The Garden celebrated Arbor Month April 5th as we begin our 10th years as a Tree City USA. The 10 Akebono cherry trees graciously donated by our friends at J. Frank Schmidt Nursery, were planted in the newly broken ground of Ebestu Plaza.
Other tree plantings in Gresham will be April 7th at Gradin Arboretum and April 14 at Nadaka Nature Park.
Help us plant ten trees in ten parks at these fun, free events.
Dear Northwest Pruners,
We had a great time discussing Northwest Native plants at the last pruning meeting in January. We talked about which ones respond well to pruning and which ones work well in a garden context. They were not always the same!
This spring there are some great opportunities to get out and practice the craft of pruning and learn from each other. This is the second year we have been meeting and some of the gardens and trees are becoming familiar to the group. This will be a great year to observe the response to our pruning and plan for the future.
Our next class is April 7th.
We can never take for granted the gifts that the Garden is provided from individuals and companies that have provided our materials. One of those companies is Kichler Lighting, providing us with our low voltage LED lighting in the Garden. As one of the most significant thing that has taken place in 2017, we want to recognize the lighting donations that have come from Tom Rowe at Kichler.
Our latest supply of donated lighting came to us in July of 2017 and by August we had those light installed. With the picture that is displayed you will see that the installation took place on the bridge. As some might remember, when we built the new bridge we pre-wired the railings with wire anticipating that someday we would be able to purchase that lighting. Along with the lights for the bridge came other units that were used to highlight some of our trees and shrubs that had not been completed.
But that is not all, along with this shipment came a new transformer that powers the lighting system. This is important because the unit that was being used was over 20 years old and the timer was creating issues. With the new transformer we are not depending on a timer, but rather a sensor that allows the lights to come on at dusk and go off at dawn. It also provides the added benefit of keeping the system stable when the power goes out, meaning that the timer is not off by the length of time that the power was off and would need to be reset.
It just keeps getting better.
One of the ways to look at community involvement is to find ways that you can assist in the community and find ways that they can help your organization. Over the past few years while rebuilding the Garden and establishing its programs, our involvement around the City has been mostly committed to our area of Main City Park. As our accomplishments have grown and have become more established, we have taken the opportunity to take part in a broader sense and meet other peoples and organizations. When you do so you find that the organization, people and businesses are linked together in many different ways. You can have a conversation with a person on a specific subject and later get involved with another conversation about yet a different situation and find that you are talking to the same person(s).
That is exactly what happened when we began communications with Matt Holland at the Gresham History Museum about the Japanese history in Gresham display and presentation. Later with a spark of interest from their board, it was decided to upgrade and refurbish the campus around the museum and the old church. What a privilege to have that board of directors lead by John Clark, to request our assistance and expertise with that undertaking.
With that commitment we also partnered with the Rotary Club of Gresham to take on a very large project to make the campus as you see it today. We met on a Saturday with members of the community, the museum members, the rotary Club and volunteers from Tsuru Island to take apart and put back together the landscape around the Museum and the old church.
Our part was more than labor it had to do with the planning and organization of the project, the offering of equipment, irrigation materials, plant materials that have been installed at the locations.
What an effort by all of those involved; old trees and shrubs were remove which included stump grinding, pavement was washed, weeds were pulled, roots and all. Planter area under the street trees were reset and all of the plant material was planted, grasses were cut down behind the church as well as plant material that was diseased and damaged. 5 truck loads were hauled out of the parking lot for recycling.
Irrigation had been donated by Tsuru Island and was installed as a drip system in all of the bed areas and included areas that may include planting in the future. Timers were included in our offering that allowed for 2 systems to run off of the outside access points.
After the initial day of accomplishment another group of volunteers from Tsuru Island showed up on a Saturday to move 2 units of bark dust purchased by Mr. Clark. What the volunteers thought was going to be an all day event was accomplished in 2 hours. We used 8 wheel barrows and our Dingo to load the wheel barrows, while the volunteers simply moved the loads to the area being specified by the spotter. As areas were completed and we got closer to exhaustion of the units, the bark was spread in the immediate area it had been placed and in no time we were finished and ready for clean up.
Since that day of spreading the bark dust things like painting the stairway to the entrance, detailing the railings, identifying parking and installing concrete pavers around the statuary at the corner has been completed.
The commitment does not stop there; ongoing maintenance is going to be key to the cosmetic appeal of the grounds and that has been accomplished through a grant from the Rotary Club of Gresham and Tsuru Island. Somehow I get the feeling that this is only the beginning for the outside of the museum.
From the very beginning of the Garden rebirth, J. Frank Schmidt Nursery has been providing us with trees. After a visit from the Schmidt family in 2012, we were provided maples of several varieties as an offering for the Garden redesign. All of those maples have been installed and are thriving. We noted that gift with a plaque that was installed on the recognition pedestal at the east end of the Garden.
