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Walter Reeves |
On this week’s “Gardening in
Georgia,” host Walter Reeves visits
with Karen Tolbert, research assistant at the Savannah Bamboo
Farm and Coastal Gardens. Tolbert takes Reeves through their
demonstration Xeriscape landscape.
The program airs on Wednesday, Oct. 3, at 7:30 p.m. on Georgia Public Television. It
will be rebroadcast at noon on Saturday, Oct. 6.
The beautiful Coastal Gardens landscape area demonstrates all
seven xeriscaping principles:
- Planning and design.
- Soil analysis.
- Appropriate plant selection.
- Practical turf areas.
- Efficient irrigation.
- Use of mulches.
- Appropriate maintenance.
Pacific Northwest in Georgia?
In another segment, co-host Tara Dillard wonders why Janet
Ivarie’s pine islands look like Pacific Northwest beds. She finds
that Ivarie moved here from Oregon five years ago and recreated
the Pacific Northwest look.
Ivarie created her islands by first amending the soil, which
raised it a few inches and made it look more like a bed. Curves
around her pine islands are generous and smooth, without
wiggles.
She began her installation, too, by planting trees and
evergreens. She put in the perennials and groundcovers later.
Shades of green contrast with jolts of chartreuse foliage as
highlights.
Cinder-block Planters
Finally, Helen Phillips of Callaway Gardens shows Reeves how to
make attractive planters out of cinder blocks. Phillips uses a
mixture of mortar mix, peat moss and sand, which she thoroughly
mixes together before adding water. (Be sure to wear rubber
gloves and perhaps a dust mask when working with this
mixture.)
She trowels the thick goop onto stacked cinderblocks to make
their normal corners more rounded. Finally, she uses plants such
as sedum, geranium, purslane and ice plant, which can stand a bit
of dryness between waterings. Once they’re planted, you can’t
identify the humble origins of the container.
Wednesdays, Saturdays on GPTV
“Gardening in Georgia” airs each Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. It’s
rebroadcast every Saturday at noon. The show’s “Web site
provides further information.
The show is produced especially for Georgia gardeners by the UGA
College of
Agricultural and Environmental Sciences and GPTV.
