January 11, 2011: Though the weather outside was frightful-freezing rain, freezing sleet and then some snow, dozens of members braved the elements to hear three members discuss their successes and problems with Capitol Hill gardening.
The first order of business was mechanical:
President Vira Sisolak welcomed the members (l); newsletter editor Wendy Blair introduced the speakers:
Sharon Ferguson discussed the death of a red bud in her 6 x 8 front yard and her redevelopment of the space with a crepe myrtle, various perennials and a black stone "fairy" path to nowhere. She retained a local landscape designer as a "coach" at an hourly rate. The first hour was a discussion of plants and the drawing of a schematic; the final hour was a post installation review with some tweaking.
Pat Taylor discussed three unresolved issues from 2010. The first was the fig thief who was taking the figs from her alleyway fig tree even though they were green. She netted against birds but it turned out to be squirrels. So back to the drawing board.The second was a crepe myrtle which replaced a redbud in her enclosed back yard. With her drip irrigation, conditions were so good that the crepe myrtle grew beyond her 10 x 10 expectation and now she is resigned to a back yard shade garden.
The third is the pruning of her front yard Japanese maple. She had tried to prune it herself based on Japanese maple at the USNA Bonsai Garden but was unsuccessful. She saw a well pruned Japanese maple on a garden tour last year and learned that an expert pruner came twice a year to keep that specimen in shape. Her talk ended with an aside on the invasiveness of sea oats.
Ed Peterman discussed the multi-year redevelopment of his back yard. He started by relocating the back walk and installing a large patio adjacent to the house. He then joined 3 neighbors in having all their back fences replaced. Ed added a low fence walkaround to screen trash cans next to the garage at the far end of the garden. Along the brick wall on the east side in put a kidney shaped herb bed to take advantage of the heat from the wall. He put a perennial bed along the west fence and across the way he installed a large vegetable garden.In honor of his grandmother, Ed anchored the yard with a sour cherry tree (which so far has produced 7 cherries all eaten by birds) and in the back a Stewartia tree. Ed discussed using lanterns along the western fence for candlelight, removing the crabgrass, improving the soil, the joy of laying sod, reserving a spot near the Stewartia for a small water feature to be heard but not seen, and plans for artwork, but not too much artwork, in the garden.
