Garden Planning: January 2020 Garden Club Meeting

Happy New Year!

It's that exciting time of year for gardeners, with the garden catalogs arriving in the mail, new garden tools ready to be used, and hopes of spring peaking around the corner.... we're dreaming and planning this summer's garden.

New plants! New designs! New goals!

At the Cottage Grove Garden Club, we are also dreaming and planning for the coming year... new board members, new committee heads, new programs, new ideas!

Please join us at Garden Club this coming Tuesday, January 7. We'll start the evening with our regular business meeting and electing new officers.

Afterward, we'll be talking about our gardens and our plans for the upcoming year. This will be a group activity! Please bring garden magazines, books, and some of those garden catalogs you've been getting in the mail to show and share with others. Then, Maggie will lead us in a group circle where we'll talk about garden design and preferences. Come prepared with your questions, and ready to share your experience and knowledge.

Also, please remember to bring your 2020 membership dues.... only $15 per person/ $20 per couple.

The Garden Club's informal business meeting begins at 6 PM and the Garden Planning Circle runs from 7 to 8 PM. All guests and visitors welcome. Light refreshments provided. We meet at the First Presbyterian Church, 216 South 3rd Street (the corner of 3rd and Adams), Cottage Grove, Oregon, enter off the garden on Adams Street.

Creating Pollinator Habitat in Our Gardens: November Program

Our local pollinators are under stress from habitat loss, pesticides, and the spread of new diseases.  What can we, as gardeners, to do help the bees and pollinators in our environment?

On November 5, at Cottage Grove Garden Club, we will learn how we can create pollinator habitats in our gardens. Together we will watch Never Doubt How a Small, Thoughtful, and Committed Pollinator Habitat Can Change the World which is part of the Oregon Master Gardener Advanced Training series.

This webinar will explore how the damaging effects of habitat loss and fragmentation, pesticide exposure, and diseases can be reversed through the retention or restoration of small bits of natural habitat (our gardens!). We will learn how to create pollinator habitat -- what plants do we need? How do we get things established? Do we need to prepare a place for pollinators to nest? And what about host plants for butterflies? After working through some of the more common challenges with building pollinator habitat, the webinar will conclude by returning to what current science has to say about how our modest activities might link up and contribute to overall urban pollinator health.

This online course is taught by Dr. Andony Melathopoulos, an Assistant Professor who is leading OSU’s efforts to design, implement and evaluate a state-wide pollinator health program. He provides training to pesticide applicators on how to reduce pesticide exposure to pollinating insects, he hosts a weekly podcast on pollinator health (PolliNation) and is currently working to help homeowners and landscapers better understand how to manage pests while minimizing impacts to pollinators.

The Cottage Grove Garden Club is a local organization with the mission of expanding our interests and building lifelong friendships while bettering our community and the environment through sustainable gardening practices.

Creating Pollinator Habitat in Our Gardens will happen on Tuesday, November 5, at Cottage Grove Garden Club. We meet at the First Presbyterian Church, 216 South 3rd Street (enter off the garden on 3rd Street). The Garden Club’s informal business meeting begins at 6PM and the webinar begins at 7PM. Guests and visitors welcome.

Cover Crops: October 1 at Cottage Grove Garden Club

A cover crop is a crop of plants grown primarily to benefit the soil rather than yield a crop. They are often used in the off-season, after harvesting, and may grow over the winter. Cover crops can help increase your soil fertility and can bring many improvements to the health of your garden.

Crimson Clover

On October 1st, Christina Bixel with the OSU Extension Master Gardeners will join the Cottage Grove Garden Club to talk about cover crops. In this program, Christina will discuss how a small investment in a cover crop can bring a myriad of benefits to your soil. She will also discuss the best varieties to grow, when to sow them, and different methods to incorporate these amazing “green manure” crops into your garden planning schedule. Come join us and get a whole new perspective on cover crops!

