Tag Archives: xeriscaping

Best Bloomin’ Garden Contest: Enter Now

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Garden looking sad and brown? Take a photo! Take several. Ugly yard? Capture it on film! (Visit OK Photo for some great service and equipment.)

Before you rake, weed, shovel, or plant this spring, take a photo of your space looking its worst. Go on now, we’ll wait……

OK, done? Now, go to town for some seeds, seedlings, shrubbery, edging, plant containers, garden tools, paint, fencing, or xeriscaping supplies. Get your property looking its best. We suggest contest sponsor Future Gardens! Or if you’re adding or renovating a water feature, we suggest arts council member Rod’s Aqua Pools Ltd.

Now take another photo. Doesn’t it look great? Take some more shots. Don’t forget the one of you smiling and holding the shovel, looking grimy but proud. (You look fantastic, by the way.)

Next, go to this link right here: Best Bloomin’ Garden Contest 2011 Entry Form Yup. The one saying Best Bloomin’ Garden Contest.  Click on it.

Decide what category your “spruced up space” best  fits into:

Is yours a residential yard or garden?
Outdoor Living Area?  (deck, patio, water feature, etc)
Did you just xeriscape using drought tolerant plants and materials?
Are you a commercial, municipal or industrial property?

Email your entry form by May 31 to olivergardencontest @ hotmail.ca ,  drop it off at Paw Prints Studio and Gallery 148 Carr Crescent, Willowbrook, mail to the Oliver Community Arts Council P.O. Box 1711, Oliver BC V0H 1T0 or email olivercac @ gmail.com for other entry arrangements. And don’t worry — you can keep on beautifying up to the last two weeks of June when judging by the Oliver Heirloom Garden Club takes place.

Entry forms are also available at Future Gardens, Heather’s Threadz Sewing Centre, Sundance Video and True Value Hardware.

The Best Bloomin’ Garden Contest is a Communities in Bloom project brought to you by the Oliver Community Arts Council, and supported by the Oliver Heirloom Garden Club.

Contest sponsors are OK Photo Lab, Future Gardens, Sherwood Trophies, Fortis BC, and Paw Prints Studio and Gallery (The Art of John Salsnek).

Come on, Oliver! Let’s get BLOOMIN’!

Best Bloomin' Garden Contest: Enter Now

Posted on by

Garden looking sad and brown? Take a photo! Take several. Ugly yard? Capture it on film! (Visit OK Photo for some great service and equipment.)

Before you rake, weed, shovel, or plant this spring, take a photo of your space looking its worst. Go on now, we’ll wait……

OK, done? Now, go to town for some seeds, seedlings, shrubbery, edging, plant containers, garden tools, paint, fencing, or xeriscaping supplies. Get your property looking its best. We suggest contest sponsor Future Gardens! Or if you’re adding or renovating a water feature, we suggest arts council member Rod’s Aqua Pools Ltd.

Now take another photo. Doesn’t it look great? Take some more shots. Don’t forget the one of you smiling and holding the shovel, looking grimy but proud. (You look fantastic, by the way.)

Next, go to this link right here: Best Bloomin’ Garden Contest 2011 Entry Form Yup. The one saying Best Bloomin’ Garden Contest.  Click on it.

Decide what category your “spruced up space” best  fits into:

Is yours a residential yard or garden?
Outdoor Living Area?  (deck, patio, water feature, etc)
Did you just xeriscape using drought tolerant plants and materials?
Are you a commercial, municipal or industrial property?

Email your entry form by May 31 to olivergardencontest @ hotmail.ca ,  drop it off at Paw Prints Studio and Gallery 148 Carr Crescent, Willowbrook, mail to the Oliver Community Arts Council P.O. Box 1711, Oliver BC V0H 1T0 or email olivercac @ gmail.com for other entry arrangements. And don’t worry — you can keep on beautifying up to the last two weeks of June when judging by the Oliver Heirloom Garden Club takes place.

Entry forms are also available at Future Gardens, Heather’s Threadz Sewing Centre, Sundance Video and True Value Hardware.

The Best Bloomin’ Garden Contest is a Communities in Bloom project brought to you by the Oliver Community Arts Council, and supported by the Oliver Heirloom Garden Club.

Contest sponsors are OK Photo Lab, Future Gardens, Sherwood Trophies, Fortis BC, and Paw Prints Studio and Gallery (The Art of John Salsnek).

Come on, Oliver! Let’s get BLOOMIN’!

Water Wise Garden Trade Fair & Workshop

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Oliver’s Communities in Bloom committee presents

Water Wise Garden  Workshop & Trade Fair
Saturday, March 26
Workshop 9:30 – 12:30
Tickets $10.00  at Beyond Bliss & Medici’s Gelateria
Oliver Elks Hall (9725 – 360th Ave)

Join local experts Eva Durance* and Kathryn McCourt** at the workshop and learn about the principles of xeriscape gardening, gardening with drought tolerant plants, organic versus inorganic mulches, efficient irrigation, water wise gardens, and easy care gardens suited for Oliver’s climate. Reduce your water bills by gardening and landscaping with drought tolerant plants. let’s help make Oliver beautiful and water-wise!

