I started off with two pallets left over from a patio project. They are heavy duty two sided with 4×4 side posts.

Pallet Planters 01

I removed one or two planks to open the exposed face and so the pallets would match and  hammered in or removed any nail heads or tips that were sticking out. Using a common landscape fabric I inserted it in between the two sides of the pallet so that it created a “U” along the inside front and back faces.  Then with a staple gun, and 1/2 inch staples, I reached inside and stapled up the 4×4 post and the middle 2×4 post attaching the fabric securely to the pallet. I made sure to fold the top edges  enough to take up any slack in the fabric to prevent sagging out the bottom once it was to be hung. That also allowed me to staple through many layers of the fabric just in case some of the other staples pulled lose.

Pallet Planters

I filled the “pockets” of fabric with high quality potting soil and made horizontal cuts in the fabric where we were to plant. It is easier to add the potting soil as you go, planting from the bottom up.  For the taller and more top heavy plants I pushed them in pretty deep so they would be anchored securely until the roots can take hold. We planted the pallets with Carex trifida ‘Rekohu Sunrise’, primerose, Moss and Heuchera.

We hung the Pallet Gardens from the timber frame arbor using 1″ poly rope and very secure knots. To finalize the leveling process we shimmed under the rope above the beams so that it won’t be visible ( although now I see it still is!)

Watering the Pallet Gardens will be easy since there are two vertical soil pockets that are open on top. A drip system or a watering wand would due the trick. The water will percolate through the whole root zone.

Enjoy!!

Pallet Garden

Pallet Garden 02

I am so excited about it.  At this point I can’t get any better of an idea what it will look like until we are there with the plants and materials!

I just heard from Plum Projects about the arbor and they are starting in on the very complicated and precise timber frame joinery.  It is going to be made from rough sawn doug fir, 8×8 inch posts and 6×6 inch beams.

M & M irrigation is building the playhouse and I am looking at paint samples for the different walls.

Hand carving the lyrics to the song on old fence boards, rough and weathered. They are coming along great.

Lyric boards

Mosaic by Seattle Mosaic Arts. 5 feet wide by 3 feet tall. Will be for sale at the show!

"Oh little Bluebird, pearly feather breast..."

Witch Hazel

Old Allium (for the birds!)

Tracks on the trail

A peek in at the planted Pallet!

Golden Yew looks great in the snow!

Less than a month before the show and here’s where we stand!!
Below are some of the projects underway for “Winter’s Come and Gone- A Lullaby”.  A garden I am designing/creating for the Washington State Nursery and Landscape Association at the Northwest Flower and Garden Show 2012.
Mosaic by Seattle Mosaic Arts. It measures five feet in length and three feet in height.  It’s depicting the Blue Bird with a “pearly feathered breast” from the song.

a pallet being tranformed into a green wall.

Pallet 1

Pallet 2

Here is a light sculpture that is built entirely from reused steel by Ray Hammer, Blue Collar Artworks. He will also be making our benches and fountain.

Finally, an updated image of the garden.

"Winter's Come and Gone- A Lullaby"

On other news, The timber frame arbor is under way and I’m meeting up with Fred Moore to see the model playhouse today!

Hope you all make it out to see the show!

More info at:

Facebook.com/NativeRootDesigns

WSNLA.org

gardenshow.com

With the help of Kirsten Lints, Gardens Alive Design, Megan Pulkkinen, Megan Pulkkinen Landscape Design, and the extremely generous  contributions from a handful of local nurseries, we are getting the plants collected and stowed away for the Northwest Flower and Garden Show (taking place February 8-12, 2012).

We have collected plants from around the Puget Sound and stored them at Sunnyside Nursery in Marysville, and at Windmill Gardens in Sumner.  Thus far the plants have come from Van Klavern’s Nursery, Vibrant Plants, T&L Nursery, Dragonfly Farms Nursery, Valley Nursery.

We still have a few plants to track down however as you can see we’ve been busy driving and collecting the majority of the list plus a few bonus plants we couldn’t resist!

Other news on the show; Ray Hammer, Blue Collar Artwork, is contributing to the fountain and the bench design with his highly creative and artistic steel sculptures.  The talented team at Seattle Mosiac Arts is creating a custom 5′x3′ mosaic for the bluebird garden (which I can’t wait to see!).  Pacific Stone Company is suppling the permeable pavers for the patio!  Plum Projects ((206) 819-0536 plumprojectsllc@gmail.com) is building the Arbor.  I just sat down and discussed the final design prior to them ordering the lumber, it is very exciting and will be a treasured piece at the show!

