Category Archives: Gardening

Nature & Garden News June 2024

treekeepers

• Washington County Master Gardener programs
• Interested in Growing Food?
• Treekeepers of Washington County programs
• Urban Wildlife Information Network (UWIN)
• Bird Behaviors Adult Program

Garden & Nature News May 2024

five oaks

• Japanese beetle treatments beginning
• Washington County Master Gardener programs
• Plant Sale
• Beavers: our local ecosystem engineers
• Treekeepers of Washington County programs

Garden & Nature April 2024

gardenfest

• Tree and Native Plant Sale
• Living with Black Bears
• Treekeepers of Washington County programs
• Washington County Master Gardener programs
• Birdathon!
• 10-Minute University

Park News April 2024

kids playing tug of war at camp

• Local Levy Option Update
• Climate Action Plan
• Save the Date for THPRD Summer Registration
• Youth Volunteers Needed!
• We’re Looking for Junior Lifeguards
• Summer Camp Preview
• Jackie Husen Park Community Garden
• Bilingual volunteers to help with registration
• Spring Native Plant Sale 
• Eid al-Fitr Celebration!
• THPRD invites you to Día de los Niños/Book Day

­­Garden & Nature March 2024

friends of trees

• East Multnomah SWCD
• Friends of Trees Community Tree
Planting
• Weed Wranglin’ Webinar 
• Tree & Native Plant Sale at Skyline
Grange
• Treekeepers of Washington County
programs
• Washington County Master
Gardener programs
• Bird Alliance Nature Night: For the
Love of Hummingbirds

Garden & Nature February 2024

forest park

• Forest Park History and Ecology
• Washington County Master Gardener programs
• Blueberry Care 
• Treekeepers of Washington County programs
• February Tree Talk Meetup
• Be part of our on-call ivy crew!
• Tree Walk: Jenkins Estate
• Find Oregon White Oak Habitat in Washington County
• Spring Native Sale at Nature Center
• Let’s Grow Together! Webinars
• 2023 Japanese Beetle Eradication Update

Recycling News January 2024

types of lights not accepted for recycling

• SHS Recycling Drive
• Holiday tree recycling
• Recycle non-working holiday lights with Recycle+
• Donate cardboard or use it in your yard

Garden News January 2024

trail

• Wetland cleanup and planting!
• Treekeepers of Washington County programs
• Washington County Master Gardener programs
• Plant and Sip Workshop
• Cedar Mill Garden Club
• Field to Market workshops for small farmers
• Sheet mulching for weed suppression or lawn removal
• Let’s plant trees in Cedar Mill
• Climate Changes: Plant Hardiness Zone Update
• Organic Orcharding Workshop Series

Garden & Nature News December 2023

fuzzy kiwis growing

• Washington County Master Gardener programs
• Kokedama: The Art of Bonsai without a Container
• Winter Pruning workshops from HOEC
• Cedar Mill Garden Club: Monthly Meetings
• College Scholarship Available!
• Treekeepers of Washington County
• Raleigh Park Ivy Pull
• Tree Walk: Mt Calvary Cemetery
• Join the on-call Ivy Crew
• Tree Talk: What to do about trees in wind storms

Nature & Garden News November 2023

cedar tree

• WCMGA presents: This IS Kalapuyan Land
• Tualatin SWCD Fall Workshops
• Leave Your Leaves or Leave ’em With Us!
• Treekeepers of Washington County
• Cornell Farm’s 2023 Wreath Workshops

Garden & Nature October 2023

fox sparrow in snow

• Treekeepers of Washington County
• Washington County Master Gardener programs
• Tualatin SWCD Fall Workshops
• CWS 31st Annual Leaf Disposal & Food Drive
• Audubon October programs
• Tualatin SWCD Fall Workshops
• Annual Native Plant Event
• Ivy Removal at West TV Elementary

Nature & Garden News September 2023

• Washington County Master Gardener programs
• Cedar Mill Volunteer Tree Planting
• Treekeepers of Washington County
• September Gardening Calendar
• Audubon programs and information

Nature & Gardens August 2023

sanctuary of the firs sign in front of firs in forest

• Treekeepers presents: Sanctuary of the Firs Tree Walk
• Join the Cedar Mill Garden Club
• Grow Together! Families in the Garden
• Online Organic Gardening Class

History News June 2023

scions

• Heritage Fruit Tree Saplings Available from Friends of the Young House
• Washington County Museum reopens June 24

Protect and build your soil!

Most soils in the Cedar Mill area formed in material deposited 13,000 to 15,000 years ago during the last part of the ice age. The remarkable “Missoula Floods” of that time, described in the book Cataclysms on the Columbia (Allen et al., 2009), explains how these soil-forming materials arrived.

