August 24 garden tour and meeting

On a beautiful, hot August evening, club members were privileged to tour the beautiful gardens of Karen Reilly.  Her garden was on the Shaler Garden Club tour this year, which is how we discovered this gem.  Karen provided a printout of Forest Bathing, defining what it is and listing a myriad of resources where it can be practiced in the Pittsburgh area as well as websites with more information. (Pictures by Dianne Machesney and RoseMary Highman are at the end of these notes.)

 The 20.89 acre property was purchased 14 years ago, and after a year of building their dream home, she and her husband David were able to move in and start gardening.  After 3 years of battling the deer, they bit the bullet and installed an 8 ft. high electrified fence around their main garden areas.  Some areas have a 2^nd fence, and these together have been successful in keeping the deer out.

 

Karen named their property Laurel Ridge, because it was covered with wild Laurel bushes.  They have since been hit by disease, over the last several years, but are starting to come back.

 

The garden is primarily a shade garden, due to the tree canopy which gets bigger every year.  In spite of the shade, there was a lot of color. The garden beds surround the various trees and are defined by stones which were dug up when they had to put a trench in to the garage.  

 

Karen loves to repurpose things and the stones were a free way to define her various garden beds.  Another repurposed item she had was a piece of granite, which is now a bench in her meditation garden.  Another repurposed item is the base of a table, which was a stump from a tree they had to remove, where she layered multiple coats of shellack on it.  She picked up the glass top from college students moving out and together, it made for a unique outdoor table.  Another repurposing are the “stepping stones” in her front garden beds which are made from tree trunks, and have lasted for years.

 

Their chandelier in their garden shed was picked up for the bargain price of $40 from a house built in 1938 in Mt Lebanon.  Some of the windows are antiques from Reilly’s Summer Seat Farm.  Part “she shed/ he shed,” the front part of the shed was setup as a sort of retreat area, and the back part of the shed had a riding mower, various lawn mowers and other lawn maintenance equipment, all behind a wall.

 

Karen loves to entertain, and therefore has many different seating areas throughout the garden, where one gets different vantage points of the various gardens, truly a serene setting.

 

The 2^nd floor of the garage has light system and heat mat installed, which they use for starting many of their plants from seed.

 

One of the impressive plantings was the “heart of the garden”.  Caladiums which were STARTED FROM SEED  by her husband, were planted in the shape of a heart, just beautiful.

 

In the sunnier area of the garden were peach trees, blueberry bushes and grapevines.  The peach trees were started from seed by her dad, and were successfully moved from prior locations, and they produce delicious peaches.  They have baffles around the upper trunks of the trees which are used to keep the squirrels off.

 

They have Japanese Maples around their fire pit, which are the great great grandchild [trees] of the Teddy Roosevelt Estate in Sagamore Hill, New York.

 

Canadian Hemlocks purchased from Mussers in the North were planted to establish a privacy fence.  Karen recommended Mussers for the quality of their stock, as well as the cost – she said at least ½ the cost of what we would pay around here, so if you are looking to pick up some trees for your garden, check them out.

 

Karen had mentioned that she had difficulty with her Roses this year.  Mary Anne recommended the following:

Fill a quart mason jar with water, add a banana peel.  Let sit for 4 days.  After 4 days, remove the banana peel, and add another one.  Let sit for another 4 days.  Water roses with 1 cup of the solution to the gallon of water, about once a week.  There is something in banana peels that roses absolutely love.

 

September’s meeting is still TBD.  If you have any ideas, please let Colleen know.

 

The club desperately needs someone to step up and be the programming coordinator.  Although Colleen has done a terrific job over the last 2 years, Colleen cannot continue taking care of the programming, as well as handling the president duties.

 

If you are willing to hostess the club picnic next year, please reach out to Colleen to let her know.  It can be held on a date that is convenient for you, does not need to be the 4^th Tuesday of June.

 

We will be collecting dues again for 2022 - $15.

 

Mary Anne brought Calendula seeds from her garden for any club members that were interested.  

 

Treasurer’s report:

 

Beginning checking balance                                                   $5,470.05

Deposit: Donation in memory of Lila Johnson                       $   100.00

Expense: Millvale Garden Tour                                               ($  100.00)

 

Ending Checking Balance                                                        $5,470.05

 

Petty Cash                                                                               $     44.61

 

Total Cash                                                                               $5,514.66

Karen Reilly, owner, host, guide, avid gardener and 're-purposer.'

Bubbling fountain, lower seating area.

RoseMary and Jane at one of the many tables.

Karen talking about the garden.

Here lights, pathways, and a framed entrance invite visitors in.

Tiny lights, stepping stones, and gardens delineated by stones which Karen placed.

One of the hearts in the garden.

Looking from the Abe Lincoln Garden back to Helena's Playhouse.

Close up view of playhouse.

Elephant in the Wildlife Garden.

One of the Fairy Gardens.

Glass topped table uses upside down tree stump as its base, concrete slab under base.

Vegetables and fruits are not forgotten.

Sun loving plants such as roses in the front of the Reilly's lovely home.

Heath Bar Cookies from Dianne Machesney

 

Heat oven to 375.  Line jelly roll pan with aluminum foil.

 

Line the pan in a single layer with 45 club crackers.

 

Melt 1cup butter in a saucepan, add 1 cup brown sugar. Boil 1-minute, stirring until sugar is dissolved. Add ¼ tsp baking soda. It will bubble up.  Stir and immediately pour over the crackers and spread evenly.  Bake for 10 minutes.

 

When it comes out of the oven, sprinkle 12oz. chocolate chips. When they melt, spread evenly overall.  Sprinkle with 1cup chopped nuts.  Cool in the fridge until everything is hard – about an hour.   Break into pieces.  Store in an airtight container.  Will last about 3 weeks.