It is coming together wonderfully. I am looking forward to seeing all of the amazing art combine with the beautiful plants.  More than anything I am so grateful to be part of the garden show and to be working on it with WSNLA.

Browse the pictures and enjoy!

Don’t forget, Northwest Flower and Garden Show, February 8-12, 2012!

Kirsten Lints, making it happen.

Sunnyside Nursery stash

Enough Sarcococca?

A hedge in the making.

The Windmill Gardens stash: Magnolia, Cryptomeria, Malus and Cedar

Dragonfly Farms Nursery

Magnolia collection

Arbor

A recent family trip out to Descanso Gardens in Southern CA.
It was a beautiful day and we all enjoyed the gardens. We were rolling four generations deep for the first time. I was surprised by the amount of time we were able to stay and enjoy the space. They call themselves “A place for the generations” and I could not agree more. From edible gardens to fun sitting stones and stone spirals to lovely benches of all sorts around every corner. My three year old daughter and my 90 year old Grandmother were comfortable and happy the whole day through. We never even made it to the miniature train!

I see the seasons and the temperatures in the western US much like the geography that defines it. Let me explain:  The western US is composed of a series of mountains and valleys that run North and South that are called the Basin and Range system.  This is illustrated most dramatically in California where the highest point in the continental US (Mt. Whitney at 14,491′) sits just 135 miles away from the lowest point in the Northern Hemisphere (Badwater in Death Valley at -288).  This system continues north into Washington state and east to the east side of the Rockies.

The ranges in this system are all similar in the way they are slow to build (West to East) with foothills rising to the ridges and suddenly drop off on the east side creating some spectacular vistas from the high deserts that consistently follow them.

In Seattle the average high temperatures sit below 60 degrees F from November to April. The lowest temperature is in December meaning it takes four months to build over 60 degrees and that it only takes two months to go from 60 to the coldest times.(http://www.weather.com/weather/wxclimatology/monthly/graph/USWA0395)

I just find it fascinating.  Looking at the graph of average temperatures looks the same as a cross section of the topography in our region.

I have been spending some time pulling the vegetables out of the Potager garden and planting Garlic, Shallots and Onions.  A perfect job for a 3 1/2 year old; I used the butt end of a long handled spade and made planting holes about 2-4 inches for the Shallots and the Garlic and my daughter tossed in the cloves.  She quickly learned that the shallots would right themselves in the hole if she got them anywhere near right side up.

Planting Shallots!

I love the lighting in Autumn.  It brings so much brilliance and magic to the garden.  Earlier this year I wrote in the trade magazine, B&B (Washington Nursery and Landscape Association) about different ways of using Fall color.  My favorite thing to consider with a particularly stunning fall specimen is to place it in the landscape in such a way that it will be back lit when it is changing colors. This Sango Kaku Japanese Maple is a glowing example.  It catches the light from the side and illuminates the whole courtyard, which is completely shaded by this time, enhancing the contrast and adding to the lighting effect.

Lighting up the courtyard

In Front of my house I have three Red Maple (Acer rubrum ‘October Glory’) trees planted by the previous owner.  Our house and lot are south west facing so every year for a good month these trees glow a brilliant ghostly red from anywhere on our lot.

Red Maple and trumpet vine

May has been developing a nice sense of humor.  She recently discover that if she squawks while she throws herself backwards we go giggly.  It’s a pretty funny scene all around I think.  Her and I go for evening garden strolls and inevitably visit with a few neighbors.  They instantly see the pace of my walk and the teary eyes of May and understand that we both needed a breather from our busy little house!  A shout out to our neighbors for entertaining and understanding the dramatic temperament of a five month old!  Almost every time we go out the front door, regardless of her state, she stops fusing and becomes immersed in her surroundings.

May at 5 months

A contemporary American folk song that spans time and generations. Follow the verses beyond the rain and snow, sing your sorrows to the birds and receive their reassurance that, “Winter’s come and gone, a little bird told me so.”

Our innovative design utilizes a regionally sensitive plant palette, permeable paving, recycled glass, and living walls. It embraces the dream of spring from the window sill of a child’s playhouse through the timber framed arbor and themed gates. It would be a welcome sight anywhere in the Pacific Northwest.

