Show #30/1304.Anchorage, Alaska and Alaska Botanical Garden
Alaskan Resort Introduction
WE FIRST VISIT A RESORT THAT IS NOT FAR FROM ANCHORAGE. We start in a
tram, high in the air, with the doors wide open looking out over a
rain-forest. Robbie Frankevich is the horticulturist and our first
guest host. Joe asks what is a horticulturist doing at a resort in
Alaska? Robbie believes the surroundings tell the story. This is a
beautiful setting. Because it's on the edge of the temperate
rain-forest, just 40 miles away in Whittier they get about 180 inches
of rain per year, here they get about 60 inches, in Anchorage they get
about 20 inches. Looking down we're on the side of a large mountain,
there is an interesting timber line and there are glaciers to the side.
It's a stunning location.
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The Front Of The Resort
JOE AND ROBBIE TAKE THE TRAM TO THE BASE AND THEN LOOK AT THE GARDENS
AT THE FRONT OF THE RESORT. This is drive by gardening. When one sees
the radiant yellow flowers, the inclination is to slam on the brakes,
to take a better look. The beautiful plants are Ligularia. It is a
great plant but when the afternoon sun hits they wilt but they pop back
up the next day.
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Shade Gardening In The land Of The Midnight Sun
EVEN IN THE LAND OF THE MIDNIGHT SUN THAY HAVE CHALLENGING SHADE AREAS.
But even here Robbie has a beautiful garden. This area has a huge
ceiling overhead, the plants underneath never have direct sunlight. The
Impatiens capensis and the Moss do really well but so does the
Nicotiana alata 'Flowering tobacco.'
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Turning A Snow Dump Into A beautiful Garden
THIS AREA HAD BEEN A SNOW DUMP. In the wintertime they would stack
plowed snow here. It could be 10 feet deep. This is a place that one
sees first when arriving by bus. Robbie wanted to make it attractive.
He could have planted trees or something else but he wanted a
show-stopper, thus decided on a flower bed. There are beautiful plants
here like Verbascum. It is a great plant for foliage and has a tall
spiky flower. Verbascum likes it here, it is a self seeder which is
great as long as it doesn't get too aggressive. Here it is in a
contained area which helps. Joe notices a wonderful fragrance. It is
the Filipendula ulmaria. Robbie feels fragrance is a great addition to
the landscape, it enhances it. The red Poppies Papaver rhoeas can be a
bit of a garden thug because they're self seeding. The saying in skiing
is - if you're not falling down you're not skiing. Well in gardening
the saying is - if you're not killing plants you're not gardening.
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Joe Meets Jeff Lowenfels
JOE MEETS JEFF LOWENFELS. Jeff has a legal background, as well he's a
garden writer and has been writing a gardening column longer than any
other person in the world. Thus he's known as America's Dirtiest
lawyer. Jeff tells us he grew up in Scarsdale, New York which is pretty
far from Anchorage. When growing up he was an indentured servant, he
did a lot of gardening for his family. When he moved to Alaska he
wanted to continue gardening. He's a lawyer, has written a book and has
done a lot of TV and radio over the years and he likes to have a nice
looking yard. But he doesn't want to spend all his time gardening thus
tries to make a place that's easy to maintain so he can go fishing and
hiking as well as enjoy all the other outdoor activities that Alaska
offers. This garden is special, simple, easy to do, and looks very
good.
Click here for more info
Jeff's Asiatic Lilies
JOE NOTICES ASIATIC LILIES. They almost look artificial, they're so
perfect. Jeff says
they're easy to grow. He picked them up at a big box store in February
because that's when they're available in the lower 48 and everybody
assumes that they garden in Alaska just like everywhere else. Jeff
starts them indoors. He uses things like a big fish box, puts a liner
in it, fills it with compost and then puts the Lily bulbs in there. If
he has 3 months he may put them in the dark for a month, letting them
develop some good roots. If only a couple of months, he puts them in
some pretty good light. They'll grow, some may actually start to flower
or have buds on them. He brings them to the garden, digs a hole and
sticks the contents of the box in the hole, takes away the box and he
has instant flowers. Many think we need to start our bulbs or tubers in
the ground a year before they bloom. Jeff's method is to give them a
couple of months in the box, then into the ground. His secret is to use
really good compost and good mulch. He doesn't use any chemicals in his
yard.