As one of the significant events for 2017 we recognize J. Frank Schmidt Nursery again for a wonderful donation in June of several trees and a gift of $500.00 cash for use with the Garden. Again in September of 2017 another gift of 12 Akebono cherry trees were donated for the Ebetsu Plaza, one of which was used for the Mayor’s ceremonial planting during the 40th year celebration while the delegation from Ebetsu was in Gresham.
If you are a volunteer or visitor to the Garden and feel that we have something special and beautiful, this is one of the reasons why, we cannot do this without the help and dedication to our efforts without people like J. Frank Schmidt Nursery.
Frank Schmidt Nursery website.
We have a tendency to think back over the year around the New Year. At the Garden it happens more often during the year as we update readers of our newsletter and make announcements to our volunteers. An overview of the year is always a positive at the garden because we tend to have so many things happen and people that we meet that some can get lost in the months that followed. To recap some of those events that consumed our time and energy we will remind you as follows.
Ebetsu Plaza
For several months discussions have taken place about the area in front of the Resource Center. One of the challenges has been the emergency lane that runs through this area. Expanding the paved area would include the fire lane and part of the grass area. The addition of cherry trees would also add to our cultural goal for Tsuru Island. As seen in the Japanese culture, hundreds of cherry trees are planted in and around Kyoto. These trees signal to the people that spring is coming which is a new beginning. The site is beautiful when they are in bloom and when they are in leaf they provide a shaded environment that invites sitting and enjoying the area.
Twelve Akebono cherry trees have been graciously donated by our friends at J. Frank Schmidt Nursery, to fill the area around the pavement and the benches. Just imagine coming through the park or walking along the Springwater Trail and seeing this site.
The project will require more pavers than those left by other city projects. A grant is in the works to provide the pavers and hopefully the installation will be accomplished with the volunteers providing the labor. Now that there is a plan, the drawing, the OK to proceed, the trees and the pavers, there are still additional items such as benches, plant materials, soils, boulders and mulch to dress the planting areas.
The benches will be made from the old bridge wood. The plan/drawing of the dimensions and procedures to make these Asian style benches are available and the process will be started soon. The soil and boulders will be moved from other City locations. The plantings and mulch have been donated and currently in the greenhouse. This will be completed within 1 year.
The program will be spearheaded by John Clark, Garden volunteer and owner of Stamp-Connection. Individuals will have the opportunity to purchase engraved paver stones that will be used to construct the paved areas of Ebetsu Plaza. More coming soon!
Check out the Ebestu Plaza Facebook page of the progress.
This is where the story begins in regards to the Gresham Japanese Garden. The island was free standing and as part of the project, a bridge had been built to connect the mainland and the island and area was most likely just called the island. This piece of land was about an acre based on the pictures and maps that we have available today and had more land on the northwest and east sides than we see today. Along with these changes involving the creeks and the surrounding area, Main City Park had the lower baseball field and a large refreshment area similar to the area we have today and lots more.
Japanese American Citizens League begins discussions about building a garden on the island. As time goes on, we may gather information to help us realize just how the conversations at the Japanese American Citizens League began to consider the area recognized as the “Island” to become “Tsuru Island” as it is known today, as well as where the money came from. Plans were presented to the City to utilize the tiny plot of land and develop it into a Japanese style garden. Drawings were made and approval was granted. We also know the bridge was designed by a volunteer with the JACL.
The JACL developed a committee to work with the garden designer, who may have been a member of the organization, to find materials and figure out a way to get those materials to the work site. Much of the garden was built during the fall and winter months and it is assumed it was because many of the volunteers were farm people in the community, growing vegetables, fruits, flowers and other farm products; those months were part of the non-growing season that would allow them some time to volunteer for such a project.
A lot of the details of the project at the time are unknown because most of the garden build information was not written down or has been missed placed, but we do have picture documentation available of the garden being finished and the ceremonies taking place for the dedication.
Much of the information is available at the Gresham Historical Society and many pictures exist of the garden’s development. Pictures showing the camellia being planted, pines that can be recognized today are on site. Those azaleas that flank the two sides of the bridge on the island were 1-gallon plants that were blooming as they were being planted which means that was happening in the month of May.
Monday, December 6, 2015 turned out to be an alarming day for residents all over the Portland area. The Japanese Garden which sits on Tsuru Island (literally an island) on Johnson Creek was flooded. When the GESCA crew were able to take a closer look at the garden and inspect the plant material along the bottom of the island and on the top surface there is no serious issues that have to be dealt with and the minor ones have been repaired or are on the list for when it dries out some on the slopes — access is not easy.
Probably the most disturbing area is the east portion of the island where the ground underneath the large trees is eroding and exposing the trees. If these trees are not protected, we will lose them causing big problems for Tsuru Island.
A tiny public Japanese garden in Gresham, once threatened to be dismantled, has been rejuvenated by a group of volunteers dedicated to providing a peaceful escape from modern-day momentum.
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