Gardening : Water-Saving Classes Flourish in Drought
Four years of drought have prompted some interesting classes, seminars and even sales scheduled for this summer.
“Drip Irrigation for the Home Gardener” is a one-day UCLA Extension program on Saturday, July 7, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Paul Moore, horticultural specialist at the University of California, Riverside will instruct.
“Xeriscape: Gardening for a Dry Climate,” taught by Kathleen Sommer, horticultural consultant with Roger’s Gardens, meets on five Wednesday evenings, 6:30 to 9:30 p.m., at UCLA, July 18-August 15. The fee is $95.
You can enroll in either class by phone using a credit card; call UCLA Extension at (213) 825-7093 for registration information.
The William O. Douglas Outdoor Classroom has scheduled “Gardening with Natives Nature Walk” on Sunday, July 29, at 10 a.m. Join a professional gardener and nature guide to learn about the large assortment of plants to choose from for your garden. Meet at the Sooky Goldman Nature Center, 2600 Franklin Canyon Drive, Beverly Hills. The event is free. For more information call (213) 858-3834.
The Theodore Payne Foundation is having a special summer sale of native plants, from June 26-June 30, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. daily. The foundation’s nursery, which has over 600 species to browse through, is at 10459 Tuxford St., Sun Valley. Call (818) 768-1802 for additional information.
Lotusland Conserved
Lotusland, the grand and somewhat whimsical estate of the late Madame Ganna Walska in Santa Barbara, has become the second garden sponsored by the Garden Conservancy.
The Conservancy is a newly formed group dedicated to preserving notable gardens throughout the United States (though the first two sponsored gardens happen to be in California, the Ruth Bancroft garden in Walnut Creek being the other). The Conservancy hopes to help Lotusland get the necessary permits to allow visitors. For the moment, visits are restricted to groups with a horticultural or botanical affiliation (they may request visits to Lotusland by contacting Dr. Steven Tambrook, Director, Ganna Walska Lotusland, 695 Ashley Road, Santa Barbara, Calif. 93103.)
For more information, write the Garden Conservancy at 1388 Sutter St., San Francisco, Calif. 94109.
Zoo Plants Labeled
The Los Angeles Zoo in Griffith Park is as full of interesting plants as it is of animals, but they have never been labeled or identified. Now some 600 have labels and 300 more are on order. As volunteer Joan Booke points out, “this is not the Huntington and the plants are not as manicured, so it is a good place to see what trees and shrubs for Southern California look like with minimal care,” such as they might receive in a garden. It is hoped that by next spring, tours of the plants at the zoo will be offered. --R.S. Gray Water System
Santa Barbara gardeners should sit up and take note, using gray water is now OK in their drought-stricken town (in other parts of the state, it is a murky legal question though many have gone ahead and installed devices).
Gray water is the waste water from washing machines, sinks, showers and bathtubs. One of the earliest proponents of its use, Robert Kourick, is selling a kit for around $400 that takes the safest of gray water, from the washing machine, filters and stores it, then pumps it out to any drip system that is attached.
A lot of water runs through a washing machine and this is one way to make it do double duty. He even offers a specially-developed laundry soap that acts as a mild fertilizer in the garden.
The basic kit includes all the pumps and plumbing and is a snap to install. For information on The Water Cycle, write to Robert Kourick, P.O. Box 1841, Santa Rosa, Calif., 95402, or call (707) 874-2606. Kourick also publishes the only book the subject, also available from him.
