Category: sustainable watering

From Eyesore to Educational Masterpiece

On By durhammastergardenersIn art in the landscape, garden design, gardening education, sustainable garden art, sustainable garden design, sustainable watering, sustanability

By Lisa Nadler, Mary Hanlon, and Martha Keehner Engelke, NC State Extension Master GardenerSM volunteer of Durham County

The Durham County Extension Demonstration Garden (DG) is a unique, widely-recognized city garden that welcomes and inspires visitors. It is a place of education and entertainment even during the winter months because of the plant tags used throughout the garden that are linked to the NC State Extension Toolbox. The art installations in the garden make the garden a haven for native plants and pollinators and the garden has received Bird Friendly Habitat Certification from New Hope Bird Alliance.

Recently the DG has undergone a few changes. A chronic eyesore has been converted to a work of educational art and a beloved member of the garden died and had to be removed.

Changing an eyesore to a work of art that is beautiful and educational.

The demonstration garden is located at the Durham County Extension Office (721 Foster St Durham, NC 27701). The majority of the garden is in the front of the building and consists of a variety of plants that are grouped according to their sun requirements. Water to nourish the garden comes from two large cisterns located on the side of the building. The cisterns reduce the need for hand watering which saves time and provides more consistent watering but they were ugly.

The large cisterns were valuable but not very attractive. How could they become a work of art and serve the educational purpose of the Durham Master Gardener Demonstration Garden? (Image credit: Allie Mullin, Lisa Nadler)

The goal was to make the cisterns more visually appealing to people visiting the Extension Office and create an opportunity to educate the public about native wetland and garden plants. Master Gardener Lisa Nadler, in conjunction with local muralist and Master Gardener Dave Milkereit, led a team1 in transforming the cisterns into a welcoming and  educational experience for visitors to the Extension Office.

The first step was to remove the peeling paint manually and through the use of electric sanders. Next the cisterns were covered with several coats of primer and a background color. The idea was to use a fairly neutral dark color of paint so that the images of the plants and pollinators would “pop”.

Preparation for painting included sanding and application of several coats of primer (Image credit: Lisa Nadler and Allie Mullin)

Dave Milkereit painted the plants and pollinators to be featured on the cisterns on canvas and then rolled the canvas to see how it would look on the cisterns. The design included plants, insects and birds from swamp and wetland areas as well as garden and prairie environments.

Dave divided his painting into grids to allow him to transfer his work onto the cistern scaling up the size appropriately. From there, he used chalk to draw the outlines of the plants and pollinators from his drawing. Dave then painted over the chalk outlines with black paint. (Image credit: Dave Milkereit)

After Lisa and Dave mixed paints to match the colors of the plants and pollinators, they taped on numbers corresponding to the colors to be painted, and set the rest of the Master Gardeners to work filling in the image using a “paint by number” system. Several of the paints were translucent and required a white background before the color painting.

The color palette on the left is then being applied by Ashley Troth, Durham Extension Agent and Joan Barber, chair of the demonstration garden committee. (Image credit: Lisa Nadler)

The final step will be to add a UV protection and a graffiti protection system. Lisa Nadler comments on the lessons learned through this project:

“In all, about 400 hours of volunteer time went into this project. We have gotten lots of positive feedback about the results as well.  It would never have been possible without Dave’s creativity and his willingness to let amateur painters work on his creation. In addition, his support and skill were what allowed this project to go smoothly.”

On the left the Extension Master Gardeners are recognized for their efforts. Lisa Nadler and Dave Milkereit were instrumental in providing leadership and creativity (Image credit: Lisa Nadler, Dave Milkereit)

Now that the project is completed visitors are encouraged to visit the Extension Office to admire and learn. As you face the cisterns you’ll see the left cistern features native plants for gardens, while the cistern on the right highlights native plants found in wetlands. The images of plants include both the common and scientific name and when the cistern website is completed they will be linked to the NC Extension Toolbox through a QR code which will be posted on each cistern.

The illustrations on the cisterns include both the common name as well as the scientific name of the plants and pollinators on the cisterns making them both beautiful and educational (Image credit: Lisa Nadler)

The Disappearing Electric Boxes

There was one more painting project that the Durham EMGs decided to tackle. The front façade of the extension building has long been dominated by a large, grey, electrical box. For years, members of the demonstration garden team had discussed adding a design to make it more appealing. Mary Hanlon had an idea to hide the box in plain sight by painting it to match the bricks of the building.

The first step was to find the right colors. Lisa Nadler found a brick that appeared to match the building perfectly.  Mary purchased a paint sample that was color-matched to the brick, experimented by painting a poster board with this color, and confirmed that it blended well with the building.  It was more challenging to color-match the multiple types of grout that had been used on the building.  The starting point was a custom color mixed by Dave Milkereit, but it took several trips to paint stores to collect similar color chips and paint samples, and multiple experiments on the poster board to find a color that blended well with the building grout.