Winters Come and Gone- A Lullaby; Elevation view

Winter's Come and Gone- A Lullaby; Layout view

We recently had our second baby, May Jewel Smaus.  She was born at the end of May and Lila was born in the beginning of May.  I decided to jump on board with my last postings approximately at the same time as when Lila was May’s age and compare notes with myself a little. Here is the blog posting from three years ago, July 2009, “11 weeks”.

Many things have changed but most I’d say have stayed essentially the same.  We are still in our house (BofA be willing) and we still love our garden.  It has been so much fun watching Lila pick out certain elements of the garden and play with them in some way that I wouldn’t have expected, such as she love to run down the gravel path way barefoot, always has, even when she was first walking! Of course collecting the gravel is a lot of fun too!  The garden trails are a great activity for us to do together and for her friends to run circles through and around the garage.

The clutter of toys, chairs, tables, tools, containers and plants is out of control! I have to be able to get tools, ladders, plants in and out of my truck consistently and without twisting my ankle or out right tripping and breaking my arm! Lila and I, recently crafted a large “Free” sign on an old board and placed it out on our curb for the weekend in front of a toy wheel barrow and a couple dump trucks so that “other kids could play with them”.  Lila was completely okay with the whole process.  I did get a little scared when she asked if they were going to bring them back when they were done playing with them.  She asked this after they were gone unfortunately and I said I didn’t know (We got them all for free the same way so I really didn’t!) and that we would have to wait and see.  Luckily she hasn’t mentioned them again!

The garden has changed a little as well.  I continued the extra parking space that we had in the driveway all the way out to the street for a double driveway.  We have the double curb cut and I used to have the extra parking spot sort of hidden behind a planting bed.  I also terraced the back slope to create the Potager Garden.  Lila love the Potager garden.  That is where we “dig for worms” or “wormies” to be precise.  We have planted two summers of vegetables together and harvested many meals.  I’m sure that this is an amazing experience for any child.  I have a fondness for the process of soil and microbiology.  I know just enough about it from the program I attended to understand that the boundary between liquids and solids, soil and root, are very uncertain.  I have taken to using soil as an almost spiritual existence.  When things die they just turn into soil and feed the plants again; become fruit again, become the towering trees once again.  This works for most circumstances we have come across so far.  Lila woke up the other morning and stated, “When you die, grandpa will come and visit me and mommy and May.”  I calmly stated, ” That isn’t going to happen any time soon but, yes, I’m sure he will.  And when I die I will just become soil and be everywhere anyways, so I will always be with you. But that isn’t going to happen anytime soon.”

As for May…I don’t spend a lot of time with her.  I love her dearly of course.  I am so busy trying to keep Lila engaged when I am home that Annie is just happy to have May focus on doing her baby business without a chattering, bouncing three year old distracting her!  I do walk in the garden with her and we water together. Now that the light is changing we see the sunsets occasionally together from the Potager Garden and the trails.

Lila pulling the reins of her horse, "clafoutis"

Potager Garden, August 2011

Main Border, August 2011

Allium and Yucca

What does that mean? I cut out branches that sag down onto the understory plantings, thin branches to open up a canopy and let more light into an area, cut out branches that go sideways directly into another plants space and remove certain plants that have gotten way to large. I just removed two large Photinia davidiana shrubs that had seeded themselves into a woodland border at least ten years ago.  The owner wasn’t sure they should go however I could see what was behind and underneath them and I could tell that they were not intended in the original planting design.  It can be difficult to know when a plant has helped itself to your garden.  Here in the Pacific Northwest we get trees seeding themselves all the time. If you don’t catch it quickly you may lose track of it and assume it was supposed to be there.  Anyway after removing the large shrubs from the border everyone was much happier; owner and plants alike! From the driveway now you can look up into the architecture of the Pine, Silk Tassel and Vine Maple and view the intense fall color of the Euonymus or Burning Bush.

I love opening up space in the garden. I remove a lot of material from the gardens I work in. I’m not shy! It gives a sense of space and room to breath. One of the nicest things about the Seattle area is the various levels of canopy. In the garden you have such a range of perspective; from ground cover to perennials to shrubs small to large and then to trees small to large.  I work in gardens that have easily 70+ year old Douglas Fir, bases about five feet across! Rhododendron that easily get to ten or fifteen feet tall and the ability to grow such a diverse collection of perennials allows the fine gardener to work with many vertical layers in one space.

