Home and garden news, upcoming events
Published: Friday, September 3, 2010 at 3:00 a.m.
Last Modified: Tuesday, August 31, 2010 at 10:59 a.m.
The best way to pick a fruit tree is to taste it first.
With that in mind, Prickett’s Nursery is holding a fruit tasting on Sept. 11, led by grower Manny Sousa of Burchell Nursery. Sample several varieties of apples, plums, peaches and more, all side by side. Nursery-goers may then jot down their favorites to have on hand during bare root season in January, although some varieties in five-gallon pots will be available during the tasting from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
Prickets is at 5173 Sonoma Hwy, Santa Rosa. 539-3030.
The Sonoma County Master Gardeners have a lineup of informational workshops planned for Sept. 11, covering sudden oak death, capturing rainwater and growing and using medicinal herbs.
Residents of the Russian River area can learn about diagnosing and treating sudden oak death during a free talk at the Guerneville Regional Library, 14107 Armstrong Woods Road. Specialists will discuss how to keep your oaks as healthy as possible and what to do if you suspect a tree carries the disease.
For more information call 565-2608.
In Santa Rosa, Autumn Summers, program coordinator for the California School for Herbal Studies in Forestville, will lead a free walk though the Harvest for the Hungry Garden in Santa Rosa, 1717 Yulupa Ave.
Summers will show how to use common plants for medicinal purposes and demonstrate how to make a healing salve. For information call Bob Weis at 484-3613.
Master Gardener Linda King will show you how to conserve rainwater for your garden during a talk at the Rincon Valley Library, 6959 Montecito Blvd., Santa Rosa. King among other points, will cover how to reduce run-off onto driveways and sidewalks.
“I will reccommend the use of drought-tolerant plants, porous paving materials and rain gardnes, along with just good irrigation practices,” she said.
For more information call 565-2608.
All talks are held from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Visit sonomamastergardeners.org for more information.
North Coast Natives Nursery in Petaluma holds a free Planning for Fall workshop Sept. 11.
The workshop will cover both preparing a new site for planting or enhancing an existing landscape.
Attendees are invited to bring photographs, sketches, plant lists and even sample leaves or flowers of native plants they’d like identified.
Following the presentation staff will provide help and resource materials to assist people in developing their own fall planting goals. The workshop will start at 10 a.m.2700 Chileno Valley Road, Petaluma, across from Laguna School. 769-1230.
Growing up in Long Beach in the 1950’s, Jon Gariepy developed a fascination with boats and cars.
And now, a half century later, he finds himself exploring them in a far different way through art.
The Petaluma ceramicist has developed a whole fleet of junker craft and cars — slumping, “rusty,” in the process of decay.
Gariepy is one of a number of ceramic artists, including fellow Petaluman Nuala Creed, whose works will be shown in a new exhibition and fair in San Francisco Sept. 10 to 12.
The Ceramics Annual of America at Herbst Pavilion at Fort Mason (off Marina Boulevard in San Francisco), will spotlight the quality and diversity of contemporary ceramics, drawing in many of the nation’s leading ceramic artists, instructors and collectors. Talks and panel discussions are part of the program. It is put on by the California Ceramics Cooperative.
Hours are from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sept. 10 and 11 and until 6 p.m. Sept. 12. Admission is $10 per day or $5 for admission after 5 p.m. Youth 18 and under are free. For information visit ceramicsannual@gmail.com.
Garden designer Gail Fanning will share tips on the best ornamental grasses during a talk today at Bassignani Nursery in Sebastopol.
Fanning will discuss the care and pruning of these garden accent plants starting at 10:30 a.m. Sept. 4. The talk is free. For information call 823-3984. 1843 Gravenstein Hwy S., Sebastopol.
Learn all about “Water Harvesting in a Permaculture Paradise” during a field workshop Sept. 11 put on by Daily Acts of Petaluma.
The day-long course includes a stop at the Occidental Arts and Ecology Center and the Sebastopol garden of Erik Ohlsen, a professional permaculture designer. Ohlsen transformed a onetime asphalt drive into an abundant food garden featuring water-harvesting systems that recharge groundwater and store water in the landscape with terraces, seasonal pools, ponds, swales and slow moving waterways. Such techniques also help build topsoil, stop erosion and catch sediment.
Brock Dolman, a respected teacher of watershed health at Occidental Arts and Ecology Center, also will share his know-how while leading an exploration of the center’s extensive gardens.
Cost for the workshop, running from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., is $45. Register at dailyacts.org or by calling 789-9664.
Stewards are still being sought to help with the historic gardens at Western Hills in Occidental.
Volunteers of every skill level are welcome to help with a myriad of chores and tasks to support, maintain and restore the garden, a three-acre arboretum filled with rare and unusual plants created by the late Marshall Olbrich and Lester Hawkins.
The former nursery now has new owners who are working full-time every weekend to automate the irrigation as well as do other maintenance chores. But it’s more than they can do alone. They hope to one day make the gardens again available to the public for educational programs and visits.
Interested volunteers may contact Volunteer Director Stacie Miller at 872-5472 or at stacie@westernhillsgarden.com.
Now is the best time to plant irises. So get a jump-start on spring during a workshop Sunday aimed at showing you the best way to select and plant these elegant flowers.
Workshops will be held at both 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. Sept. 5 at the Russian River Rose Co., 1685 Magnolia Dr., Healdsburg. A $2 donation is requested. Visit russian-river-rose.com for more details.
Sonoma County Master Gardener Steve Albert will demonstrate how to plant cool-season crops such as cabbage, carrots and cauliflower at a free workshop from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. today at the Rohnert Park/Cotati Regional Library, 6250 Lynne Conde Way. Albert will demonstrate how to sow seeds directly into the soil, plant in flats or transplant a variety of salad greens and root vegetables for a succession of table-ready foods. For information visit sonomamastergardeners.org.
Submit Home and Garden news to meg.mcconahey@pressdemocrat.com or Meg McConahey, Home and Garden Briefs, The Press Democrat, 427 Mendocino Ave., Santa Rosa, 95401.
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