes or a broadcast spreader. 
• Apply 1 pound nitrogen per 1,000 square feet, using an organic product only.
• Optional:  For fastest results also apply compost tea.  DIY brewing kits are simple, or use the brew at Whole Foods - he vouches for their DC-area distributor.  (Any doubts about the effectiveness of compost tea are quickly dispelled by Paul's photos of the side-by-side comparison.)
• Lawns need overseeding every fall, so apply a thin layer over the whole lawn and a more concentrated dose over bare spots.  A mix of several species of turfgrasses is best. Cover those bare spots with a thin layer of compost and tamp down with your feet.  Water regularly to keep the seed moist til it's germinated.

If your lawn's still patchy next spring repeat the overseeding, and definitely do another 1/2 inch application of compost - and every spring forever.  If your soil is really bad (like dead), apply more organic fertilizer and compost tea.

Paul told us he's not a big fan of mowing leaves and letting them stay on the lawn as mulch because under snow they can cause winter kill. (Living in Maine, he's no stranger to snow.)  In warm climates the practice may be harmless, assuming there's no more than a thin layer of this leaf-mulch.

OR HIRE SOMEONE
The for-profit part of Paul's crusade (and even crusaders have mortgages) is the Safe Lawns and Landscapes Company, which is franchising organic lawn-care services nationwide.  The first DC-area franchisees will be open for business next spring, and they'll all be giving 10% of their proceeds to the nonprofit SafeLawns.org.

FOR MORE INFORMATION
The SafeLawns website has 20 videos and lots of printable resources.  For you iPoders, there's a radio show.  Also, Beyond Pesticides has compiled good info about landscapes, and has those cool "Pesticide-Free Zone" signs for your yard.

Posted by Susan Harris

Paul Tukey and Organic Lawn Care are Coming to Town!

For our series of free public talks at the DC Historical Society we KNEW that lawn care was a topic that needed to be covered - it's the number one question asked of gardening experts everywhere.  And we knew that SafeLawns.org was the go-to group to deliver the message that lawns DON'T have to pollute, DON'T have to poison the soil, our kids and our pets, and DON'T need regular hits of fossil-fuel products just to survive.  But who knew that Paul Tukey himself would be delivering the message - you know, the guy on TV, the magazine publisher, the popular national speaker and author of The Organic Lawn Care Manual (which I just finished and let me tell you, it rocks!  Review coming soon.) 

Here's the SafeLawns description of Paul's talk:

Paul Tukey is on a mission, to reduce pesticide usage across , one lawn and garden at a time.  Popular host of his own HGTV program, Paul is also the publisher of People, Places & Plants magazine, the author of The Organic Lawn Care Manual and the founder of the not-for-profit organization, SafeLawns.org.

Says Tukey, “Americans are spre>ng millions of tons of toxic materials on their lawns, all in the name of having a beautiful lawn.  Our mission is to show people that you can have that nice lawn without the toxic and wasteful side effects.” Tukey himself is a former professional landscaper who switched from synthetic to organic methods after becoming ill. Paul continues, “A report by the National Academy of Sciences shows that the health of 1 in 7 people is negatively impacted in some form by lawn pesticides. We want to do something about that.”

Invited to speak by the DC Historical Society, Paul will present alternative solutions to chemically dependent lawns. 

Now we can't pay much, and certainly not travel and and hotel expenses, but Paul's coming here from Maine
because this is D.C., and because we promised a good crowd and lots of publicity to help spread the word.  This is one pro-environment information that everyone with a patch of turf needs and may just seek out.  Love or hate lawn - and lawn-bashing is high sport these days - lawns will always be with us and for the last 50 years lawn care has been the most environmentally destructive thing that homeowners do with their property, bar none.  So I'd argue that changing the way people grow their lawns is the gardening topic most likely to yield big pay-offs for the environment.

Help us spread the word by marking the date AND starting the buzz.  This has broad appeal, and we hope everyone will spread the word widely - to neighborhood associations, PTA groups, not just the usual green groups.  A formal announcement will come later in the summer but we DO know the date and time:

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 27 AT 1:00

Here's an earlier post about the kick-off of the SafeLawns campaign at the foot of the Capitol, and their demonstration site on the National Mall.  And here's a cool map of lawn in the U.S., where it looks like D.C.'s right at the beginning of a whole corridor of lawn stretching up to Boston.

Photo:  Paul on "Good Morning America".  Posted by Susan Harris

Shrubs and Small Trees for Washington Gardens

If there was any doubt as to whether Washington Gardener Magazine editor Kathy Jentz knows her trees and shrubs, it didn't last long.  She recommended a great assortment, and took every question without a pause.  What's a live audience after answering call-in questions on the radio, right?

