The Oak and the Rose
An oak tree and a rosebush grew,
Young and green together,
Talking the talk of growing things-
Wind and water and weather.
And while the rosebush sweetly bloomed
The oak tree grew so high
That now it spoke of newer things-
Eagles, mountain peaks and sky.
"I guess you think you're pretty great,"
The rose was heard to cry,
Screaming as loud as it possibly could
To the treetop in the sky.
"And now you have no time for flower talk,
Now that you've grown so tall."
"It's not so much that I've grown," said the tree,
"It's just that you've stayed
so small."
 | ||||
Acomplished gardener Margaret Wilke graciously invited Russ Henry, owner of Giving Tree Gardens, into her home for tea, cookies, and a plate full of garden talk early this January. Here are some excerpts from that garden chat.
Russ-“ I remember when we began working together you were a bit nervous about certain aspects of this project, what was it that made you nervous and how have things turned out?”
Margaret- “Well it was quite a big space and I wondered if it might be too much work. Could I make it look nice? It was just a bigger project than I had ever tackled before. I still have aesthetic concerns about how to balance things out, but I feel more comfortable now that I won’t make too many big mistakes.
If I do, . . . Oh, well.”
R-Well, we’ve still got shovels!!
M-“Yes, that’s right! The front yard was a bit of a surprise to me. I didn’t realize how different gardening in the front yard is from gardening in the back yard! In the back yard you’re kind of doing your own thing. You don’t worry if your hair’s looking crazy. In the front yard it’s a whole different deal! The whole world is out there having a good time watching you! I remember one guy in a pick-up truck who rolled down his window and said, “Hey I like your garden, but I don’t like where that plant is over there.”
R-“Drive by criticism? Well that’s one way to meet a neighbor.... Did gardening in the front yard help you connect with other gardeners in the neighborhood, aside from the drive by type?"
M-“There are two other front yard gardens just half a block down. One fellow has quite a few native plants in his front garden. This was my first year out there in the front. I think next year we’ll probably end up sharing plants. That would be fun!"
R-"Can you gage what kind of effect your new organic garden has had on the neighborhood as a whole?"
M-“Oh my goodness! It’s fun! … People really raved about it! The neighborhood is very enthusiastic about it, which is just great…. I had a whole contingent of people from the annual neighborhood picnic that wanted a tour and they came over right then!"
R- "We used a whole lot of compost in this organic garden, and at first you wondered if we needed as much as we were using, how did that turn out?"
M-“Well, as I’ve told you before, the compost saved the day, especially since we had such a hot dry summer. We ended up using 11 yards of organic compost in the front yard! We are on what’s called the Anoka Sandplain here. We have about two inches of topsoil, and then sand, sand, sand as far as you down as you can dig. Water, of course, just runs right through it. When it did finally rain, the compost just soaked it up like a sponge, which was great! Then it held the moisture so that even though it might seem dry on the surface, if I got down into it, [the soil] would still be moist underneath. I did break down and water occasionally during the hot dry spells, but not nearly as much as I would have to if we had just put a little bit of compost on the surface of all that sand. I also used quite a bit of my own organic compost when I planted things.
My family considers me a little bit over the top about my organic compost. When you make your own organic compost it has eggshells, coffee grounds, broccoli stems, plus all the spent flower stems and other green material from the garden in it. There’s more variety of nutrients in it than in the bulk-produced compost that’s mostly leaves and manure. When I plant something, particularly perennials, I always put some of my own organic compost in with it. I never have enough! It’s amazing how fast it goes. My family knows that if anybody’s caught dropping a banana peel in the trashcan instead of into the compost bucket, they’re in REAL trouble!! My husband will attest to that.”
R- “Any big plans for next season? What’s going to happen out there?”
M-“I want to make the new garden bigger. I still think there’s too much grass! I would like to figure out how to create more of a framework of evergreen material around which I plant annuals and perennials. The challenge with such a big public prominent garden is how to get it to look like something in the winter. It needs more structure, more architectural pieces. Figuring that out will be my next challenge.”
R-“What words of organic garden wisdom could you share with a less experienced gardener such as myself?”
M-“Don’t be afraid of making mistakes. They are just part of learning. Even with experience there are always surprises. Sometimes a plant that has done well for years will “croak” for no explainable reason. The one right next to it might be fine. Then a plant you thought was a “goner” suddenly flourishes. It’s just that there are so many variables. Light, moisture, bugs, timing of the heat or cold. There are a lot more things going on than we know about. The mystery of it is wonderful, if you just accept that there’s going to be a lot that is unexplainable. It’s not fully predictable. If you want fully predictable, then . . .”
R-“Rock mulch?”
M-“Yeah, that or the standard fare. But that’s not for me . . .
I need surprises.”
The Seed Vol. 11 Jan. 20, 2008 A Giving Tree Gardens Newsletter
Photos by Margaret Wilke ©2008 ,Text by Russ Henry From an interview with Margaret Wilke 1-9-08
©2008 by Giving Tree Gardens, all rights reserved.
“If the track is tough and the hill is rough, THINKING you can just ain't enough!.”