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Jeff's Gardening Tips
THE MICROBES THAT RUN THE SYSTEM FEED THESE PLANTS. He covers the whole
garden with a really good mulch. Since these are perennial he uses
brown mulch because it produces a kind of nitrogen that perennials
like. It's good stuff, it's rich, has some worms and smells good.
Earthy. As the mulch breaks down it feeds the plants and prevents weeds
from growing. The best gardens in the world are those that are grown in
compost because compost contains all of the microbes that are necessary
to fight off the bad guys and help the good guys. This is a beautiful,
healthy garden, pest and disease free and it is low maintenance. Jeff
feels that once the mulch goes down, he doesn't have to weed it
therefore he hasn't weeded this garden all season. If one were to dig
down one would find 6 to 8 sheets of newspaper, not his column of
course, the newspaper is covered with soil and compost and mulch. He
then plants. He didn't roto tiller, he put in maybe a half day, then
went fishing in the afternoon. It's an easy thing to do.
Click here for more info
Jeff's Tips For The Lawn
JEFF HAS SOME INTERESTING TIPS FOR ONES LAWN. Guys are often accused of
being lawn crazy, they want every inch of their yard to be lawn. Jeff
isn't that way, he has large areas set aside that are totally natural.
Jeff wanted some space that reminded him of home in Scarsdale, that's
the landscaped area. But he's in Alaska and wanted an Alaskan yard.
Jeff has moose, wolves, fox and bear. They will come right up to the
house and look in the windows. That's part of the thrill of living in
Alaska, he didn't want to take that away. Back to the lawn. It's lush,
spongy underneath your foot and it's beautiful. Jeff explains, he's a
very natural gardener and the author of Teaming with Microbes-A
Gardeners Guide to the Soil Food Web. He believes that the microbes in
the soil are what feed the plants so he does whatever is necessary to
make sure the microbes are happy. He never uses chemicals.
Teaming with Microbes
Click here for more info
Tomatoes are Perennials
JOE WANTS TO KNOW WHY TOMATO PLANTS ARE IN THE GREENHOUSE IN AUGUST.
The reason is because temperatures can drop below 55 degrees any night
during the summer. And when that happens, one can't grow a good tomato.
Tomatoes are the Holy Grail of gardening and if one can't grow a tomato
what good is it to grow anything? Many people don't realize that
tomatoes are perennial. Because of this Jeff mulches them with leaves,
brown mulch, because that provides the kind of nitrogen that perennials
like. Jeff has some tomatoes that are 2 and 3 years old. And, they
still produce.
Click here for more info
Fruit Trees In Alaska
AN ORCHARD IS DIFFICULT IN ALASKA, not because of the climate but
because of the moose. If one doesn't have special fencing - apple
trees, pear trees or other fruit trees won't make it. Moose really like
fruit. Greg has developed a great system and as a result he's able to
grow fruit. Apples are forming. He's even rescued some plants from
areas where the moose were able to get to them previously. A
containment system must be at least 6 to 8 feet tall, even taller is
better. Many people will build cages around the tree and continue to
raise the box as the tree grows taller. Ultimately the tree gets too
tall and the moose aren't able to get to the fruit. That's the goal
with this orchard. It does take a special root stock to grow fruit
trees in this climate. Greg and others are testing all sorts of
different varieties grafted on different root stock.
Show #30/1304.Anchorage, Alaska and Alaska Botanical Garden
Complete transcript of the show.
When many think of Alaska they think of ice and snow. Few think of the
beautiful gardens and flowers that grow here. In this show Garden Smart
visits 2 beautiful gardens-one at a stunning resort, the other the yard
of a well known garden writer.
WE FIRST VISIT A RESORT THAT IS NOT FAR FROM ANCHORAGE. We start in a
tram, high in the air, with the doors wide open looking out over a
rain-forest. Robbie Frankevich is the horticulturist and our first
guest host. Joe asks what is a horticulturist doing at a resort in
Alaska? Robbie believes the surroundings tell the story. This is a
beautiful setting. Because it's on the edge of the temperate
rain-forest, just 40 miles away in Whittier they get about 180 inches
of rain per year, here they get about 60 inches, in Anchorage they get
about 20 inches. Looking down we're on the side of a large mountain,
there is an interesting timber line and there are glaciers to the side.
It's a stunning location. Joe notices the tree lines and the distinct
changes, there are many plants growing at the lower altitude and at the
bottom a huge body of water. This is a ski resort in the winter and the
view when skiing must be spectacular. The extremes are evident in
snowfall as well. They get 600 inches of snow at the top of the
mountain, at the base about 200 inches. That all factors in when
deciding which plants to choose.