The box was cleaned with a dry cloth followed by a damp cloth, being careful to avoid getting water in the box. The team painted the electrical box with exterior primer and paint that matched the building. The next step was to add the grout lines. Jeff Kanters and Mary Hanlon drew horizontal level chalk lines on the box, and taped mock bricks (cardboard cut to the size of a brick) on the lines, to form the desired pattern. They then outlined the “bricks” with chalk to indicate where the grout lines would be before painting  the lines.   The next step was shading the bricks and grout to give them a little dimension. Again, they practiced on poster boards before moving on to the electrical box.

Before and after pictures of the electric box at the front of the building. Jeff Kanters and Mary Hanlon did the majority of the painting and Mary coordinated the project. (Image credit: Left: Lisa Nadler others by Mary Hanlon)

A tree dies and is removed: What now?

A large crabapple tree (Malus coronaria) died and had to be removed. This tree was a beloved feature of the Shady Bed and a staple of the Demo Garden, so its removal marks a bittersweet moment.

Before its removal the crabapple tree (Malus coronaria) was the anchor of the shady bed which isn’t so shady anymore and the bed is now awaiting new plants and a native tree. (Image credit: Martha Engelke)

According to Extension Agent Ashley Troth, ” We will be adding another tree, this time a native, and adding lots of native shrubs and perennials. It will be a sunnier set of plants than were there previously, with an emphasis on drought tolerance, as that bed can get quite dry under the willow oak.“

In the coming year the Demo Garden team will explore innovative ideas and exciting plans for this area. We’re looking forward to creating something special to honor this space!

1. Thanks to all of the EMGs that worked on these projects: Ashley Troth (the Boss); Alice Hall; Allie Mullin; Anna Glasgow; Carol Tierney; Cathy Lambe; Darline Burgess; Dave Milkereit (the artist); Diane Catotti; Jeff Kanters; Joan Barber; Mary Hanlon (artist in charge of the electric boxes); Marya McNeish (website creator and organizer); Lisa Nadler (leader and herder of cats)

Additional Resources

To learn more about art in the garden, take a look at a previous post by Durham Master Gardener Wendy Diaz. https://durhammastergardeners.com/wp-admin/post.php?post=15791&action=edit

A website that includes more details on the cistern project as well as other resources is in development. Once completed, stickers with the QR code linking to the website will be placed on each cistern. Stay tuned!

Short Link: https://wp.me/p2nIr1-5uY

Bringing Plants of the Piedmont back to Downtown Durham

On By durhammastergardenersIn bees, beneficial insects, birds, cover crops, CPTED, crime prevention through environmental design, Downtown Durham, NC, drought tolerant plants, Durham NC, garden design, gardening, Gardening calendar, Gardening information, gardening NC, green mulch, ground covers, ground covers for living mulch, how to improve soil, insects, landscaping for wildlife, living mulch, native plant list, native plant list for Piedmont NC, native plants, Natives, NC Native Plants, Perennial, phenology calendar, Piedmont Prairie Garden at Rotary Plaza, pollinator gardening, polyculture, renewable gardening, soil, soil health, sustainability, sustainable garden design, sustainable watering, sustanability, Uncategorized, urban challenges in landscaping, urban garden, urban gardening, urban heat islands, urban planning, urban prairie garden, urban wildlife, uuban service benefits in landscapes, water wise plants, wildlife

By Eric Wiebe, NC State Extension Master GardenerSM volunteer of Durham County

A once neglected site, Rotary Plaza in downtown Durham comes alive in July 2021 with sunflowers that produce seeds for wildlife. Millet, a grain used here in the design and novel to many urban dwellers, also serves as a great food source for gold finches and other birds. (Image credit: Ben Bergmann)

Have you noticed changes to the plantings in downtown Durham over the past few years? If not, you need to head on down, walk around, and appreciate the transformation of the many of the city-owned green spaces. This transformation, and the strategies behind it, point to a new way of thinking about our relationship to the landscape, both in urban settings like downtown, but also in our own yards. 

I had the pleasure of both walking around downtown Durham with and then sitting down and talking to Ben Bergmann, the architect of this transformation. Ben was hired by City of Durham in September 2020 and charged with re-envisioning and elevating horticulture in downtown Durham, including creating a Downtown Horticulture Crew within Landscape Services. Ben brought a widely varied background to this position, trained with BS, MS, and PhD degrees in plant sciences, and working as everything from small business owner and farmer to tropical agroecologist and research scientist. One thing all this work has in common is plants and his great love of them. Ben feels this broad range of experiences has helped prepare him for a job that has him applying both the art and science horticulture to a municipal government position with its many constraints and opportunities and multitude of stakeholders. 

