March 2015 Meeting Notes

Business Meeting

March 24, 2015

Mary Ann welcomed a good-sized crowd on a hopeful spring night. The following items were discussed:

·        Meeting room rental—Bill will contact Northmont U.P. Church to finalize the 2015 room rental contract.  The budgeted amount is the same as last year’s and can be adjusted as needed.

·        Last month $45 was approved for North Park grove rental for our annual picnic; a $50 donation was made to the Town of McCandless History Museum. Denny has already received a thank you from the Town of McCandless.

·        LAGC’s 65^th Anniversary Party—Group photo to be taken at April meeting! Claudia reported that UPMC Passavant Hospital Foundation President & CEO, Fay Morgan, will attend and bring a proclamation thanking LAGC for the creation and maintenance of the Chapel Garden for the past 20 years.  The McCandless Town Council will also bring a congratulatory proclamation.  Denny presented the list of invitees for the September 22 party which includes Passavant representatives, McCandless Council representatives, a Pennsylvania House Representative, former members, and speakers who have a long history with LAGC. The invitations will include an RSVP so we have enough punch, cake, and cookies. Mary Ann thanked Claudia and Denny.

·        Colleen reported on the upcoming tour of Pittsburgh Botanic Gardens in Oakdale on April 11. The 90 minute tour starts at 10 a.m. and costs $10 per person.  18,000 bulbs have been planted for a spectacular show. After the tour, you can stay until closure at 6 p.m. An email with details will be sent one week prior to the tour. You must RSVP to Colleen so she can arrange the number of tour guides needed.  If you want to car pool, meet at the church parking lot at 9:15 a.m.

·        Plant sale May 16—so pot up your perennials (at least 10/member) in the preferred 4-6 inch pots and label with plant name, size, color, etc.  Larger pots can be used for larger plants such as grasses. Claudia suggested that we draw a sun indicating light requirements.  Mary Ann went through logistics and passed a sign-up sheet and provided window blind slats for labels. Anniversary plant specials are as yet undecided.

·        Various sized pots from the late Joan Menes’ collection were offered for use.

·        The raffle for a hanging plant ornament was won by Kitty Price with $30 proceeds earmarked for the party.

Other: Mary Ann thanked Heidi Sestrich and Anita Wagner for the desserts and arrangement respectively.

Program

Square Foot Gardening: a movie by Mel Bartholomew was shown because our scheduled speaker had to cancel for family illness. Square Foot Gardening requires gardening without rows by using 4’x4’ raised beds marked in a one-foot grid. By limiting overall bed size, every square foot can be reached without stepping onto the soil. Site the bed(s) in a sunny location near the kitchen for optimal use. Beds should be spaced 3’ apart for garden cart use. Place your wood frame garden box directly on the grass and cover it with layers of wet newspaper or cardboard. Next add the soil mixture. Make it fun with this method; enjoyment and beauty are paramount.

Take home points:

·        Benefits of Square Foot Gardening: Easier to maintain with no room for weeds; Can hand water as needed using sun-warmed water from a bucket; Can have more variety in a smaller area with “added beauty to your life.”

·        For child’s garden, use a 3’x 3’ grid; 4’x 4’ for adults; use untreated wood of any size to create your bed -1x6, 2x6 or 2x4.

·        Use a garden soil mixture of 1/3 compost, 1/3 peat, and 1/3 coarse vermiculite.

·        Plant the squares using one type of plant per grid box, but mixing flowers, herbs, root vegetables, tomatoes, etc. in the same bed.  Conserve seed and eliminate thinning and weeding by planting at the suggested thin distance.  One large plant (cabbage or tomato) in one box; medium plants (turnips or peas) plant 12 per square - seeds 4” apart; small plants (carrots, onions) would be planted 16 per square foot.

·        Grow sprawling plants upward.  Harvest lettuce using outside leaves rather than removal of whole plant to extend the harvest.

·        After harvesting a box, replant it with something else.  Remember crop rotation.

·        You can order the book, Square Foot Gardening by Mel Bartholomew at www.squarefootgardening.com, 877-828-1188, or order@sfgardening.com.

Next meetings:

April 11 - Saturday, Pittsburgh Botanic Garden Tour, 10 a.m. Car poolers should meet at 9:15 a.m. at the church parking lot.

April 28 - “Pruning 101” by Sandy Csikari. 

