One of the seven display gardens at the 2013 Yard Garden & Patio Show bears a definite local touch.
The “Through Our Ages – Thrive Outside” showcase garden was designed by Aurora landscape architect P. Annie Kirk.
It’s her debut, Kirk says. This was her first time designing a display garden for the Portland show, which runs Friday through Sunday at the Oregon Convention Center.
Kirk holds a master’s degree in landscape architecture and has operated her Red Bird Restorative Gardens for more than 15 years.
Her partner in bringing her design to life was another Aurora enterprise, Living Color Landscape.
“I designed this space to draw from the local talents we have in the Aurora-Canby-Woodburn area,” Kirk said. “They have been our suppliers or loaned their craft or energy to help furnish or build the garden. It’s a cooperative in that way.”
Not only did the 40-by-40-foot garden have to be built, it had to be built so that it could be broken down and trucked into Portland. They built the garden last week at the Living Color Landscape property on Boones Ferry Road. They started Monday and delivered it to Portland the following Monday.
Kirk chose “Through Our Ages – Thrive Outside” as the theme for her garden, a space showing lifestyles and an interaction with nature.
“It speaks to the restorative powers of nature through our lifetime,” she said.
Elements of the garden include a sand fort, wishing trees, a garden gym and a swing. The elements converge in the center, which she calls the garden “heart.”
“It is experiential. It provides memories from childhood and captures individual wishes for well-being and nature,” Kirk said. “That is expressed through wishing trees where visitors will tie their wishes to the trees in the garden.”
In addition to the showcase gardens, the Yard Garden and Patio Show will feature performances by Billy Derian of DIY Network's” Extra Yardage”, outdoor cooking classes, the urban edible garden, free garden seminars and demonstrations and the Remarkable Green Market.