Seating is limited for the workshop! Only 50 tickets available. Get yours NOW!

and
Trade Fair 9:30 -4:00
FREE and OPEN to the public, no limit
Oliver Elks Hall (9725 – 360th Ave)

Lots of items for sale related to gardening and xeriscaping in particular. Visit booths for irrigation supplies, landscaping supplies, educational information, and of course nurseries featuring drought tolerant plants.

Reasons to Xeriscape:

■Reduces water use by about 50% compared to conventional lawns or ornamental gardens
■Cost saving when water meters take effect
■Reduction in erosion hazards on sensitive soils
■Eliminates use of toxic pesticides and herbicides
■Low-water native plants provide food and habitat for South Okanagan birds, butterflies, and bees.
■ Xeriscaping will survive restricted water use during drought conditions
■Water conservation helps to mitigate the effects of climate change ad development pressures
 

*Eva Durance, who grew up in Ontario, has been a lifelong gardener and interested in garden designer for over 40 years. She has worked as a xeriscape-naturescape designer and natural systems’ restoration consultant in the Okanagan for over 15 years and has given courses and talks in xeriscape and naturescape gardening for a variety of places including Okanagan College and the City of Penticton. In addition to advanced degrees in English Language and Literature, Eva has a Diploma in Landscape Design from the Institute of Garden Design in the United Kingdom, and courses in Restoration of Natural Systems.

**Kathryn McCourt has been gardening and conserving water since she was three. Throughout her years as a public school teacher, bookkeeper, freelance writer and florist, there was always a garden and it was usually in a dry place, whether in the Okanagan, Calgary or Victoria. Since 2005, she has had her own Summerland-based business, creating, maintaining and teaching about Xeriscape.

The Oliver Community Arts Council is a partner with Oliver’s Communities in Bloom through the Best Bloomin’ Garden Contest. For more information, contact olivercac@gmail.com

Water Wise Garden Trade Fair & Workshop

Posted on by

Oliver’s Communities in Bloom committee presents

Water Wise Garden  Workshop & Trade Fair
Saturday, March 26
Workshop 9:30 – 12:30
Tickets $10.00  at Beyond Bliss & Medici’s Gelateria
Oliver Elks Hall (9725 – 360th Ave)

Join local experts Eva Durance* and Kathryn McCourt** at the workshop and learn about the principles of xeriscape gardening, gardening with drought tolerant plants, organic versus inorganic mulches, efficient irrigation, water wise gardens, and easy care gardens suited for Oliver’s climate. Reduce your water bills by gardening and landscaping with drought tolerant plants. let’s help make Oliver beautiful and water-wise!

Seating is limited for the workshop! Only 50 tickets available. Get yours NOW!

and
Trade Fair 9:30 -4:00
FREE and OPEN to the public, no limit
Oliver Elks Hall (9725 – 360th Ave)

Lots of items for sale related to gardening and xeriscaping in particular. Visit booths for irrigation supplies, landscaping supplies, educational information, and of course nurseries featuring drought tolerant plants.

Reasons to Xeriscape:

■Reduces water use by about 50% compared to conventional lawns or ornamental gardens
■Cost saving when water meters take effect
■Reduction in erosion hazards on sensitive soils
■Eliminates use of toxic pesticides and herbicides
■Low-water native plants provide food and habitat for South Okanagan birds, butterflies, and bees.
■ Xeriscaping will survive restricted water use during drought conditions
■Water conservation helps to mitigate the effects of climate change ad development pressures
 

*Eva Durance, who grew up in Ontario, has been a lifelong gardener and interested in garden designer for over 40 years. She has worked as a xeriscape-naturescape designer and natural systems’ restoration consultant in the Okanagan for over 15 years and has given courses and talks in xeriscape and naturescape gardening for a variety of places including Okanagan College and the City of Penticton. In addition to advanced degrees in English Language and Literature, Eva has a Diploma in Landscape Design from the Institute of Garden Design in the United Kingdom, and courses in Restoration of Natural Systems.

**Kathryn McCourt has been gardening and conserving water since she was three. Throughout her years as a public school teacher, bookkeeper, freelance writer and florist, there was always a garden and it was usually in a dry place, whether in the Okanagan, Calgary or Victoria. Since 2005, she has had her own Summerland-based business, creating, maintaining and teaching about Xeriscape.

The Oliver Community Arts Council is a partner with Oliver’s Communities in Bloom through the Best Bloomin’ Garden Contest. For more information, contact olivercac@gmail.com