Time to Apply for Pierson Park Community Garden Plots

It is time to apply for garden plot leases with MCSD!  3' x 10' garden plots at Pierson Park are available for any McKinleyville resident to lease.  Sign up now at the MCSD Parks and Recreation Office (707)839-9003.

Upcycled Potting Bench from Salvaged Wood Beam & Pallet

Upcycled Pallet Table



An enormous salvaged wood post and an old, sturdy pallet with plenty of character were repurposed to construct a potting bench at Pierson Park Community Garden.  After salvaging these items and designing the table, it was built by setting the post in the ground, then attaching a small piece of plywood to the post with screws and then attaching the pallet table top to the plywood piece with long screws.

Pallet Table Construction Detail



Upcycled Compost Bin

Upcycled Compost Bin

A lovely eco-savy new addition to the Humboldt Botanical Garden is just up the hill and off the beaten path.  An ingenious design-build project by June Walsh, it is a series of three compost bins made of recycled pallets and gopher wire.

Now I'm wondering if pallets, gopher wire and landscaping fabric could be utilized for upcycled raised planting beds.

How to Train Rambling Roses

With lovely photographic diagrams, Hartwood Roses Blog has one of the simplest, most informative explantions of how to train rambling roses that I have found.

How to Prune Roses for Maximum Display

How to Espalier

Design Inspiration for the Ornamental Community Garden

Placing a fruit bearing or flowering espaliered tree or vine on either side of the existing gate will give the garden an interesting vertical design element and symmetrical balance about the gate.  Alternatively one espaliered tree or vine could be placed near the back of the larger ornamental bed and function as a focal point.

Below, rows of mono-species plantings give this garden bed structure while framing the New American Planting Style at center.

In the contemporary French garden below, plantings of Phormium and Yucca add architecture and sculptural interest to the bed lending a place for the eye to rest while mingling perennial plantings such as Salvia and Perovskia and annuals such as Cosmos add color and a playful sense of rhythm.

Help Design the Ornamental Community Garden