OurSpace GreenSpace

OurSpace GreenSpace is Launched!!

2008-08-22T10:29:00.000-07:00

OurSpace GreenSpace is launched. Go beautify your garden. Use our coupon for a great discount at the Portland Nursery till the end of September 2008!

2008-08-11T20:31:00.000-07:00

OURSPACE GREENSPACE WEBSITE LAUNCHES IN 3 DAYS! Are you ready to beautify your world?

To compost, or not to compost?

2008-08-08T18:27:00.000-07:00

Composting can be a great way to increase the productivity of your garden or plants. It lowers the amount of trash going to landfills and is a great fertilizer!

Contrary to popular belief, composting isn't even hard! I just started composting this summer and have been surprised at how easy it is to compost. You need a few things to get started with your compost:
1) something to put the material in. I bought a compost bin at Metro Paint out at Swan Island for about $40. You can make your own, or if you don't have too many pests, dig a hole in the ground with some type of cover.
2) a pitchfork or shovel--some kind of item you can use to turn the compost
3) leftovers! The best leftovers are leaves, cut grass, coffee grounds, egg shells, fruit or veggie leavings, basically anything un-processed from your kitchen or lawn. Stay away from meats, fats, oils and things with seeds if possible. The meat/fat/oil can attract unwanted guests like raccoons, and the seeds can lead to unwanted plants growing in your compost! I have heard rumors that coffee grounds are supposed to be a natural type of pest repellant as well, but you'll have to check it out yourself!

Place your leftovers in your bin and cover. Try to make sure you use your shovel to turn the items once a week or so. You don't want your banana peels sitting on top for the fruit flies to devour! Also, make sure that your compost has enough water. If it's too dry it will take longer to turn into dirt and if it's too wet it can get moldy.

Then, when your compost has been...well...composting for long enough, you can take it out and use it as a natural fertilizer. I will be using it for my garden this fall, to prepare it for next spring. You can use it in your flower beds and around trees to help them get the nutrients they need as well.

For more information on composting, I found this website to be helpful.

Create your own backyard habitat!

2008-08-06T17:12:00.000-07:00

Ever wonder what kinds of plants and birds used to live on the piece of land upon which your house now rests? What kind of habitats existed before some builder cut down all the trees, bulldozed all the plants, and dropped a ton of concrete, wood, and shingles on the land? Well we may not be able to go back and see, but there are things you can do to try and restore the part of your property your house is not consuming to a more natural state. The United States Department of Agriculture has created a web site focusing on conserving our natural resources (including wildlife habitats). On this site you can find some handy helpful hints you can use to turn your backyard from the usual suburb square of grass to a green, natural, wildlife habitat.

Find the Wildlife Habitat Guide here: http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/feature/backyard/WildHab.html

Or an alternative guide here:
http://www.eartheasy.com/play_bkyd_wildhab.htm

A garden for humming with the birds

2008-08-04T16:06:00.000-07:00

For those that love the sight of beautiful hummingbirds Bosky Dell Natives has the page for you.

They've listed all the native plants in Oregon that attract hummingbirds, in no time you could have a beautiful garden alive with the sound of humming.

Click here to view the Bosky Dell Native list of hummingbird loving plants

Removing Blackberry Bushes Without Chemicals

2008-08-01T18:29:00.001-07:00

Blackberry bushes (particularly the Himalayan species) are a horribly invasive plant in the Northwest. Getting rid of these thorny monsters can be difficult, but since their main goal in life is to choke the life out of all of your other plants, it is necessary to remove them.

Perhaps the most common way to get rid of those blackberries is using pesticides. However, using pesticides can cause serious problems with the water supply in your area. Any pesticides you use will end up in the ground in the local watershed. If that contaminated water ends up in a nearby river (the Willamette, for example) can kill fish and other wildlife. It's best to try to kill them without pesticides. You have a few options if you are battling berry bushes in your yard.

You can:

1) Hire a landscaping company to hack them down, particularly in early spring when they start their growth spurt, and have them come back periodically until the bush dies. Make sure they do not use pesticides!

2) Cut them down to the ground in early spring, and then mow over them frequently until they die,

3) Cut them down to the ground and then dig up the "crowns" or clusters of roots, and

4) If you have a lot of room and goats, use the goats! They love to eat blackberries.

The final and most critical step is to plant something where the blackberries are currently residing. Make sure it is a native plant (check our previous blogs for a list, consider a native berry plant) and replace the old with the new. This helps inhibit the invasive species and encourages native plants to thrive!

Check out this article for the whole story: http://www.pesticide.org/pubs/alts/blackberry/blackberries.html

2008-07-22T11:43:00.000-07:00

Disconnect Your Downspout!

So what the heck is a downspout and why would I want to disconnect it? First things first: your downspout is the vertical tubing that funnels water from your rain gutters down to the storm drains and sewers. With Portland receiving an average of 37” of rain every year, this equates to a flood of water flowing through thousands of downspouts and into the overburdened storm drains, sewer systems, and eventually into the Willamette River.
So, you might ask, where will the water go if I disconnect my downspout? Through proper disconnection and diversion, the water from your rain gutters can be redirected to flow onto lawns, into rain barrels, or you can even build a rain garden cheaply and easily. Of course disconnection of every one of your downspouts is not always an option. Through careful planning and proper installation of components available at most home and garden shops, demand on sewers and storm drains can be reduced while protecting our streams and river from toxic runoff.

Top Ten Native Plants in the Pacific Northwest

2008-07-21T18:35:00.000-07:00

National Wildlife Federation's Top Ten Native Plants in the Pacific Northwest!
(for those that do not live in the Northwest they have a link on the website to find the top ten native plants in your area)

Doug Fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii)

Oregon White Oak (Quercus garryana)

Western Serviceberry (Amelanchier alnifolia)

Holly-leaf Oregon Grape (Mahonia aquifolium)

Blue Elderberry (Sambucus nigra ssp. caerulea)

Sala (Gaultheria shallon)

Salmonberry (Rubus spectabilis)

Hooker's Evening-primrose (Oenothera elata)

Red Columbine (Aquilegia formosa)

Beach Strawberry (Fragaria chiloensis)

For more information on each of these beautiful native plants and to find more native plants visit the National Wildlife Federation Site

FREE Money and a Clean Environment!

2008-07-18T19:47:00.000-07:00

By landscaping your backyard with rain loving native plants not only will you be increasing the value and attractiveness of your home, but the city will give you money!

A discount program, Clean River Rewards, available to Portland homeowners – whether they build a rain garden, disconnect their downspouts or employ other storm water management options.

Based on a sliding scale, the incentive could mean a full discount of the on-site storm-water management charge on Portland residential utility bills – currently $5.88 a month. ($70.56 a year!)

Amber Clayton, Clean River Rewards technical assistance program coordinator, says 13,000 Portland residents have signed up for the discount thus far. So why haven't you?

Yum! - Hold the pesticides please.

2008-07-17T21:47:00.000-07:00

"In a February 2006 Occupational and Environmental Health study, home and garden insecticide use during pregnancy and childhood was associated with an increased risk of childhood leukemia. Homeowners often apply chemicals and then track them indoors, where long-term exposures to children and pets are likely."

Welcome

2008-07-01T15:08:00.000-07:00

Welcome to the OurSpaceGreenSpace Blog!