James Card:Editor

The Plaza
Tsuru Island will embark on a fundraising program inDecember to raise money for the maintenance of thegarden and the Garden Endowment. The program willbe spearheaded by John Clark, Garden volunteer andowner of
Stamp-Connection, www.stamp-connection.com
Individuals will have the opportunity to purchaseengraved paver stones that will be used to construct thepaved areas of Ebetsu Plaza.
Willamette Gray Stone(www.willamettegraystone.com), a local manufacturerof hardscape products will provide the products. The
grading and site preparation will be performed by TyCard @Cardscapes Creative Landscaping(www.cardscapes.net).
This is much more than a fundraising project for theGarden it is a community project that has fosteredrelationships with the Gresham Rotary Club, theGresham History Museum, Gresham-Barlow YouthBaseball and Softball, Historic Downtown Business
Association, The City of Gresham, Gresham Chamberof Commerce and more.
Go to Tsuru Island www.greshamjapanesegarden.com
for photo updates and comments.

ISSUE 11For several months discussions have taken place about
the area in front of the Resource Center. One of thechallenges has been the emergency lane that runs throughthis area. Expanding the paved area would include thefire lane and part of the grass area. The addition of cherrytrees 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 tothe people that spring is coming which is a newbeginning. 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.
12 Akebono cherry trees have been graciously donated byour friends at J. Frank Schmidt Nursery, to fill the areaaround the pavement and the benches. Just imagine
coming through the park or walking along theSpringwater Trail and seeing this site.
The project will require more pavers than those left byother city projects. A grant is in the works to provide thepavers and hopefully the installation will beaccomplished 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 andmulch to dress the planting areas.
The benches will be made from the old bridge wood. The
plan/drawing of the dimensions and procedures to makethese 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 havebeen donated and currently in the greenhouse. This will
be completed within 1 year.

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Looking for approximately 5 individuals for a
volunteer greeter position at Tsuru Island. One personto manage a shift from 2pm until dusk when theweather is pleasing. There is no need to be onsite
during inclement weather.
The garden is a public place with no admission.
Individuals and groups are present most every day.
Guidelines for visitors are posted
but sometimes
visitors need to be reminded to stay on the path andadhere to the posted requests.
There are no other duties expected.
Volunteer positions are coordinated with the Garden
Director and/or the Volunteer Coordinator.
The Gresham Japanese Garden, Tsuru Island, is locatedin Main City Park and is part of the Gresham-Ebetsu
Sister City Association.
The Garden is operated and maintained by volunteers
in the community. All projects, maintenance andprograms are undertaken by the volunteers and donors
that dedicate themselves to the Garden.

This position requires knowledge of Word.. Duties
include:
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2-4 hours per week
Prepare and send mailings.
Document information related to the Garden(i.e. plants used in the garden and the green
house area, including an inventory).
Update a garden calendar of activities,workshops. Send information to othervolunteers, stakeholders and webmaster.
Prepare general information and provide
same to the webmaster.
Coordinate signage that would be produced
for special projects and programs.

The Plaza continued

This area is considered a plaza. Since visiting Ebetsu it
seemed fitting to establish the name Ebetsu Puraza
which is a modern Japanese word for plaza. It is an
acknowledgment of the 40 years of association withEbetsu
In November, Gresham’s sister city, Ebetsu sent adelegation to Gresham to celebrate the 40th anniversary.
After giving a tour of Tsuru Island, they were escorted
to the puraza area. A tree planting ceremony tookplace.
For more information contact
gresham.japanese.garden@gmail.com.
Last month we told a bit about the history of the plaza
project and that we decided to honor the 40thanniversary of our Sister City friendship. With thatdecision a plaque was presented to the Mayor Miyoshiof Ebetsu, Hokkaido, Japan. By the way that plaquewas generously donated by John Clark of the StampConnection. Along with the presentation of the plaquea tree planting ceremony of one of the Akebono cherrytrees was performed by both Mayor Miyoshi andMayor Bemis and it appeared that there was media
coverage by the Gresham Outlook with the front pagearticle being published on November 9th.
For more information about the Plaza and getting
involved please contact us atgresham.japanese.garden@gmail.com

NOTE: The amount of activity in this position willgrow as the Garden and its programs continue togrow. Eventurally we hope to fund this position
through Grants. A computer and printer are available.
To volunteer, please send an email togresham.japanese.garden@gmail.com