Library News May 2023

birds singing

• Cedar Mill and Bethany Community Libraries
• Kids
• Teens & Tweens
• Adults

Garden News April 2023

• Japanese Beetle Eradication update
• Another harmful pest on our doorstep
• Master Gardener programs
• Gardenfest Plant Sale
• SWCD hosts spring workshops and events
• Weed Watchers
• Soil School

Park News March 2023

• Spring Break camps and activities
• Volunteer opportunities
• What’s open, what’s not, and why
• Park development updates
• Spring Native Plant Sale
• Holi Celebration
• Summer registration opens soon
• Comprehensive Plan Update complete
• Swim Instructor shortage

Garden News March 2023

• Learn more about Cedar Mill soils
• Soil School
• Tree and native plant sale at Skyline Grange
• TSWCD workshops
• WCMGA offers March gardening events
• Oregon Garden Calendar for March
• Free native garden plan

Garden News February 2023

mason bee

• WCMGA offers February gardening events
• Rose Pruning Demo with Portland Rose Society

Park News February 2023

native plant with purple blossoms

• Spring Native Plant Sale
• 2023-24 THPRD Preschool Open House
• Elsie Stuhr Senior Center Newcomers’ Welcome event
• New Dog Run coming to Ridgewood Park
• Westside Trail Pedestrian and Bicycle Bridge Earns Metro Funding
• Hearing on North Tualatin Mountains Nature Park trails and access

Garden News January 2023

• Hot Peppers! From Seed to Salsa
• Solve Pest & Weed Problems
• 10-Minute University: pruning!

Garden News December 2022

• It’s ivy pulling season! 
• WCMGA presents three classes in December 
• Leaves: Bring ‘em or leave ‘em
• 10-Minute University offers videos and more

Garden News November 2022

sweet potatoes

• Make your community pollinator friendly
• Growing the Good Stuff: from Sweet Potatoes to Bitter Melons
• Education Garden gets certified

Garden news

tree planting

• Fall planting gives trees a head start
• From Seed to Shining Seed: How restoring diversity will save us all

Garden news September 2022

• Cedar Mill Garden Club is active again!
• How Climate Change is Affecting Trees in Oregon
• Managing Soils in the Garden
• Success with Pacific Northwest Native Plants
• Naturescaping workshops

OSU Extension spotlight

OSU Master Gardener Bonamici visit

I was honored to attend the August 16 gathering at Portland Community College-Rock Creek Learning Garden, hosted by the OSU Extension Washington County Master Gardener Association™, to showcase the services offered by OSU Extension and their partnerships with a wide array of community organizations.

Park News September 2022

group fitness class

• Annual passes are back!
• Plant native this fall, order now!
• Welcoming Week: “Where We Belong”
• Volunteer to help improve THPRD services
• Free monthly admission to THPRD facilities!

August 8 update

• Commissioner Districts Survey
• Neighborhood meeting for 9495 SW Taylor St
• Paving schedules
• Fall Care Fair for afterschool programs
• Flea Market at the Skyline Grange
• WashCo Bikes Repair Clinic
• Storytimes in different languages
• Water District proposes rate hike, offers listening sessions
• Fall Native Plant Sale at THPRD Nature Center
• James Recycling Event at Columbia Sportswear

An ash tree’s worst nightmare

ashborer holes

The emerald ash borer (EAB) beetle (Agrilus planipennis) is being called the most destructive forest pest in North America, and that’s saying something when you consider the devastation caused by other pests such as gypsy moths and bark beetles.

­­­Smart watering techniques for summer gardeners

drip irrigation

Watering the garden is essential to keep plants thriving. When the weather warms, plants need more water, as the summer sun evaporates moisture from the leaves and ground.

Grow Together: Families in the Garden

Come visit, look, feel, smell, and taste what happens in a garden. PNW natives, fruits, vegetable beds, ornamentals, herbs, deer resistant plants, carnivorous plants, water-wise and pollinator friendly plants…

Garden News

The Washington County Master Gardener™ Association (WCMGA) sponsors a wide variety of gardening–related demonstrations, lectures, seminars, and workshops in various Washington County Oregon locations.

Shade-loving hostas add color and texture

Hostas! They are champions of variety among plants we can grow in shade. Cool blues, greens, and variegations of white, chartreuse, and yellow paint many hostas, giving us seemingly endless choices.

Beware of the aggressors!

sedum angelina stonecrop plant

There are a few plants in my garden that I regret planting because they are hard to control, spreading themselves beyond where I want them. I bought most of them at nurseries and thought they were safe.

Garden News

pollinator garden

• Growing Herbs in Your NW Garden
• Bees In Your Garden
• Conifers in the Pacific Northwest

Garden News May 2022

kids eating veggies

• Volunteer to learn vegetable gardening
• Gardening for Healthier Watersheds
• Propagation by Stem Cuttings
• Meet the Mason Bees!
• TSWCD Spring Workshops

Glorious spring color!