“When I started, I realized I needed a mission statement to clearly and concisely communicate to my supervisors and the public what I and my unit in government is doing.” He stated that his landscape design and management are guided by the goal of enhancing

  • Environmental sustainability
  • Programmatic stability
  • Aesthetic appeal
  • Service benefits

He notes that it is important to recognize that these categories are not mutually exclusive, but each has a role to play in his horticultural work supporting the living landscape in downtown Durham. 

Designing Sustainably

Ben explains that a crucial re-orientation is to start planning a landscape by thinking about how it can best align with the ecosystem, and that means starting with native plants that can be used. “For urban contexts some people would say that there is nothing native to these downtown spaces, and they will use this as an ‘out’ to plant whatever they want. I don’t embrace this–something was native, originally, in these spots. Many times these native plants can and will grow and thrive in these spaces.”

When Ben thinks about which native species to use, he first looks for plants native to the North Carolina Piedmont and secondarily to the larger Piedmont of eastern U.S. He notes, however, that it is very important to select plants with a long-range vision. That is, when accounting for global climate change, plants that are going to be here in 20 years may very well be in an environment that looks more like the southern Piedmont, our coastal plains, or South Carolina.

(Left to right) By selecting plants that can cope with a warming environment, Bergmann installed dwarf palmetto (Sabal minor), a plant typically associated with climates in the native ranges east and south of Durham, NC, and shown in green on the USDA’s zone map. (Image credit: Ben Bergmann; https://plants.usda.gov)

While native species take the lead when planning bed renovations, Ben states that non-native plants can still play a role. Returning to his guiding principles, non-natives can help fill functional gaps that might be hard to resolve in the short run with native species. Similarly, there are times that a spot planting of a non-native will help achieve a particular aesthetic goal by providing highlight color, texture, or architecture.

(Left to right) Before, a non-imaginative flag pole bed at Durham Parks and Recreation building included a highly invasive and exotic species: Nandina domestica. After a re-imagining, the same bed demonstrates there is a place for non-native plants alongside natives, especially during transition phases. (Image credit: Ben Bergmann1

Because the legacy plantings downtown were almost 100% non-native, it means that during a bed’s transition period, some non-natives may be left to help visually and functionally stabilize the bed until new, native plants can get established and then take over. Among other things, the non-native plants retained just for the transition can provide shelter from the sun and wind during establishment.

(Left) The process of establishing an urban prairie at the Rotary Plaza began in September 2020 with beds filled with weeds and remnants of long past garden attempts. (Middle) In March 2020, the the beds are full of cover crops: crimson clover, a nitrogen fixer that is great for pollinators in early spring, and winter rye, which has high biomass production and deeply penetrating roots. The intricate planting pattern reflects intentionality and provides visual interest. (Right) By July 2022 the Piedmont Prairie Garden at Rotary Plaza is realized and chock-full of sustainable native plants. (Image credit: Ben Bergmann)2

Even given how much he has achieved is such a short time, Ben still takes the long view when planning and planting. For example, cover crops have been used in very purposeful ways in areas such as the Rotary Garden. During the initial transition of this space, cover crops were planted and maintained in ways that not only helped build the soil, but created visual interest. Over time, the cover crops matured and eventually replaced with native perennials, creating an evolving horticultural narrative in this space. As Ben said, “Some [landscape] designers shy away from transitions–they want to ‘put a tarp over it’ until it has reached its final phase. I don’t shy away from transitions; they are an important part of my plans.”

Ben notes that using select non-native plants, cover crops, and other annuals allows him to more easily use seeds, plugs, and small plants in the beds. In the case of herbaceous perennials and woody plants, besides being less expensive, younger, smaller plants will typically develop more robust root systems and quickly outgrow their bigger counterparts.

Addressing Urban Challenges

Ben was quick to remind me of the many contextual limitations and challenges the Downtown Horticulture Crew faces daily that home suburban gardeners rarely have to contend with. For example, CPTED (Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design), is an important set of guiding heuristics that often preempts other design considerations. In addition to making sure plantings do not screen illicit activities, it also disallows designs that interfere with security cameras or impair pedestrian safety, including driver site lines at street crossings. 

1
2
3
4
5

The center of the Chapel Hill Street parking lot is a perfect example of an urban heat island with even hotter microclimates where landscapes are needed. (1) In January of 2022, the lot was cleared of weeds and other unhealthy, dated, and non-native landscape plants. (2-5) The view in 2024, after Bergmann and his team revitalized the area with an assortment of heat-tolerant natives. (Image credit: Ben Bergmann)3

Most of the beds Ben and his crew manage are surrounded by heat absorbing asphalt and concrete and buildings with glass that intensify solar radiation by reflecting light onto them. This creates heat islands much hotter than in surrounding communities. In addition, tall buildings funnel wind through these spaces and block rain, further desiccating plants. 