Top
JOE AND ROBBIE TAKE THE TRAM TO THE BASE AND THEN LOOK AT THE GARDENS
AT THE FRONT OF THE RESORT. This is drive by gardening. When one sees
the radiant yellow flowers, the inclination is to slam on the brakes,
to take a better look. The beautiful plants are Ligularia. It is a
great plant but when the afternoon sun hits they wilt but they pop back
up the next day.
Around the corner is a line of Delphiniums 'Lark spur.' Robbie has
placed them around the balards that line the front drive. The balards
help stake the plant in the summertime and they also help protect the
plant during the winter snow removal process. These flowers draw the
eye right up to the front entrance where they have even more Ligularia.
It's an artful landscape design. Simple and elegant, yet very colorful
and an impressive way to introduce everyone to the resort.
The guys next look at an area that, although in the front of the
resort, is very natural. It isn't covered with flowers. Many feel the
need to landscape their entire yard. Robbie hasn't done that, instead
he's done a great job of keeping much of this area natural. They trim
the edges periodically with a lawn mower blending the lawn into the
natural landscape. It provides a nice transition, keeping the feel of
the native environment. It even has native blueberries and they're
tasty.
Top
Shade Gardening In The land Of The Midnight Sun
EVEN IN THE LAND OF THE MIDNIGHT SUN THAY HAVE CHALLENGING SHADE AREAS.
But even here Robbie has a beautiful garden. This area has a huge
ceiling overhead, the plants underneath never have direct sunlight. The
Impatiens capensis and the Moss do really well but so does the
Nicotiana alata 'Flowering tobacco.'
Across from this bed are several beautiful containers. One is filled
with Begonia semperflorens and Lavelia. They do well in this location.
Surrounding the container are more Delphinium and Ligularia. Robbie has
repeated the pattern and it is striking. This area in the winter might
have 8 feet of snow stacked up because it comes off the roof. These
plants have to be tough to withstand the winter here.
Top
Joe and Robbie visit another garden. THIS AREA HAD BEEN A SNOW DUMP. In
the wintertime they would stack plowed snow here. It could be 10 feet
deep. This is a place that one sees first when arriving by bus. Robbie
wanted to make it attractive. He could have planted trees or something
else but he wanted a show-stopper, thus decided on a flower bed. There
are beautiful plants here like Verbascum. It is a great plant for
foliage and has a tall spiky flower. Verbascum likes it here, it is a
self seeder which is great as long as it doesn't get too aggressive.
Here it is in a contained area which helps. Joe notices a wonderful
fragrance. It is the Filipendula ulmaria. Robbie feels fragrance is a
great addition to the landscape, it enhances it. The red Poppies
Papaver rhoeas can be a bit of a garden thug because they're self
seeding. The saying in skiing is - if you're not falling down you're
not skiing. Well in gardening the saying is - if you're not killing
plants you're not gardening. These epitomize that saying. Robbie feels
he hasn't killed enough of the seedlings and an overgrown situation has
resulted. Joe is glad Robbbie didn't cut them down, they're beautiful,
maybe a little tough love in the future. Robbie has put to bed the myth
that one can't have a great looking flower garden in August in Alaska.
Robbie feels we're in for a real treat at Jeff Lowenfel's garden, he's
an excellent gardener, with an excellent garden. Joe thanks Robbie for
his time. We've certainly enjoyed his garden.
Top
From time spent in a beautiful resort garden to a garden on a more
practical level. JOE MEETS JEFF LOWENFELS. Jeff has a legal background,
as well he's a garden writer and has been writing a gardening column
longer than any other person in the world. Thus he's known as America's
Dirtiest lawyer. Jeff tells us he grew up in Scarsdale, New York which
is pretty far from Anchorage. When growing up he was an indentured
servant, he did a lot of gardening for his family. When he moved to
Alaska he wanted to continue gardening. He's a lawyer, has written a
book and has done a lot of TV and radio over the years and he likes to
have a nice looking yard. But he doesn't want to spend all his time
gardening thus tries to make a place that's easy to maintain so he can
go fishing and hiking as well as enjoy all the other outdoor activities
that Alaska offers. This garden is special, simple, easy to do, and
looks very good.