While working under the native Arbutus and Mahonia I noticed that the season has tilted. In the very brief dry spell we’ve had, our Mediterranean climate has kicked in.  The dry leaves fall from the trees and shrubs creating a carpet of crunchy dry leaves across the dusty ground. It leads perfectly into Fall but is distinct in the hard dusty dryness of the West.  I love it!

A few pictures and an awesome banana slug video to see you through!

Click here to view the embedded video.

Japanese Maple thinned for summer

Mahonia aquifolium berries

Salal berry super sized

"Where I'm from..."

Rosa ‘Dapple Dawn’

Hydrangea quercifolia

Tan Bark Oak leaves scattered in the dry dusty soil of the West

Location: Southeast Seattle
Resources: 8,000 sqft lot with a 600 sqft house and a detached two car garage. Unfortunately there is a double driveway that just plows through some of the best growing areas!
I am a professional landscaper/gardener so I come across useful materials a lot; stones, gravel, compost, and certainly most of the garden plants. I also have the tools and the dirt under my nails so jumping in with both feet is pretty convenient.

I’ve created different areas of the garden each with their own qualities, requirements and expectations to fulfill.

Main border: basically bordering both sides of the driveway and up the front walk. Mainly shrubs and perennials, ornamental plants with a couple fig trees, grapes, blueberry bushes scattered about and lots of cut flowers. Maintenance in this area is most frequent sometimes weekly in little bursts. I like to have it looking good and it doesn’t have the nasty weeds like some other areas (horsetail, ivy, blackberry, bindweed).

Main Border 01

Main Border 02

Main Border 03

Main Border 04

Street border: along the sidewalk in front of my house. We hardly see it. I try to maintain it a couple times per year. Very little watering and very tough but attractive plants (it is due for a renovation this fall).
Back border and slope; I used to keep the back border maintained like the main border and maybe I will soon but it has gotten far far ahead of me this year! The slope is mostly left untrimmed for habitat all spring. It is planted with native shrubs and trees as well as new and existing fruit trees; Cherry and Plum, not heavy bearers, two apples (1 red and 1 green) and two pears (Orca pear and Bartlett) only a few years old. It is beyond the lawn and playground in this photo.

Back Border

Potager garden; Currently four cedar beds terraced into the slope. the Cedar planks are 2×10′s. I like having things level when possible so I leveled out the walkway between the first row of beds and the upper row of beds. On the bottom row I sunk the boards and dug out all the extremely thick clay from about twice the depth as the boards, so they look real low but the good soil and the drainage go deep! I have one entire bed being taken by raspberries. I need to find another spot for them but I’m not sure where they won’t get taken over by the bindweed. next winter I hope to add four more beds in the lawn area between the current beds and the playground and hopefully ditch the playground for a chicken coop! Included as part of the Potager garden is the tomato hoop house.  It is against the west to southwest facing wall of our garage.  I put down some black plastic on the weeds and PVC poles form the ground to the side of the garage wall. I leave the plastic over them for a while in the spring and again in the Fall when it really prolongs the fruiting ability.

Potager Garden 01

Potager Garden 02

Potager Garden 03

Family in the Potager

I guess the main reason I associate our garden to the Urban Homestead concept is the way our lives function in and around it.  We grow a good amount of vegetables, harvest cut flowers, dig for worms in the beds or in the compost bin, watch the spiders and the bees. I’ll let the pictures do the rest!

Moving to the Northwest eight years ago this month was a traumatic and awakening experience. The summers here are like nothing I’d experienced previously. I’d walked hundreds of miles of desert and canyons. I’ve sat in the center of the Grand Canyon in 120+ and soaked myself in the springs. The Pacific Northwest transforms itself through the green and tropical growth and warm, never ending evenings. Swimming in the lake at 10:00 pm and still seeing light in the sky is a wonderful thing.

I love the way the summer lures me in. It builds and builds with brimming beauty and warmth. The fact that it only lasts two or three months matters little. The anticipation of summer is fulfilling in it’s own right and when the fall comes I welcome it’s foggy mornings and nostalgic golden afternoons.

So here’s a few to the spell of the summer garden!

