So far this has been an awesome Summer. I've been blessed with design clients, the school garden at Tualatin Elementary is thriving, my wife and I celebrated our 35th anniversary and I am looking forward to Farwest Show judging next week.
Most of my updates occur on my Facebook business page for Paul Taylor, OCNP Garden Design and Consultation. It is very quick and easy to post and I can just shoot a couple of photos of a project and be done.
​We just picked our first ripe tomato from our home garden. Looking forward to many more. Have Fun in the Garden! 

At Tualatin Elementary School we have just completed garden orientations for all of the separate classes. This entails meeting out in our garden and going over the basic rules of how students are expected to behave and access the garden. The rules are the same for Kindergarten through 5th grade. This meeting begins the process for the year and gets students and teachers on the same page.

During the visit each class also toured the garden and looked over some of the achievements of the past growing season. Some classes harvested vegetables to go to the cafeteria lunch program, others made bouquets for their classroom and others harvested annual flower seeds to create a future scatter garden mix. Simple gestures that allow some time in the garden and create some positive moments.

I just completed a new design for a client couple who wanted me to remove their front lawn and create a simple and classy garden that would provide interest throughout the year and be maintained by the neighborhood HOA landscapers. Wish me luck getting across to the landscapers how to care for the plants and to not dome prune everything into squares and round balls.

I have some designs to turn in next week for the neighborhood of Aaronmore, a planned neighborhood that wants to update some of their island plantings. I met with the landscape committee to get their input and will present finished designs for them to implement this fall.

Last week Bu-Kai Design LLC installed a front and back garden for a client in Murrayhill, a planned community in Beaverton. It required large boulders, berms, interesting french themed plants in front and native themed plants in back.  A boulder retaining wall that created gentle steps with juniper treads will allow the clients to access parts of their back garden that they have only looked at before.

​All in all a busy and productive fall is under way. Have Fun in the Garden!

It was a year in planning. Visits to vendors, tasting food and enjoying family time. The actual weekend celebration was so much fun we tried to savor every single part. A blending of two people made it possible to have such a wonderful time. We are blessed to have such caring family and friends. Have Fun in the Garden!

I was invited to decorate a sculpted plant to inspire green industry professionals visiting this year's Farwest Show. My theme was Gardening Through Your Ages. Showing family photos of me and our children as they were growing up. We have always been gardeners and been amazed by what plants can do. Gardening is something that you can do at any age and should be encouraged. Have Fun in the Garden!

The strong sun and heat of summer is finally upon us. Mornings are spent cooling down our house early and getting watering chores done before the full heat of the day is upon us. I am mowing the lawn higher to keep it from burning. Deadheading the roses and keeping plants fed are important tasks. I enjoy making bouquets when we go to a friend's home for dinner and having flowers in unexpected places, like our campsite table.

Have Fun in the Garden!

It takes a village to make an entry garden spiffy....Each year on the Saturday before Mother's Day, I get my neighbors together for a work party. We meet up at 8am and do some serious weed control, then reset some of the keepers and plant a bunch of new plants in our neighborhood entry. We visit, eat a donut hole and enjoy each other's company. It's a 20 year tradition that works well to bring us together.

Here are some of the new plants we planted this year. Verbena homestead purple, Jerusalem sage, Salvia 'Blue Hill', Libertia 'Taupo Blaze', Perovskia 'Little Spire' and Cardoon. It is a blue, purple, silver and yellow color scheme to go with the existing pink, yellow and golden orange plants that are already their.

Putting the last touches to the newly planted garden. Leftover divisions of plants are waiting to go home with a volunteer. Have Fun in the Garden!