Shell Siverstein (Writer, Author of The Giving Tree,)
Margaret Wilke has been an avid back yard organic gardener in New Brighton for thirty years. The backyard of her typically proportioned suburban lot is landscaped with gorgeous shady woodland organic gardens that she created with the occasional assistance from her loyal garden helper (and husband) Jim. When Margaret first contacted Giving Tree Gardens early in the spring of 2007, she was beginning the process of envisioning yet another verdant display, this time in the front of her house. As is the case in many suburban communities however, to put a large garden in the front yard when most of your neighbors are proud sod farmers can suddenly turn your house into the “talk of the block”. As Margaret expressed what she thought may be competing desires to both fit in with the aesthetic of the neighborhood, and surround her home with beautiful organic gardens, I found myself reassuring her that these seemingly conflicting goals are actually quite possible to achieve together if we could be a little imaginative for the neighborhood. Soon we were on the job creating a design for Margaret and Jim's front yard. Our goal was to design a yard that left little more then 150 square feet of lawn grass surrounded by lush seasonally changing gardens that Margaret would fill in and shape over time. These new organic gardens in front needed to not only make Jim and Margaret’s yard more beautiful, but they also needed to present a visual concept that an entire neighborhood could enjoy.
As the impetus of the New Year possesses individuals to look back on their achievements, so shall we at Giving Tree. In this issue of The Seed we check back in with Margaret and Jim to see how things are growing!
Plant Profile:
Euphorbia marginata
'Kilimanjaro' ,or Snow-On-The-Mountain
Snow-On-The-Mountain, is an annual native that grows from Minnesota to Colorado. The light green leaves are 1-3 inches long. With broad variegated margins, this Euphorbia stands out proud in the garden, usually between 2-4 feet in height with a single stem. During our interview Margaret showed me these pictures of this wonderful plant growing in different parts of her garden while she explained to me how and why she grows 'Kilimanjaro'.
Margaret-"It's an old fashioned flower that went out of style, but I don't know why. It’s a great plant that always gets a lot of comment.
About 10 years ago one of my neighbors, who is about 85 now, had it growing in her garden. I asked her "What is that?" She didn’t know the name of it. Her mother used to grow it and had given her the seeds. Now I grow it too. In the spring I watch for seedlings to pop up. Then I move them where I want them. They get huge! They like to be along the edge of my driveway and favor those hot dry conditions. But you have to tell people to be careful about the sap! It makes my hands itch. Euphorbias as a group are considered mildly toxic."
R- "Do we need to bring the 'Kilimanjaro' seeds inside for the winter?
-M "No. They are annuals and will self-sow. They pop up here and there in the garden the next spring. I do collect some seed and keep it inside over the winter just to be sure I have some. The young plants are pretty durable. You can move them around fairly easily to where you want them. Get to them early, though, because they soon grow a very deep taproot."
Thanks Margaret!
Don't let the snow weigh you down! Giving Tree Gardens now offers SNOW REMOVAL SERVICE! Let our bio-diesel burning truck clear your driveway right after we hand shovel your walk! Click here to schedule your free consultation!
“Listen to the mustn'ts, child. Listen to the don'ts. Listen to the shouldn'ts, the impossibles, the won'ts. Listen to the never haves, then listen close to me... Anything can happen, child. Anything can be.”
~Shel Silverstein
Want some help with that?
FREE GARDEN CLASSES!!!
Calling all gardeners! Mother Earth Gardens, the finest garden store in Minneapolis, has decided to make life a little better for all us gardeners! They're hosting FREE GARDEN CLASSES!!! Come listen to and speak with real live gardening experts from around the region!
Wednesday Evenings at 7:00, beginning on February the 6th with Giving Tree Gardens own Russ Henry!! The first of two seminars that Russ will present in this series is all about "Saving A Little Green" , or how to be thrifty and lovely with a limited garden budget! Bring your garden questions, and ideas!
The Vanishing Of The Bees
Have you heard the rumors???
Honey Bees are vanishing at an amazing rate across the globe.
The powerful new film The Vanishing Of The Bees, examines why this is happening, and what the likely consequenses are for our own human species which is completley dependent on our ancient winged ally the Honey Bee! To watch the breath-taking trailer for this movie go to http://www.vanishingbees.com/
Shown above after only a few months of growth the new garden thrives as the roots of the garden plants find their way through the moisture holding composted soil. Below we see the same space before the garden project began. Even in the cool spring this patch of grass would beg for watering .
That Rocks! Once we had the soil turned with compost Margaret and Jim went to work defining the space further with the use of loosely laid stone pathways and borders.
Margaret's organic gardens provide a safe, non-toxic, haven for passing bees, butterflies, and birds.
Giving Tree Gardens in the Co-op news!!!!!
Ahh sweet revenge! For an organic gardener there is rarely a pleasure more pronounced then a freshly removed patch of lawn grass! Let the gardening begin!!
A feast for the eyes, and the belly as Margaret cleverly blends lettuce, tomatoes, and herbs into her flowering border.
See the tiny bacopa plant just to the left of the new bottom step? Who knew it would turn into the lush sprawling display below?
A sanctuary for birds and people alike, this lush new garden is the product of knowledge, love, and salty sweat.
On the right, Margaret kneels with her granddaughter Addie just a few years back, and below we see that within this short time Addie has already started following in her grandmother's muddy footprints by helping out in the garden! Just ask the butterflies, organic gardening is the gift that keeps on giving!!
Just another garden visitor! A painted lady butterfly finds a sweet buffet of purple dome Asters in Margarets front yard garden.
