Our Garden Tours

by Cynthia Kerson

Being a UC Master Gardener has many joys.  We attend classes on multiple horticultural topics and are given access to an amazing font of research based horticultural information. Then, as if that isn't enough, we are given the opportunity to pass that information on to the community.  

When we meet together as a group our conversations will often be about our home gardens. We will talk about how we applied all this wonderful information in our personal gardens and what did or didn't work.  Recently the UCMGs decided to create an internal UCMG garden tour so that all our members could have access to these MG personal spaces. These tours allow the UCMGs to view these real life gardens and to gather information to be passed on to our community. In the  next few weeks we will be reporting on our visits to these amazing gardens.

Our visit to two St. Helena MG gardens proved to be worth the gas (even at today's prices). We explored 2 very different properties. A couple from Angwin gave us a tour of their fire-riddled hillside property within the shadows of St. Helena Hospital. It was delightful and reflective to see how life restores after a disaster. The many tiers of their property – made easily available due to the beautiful stone retaining walls and gravel paths they painstakingly developed over the years to make these steep areas accessible. 

It was a very hot day – reaching 100°F, so we were careful to stay hydrated and refreshed with the treats prepared. We enjoyed them on the shaded patio area, overlooking the lower tier and chicken coop.

Lastly, as we were traversing the hillside, there were many plant opportunists popping up after the fire that the owners could not identify. Many ‘took a shot' (pun intended) at what they were, and phone apps were snapping away. We decided this particular mystery plant was a sort of sage. Maybe you can identify it?

Next, we headed to downtown St. Helena to a gorgeous and very inviting backyard. The front yard is also lovely, but living on the main thoroughfare the owner admitted the family is more inclined to stay in the back so they don't have to respond to “Excuse me, can you tell me where Beringer Winery is?” every 10 minutes. It was a perfect contrast to the rural property we had just visited. The garden is a lovely mixture of things to eat and to enjoy visually. They recently pulled up their water-sucking lawn and created an attractive walkway of concrete and ground cover. However, the owner admitted keeping the ground cover vibrant was more challenging than expected. The highlight (at least for me) was the well-designed vegetable garden area. The newly built raised beds housed all the usual summer suspects, including tomatoes, squash, basil, peas, and peppers, and the garlic was about to be harvested. I'm sure I'm forgetting a few. Lisa created a “textbook” haven for the cucumbers by supporting the wire trellises on a diagonal and crisscrossing them with others. 

 

Interestingly, they had a Coffee Cake Fuyu persimmon tree that, over the years, did not do well. They removed it and a black walnut tree replaced it – all on its own. It's a beautiful addition to the yard, which is home to a peach, lemon, and Hachiya persimmon tree as well. There is also a Japanese maple that is quite established and vigorous despite being mostly in the sun. 

I'll be reporting on another garden tour on west Napa's Dry Creek Road on June 24th next. We first explored a sustainable and industrious property and then checked out my (Cindy Kerson) property where we have a vineyard, small orchard, Kurapia area, and vegetable garden.

Napa Master Gardeners are available to answer garden questions by email: mastergardeners@countyofnapa.org. or phone at 707-253-4143.  Volunteers will get back to you after they research answers to your questions.

Visit our website: napamg.ucanr.edu to find answers to all of your horticultural questions.

Photo credits: Cindy Kerson

Information links: UC ANR-home landscaping for fire https://anrcatalog.ucanr.edu/pdf/8228.pdf

 UC Sonoma county-firewise gardening https://sonomamg.ucanr.edu/Firewise_Landscaping/

 UC Butte County-firewise landscaping https://ucanr.edu/sites/bcmg/resources/firesafe/

 UCMG Sonoma Co.-grass removal https://anrcatalog.ucanr.edu/pdf/8228.pdf

 UC ANR-Garden web-vegetables https://cagardenweb.ucanr.edu/Vegetables/