Peony (Paeonia Suffruticosa) Image from Wikimedia, Taken by Fanghong

So many catalogues are arriving to tempt me! Several offer bulbs for fall planting and spring bloom.

Garden News April 2022

pollinator

• Master Gardeners’ Education Garden is worth a visit!
• Gardeners, landscape professionals, farmers invited to Soil School
• Five Oaks Garden Club plant sale
• Aloha Garden Club plant sale
• Tualatin SWCD Spring workshops
• East Multnomah SWCD workshops

Hard-working ornamentals!

We all know (or should!) that pollinators are essential for growing our food. As we begin a new gardening season, let’s take a look at some of the flowers that support insects, birds, butterflies, and other species that do the work of pollination.

Garden News March 2022

bare root plants

• Tree and native plant sale at Skyline Grange
• THPRD Spring Native Plant sale
• Soil School
• Rock Creek Corner garden needs a gardener (or two)

Grandmother Madrone

madrone bark

The Pacific madrone (arbutus menziesii), a Pacific coast native, is like a stubborn grandmother who refuses to be moved from her run-down old farmhouse to a fancy new condo where she can be lovingly cared for by those who love her. She prefers rocky soils and arid areas often in the middle of a dense Doug fir stand, or an inhospitable roadside bank rather than a well-tended and watered garden spot.

Garden News February 2022

Sweet Olive

• Now’s the time to edit your garden!
• Early season vegetables
• More OSU Extension and Master Gardener programs
• Tree and native plant sale at Skyline Grange
• Native plant sales and more

Garden News January 2022

garden allies

• Get to know your garden allies
• Tree seedling sale at Skyline Grange
• Master Gardener monthly gardening tips
• Selecting Seeds

Japanese Beetle update

japanese beetles

After another successful year conducting our Japanese Beetle Eradication project, it’s our pleasure to share with you how our 2021 season went.

Garden News December 2021

• Delightful winter color in my garden
• The Real Dirt
• Washington County Master Gardener program

Careful choices for success

camellia sasanqua

As my birthday approaches next month and having spent the last three months in a cast and then a brace for a broken wrist, I realize making my garden easier to tend is imperative. Because I love working outside and enjoy my garden, I want to be able to care for it. Spending time in a green space is great for our health so I want to reduce the number of tasks that will be more difficult as the time passes.

Garden News November 2021

english holly

• Beneficial insects: what they are and how to attract them to your garden?
• Weed watcher alert: English Holly
• Workshops for all levels: Make your yard an eco-haven!

Garden News October 2021

• Beware of toxic pesticides!
• Master Gardeners: Adapting Your Garden and Landscape for Climate Change

Japanese Beetle eradication update

japanese beetle map

The Japanese beetle (Popillia japonica) is a serious invasive insect pest that threatens Oregon and the western United States. The largest infestation of Japanese beetles ever found in the state was detected in 2016 around Cedar Mill, Bonny Slope, Oak Hills, and Bethany.

Garden News September 2021

ash borer

• Time to plant shrubs and trees
• THPRD Fall Native Plant Sale by pre-order only
• Be on the lookout for emerald ash borer (Agrilus planipennis)

Gardening in the drought

Looking around my garden, I am noticing the plants that are damaged from the heat event that we all endured recently. My water bill increased several times the last few months since I turned on my sprinkling system.

Park News August 2021

elslie stuhr center

• THPRD offering monthly pass sales starting August 16
• THPRD Fall Native Plant Sale by pre-order only
• Elsie Stuhr Center preparing to welcome back 55 and better community
• THPRD Fall Registration opens August 28

Garden News August 2021

heat damaged plants

• Heat-damaged plant care
• Level Up Series presents Season Extension Techniques

Living bouquets in containers

Because I have so many perennials and shrubs in my garden, I like to grow annuals in large containers—15-20 inches—because they don’t dry out so quickly, and slugs have a harder time accessing them.

Plant “umbrellas” to fight pests!

Tachinid Fly

We can help now and in the future to control damaging insects by planting pollinating plants that attract beneficial insects like the Tachinid fly.

History in the News May 2021

JQAY house

• Our heritage trees: In the iconic 1905 photo of the JQA Young House on Cornell, you can see a pear tree with a ladder leaning against it. That tree has survived along with its neighboring apple tree, but both of them were in bad shape.
• Website help wanted!

Garden News

• Online Workshops
• Discover Epimediums!

Gardening News April 2021

• OSU and Master Gardener classes for April
• Spring 2021 Weed Watchers Workshop

Gardening News March 2021

plant sale shooting star

• Cedar Mill Community Garden plots available
• Register now for Soil School Sessions
• Skyline Grange Native Plant Sale