I had the opportunity to visit Dragonfly Farms Nursery last weekend with my family. Not only are Heidi Kaster’s nursery plants extensive, unique and extremely hard to resist; her gardens are in every way a demonstration of her passion and horticultural expertise. Heidi is a horticultural encyclopedia. You may have to follow her around as she tends to watering the nursery but it’s worth the chase.

Dragonfly Farms Nursery is located in Kingston on the Kitsap peninsula in the Puget Sound. It is a must for any gardener looking for unique conifers, trees, shrubs, perennials, annuals or garden art; that about covers it! On the right day the ferry from Seattle to Bainbridge is nothing less than spectacular. Trekking the short distance between the artist and farm haven of Bainbridge island to the lovely sky line of Seattle, the ferry is framed on the south by Mount Rainier, on the North by the North Cascades, most obviously Mount Baker, on the East by the Cascades and on the West by the Olympic Mountains. If you are keeping track that is three national parks and at least one wilderness area. The drive from the Bainbridge ferry to Dragonfly Farm Nursery is about 45 minutes compared to 15 minutes from the Kingston ferry; I love the drive on the peninsula as opposed to driving north on I-5. It depends where you are coming from however the Seattle ferry is fun!

I’ll let the pictures say the rest!

I believe that most art forms require a creative thought process and a mastery of a chosen medium(s).  After that it’s up to the artists whim to use the medium to it’s advantage or not.

If nothing else I am an artist. I do not think on a lineal plane.  I reach into various cultural ideas and bring design concepts that I see in social, political and personal relationships into my gardening and that feeds back to those relationships.  I blend in and out of themes and am hard pressed to do anything without pushing some boundary.  My perspectives and ideals are more circular than definitive, hard to pin down at any given point because it usually depends on the setting, situation, timing, and a handful of other variables. Gardening is my business, hobby, passion, creative muse, mental and physical exercise, joy, therapy, community and teacher. Everything in my life feeds into my gardens and they in turn feed back into every part of my life.

My medium of choice is the garden.  I use this medium to express the questions that I have and to enrich my community and our planet.  I have a degree in Ornamental Horticulture and I am a Certified Professional Horticulturist; I love the science involved in the garden. I love learning about soil chemistry and transpiration/respiration; how a plant responds to pruning at different times of the year and how plants grow in differing ways to maximize niche pockets in the garden. All of those I would consider the slightly more scientific side of gardening.

With a comprehensive understanding of the scientific medium that is the paint for the garden I give myself the freedom to create and form the gardens that I work in.  I use the science of horticulture and the proven testimony of time to guide my work.

Pruning can be a sensitive subject.  Without getting to involved in it I must say that if you are aware of the science and observant of the way plants respond and grow through time you can do a lot through pruning.

I visited the Filoli Estate in Central California many years ago and have remembered the Olive trees in the sunken garden.  They are sheared on the outside and thinned on the inside.  They look like ghosts when illuminated from the back as they are from most perspectives.  I have used this concept to prune small trees and shrubs.  The effect is formal and stately, grand and bold at times.

I have been pruning this Portuguese Laurel for  five years.  Prior to that it had been trained for approximately 10 years by an excellent gardener, thus it had been in good hands when I began.  Yesterday it took me four hours to lightly shear the outside, thin the inside and outside so you can see the trunks from the outside and take the top down.  That is probably the only attention it will need for the next year.

Right now our gardens in the Pacific Northwest are growing rabidly.  Our massive unending spring rains combined with today’s 16 hour span between sunrise and sunset, leave our gardens with no choice but to grow; big bold and beautiful.

The sermon I usually preach about this time of year is consistency over thoroughness. If you can get into your garden and plow out the biggest and worst weeds you are cutting your future work down dramatically. Weed, separate plants, lift plants, move quickly to keep your focus and get out there often.

Here are some pictures of my front border. I haven’t touched it this year. It definitely falls under the “tough” zone in my garden. The Darwin garden, with it’s SW exposure and collection of my least favorite weeds; Bindweed, Horsetail and Ivy.

These pictures were taken in a light mist between 7:30 and 9:30 pm last night.  I said earlier that you need to tear your garden apart.  Here is how it’s done.  Of course I did clean it all up before I was done however it was getting a little dark by then for a good picture.

And a good little helper to move yourself through at the end of a long day.  I set my whiskey glass down on the wall a little over half way through the border and I couldn’t have a drink until I worked my way to it. This is also made easier due to the mist; I had to get to my glass before the slugs!