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This past October several members of the Sister City Association spent time in Japan. The 1 st part was to celebrate the40th anniversary of sister city friendship in Ebetsu, Japan. The second was vacationing in Kyoto, Nara and Osaka.
For me it was more than a vacation but an opportunity to see firsthand what the countryside and cityscapes were reallyabout.
Like most places there is not enough time to absorb everything the first pass through. That means another trip to Kyoto
for sure. Many of the locations we visited were intended to be considered as a whole not just smaller segments. An
example is a castles we visited. The castle is a seamless complex made up of smaller structures, defense systems, gardens
and large structures for larger groups as housing and/or gathering spaces. All of these places were not completed at
the same time and maybe not even the same century. But they appear to be designed and constructed at the same timeby the same people. In most situations, these complexes had been in existence for hundreds of years and had been
added to, rearranged and rebuilt after fires and/or military battles.
I have had years of experience with building projects. It takes planning, execution of the plan, and finances. It is one
thing to go to the store and purchase a 2x4x8 foot board to build something and an entirely different thing to find thetree, cut it down, get the stripped section to a location that it can be worked with, process the tree to make a shape ofit, get it to the place where it will be used and then get it to the right size and shape and fasten it to the rest of thesupport system.
It takes certain skills to organize and process the functions that I have just described. Now think in terms of what itreally took to accomplish some of these projects. 1st finding an old growth forest with the right kind of trees most likely
was the easiest part to accomplish. Everywhere we visited we found massive amounts of stone used for walls, moats,steps, floors and walkways that were all hand carved. Much of the time made of granite, all fitting together perfectly.
Misc. Japanese pictures from our trip below

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To all the wonderfulvolunteers who gave somuch to the garden thispast year. You are

Too close to Wisteria

treasured

Do not stand too close to a wisteria.
It won’t take long to wrap itself
around you. Most people who wish
to have vines in the garden will
include a wisteria because of its
beautiful purple or white hanging
blooms. These sun loving vines gowell in moist, well drained, soil but
not wet. The exposure and micro-climate will determine
exactly when it will bloom.

Plaza will extend
out from here

Wisteria come in two types; Chinese or Japanese. The
Chinese wisteria will bloom on bare branches whereas theJapanese will bloom on partial to full foliated branches.
Fertilize sparingly with this plant, even starting a newplant. These plants will grow several feet per year. For
those who insist that fertilizer will help, make sure you
understand that more fertilizer is not better. Half of what
the directions says and only every other season.
Wisteria should be pruned two times per year in order totake away the long and wandering stems. 1st pruning
should be in the winter after defoliating is done. Prune
again in the late spring after they have had a push ofgrowth. Sometimes the plant will need to be root pruned
as well to keep the growth down and in check. Rootpruning is done with a shovel. Move away from the baseabout 12 and 24 inches and put the shovel through theroots in a circle and the job is done.
If the plant is not blooming; was it blooming whenpurchased? If so then it should bloom again once you
plant it. Otherwise be patient because it may not bloomfor 3 to 4 years. If not after this many years consider
allowing the soil to dry out some, which will stress theplant and cause it to bloom.

The first program I attended was on" social media". Manysmall business owners plus interested citizens of thecommunity were in attendance. The motivation was to learn
about socials media, the best choices for a particular businessor interest, application, and what part of the public will bereached.

Be cautious about of this plant. The seeds that fall off ofthe blooms may be toxic if ingested.

A few days after the program I received a follow up note
asking me for comments and suggestions and other topics ofinterest. Also what would be helpful in keeping the Japanesegarden operations up to date? I was pleased to respond andsend my appreciation for this fine program.

Small Business Education by James Card
I was recently invited to an education program
presented by the City of Gresham that I became awareof on ExploreGresham.com. This department within
the City has its focus on assisting new, existing or
future business owners in learning of opportunities topromote their products and services. The program isheaded by Alexandra Logue (Walker), the small
business coordinator.

ISSUE 11

The program is part of “Community Development", aresource that provides training, planning mentors, advice,
networking and growing small businesses. For furtherinformation contact Alex at
alexandra.walker@greshamoregon.gov or by phone at 503
618 2872. I was introduced to this program by
ExploreGresham.com

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