We start the tour. Jeff also has Delphiniums. Everybody in Alaska loves
Delphiniums. They do better here than anyplace else in the world, even
better than England. Here Pacific Giant Delphinium 'Galahad' can grow
to 12 to 14 feet high. But they will flow over. Jeff has tried an
invisible fence but hasn't been thrilled with its success so is
planning on next trying the New Zealand hybrid which are just being
introduced. They will soon be available at the local nursery. They're
much stockier, more sturdy, they'll hold up in the rain and they don't
need as much staking.
Top
JOE NOTICES ASIATIC LILIES. They almost look artificial, they're so
perfect. Jeff says
they're easy to grow. He picked them up at a big box store in February
because that's when they're available in the lower 48 and everybody
assumes that they garden in Alaska just like everywhere else. Jeff
starts them indoors. He uses things like a big fish box, puts a liner
in it, fills it with compost and then puts the Lily bulbs in there. If
he has 3 months he may put them in the dark for a month, letting them
develop some good roots. If only a couple of months, he puts them in
some pretty good light. They'll grow, some may actually start to flower
or have buds on them. He brings them to the garden, digs a hole and
sticks the contents of the box in the hole, takes away the box and he
has instant flowers. Many think we need to start our bulbs or tubers in
the ground a year before they bloom. Jeff's method is to give them a
couple of months in the box, then into the ground. His secret is to use
really good compost and good mulch. He doesn't use any chemicals in his
yard.
Top
THE MICROBES THAT RUN THE SYSTEM FEED THESE PLANTS. He covers the whole
garden with a really good mulch. Since these are perennial he uses
brown mulch because it produces a kind of nitrogen that perennials
like. It's good stuff, it's rich, has some worms and smells good.
Earthy. As the mulch breaks down it feeds the plants and prevents weeds
from growing. The best gardens in the world are those that are grown in
compost because compost contains all of the microbes that are necessary
to fight off the bad guys and help the good guys. This is a beautiful,
healthy garden, pest and disease free and it is low maintenance. Jeff
feels that once the mulch goes down, he doesn't have to weed it
therefore he hasn't weeded this garden all season. If one were to dig
down one would find 6 to 8 sheets of newspaper, not his column of
course, the newspaper is covered with soil and compost and mulch. He
then plants. He didn't roto tiller, he put in maybe a half day, then
went fishing in the afternoon. It's an easy thing to do.
Joe and Jeff visit another area of the garden with different plants.
One that stands out is Aconitum columgianum columgianum 'Monkshood.'
It's a beautiful plant that many think is related to the Delphinium. It
is actually related to the Vernuculus, the Buttercup. It had the
reputation in the Middle Ages of causing werewolf activity. One could
turn into a werewolf when coming in contact with this plant. Jeff also
has Ligualiria as well as a beautiful purple Thalictrum aquilegifolium
Meadow Rue. It is a lovely little flower, that blooms all year long.
Normally it would throw off thousands of seeds that would germinate but
because Jeff uses the mulching system to feed these plants they don't
create a problem in his garden. The mulch tends to prevent things from
becoming too weedy. That's another advantage of this kind of mulch.
Top
JEFF HAS SOME INTERESTING TIPS FOR ONES LAWN. Guys are often accused of
being lawn crazy, they want every inch of their yard to be lawn. Jeff
isn't that way, he has large areas set aside that are totally natural.
Jeff wanted some space that reminded him of home in Scarsdale, that's
the landscaped area. But he's in Alaska and wanted an Alaskan yard.
Jeff has moose, wolves, fox and bear. They will come right up to the
house and look in the windows. That's part of the thrill of living in
Alaska, he didn't want to take that away. Back to the lawn. It's lush,
spongy underneath your foot and it's beautiful. Jeff explains, he's a
very natural gardener and the author of Teaming with Microbes-A
Gardeners Guide to the Soil Food Web. He believes that the microbes in
the soil are what feed the plants so he does whatever is necessary to
make sure the microbes are happy. He never uses chemicals.
Teaming with Microbes
But he does mow it and Joe notices circular patterns in the grass. Jeff
believes that a lawn is a blank canvas and one should paint on it.
People that live in regular or square lots should be cutting their
lawns on the diagonal to their front door. It makes the yard look
bigger, makes the place look terrific and if you're like Jeff and have
an occasional weed in the lawn putting in a pattern tends to distract
from the weed itself. This type mowing makes a different kind of
monoculture of shapes, as opposed to a monoculture of plants. Jeff
feels strongly that weeds aren't necessarily a bad thing in a lawn.