Group photo will be taken promptly at 7:00 P.M. outside church rear entrance on the ramp.

Before April 25 – You must pot at least 10 plants for the May 16 plant sale.

February 2015 Meeting Notes

Business Meeting
February 24, 2015

Claudia Hickly welcomed all in Mary Ann’s absence on another cold and snowy night. She especially noted Esther Nagy and her work on the LAGC blog. Denny Brown presented the budget for 2015. This was approved after some discussion about an addition of $200 for our 65^th anniversary event(s), an additional donation of $50 for a brick at the new McCandless Museum, and the Northmont Church room rental contract. Sharon Walston has had no answer to date on the latter. Members approved the $45 picnic pavilion rental fee for North Park’s Grant grove for our annual picnic. Members briefly discussed the possibility of landscaping the new McCandless History Museum when it is completed in 2016.  Members expressed an interest in creating and installing the museum landscaping, but are not interested in maintaining the garden.  More information is needed before making a final decision.

LAGC’s 65^th Anniversary:  Denny Brown read the names of former members and speakers whom we would invite to the anniversary celebration. Other suggestions included invitations for municipal officials from Ross and McCandless and their Pennsylvania House representatives. Since we are celebrating the 20^th anniversary of the Passavant white garden (planned, planted, and maintained by the efforts of Helen Dean and Peggy Elizeus), an invitation would also be extended to a Passavant Hospital Foundation representative. Other anniversary plans include a slide show which Helen’s son-in-law Bill, Helen and Claudia are preparing, articles in local papers, and a few greeters dressed in 1950’s attire— dresses, hats, gloves, and carrying typical purses of the era.

Other: Thank you to Linda Brown for desserts—note the pictures of desserts with one celebrating winter and one spring. Thank you to Esther Nagy for the arrangement with a lovely blooming amaryllis which she grew. 

Program

Landscaping in Deer Country:  

Claudia introduced  speaker Dianne Machesney, a Master Gardener, dedicated naturalist, gardener, and leader.  Dianne retained her composure as computer glitches were solved so her wonderful slides could be shown.  The slides showed deer groups, fawns, landscape damage, and colorful deer-resistant examples.  A handout of deer-resistant plants grouped by category such as full sun, shade, herbs, evergreens, etc. was provided.

Take home points:

·        Gardeners must be the adapters, not the other way around.

·        Deer are browsers, smart, and adaptable. They have a wide field of view vision, see well at night, and reproduce throughout their lives with one to three fawns yearly. When times are tough, they will eat less desirable plants to survive.

·        No silver bullet exists to completely lower deer numbers, but a combination of high fencing, avoiding deer-candy-plants, using deer-resistant plants, raised beds, netting, deer sprays, slippery or noisy pathways, and containers near homes can lessen damage.

·        Deer tend to avoid plants with fuzzy leaves, heavily thorned stems, and aromatics such as sages and monarda.

·        A few of the plants recommended are: daffodils, ageratum, lamb’s ear, snap dragons, dill, fennel, blue salvia, ornamental peppers, lung wort, cosmos, obedient plant, yarrow, Shasta daisy, foxglove, monarda, marigold, cleome, Oregon grape holly, lilac, spicebush, serviceberry, many varieties of ornamental grasses, pin oak, and magnolias.  Many others can be used.

·        Further reading: “50 Beautiful Deer-Resistant Plants”, “Deer-Resistant Landscaping” and “Deer Proofing Your Yard and Garden”

These are the deer repellent recipes from Dianne:

Doug Oster's Recipe
4 ounces of Grannick's Bitter Apple for Dogs
2 tablespoons Wilt Pruf
Spray on plants, when temperature is above freezing

Pittsburgh Rose Society's Recipe for Deer Repellent
2 large heads of garlic, halved
2 large strong onions, halved
Simmer in 4 quarts of water for 4 hours (outside if possible)
Let cool and strain
Add 1/2 can of hot Hungarian paprika
1 teaspoon of dish soap
Spray on plants three times a year or when needed: April, June and July

Next meetings:

March 24 - “Rain Gardens” by Debra Rudolph

April 11 - Saturday, Field Trip Tour of Pittsburgh Botanic Gardens, 10 a.m.

April 28 - “Pruning 101” by Sandy Csikari

May 16 - LAGC Plant Sale