Thursday, August 27, 2009

2009 Farwest Show and a Deeper Shade of Green

This past weekend I dragged the family to Portland for the Farwest Show (and to see friends and go to the zoo). I hadn't been to this particular show before and wasn't really sure what to expect. It was a show mainly for the nursery and retail trade so there were a lot of nurseries (duh) plus a lot of vendors who supply those nurseries.
I got to see a ton of beautiful plants and even some that will do well here in high and dry Central Oregon. But what really was exciting was the workshop I took on Sustainable Landscape Practices for a Sustainable Landscape Business. The focus was not on business practices so much but rather on landscape practices and an 8 fold path that Doug Spiro had come up with to guide himself to ensure sustainable practices. Mark Hadley of WH Pacific also shared information and slides of some of their Sustainable Stormwater management projects making vegetative swales, flow through planters, eco-roofs, rain gardens and much more.
The principles of the 8 fold path are:
  • Respect what is already there
  • Reduce input/optimize output (reduce resources necessary to create and maintain)
  • Nurture the soil
  • Protect the air and water quality
  • Conserve water
  • Conserve energy
  • Create wildlife habitat
  • Create healthy human habitat
Mark then had sub categories of specific things to look for and to consider at each project site. This workshop gave me good specific ideas of things I can do to ensure that I am staying on tract with being sustainable and I'm looking forward to taking Carlseng Designs to a deeper shade of green.

Below are some of the photos I took during the show and at the zoo.


Water fountain with solar light, sorry I didn't catch the name of the company. I think children would love this fountain and I'm recommending it to a client.


Picea procumbens 'Nana' trained exquisitely.
This was hanging on the ceiling of the convention center's foyer...


Love the living walls!


Lili and Peter spent almost half an hour in the tractor booth, she loved it!

Peter and Lili at the zoo. Those fish are about as big as Lili is!


Little orange frog at the zoo. Wonder what he is looking at...

Sunday, August 2, 2009

DIY Rustic Looking Plant Tags

I saw this at the Studio G blog and thought it was a lovely way of labeling the plants in the garden. It just makes my day when I see a plant I love and the thoughtful owners have it labeled.

These you can make yourself.

What you need:
raffia or string
small pieces of wood (I think that a pack of shims might be an excellent choice)
a felt pen or a Sharpie
pieces of bamboo (about 18 inches tall) (cut it from you garden or buy at craft store)
Cut out as many pieces as wish from the wood for labels ( each measuring about 1″ x 4″). Make a small notch in the end of the bamboo to fit the width of the label against the surface of the bamboo. Cut string approximately 20 inches long. The notch in the bamboo stabilizes the two parts together. Use the string to tie the parts together and then write your label.