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About The nugget. (Sisters, Or.) 1994-current | View Entire Issue (June 3, 2015)
14 Wednesday, June 3, 2015 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon Enjoy your garden’s restorative qualities able to pop a fresh cherry tomato in your mouth on a warm summer’s day. With some modifications, an overwhelming yard can again be a place in which you enjoy spending time. And it isn’t necessary to push your- self beyond your limits physi- cally to maintain it. Take a look at your yard with new eyes. What changes can you make to reduce the amount of physical labor and stamina that are required to keep your yard an attractive asset that provides enjoyable exercise and a sense of place? A good place to start would be to consider removing all or part of your lawn and replac- ing it with low ground-cover, native grasses, or native plants and river rock. Not only will you cut down or eliminate time spent mowing and edg- ing; there will be a reduction in the annual expense for fer- tilizers and water. Give away to younger gar- dening friends your plants that require a great deal of time and effort to maintain. Replace them with plant material that doesn’t require a lot of tending, like stak- ing, pruning, watering and By Susan Stafford Correspondent As we age, the garden we planted 10, 20 or 30 years ago may no longer be a source of joy and pride. Rather it may seem overwhelming and burdensome. The large lawn that has always been green and care- fully tended, and requires aer- ating, thatching, fertilizing, watering, mowing and edg- ing, can begin to take on the proportions of a football field in our mind’s eye. Those beautiful perennial beds that require continual weeding, edging, pruning, deadheading, amending and transplanting can make it seem as if you’re battling the many-headed hydra as you struggle to keep up with three seasons of chores. You are now glad to see the dormancy of winter arrive. That bountiful backyard vegetable garden with rows of corn, hills of potatoes and squash, and towers of pole beans and peas, surrounded by lettuce, radishes, kale, onions, and other delectables, is no longer physically pos- sible but you still want to be TREE SERVICES • Pruning specialists • Large tree and hazard removal • Arborist evaluations/ consultations • Land management/ fuels planning LICENSED | BONDED | INSURED CCB#190496 NATE GOODWIN ISA Certifi ed Arborist PN-7987A 541-771-4825 NatedGoodwin@gmail.com • Stump grinding/ removal • Tree planting/ design • Plant health care • Low-impact rigging and preservation ANY PROJECT ANY SIZE REMODELING HANDYMAN Quality work from start to fi nish % 25 OFF Exterior Painting Booked by June 30, 2015 We pride ourselves on personal service and attention to detail. OVE 20 YR R S EXP 541-280-9655 • 541-977-8866 — CCB#202634 — transplanting. Trouble-free plants, that the deer won’t eat, and that grow well in Central Oregon include daffodils, iris, all types of grasses, barberry, lydia broom (the bright yel- low bush in bloom right now), elderberry, and lavender, to name a few. The types of flower and vegetable beds you have can also be modified to be easier on your body, eliminating excessive stooping, bend- ing and kneeling. If you have a bad back or have trouble bending over, take advantage of vertical growing space using arbors, trellises, and waist-high raised beds. Raised beds of various heights are not only easier to work on; they bring plants up closer for increased visibility for per- sons with low vision. Design the raised beds so the center can be reached comfortably without stretch- ing too far. The top edge of a high raised bed should be narrow to maximize the area of soil surface within reach of the gardener. Also consider its possible use as a support to lean against or hold onto. The lower raised bed, with a slightly wider top, provides possible seating while working. When planning a new gar- den or making modifications, consider accessibility, safety and maneuverability. How far can you comfortably reach? Do you need smooth surfaces and level pathways? What height beds will work? Will tools be nearby? Vertical gardens can be supporting structures, fences, walls, trellises, container trellises, arbors, netting, or strings. For watering, the ver- tical garden is soaked from the top and doesn’t dry out as fast because there’s less expo- sure to the air. With the use of adaptive tools and appropri- ate planting spaces, gardening from a seated position is very doable as well. If you don’t have yard space or you want to limit your gardening to your deck or patio, there is no limit to the variety of containers that provide the opportunity to garden in small spaces. They can be placed where you’ll have good access to them. For growing tomatoes and other spreading vegetables like squash, and tall or climbing plants, use wire cages, stakes or trellises as needed for them to grow on. After planting, cover the top of the soil with mulch for better moisture retention. Use of moisture- retentive potting mix also cuts down on time spent watering. Some containers have hid- den reservoirs in the bottom to keep plants watered for several days, easing water- ing chores. For large or heavy containers, place them in roll- ing saucers, which makes moving them easy. Many con- tainers are also now available in lightweight materials. Raise pots up higher by placing them on plant stands or place them on top of another inverted pot to reduce bending over. For hanging baskets make a pulley system to raise and lower them, mak- ing it possible to water and tend them even if seated or in a wheelchair. Lowering the basket eliminates the need to reach overhead. Once your garden no lon- ger feels overwhelming, you can again enjoy its restorative effects. It becomes a place to easily get some pleasant exer- cise and fresh air, a place to relax and reflect, enriching your quality of life. Timber Stand Improvement Taking care of your trees is of critical importance, whether you live on a city lot or on acre- age in the forest. Timber Stand Improvement has three certified arborists on one team, ensuring that you are getting a very high level of service based in best-practices and the highest level of education. Timber Stand Improvement offers hazard-tree assessment and removal services. They won’t remove a tree unless it really has to go — and if it does they’ll get the job done quickly and safely, with a minimum of impact. They have the capability to work non-mechanically in diffi- cult-to-access spots. In fact, given their education, experience and expertise, they relish a challenge. “We like the most advanced stuff we can get,” says Timber Stand Improvement founder Nate Goodwin. Timber Stand Improvement can also help you with fuels plan- ning, land management on your acreage, and help you create a plan for defensible space. Hig h Desert Home Improvement With more than two decades of experience in construction and real estate, Kandace and Shane Pielstick of High Desert Home Improvement know how to please the most exacting customers with their work. That’s why they’ve grown to five employees in the past year. Kandace and Shane wish to thank the Sisters community for their success. There’s not much that Shane hasn’t done in the world of construction, and he brings that experi- ence to bear on all kinds of home projects. From remodeling a kitchen or a bathroom to completely tricking out a garage, to handyman and “honey-do” work, there’s no job too big and no job too small. And each job and each client gets the attention and quality work they deserve. “We’re very professional, very precise,” Shane notes. So, no matter what the job, contact High Desert Home Improvement and get it done just the way you want it.