We've been brainwashed over the years to think that clover is a
terrible thing and you must nuke your lawn to make it look nice. It's
not only not true but it's not healthy.
Jeff has beehives in the middle of his lawn, which means he's mowing
around them. That poses no problem. And, Jeff has honey to eat.
Importantly the bees pollinate the flowers.
The guys go to Jeff's backyard. It's spectacular. From mountains, to
the body of water, the vistas are stunning. Jeff doesn't plant anything
here, nature has done that. Jeff tells the story of Mendenhall who
founded the United States Geological Survey. He came here, then told
people to go to Alaska but by all means go as an old person, not as a
young person because everything else is flat and insipid thereafter.
Jeff feels that's true.
Top
JOE WANTS TO KNOW WHY TOMATO PLANTS ARE IN THE GREENHOUSE IN AUGUST.
The reason is because temperatures can drop below 55 degrees any night
during the summer. And when that happens, one can't grow a good tomato.
Tomatoes are the Holy Grail of gardening and if one can't grow a tomato
what good is it to grow anything? Many people don't realize that
tomatoes are perennial. Because of this Jeff mulches them with leaves,
brown mulch, because that provides the kind of nitrogen that perennials
like. Jeff has some tomatoes that are 2 and 3 years old. And, they
still produce. In the greenhouse Jeff grows tomatoes in containers, as
do many in Alaska but as well he grows zucchini, cucumbers, squash,
string beans and peppers. These are all in the greenhouse but basically
the greenhouse is for the tomatoes. With a greenhouse they start the
seedlings in the springtime, just like the Lilies. The greenhouse is
also helpful in extending the season for some of the plants that are
outdoors during the rest of the season.
Jeff takes some of his produce to Plant A Row for the Hungry although
they call it Plant a Row for Beans in Alaska. Jeff thinks this is a
program that everyone should be aware of. Joe points out that Jeff was
the founder of Plant a Row for the Hungry. Jeff says yes but it was for
a bad reason. He mistakenly stiffed a guy who really needed some money
for a meal. He felt bad about it thus started trying to convince
gardeners to put one row in their garden for the hungry, take it to the
food bank or a soup kitchen even to a needy neighbor. With Plant a Row
their are no government funds, nothing slips between the cup and the
lip. The program has spread across the country and its a great way to
utilize some of your excess produce and a great cause.
Top
We next visit Jeff's neighbor Greg Romack. He has quite a fruit
orchard. AN ORCHARD IS DIFFICULT IN ALASKA, not because of the climate
but because of the moose. If one doesn't have special fencing - apple
trees, pear trees or other fruit trees won't make it. Moose really like
fruit. Greg has developed a great system and as a result he's able to
grow fruit. Apples are forming. He's even rescued some plants from
areas where the moose were able to get to them previously. A
containment system must be at least 6 to 8 feet tall, even taller is
better. Many people will build cages around the tree and continue to
raise the box as the tree grows taller. Ultimately the tree gets too
tall and the moose aren't able to get to the fruit. That's the goal
with this orchard. It does take a special root stock to grow fruit
trees in this climate. Greg and others are testing all sorts of
different varieties grafted on different root stock. Not only apples
but cherries, things they've never had here before. To get a fresh,
organic apple, right off the tree is spectacular. Greg is a great
neighbor to have.
Jeff has been writing a gardening column for over 35 years. His biggest
observation as to the change in gardening revolves around organic
gardening. It has been snowballing like crazy. Jeff thinks that within
the next 5 to 10 years all gardeners will be organic gardeners. There
is no reason to use chemicals. Look at Jeff's yard, it looks great.
Jeff feels that we have too many problems that are complicated by using
chemicals on our yards. Jeff thinks that in addition to organics,
mulches are important.
As well, notice gardeners in Anchorage aren't just growing snow peas,
iceberg lettuce, etc. They try to push the envelope as much as
possible. People like his neighbor Greg are growing apples, trying pear
trees that have never been grown in Alaska before. That's what
gardening is about in Alaska. It's about pushing the envelop. Alaska is
the last frontier and gardening is the last part of the last frontier.
But it's the same in the lower 48. Gardeners are always trying new
things, always trying to advance the science. That's Jeff's take away,
try new plants, new gardening techniques. It's fun.
Joe thanks Jeff for his time. Jeff has done a lot for gardening, Joe is
happy to call him his friend. It's been a thrill to be here.
Top
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