Garden Updates #8

Yesterday I finished the first layer for the foundation of one of the gardens. It's approximately 10' x 5', and so will the second garden. My advisors and I decided to build two gardens so that we can separate plants based on sunlight needs. This garden receives a lot of shade from the tree, so it will be mainly for garden-variety plants. I built this almost entirely by myself. Dexter and Ariane worked on it for an hour or so on the first day of building, and set it up for me, and then I finished it. Next we need to mortar the cinder blocks together, but neither Ariane nor I know how to, so we are waiting for Dexter to start. The garden will be two cinder blocks high when finished, and once the foundation is built, purchasing and transplanting the plants should be a quick task.

Desert Botanical Garden

I just got back from picking up donations at the Desert Botanical Garden. They actually donated a lot more than I expected from their email. I thought there was only going to be one of each, but I received five Asclepias angustifolia (Arizona milkweeds), two Hosmarinus ingrami (Ingram rosemary), two Saliva scabra (costal blue sage), one Opuntia (spineless prickly pear), and one Lophocereus schottii var. monstrousus (totem pole cactus - and this one is probably more than four feet tall). I can't wait to find a place for these in the garden!

Garden Updates #7

I have been going to the garden most days and doing some construction. The EEC gave me a key to the shed out back so that I could get shovels, etc. to work on it. The foundation for the garden will be made up of cinder blocks. There will also be small pockets sticking out of the walls for additional, smaller plants (succulents, herbs, etc.) to make them more accessible to visitors. I have been working on the construction by myself for the last few days, and I should have the layout done by the end of the week.

Tomorrow I will be heading out to the Desert Botanical Garden to pick up some plants. The staff were so kind and offered to donate five plants: a totem pole cactus, spineless prickly pear (several pads), rosemary, salvia, and milkweeds.

Garden Updates #6

Last Friday (March 24th) some of my advisors started digging up dirt, so that they could start building the garden. Unfortunately, they ran into the roots of the mesquite tree and had to stop construction. Today, they brought in an expert arborist to assess the issue and let us know if it was okay to continue. My advisors were worried about the possibility of accidentally killing the tree, but Claud, the arborist, let us know that it was okay to proceed. In the far future, we might run into problems with the tree's roots breaking the foundation of our raised garden (since we were going to build the garden with cinder blocks), but we could just trim the roots if needed. It's definitely a good thing that the tree won't actually be an issue, so we can continue with the garden plans as is and not have to redesign.

Succulents

Today Ariane went to Home Depot to buy supplies for the garden. While she was there, she also purchased some succulents. I'm hoping to have the garden done before Earth Day, because the EEC hosts a big event that day, so we got the succulents now to start propagating. Hopefully we'll have a lot of them for the garden eventually, but I don't think we will be able to get grown succulents by Earth Day. This will still be a fun experiment! I can't wait to see them start growing.

The Budget

Before I started my internship, the EEC applied for a federal grant to fund the garden. Last week, we found out that we actually did not get the grant, so now our budget is down to $500. To make up for the lost budget, one of my advisors, Daniella, sent me a list of email addresses to ask around for plant donations. After emailing everyone, I got a few responses. Cathy Rymer, the water conservation coordinator for the city of Chandler responded first and offered a Superstition Mallow, which is now sitting in the EEC's office. And U of A's community garden program coordinator, Marina Acosta, told me she will not be able to donate transplants, but she offered to donate seeds. I have yet to pick them up, though.

Today I had a meeting with my advisors, Daniella and Ariane. We discussed garden plans and budgeting. We figured out a design for the garden, which has changed since the last post I made about the garden. It will no longer be in the corner, as I described. Instead it will be along the west fence so that some of the plants can get more shade and others can get more sun. Also, the space between the tree and the fence isn't that wide, so we would have had to sacrifice either garden space or walking space. Right now I'm drawing up a rough draft of how the garden will be organized. I will post the final plan later on.

Garden Updates #5

A few weeks ago, I said that the sensory garden was going to be along one side of the fence surrounding the demonstration garden, but there's been a change of plans. Instead, we are going to put the garden in the northwest corner (as shown in the picture on the right). Putting the sensory garden in this corner will allow the garden to be more encompassing and also be better for the plants, since they will have some shade to protect them from the afternoon sun, especially in the upcoming summer. Also, since we have the tree to utilize, I was thinking about hanging wind chimes or bird feeders. The tree will also make the garden more enjoyable because visitors won't have to be under the direct light of the sun.