Category Archives: Gardening
History News June 2023
• 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
• 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
• WCMGA offers February gardening events
• Rose Pruning Demo with Portland Rose Society
Park News February 2023
• 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
• Make your community pollinator friendly
• Growing the Good Stuff: from Sweet Potatoes to Bitter Melons
• Education Garden gets certified
Garden news
• 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
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
• 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
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
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!
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
• Growing Herbs in Your NW Garden
• Bees In Your Garden
• Conifers in the Pacific Northwest
Garden News May 2022
• Volunteer to learn vegetable gardening
• Gardening for Healthier Watersheds
• Propagation by Stem Cuttings
• Meet the Mason Bees!
• TSWCD Spring Workshops
Glorious spring color!
So many catalogues are arriving to tempt me! Several offer bulbs for fall planting and spring bloom.
Garden News April 2022
• 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
• 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
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
• 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
• Get to know your garden allies
• Tree seedling sale at Skyline Grange
• Master Gardener monthly gardening tips
• Selecting Seeds
Japanese Beetle update
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
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
• 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
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
• 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
• 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 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!
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
• 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!
Gardening News April 2021
• OSU and Master Gardener classes for April
• Spring 2021 Weed Watchers Workshop
Gardening News March 2021
• Cedar Mill Community Garden plots available
• Register now for Soil School Sessions
• Skyline Grange Native Plant Sale