Christina has been an OSU Extension Master Gardener since 2012, with a specialty in plant diagnostics and additional training in composting. She is the past president of the Lane County Master Gardeners Association and provides lectures throughout the county on a wide range of topics.

The Cottage Grove Garden Club is a local organization with the mission of expanding our interests and building lifelong friendships while bettering our community and the environment through sustainable gardening practices.

Christina will present Cover Crops Tuesday October 1, at Cottage Grove Garden Club, meeting at the First Presbyterian Church, 216 South 3rd Street (enter off the garden on 3rd Street). The Garden Club’s informal business meeting begins at 6PM and the presentation begins at 7PM. Guests and visitors welcome.

Gardeners and Climate Change

When gardeners maximize carbon storage without making too much global-warming pollution in the process, we slow the pace of climate change. Here are some ideas:

Protect your soil and keep it healthy 

• Cover exposed ground to decrease water use, curb erosion, and protect soil microbes. Try using mulch, leaving plants after they’ve died back, growing ground covers, strategically allowing weeds, or planting winter vegetables.
• Read instructions on fertilizers. Improper use can damage beneficial soil.

Plant trees 

• Trees can absorb/store as much as a ton of atmospheric carbon pollution.
• Shade trees planted near a home can reduce energy used for summer cooling.

Grow your own food 

• Try inter-planting veggies in the ornamental garden, planting fruit trees, or growing food in containers.

Compost 

• Composting reduces waste going to landfills, increases soil quality, and improves nutrition levels in the foods you grow.

Reduce or eliminate use of synthetic chemicals 

• Synthetic herbicides, pesticides, and fertilizers kill beneficial organisms in the soil. Gardening chemical-free also reduces your costs.

Reduce the use of gas-powered garden tools 

• Use human-power more often (for example, use a rake not a leaf blower).
• Reduce or eliminate the need for gas-powered tools (for example, remove your grass lawn altogether).

Be a curious, informed gardener 

• We can all learn more. Talk with other gardeners, experiment, pay attention to changes in the garden, be curious.
• Join Cottage Grove Garden Club, where we often talk about these topics.


The Cottage Grove Garden Club meets the first Tuesday of the month, from 6-8 pm, in the Friendship Hall at the First Presbyterian Church, 216 South 3rd Street (the corner of 3rd and Adams), Cottage Grove, Oregon.

References

Fine Gardening: https://www.finegardening.com/article/gardening-in-a-changing-climate

Victory Gardens: https://www.greenamerica.org/climate-victory-gardening-101

Cornell: http://climatechange.cornell.edu/gardening/

EPA: https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2014-04/documents/greenscaping_-_the_easy_way_to_a_greener_healthier_yard.pdf

NWF: https://www.nwf.org/Our-Work/Environmental-Threats/Climate-Change/Greenhouse-Gases/Gardening-for-Climate-Change

Gardening Forum and Succulent Exchange: Tuesday Sept 3

We all have questions about gardening, whether we are new to gardening or have been gardening for decades we all have questions. We all, also, have answers and experiences to share.

Back by popular demand, on Tuesday September 3, Cottage Grove Garden Club will be hosting a Gardening Forum. After a summer of gardening, you probably have some questions on your mind, so bring them to garden club as well as your ideas, experiences, and answers, because at this round-table discussion we will be answering each-others gardening questions.

We'll also be hosting an informal succulent exchange, if you've got succulents or cacti to share, please bring them down to garden club, making sure to note if they are indoor or outdoor plants, as well as any other characteristics.

Please join us, as we gather for our first meeting after the summer break.

Garden Club's informal business meeting begins at 6 PM and the succulent exchange will happen during the refreshment break, before the Gardening Forum at 8 PM.

All guests and visitors welcome. Light refreshments provided. We meet at the First Presbyterian Church, 216 South 3rd Street (the corner of 3rd and Adams), Cottage Grove, Oregon, enter off the garden on Adams Street.