Tuesday was a particularly productive day.
The crew comprising Dale Harshberger, Beverly Kemmerling, Daryl Stutley, Nancy Taylor Walker, and me worked our way up from the first 4-corners all the way to the top of the hill. In the afternoon, the Master Gardeners of Ventura County arranged a tour of the Rare Fruit Orchard, but more about that later.
The first thing we tackled on the way up to Entrance B of the Nature Trail was the growth of alyssum in the path about half way up. Daryl, Beverly and Dale looking up from weeding out the alyssum and moving mulch up the hill behind the tie border, the mulch having been dislodged by gravity and/or critter activity.
We then stopped at the S. African garden and did some deadheading there as well as some minor pruning or the Kafir plum tree some branches of which were leaning on the Natal plum shrub below it. Beverly hauling out the branches I was cutting.
We then moved our attention to the Tranquility Garden where, as usual, there was a beautiful array of cairns enhancing the tranquil nature of the spot.
While there, Daryl pointed out that the Wednesday propagation crew had identified the faux creek as needing attention. Much of it was so obscured by an overhanging sugar bush that the creek wasn’t identifiable. Below is the “before” picture:
Below as we were working on it. Dale, Daryl and Beverly.
And below looking from the opposite direction. Me, Nancy and Daryl.
And the “after" picture:
Finally before stopping for the day, we cut the stump sprouts from the eucalyptus taken out a year or so ago at the top of the hill.
In the afternoon, a group of 10-12 Master Gardeners took a tour of the Rare Fruit Orchard. Board member, Dr. Carl Zhu led the tour through the grove and pointed out several trees in the collection and provided details of growth habit, fruiting, and objectives. There were a few opportunities for tasting some of the fruit. Below, Carl explaining something to the group (most of which is in front of him out of the view).
Bellow is a record of the whole group before we disbanded.
The Master Gardeners will hopefully plan additional visits to the garden to take deeper dives into other specialty gardens. They tentatively thought a tour of the Trail of Trees with the Herb, Butterfly and Bird Habitat collections would make a good next trip. These tours provide Master Gardeners with continuing education credits that are required to maintain certification.
Enjoy the garden! KMM
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