Reporter: Phil Toohey

Understanding Your Garden

Spring has sprung and it is time to think about the garden. If you are like I am, I start looking at the drip hose the dog has chewed up over the winter and looking around at new plantings in the beds and what needs to be pruned back, this year maybe earlier than most.

To our rescue, Jonathan Plant and his associate Jeff Niezgoda spoke to our lunch group on understanding your garden. Jonathan was introduced by Donn Black. And, Rob Andreae reminded us that the Vintage High Garden aka Rotary Centennial Park, Rotary had as a project in 2005 was designed by Jonathan Plant and Associates, who donated his entire scope of work.

Plant gave a fascinating talk with great slides. He made a number of good points and actually left us a check list of 21 top things to do. Here are a few: Garden yourself. Your garden should not glow in the dark (not really sure what that means?) Mulch, mulch, mulch. Use water carefully. Again similar to last week and the city general plan, it all comes down to water. This time water can be the controller. If you want to spend your time picking endless weeds out of your garden, water everything. If you have better things to do with your time, don’t put water where you don’t need it. Drought tolerant planting is a real key to sustainability. Native plants do better than non-indigenous plants. “A garden should be a joy not a burden” says Plant.

Plant made a good case for drip irrigation. Judicial use of water can control the plants growth too far, too fast. Trees such as oaks need a good soak one or two times a year, no more. People tend to protect the tree base but put lawn over the roots and then overwater. Lawn should be accent not a default because you can’t think of anything else to do with the landscape. Reduce planting density and increase plant density.

Plant showed us slides which demonstrated simplicity and what was most impressive to me was that the garden drew your eye out toward the view and framed it in simply.  Plant recommended the use of “Horticultural Triage” that is pruning and cutting back.  Plant warns that watering tends to push the life span of plant forward so pruning such things as lavender needs to be taken care of in a manner that allow you to rotate out some plants and leave others.  That way you don’t end up losing your entire garden all at once and the color is not lost.  Donn Black has once again come up with a great speaker choice.

Visiting Rotarians:

• Doug Hitt from Calistoga
• Cap Lyons from Oakland 18 years in Rotary with 100% attendance record much like our own Joice Beatty.

Visiting Guests:

• Toni Allegra wife of Donn Black.  
• Frank Mineghino of Wells Fargo Bank guest of Pam Rubio.
• John Muhlner for the last time introduced new inductee Jon Hollister

 Welcome back:  Ima Holcomb!

 Red Badge to Blue Badge:

• Alan Galbraith
• Michele Neumann
• Peter Scott

 New Induction: Jon Hollister:

Jon is an estate planning attorney with offices in Angwin and Santa Rosa.  He has a wife who is an OBGYN doctor at Kaiser in Vallejo.  He is an usher at Grace Church in St. Helena.  He likes to shoot wild turkey (I am not sure if likes to shoot or simply drink the stuff) but he is a licensed gun licensing guy so can help with that also.