Just some thoughts and events coming up...
Willows/Rain Gardens
An ESF LA student recently built a rain garden on marshall st. and tomorrow people are gathering to manipulate/bend/craft willow tree strips into sculptural pieces for the garden, if anyone is interested in attending that is taking place tomorrow (Saturday) begining around 8am and lasting for a few hrs
Willows
There is a childrens center on lamberth lane at south campus that has an outdoor play area/sculpture constructed from willows - I plan on checking it out sometime soon...if anyone else is interested, let me know!
ESF Greenhouses
a couple ideas i had when we were there...
1) fast growth plants that have useful fibers/ structural aspects- sugar cane, bamboo, willow
2) growing cotton plants... the fibers are pretty amazing to pick/use...if we want to grow it we should start soon though
3) plants that dont need water or soil (but require humid environments) Spanish moss is an example - it used to be used to stuff matresses--i loved how it drapes over other plants/structures & the color...I thought it would work for the raised beds..or even inside the house
4) making "cold frames"/ greenhouse tops for the mobile carts to allow plants longer growth periods in syracuse once it gets cold
5) definitely attempting to take kids on a tour of the ESF greenhouses...theres some great plants there - and ones the kids would love like venus fly traps, etc
Also today my friend Bonnie (the Landscape Architect) and I are going to 601 to look at the site so she gets an idea of what we have to work with ----she said its better to go in the rain so we see how the water drains...so i guess the bad weather is good for this atleast? ..if anyones around feel free to join
we walked around the 601 tully lot and talked about:
ReplyDeleteplants for property boundary- sadly bamboo is invasive and probably a bad idea, however native tall ornamental grasses & rasberry bushes could be a good combination
Water Drainage- The soil is compact & a couple big puddles formed from the rain - it is a good idea to "soften the grade" of the land and slope it so the water draines out to the road
Sidewalk entrance/barrier- possibility of trellises & ways to leave the side of the garden "welcoming" yet also have some distinction between public walking space and the 601tully yard/garden
also talked about grasses as groundcover & ability to hand mow pathways through grass for design
Possible activities for volunteers- pick up trash, pick up rocks&pile them for using as walls/sculptures, break down fencing, till soil, spread ground fabric( if we dont want undesired plants to grow back after tilling)