Recyling Challenge:

Creative Support Networks:

by Steven Wall

    Gardening in a challenged neighborhood is not for the feeble of heart.  No, one does not need extra courage or a protective sense of mission, one needs merely to make sure one's cardio-vascular system is up to the challenge of physical labor and the garbage pick-up necessary in yards, lots, and streets increasingly being overlooked by city services.

    On the other hand, seldom are the rewards so immediately realized or so personally fulfilling.

Problem 1:

  En Glaβ Häs, the Glass House, was vacant for a number of years.  While the grass was maintained to a safe and legal height, the fence-lines, shrubbery and beds were out of control. 

    Two basic issues confronted me as the new home owner:  bringing overgrown landscaping under control, and cleaning up the immense piles of debris, garbage, and broken glass.  Twelve extra-large leaf bags of mere trash were collected from the outside of the rear fence-line alone.

    A year later, things are looking up, but outside trash continues to invade the yard on a daily basis.  One certainly gets one's morning exercise walking the perimeter to collect trash from the alley-apartment car lots and the paths leading from the local convenience store.  More dangerous items, such as drug paraphernalia, broken bottles, the remnants of covert romantic trysts, and occasionally, even drugs themselves are to be found along our alleys and sidewalks.  

    The whole situation can sometimes seem overwhelming.

    Having cleared the side fence of excess vegetation and brush last year, Glass House was left wondering if the overgrown vista was not in fact preferable to what we were greeted with this Easter. 

    Yet, one can see promise in that having cleared the beds, we were greeted with almost a full border of spring crocuses and at least two large clumps of abandoned rambler roses:

    I was excited to discover the rambler roses last year, but despite being trimmed in the spring and cleaned up, the reward for my effort was a mere three blooms.  

Rambler Rose in Bloom, 2014.

    Rambler roses are an old varietal popular with our great-grandparents and grandparents.  They seem to develop bush-structures of numerous tall, straight canes, and were often trained to grow over fences and trellises.  The discovery of these roses in my yard was a definite heirloom bonus to the garden.  But, unlike their more prolific "climbing" rose cousins, they tend to blossom only once during the early summer (June).  Thankfully, their long, graceful canes are beautiful in their own regard and they tend to bear large colourful rose-hips that are visible into the fall.

    www.gardenseeker.com mentions that one might easily tell the difference between a rambler and a climbing rose not just by their growth and blooming habits, but by simply counting the leaves.  According to their blog, rambling roses have groupings of seven leaflets, while climbing roses are grouped in fives.

Problem 2:

    Glass House was formerly used as a law office, so the basement was chock full of discarded shelving materials that had to be removed.
 

A Double Solution:

    Taking a tip from Jim Edminster, Chicago's Fairy Gardener, we pondered a "re-define and re-use" solution.

   The shelf supports are inexpensive wooden frames available from Menards or Lowe's.  Usually, inexpensive planking or plyboard is strung across the supports to provide cheap utility shelving.  The supports have a basic lattice or ladder structure that makes this possible -- a structure that could be easily adapted to support other things -- such as rambler rose canes.

    A few changes would be necessary.  The wooden supports had been safely sheltered from rain and water inside a dry basement. The inexpensive lumber and glues that hold the frames together could be greatly impacted by outdoor garden conditions.  One way to help mitigate this process is to paint the frames with boiled linseed oil -- the same trick your great-grandparents used to preserved timber garden elements back in their day.

    Boiled Linseed Oil is easy to apply with a brush.  Will Lipscomb recommends trying a spray bottle or sprayer, but the Mennonites in my home town tended to stick to brushes, applying at least two coats to begin, and a restorative coat every spring following.

    We then used long wood screws to bind two frames together at an angle.  The result was a stable angled frame that could be set against the existing mature bushes in a way that collects the canes and then supports them within the crook of the screen.  Other options could include using twine to bind the frames together, to create triangular or box-shaped supports using three or four frames instead of two, or to connect the frames using recycled household hinges for easy removal and winter storage options.

    Our frames are intended to remain outdoors and we preferred the open access of the two-frame screen design.

    We do not yet know how effective our framing solution will be, but they have already survived three windstorms and plenty of rain.  The rambler roses have remained safely confined to the crooks without need of additional support.  And, there seems to be plenty of room for future growth, leaves, blossoms, and hips.

    We will keep you informed.