In this second class celebrating Arbor Week, Brian Schiffer, our resident certified arborist, will talk about the fun of growing your own tree fruit.  It is not as hard as you might think, and the rewards of growing your own are significant.  You get the assurance of knowing where your fruit came from: how it was grown, what was and was not sprayed on it, and the smug satisfaction that no truck had to haul it to you!  And if you have children, they will learn where fruit comes from!  This is just one more way to live sustainably and with self-sufficiency.

This too is a free class, but please register so we know you are coming: email us at events@farmingtongardens.com, or call us at 503-649-4568.  Drop-ins are welcome, of course, as space is available.

Why is it that spraying trees or shrubs seems a little scary?  We frequently get inquiries from people seeking more information about ~ 

• what plants benefit from seasonal spraying
• how to do it
• what to use
• and the timing of the spraying 

We will demystify this whole topic on Saturday, February 6 at 11 am.  Tom Combs will cover many options for you to consider, whether you are interested in gardening organically, or whether you are okay with ‘conventional’ remedies.  There are excellent options for everyone.

A little preventive care now for roses, lilacs, cane berries, grapes, and fruit trees will result in a much easier and more productive season for you!  It is important to give these plants at least a February spraying – come and learn what to use and how.

This is a free class – please reserve your space by either calling us at 503-649-4568, or emailing us at events@farmingtongardens.com with your name and phone number.

We had a great class here this morning lead by Carl Grimm, Natural Gardening Specialist at Metro – he had terrific advice about gardening in a natural, sustainable way, working WITH nature rather than trying to coerce it to do our bidding.  He had suggestions for ways to minimize the use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides, and had concrete reasons why we should care which course we chose.  We have leftover brochures from Metro if you are interested in these topics – feel free to ask for one the next time you are here.

We had hoped Carl would spend more time discussing how to incorporate edibles into existing landscapes, but since many of the class questions centered on the basics of organic gardening, we didn’t get there in much depth.  Don’t get me wrong – I LOVE that folks want to truly understand and embrace organic gardening!  But I thought I’d try to fill in the gap with a few suggestions for ways you might think about incorporating edibles into your landscape, if that is one of your goals this year.  Here are a few ideas to consider:

• Think about reducing the size of your lawn.  Oftentimes, the lawn is in the sunniest part of the yard, and this is prime real estate for vegetables and fruits!  Carl touched on this topic briefly in his description of how to put a raised bed over existing lawn.   Lay several layers of cardboard down directly on the lawn, and fill your raised bed box with a good planting mix with lots of compost.  This should effectively kill the lawn underneath, while still allowing proper drainage for your raised bed.
• Consider a container garden for some of your edibles.  Small trees such as columnar apple trees or fig trees, can do very well in a large decorative container on your sunny deck.  Others to consider:  herbs, lettuces in a large bowl, and even tomatoes in a large container.  Remember the mature size of the root ball of your plant and choose a container accordingly.  For instance, tomatoes should go into at least a 15 gallon pot.  Another thing to remember with containers:  they are completely dependent on you for water and nutrients, and therefore need more of both than an in-ground garden. 
• Horizontally-pruned espaliered fruit trees can provide a beautiful decorative fencing between areas of the garden, or along a fence or wall.  And as a bonus, you get fruit!  We even have espaliered trees that have a variety of apples on one tree – you don’t get a lot of harvest of any one kind, but you get a very nice assortment over a longer period of time.
• Think outside the box when it comes to how to train grapes.  Conventionally pruned grapes didn’t work in my garden – took too much space – and so we trained our grape vine along a sunny back wall of our garage,  high over our heads.  We used large decorative wrought iron hooks on which the vine rests. It doesn’t block our walkway, gets plenty of sunshine up there, and we get a huge harvest.  Downside: we need a ladder to pick them, but we don’t mind!
• Think about substituting edible shrubs for some of your ornamental shrubs.  Blueberries, for example, are great in a mixed border.  They are beautiful all year long:  beautiful blooms in the spring which attract beneficial insects; gorgeous blue fruit throughout the summer months; and brilliant red foliage in the fall.  I think even the bare branches are attractive in my beds throughout the winter.  Evergreen huckleberry is also a great addition to a mixed border, and it provides much-needed filler during the winter.  Other good options:  Elderberry or Jostaberry currant.
• Think about replacing the typical hanging basket of geraniums or other annuals in that sunny spot, with a pot of strawberries, or cherry tomatoes, or herbs. 
• There are excellent options with small trees too — replace some of your ornamental small trees with great dwarf fruiting trees.  The columnar apple trees are extremely narrow, and would provide a nice vertical element in a border, as well as fruit.  (fyi: we just planted a couple of columnar apples in our demonstration vegetable garden for just that purpose – check it out as the season progresses to see how it looks).
• Think about growing vertically whenever possible – you reduce the plant’s footprint, making it possible to grow more intensively.  Something as simple as a rustic tee-pee of bamboo or grapevine trimmings can provide structure for beans, small squash, or cucumbers to climb upon.  It also creates a great focal point in the garden.
• Many of the vegetable plants are beautiful.  Bright Lights Swiss Chard has brilliant, multi-colored stems of reds, oranges, and yellows – the colors really pop in the garden.  They can be used as you would any tall annual.  You will harvest them repeatedly until frost, and then more sporadically through the winter.  Frilly kales are a beautiful textural addition to the ornamental garden, as well as being tasty and nutritious.   Eggplant, with its dark purple, shiny fruits, are another elegant addition to a flowerbed.  Artichoke (and its similar cousin Cardoon) provide delicious eating as well as beautiful silvery arching fronds in your flowerbed.  Don’t be afraid to incorporate veggies with your flowers – please just give them the room they require.  If they are too crowded, they will be more susceptible to disease and will have reduced harvests.

I hope this gives you some ideas for ways to incorporate edibles into your garden.  Think creatively, and try tucking your favorites into your landscape.  Mixing edibles and ornamentals is really fun and easy and creates such an interesting garden.  Just remember to put the right plant in the right place — those that require lots of sun will not thrive under a shade tree!

Maybe we didn’t do a very good job of telling you all about this tree class — at least, we are not getting inundated with interest for it, and it is really too bad.   Brian Schiffer, who is on our staff here at Farmington Gardens and a certified arborist as well as a bloomin’ walking encyclopedia of horticulture facts and trivia, is giving the class, so you can be assured it will be jam-packed with good information.  He will cover which trees are good for which uses and especially which thrive in our area.  He also likes to give folks detailed information about how to plant trees, because most of them do require special handling to ensure success long-term.  This class would be great for the beginning gardener who is looking for basic gardening know-how and especially for someone who would like to pick the brains of a real expert.  And for those of you interested in edible gardening, which is all the craze this year, he would answer questions on fruit trees too.  So don’t overlook this opportunity!  Brian’s talk is at 2 PM Saturday.  The weather is going to be beautiful — a great day to visit a beautiful garden center for ideas and inspiration!  Call us to register for the class — 503-649-4568.

Our own Beth Rose will share her passion for this interesting insect.  Every year about this time, we start hearing from our customers interested in mason bees – and so we are happy to start our speaker series in 2009 with this topic.  Beth is an expert on mason bees and loves watching their habits in her own garden.  She will share the easy steps you can take to bring this friendly native insect into your garden as well.  You won’t get honey or wax from these hard workers, because they focus all their time and energy on pollinating.  If you have an edible garden or fruit trees, you will want to know about mason bees!  We will have starter houses and replacement tubes available by then as well, so that you will be ready when the bees are. Class is free, please call to register:  503-649-4568.