Humans also are unhelpful, by walking on, driving over, or otherwise physically challenging plantings. Some soils are more like landfill or construction sites, and many have the negative impact of overuse by dogs on their walks. Even with these challenges, Ben has identified quite a few native species that are up for environmental extremes while still fulfilling functional and aesthetic goals. Not surprisingly, he is currently exploring the possibility of a demonstration xeriscape-inspired bed. This one may very well include some non-native plants more typically found in desert environments.

Educating the Community

Ben understands that an important part of his job is educating not only the workers and residents of downtown Durham but all city residents and visitors as to a new way of envisioning landscapes. Landscapes that, while they exist in a human-built environment, much more clearly reflect real ecosystems of the NC Piedmont. This means not only planting predominantly native species but planting them in soil nourished by natural mulches created by the plants themselves rather than imported, dyed wood chips. He also allows the plants to go through full cycles, creating visual landscapes that sometimes predominate in browns, grays, and blacks, as much as greens, yellows, and reds. 

(Left to right) The Piedmont Prairie Garden at Rotary Plaza in early January with the last vibrant colors and in late February, when the remaining plants still create an almost black-and-white picture. (Image credit: Ben Bergmann)4 (Below) By designing a phenology calendar for his plantings, Bergmann pays careful attention to nature’s timing. This tool helps gardeners know when to plant, specific bloom times, and when colors, textures, and other elements are present throughout the seasons. For a closer view, click on the link for an electronic version of the calendar in our Resources and Additional Information section below.

He is heartened that there is a growing critical mass of professionals helping him in this educational work. The City of Raleigh and Wake County has been hard at work creating plantings that reflect this same vision. He also has strong allies at Duke Gardens, where Annabel Renwick, has provided both inspiration and plants for some of the bed designs. Ben recognizes that it will take a while both for his beds to reach the final stages of their design vision and for Durham residents to embrace this new look, but he has already received lots of positive feedback for his renovated beds. It will also be up to Durham Master Gardeners, and committed gardeners everywhere, to help continue to educate the public and support this work.

Plant lists for featured Downtown Durham Sites

1–The planting design at the Parks and Recreation administration site include a mix of natives (*) and non-native plants: threadleaf coreopsis* (Coreopsis verticillata), creeping phlox* (Phlox subulata), eastern ninebark* (Physocarpus opulifolius), panicle hydrangea (Hydrangea paniculata), lantana (Lantana camara), coleus (Solenostemon scutellarioides).

2–Plants in the Piedmont Prairie Garden at Rotary Plaza include swamp milkweed (Asclepias incarnata), blue mistflower (Conoclinium coelestinum), purple coneflower (Echinacea purpurea), Joe-Pye weed (Eutrochium fistulosum), Spotted Joe-Pye weed (Eutrochium maculatum), common sunflower (Helianthus annuus), scarlet rosemallow (Hibiscus coccineus), larger blue flag iris (Iris versicolor), cardinal flower (Lobelia cardinalis), switch grass (Panicum virgatum), garden phlox (Phlox paniculata), hoary mountain mint (Pycnanthemum incanum), brown-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia triloba).

3–Center of Chapel Hill Street parking lot showcases the following native plants: sedge (Carex bicknellii), purple love grass (Eragrostis spectabilis), Elliott’s lovegrass (Eragrostis elliottii), scarlet rosemallow (Hibiscus coccineus), swamp rosemallow (Hibiscus moscheutos), Virginia sweetspire (Itea virginica), tulip poplar (Liriodendron tulipifera), black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia hirta).

4–The Piedmont Prairie Garden at Rotary Plaza in late February still offers color, texture, and winter interest. They include climbing aster (Ampleaster carolinianus), scarlet rosemallow (Hibiscus coccineus), switch grass (Panicum virgatum), hoary mountain mint (Pycnanthemum incanum), white goldenrod (Solidago bicolor), showy goldenrod (Solidago speciosa)–with touches of hopeful green, beardtounge (Penstemon digitalis), eastern beardtounge (Penstemon laevigatus), stoke’s aster (Stokesia laevis), adam’s needle yucca (Yucca filamentosa).

5– See below for Bergmann’s list of natives that are tried-and-true performers for Durham and central North Carolina.

Resources and Additional Information

Piedmont Prairie Garden at Rotary Plaza Bloom Time / Color Calendar (electronic version)

https://go.ncsu.edu/piedmontprairiecalendar

NC State Extension on landscaping for wildlife with native plants in urban environments

https://content.ces.ncsu.edu/landscaping-for-wildlife-with-native-plants

North Carolina Native Plant Society’s list of recommended native species

Recommended Native Species

NC State Extension on all things native plants

Article Short Link https://wp.me/p2nIr1-4Ku