First she showed us the magazine's "Top 10 Small Trees and Large Shrubs for your Yard", and here they are:

• Japanese maple (Acer palmatum) can take a lot of shade, and comes in a wide range of sizes.
• *Fringe tree (Chionanthus virginicus) is loved for its weeping habit and honeysuckle smell.  Its maximum height is a manageable 20 feet.  Requires full sun.
• *'Forest Pansy' redbud (Cercis canadensis") - the species grows to 40 feet but many smaller varieties are available.
• *Mountain laurel (Kalmia latifolia) will still flower even in deep shade.  Kathy recommended a visit to the mountain laurel collection near Fern Valley at the National Arboretum.  They're very slow growers, so you might want to buy a larger one.
• *Witch hazel (Hamamelis virginiana) smells spicy smell and blooms in fall.  (Asians witch hazels bloom in spring).
• Crape myrtle (Lagerstoemia indica) comes in a wide variety of sizes and is a top choice for in brutally sunny spots for their drought tolerance.  They can also handle pollution and salt.
• Korean dogwood (Cornus kousa) 'Wolf Eyes' was bred locally for disease resistance, is compact and ideal for part-shade.
• Harry Lauder's Walking Stick (Corylus avellana 'Contorta') is one you either love or hate.
• *Sweetbay Magnolia (Magnolia virginiana) is an evergreen that reaches only 20 feet in height - great size for city gardens.
• Oregon Grapeholly (Mahonia aquifolium) is another evergreen and native to the Pacific Northwest.  It likes any exposure from full sun to full shade - a real do-er!

* Denotes plants native to this region.

FOR FRUIT

• Figs are the local favorite and 'brown Turkey' does particularly well.  They require at least 4 h ours of sun.
• Blueberries do not like clay, so remove it or grow them in containers.  They're the number one choice of birds, so use netting if you want to actually eat them.
• Elderberry is a 3-footer that's become an alternative to nandina for some gardeners, and can be made into wine.
• Gooseberries? Put them in the vegetable garden.
• Currents are edible with sweeting.
• Juneberry or shadbush is grown for wildlife.

And Kathy recommends Edible Landscasping in Virginia.

There were more great trees and shrubs that flower and others that are grown for their foliage, but I'm running out of time.  I won't stop before thanking Kathy for this terrific talk, though - and for her many contributions to the urban gardening community of Washington, D.C. and environs.

Posted by Susan Harris.  Fringe tree photo courtesy of the Missouri Botanical Garden.

This Saturday - Urban Trees and Shrubs - Kathy Jentz

WHEN: Saturday, June 14 from 1 to 2:30 p.m.

WHAT:  "Small Trees and Large Shrubs for Urban Gardens"  

Join Kathy Jentz, editor and publisher of Washington Gardener Magazine, as she explores the possibilities of what small trees and large shrubs you can plant in small urban lots. Tailored to the District of Columbia region and what grows best here, the choices will cover natives, edibles, and ornamentals -- from full sun to full shade. For every place there is a tree that is a perfect fit. Even if you only have a few pots to plant in, a tree can be part of your urban life.

Kathy Jentz publishes Washington Gardener Magazine, its monthly Enewsletter, and blog.  In addition, she is the local garden columnist for the Washington Examiner newspaper and writes about gardening for Washington Woman magazine. A regular on the garden spots on WAMU Metro Connections and NBC4@4, she currently serves as President of the Silver Spring Garden Club.

Suitable to ages 12 to Adults.

To RSVP (not required), email or call 202-383-1828.

WHERE:  Historical Society of Washington, D.C., 801 K St. NW, Mt. Vernon Square, Washington, D.C. (near Gallery Place Metro).   

Report from the Plant Swap

Thanks heaps to Kathy Jentz, editor-publisher of Washington Gardener Magazine, for taking charge and making DC Urban Gardeners' first-ever Plant Swap go off without a hitch.  Perfect weather, great turn-out, and hundreds of plants found good homes.

The venue was the H Street Market , DC's newest farmer's market, so our event brought some new faces to the market.  Lots of the plants exchanging hands were edibles, too, so local food was supported on two fronts.

The top picture shows Kathy in the yellow cap corraling the group for a photo with their loot.  As recent past president of the Takoma Horticulture Club and current president of the even larger Silver Spring Garden Club, Kathy does know how to herd gardeners.  Probably cats, too.

One of the coolest things about plant swaps is all the plant talk that goes on before, during and after.  First there's the pre-swap investigatory phase.  Then everyone introduces the plants they brought, and some even give growing tips.  And in the lower photo Mandie and an unidentified plant swapper are engrossed in whatever Lileecoi has to say about growing the edibles she brought.  See the learning going on?

And just like plants themselves, swaps produce varieties, with some gardeners offering dig-it-yourself deals involving untold quantities of plants back in their gardens.  People without extra plants brought brought books, magazines and good-looking pots.  Oh, yeah, we're recycling now!

But honestly, the most appreciated people at plant swaps are usually the ones with neither plants nor gardening items to give away, so they bring the refreshments.  Homemade muffins and brownies!

Posted by Susan Harris