Fall at the Garden by The Insider

It is lights, lights, lights until Thanksgiving. Rain or shine. With the drop in temperatures and the nearing loss of water we are completing our final round of turf maintenance. The students at the CWI’s horticulture program came by to get some experience in using our equipment and get some tips on maintenance. We are happy to have the help and partner with CWI to enrich their training program. We would have preferred to also do a fall application of fertilizer; however, lean times being what they are have chosen to defer the cost. It usually takes six to nine, fifty pound bags of fertilizer to cover our turf needs, and as you know those bags are not to be had at dollar store prices. The first round of community and business volunteers have shown up to aid in light hanging and it is a welcomed sight. Given that there are only 5 full time staff gardeners we can use all the help we can get. If you or your business/organization would like to help us in this endevour feel free to contact Karen at (208) 343-8649. And with that…it’s off to hang more lights.

Fall Thoughts by The Insider

The leaves on the locust trees are turning gold and there’s a cold snap on the way. Suddenly it feels a little more like fall here in the garden.

Conversations have turned momentarily from Winter Garden Aglow preparations to protecting seedlings in the new children’s garden from frost.

Also on our minds is the final care and watering of plant materials. Much of the garden’s water will be turned off until spring in two week’s time. Dead heading, pruning, fertilization are all being squeezed into a schedule dominated by lighting.

We have already tested lights which survived last year and the first of the WGA lights went up last Friday.

As we lose lights due to weather or age, we recycle them with Pacific Recycling and receive a credit from Idaho Power towards purchasing new energy efficient LED lights. You can help us towards this end by bringing in ANY glass bulbed holiday lights you need recycled to the garden. You can get rid of useless/ugly lights, we can help you recycle, and we can get a recycling credit to get new lights. That’s a win, win, win situation that’s hard to pass up. Being a non-for profit, we appreciate all your help in this as it offsets our significant lighting costs. And with that…It’s time for me to pick up some ladders and start hanging lights!