ISLSAND NEWSLETTER
Gresham Japanes Garden

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Where to begin trimming
New Year celebration
Plant Sale
Time to Fertilize
Help Needed - Volunteere

KAZ KIDS SCHEDULE CHANGE
From May 10 to May 7thLunch will be served at 11:30
for students, staff and volunteers
Made possible by Les Schwab Burnside
Thank you, Howard and crew,Volunteers welcome at 9am for set-up

IN THIS ISSUE:

Your favorite tree needs to be trimmed. Questions: Where doI begin? Will I do something wrong that will damage the tree?
You most likely will not hurt the plant unless you act at thewrong time of year. Or introduce a disease from another plant
due to improper cleaning of equipment. Make sure the tools
are clean and sharp before staring. Begin by removing deadbranches. The cuts should be close to the joint of the brancheswith no stubs. Remove any crossing branches or those that
may be headed into the center of the plant. Take a few steps
back and look at the plant from all sides. Is it beginning toopen up? Take a look at the fullness and decide if a few morebranches need to be thinned.
Consider sunlight and air flow. If the middle of the plant does
not get sunlight, it will begin to die. The inner growth most
likely will not come back with conifers.
If you really cannot take action to prune a certain branch orgroup of branches, leave them and come back at anothertime. Do not be in a hurry. If the plant is over grown andISSUE 36

FEBRUARY / MARCH 2019

EDITOR:JAMES CARD

Page 2

New Year Celebration

Where to Begin cont.

dense, take out a few branches ata time as you circle theplant and repeat 2-3 times until itlooks the way you want it to.
If your cuts look ragged and/orchoppy, the tools are not sharp orout of adjustment.
If you find that your plant has an
unusual shape or growth ingeneral as compared to thosethat you see elsewhere, you cantry to train it and shape it to amore pleasing form. It may be
due to sun, wind, etc. and may
not be altered.

EachyeartheJapaneseAmerican Citizens League ofGresham/Troutdale meets for
its annual lunch. This year it
wasalsoa“NewYear
Celebration" (year of the boar}.
Lunch was served at Kumi
Buffet.
Not only was theJapanese food out of this world,those in attendance were quite
enjoyable too.
Guests included Consul General
Takashi Teraoka and his wife,with President of JapaneseAmerican Citizens League, Terry
Nishikawa hosting. Jim Card
provided an overview of theTsuru Island Japanese Gardenand Ebetsu Plaza. The garden
received several orders for"touchstones" at the Plaza.

A benefit plant salewill be held in July for the“student exchange program” ofGresham-Ebetsu Sister CityAssociation. Included areconifers, deciduous trees,bonsai and some florals.
Volunteers can contact
Alison Huntting atmandysmom1946@yahoo.com
for more details.

3rd Tuesday of eachmonth @ 1:00pm
for details
greshamjapanesegarden.com

When you are done, don’t forget
to clean and sharpen the tools sothey will be ready for the nexttime you have the urge forpruning.
By Jim Card

ISSUE 36FEBRUARY / MARCH 2019

EDITOR:JAMES CARDHELP NEEDEDThe time to apply a dose of plant food is in February/ early March, using a product not high in nitrogencontent. Often a plant will begin to show lighter
green and/or yellow spots on the leaves, which is anindication that it needs nourishment. Iron (Fe) may
do the trick so that when the growth cycle begins theleaves will be normal again. This is the case with
the Camelia on the north side of Tsuru Island.
Look at the package content. Many times, one
fertilizer is geared to specific plants but can be used
for other plant products. Such as Rhododendron andAzalea products may also be used on Blue Berries
and Andromeda.
Be cautious about fertilizing trees that are planted inlawn areas. The tree and lawn are competing fornutrition and water. The tree will most likely always
win. If the tree is getting more than enough nutrition
the roots are very shallow. An article by John
Greenaway revealed that roots that are close to thesurface do not have to descend downward for
nutrients and water. It is getting what it needs fromthe lawn fertilizer and water.
A soil test will
determine what that particular tree would need.

A garden will grow and need care through theseasons, requiring maintenance and fosteringwith growth.
The volunteers at Gresham
Japanese Garden have done a fine job of this.
There is no plan to hire employees for the nonprofit organization.
There is yet another growth taking place;programs, community opportunities andadditional projects related to the garden but
not in the garden itself.
Some of thoseinclude: this newsletter, grant writing orresearch,sending
notices,attending
community meetings, coordination of activities
and programs, and networking in general.
Most of these positions are for short periods oftime.
Do you have a talent or expertise that could be
useful to the Garden? If you try it and do not
like it, that is okay. There is no pressure.
Much of the work can be done at home or at
the Recourse Center.

RECOVERINGFAREWELL
Tad Tsuneyoshi and hiswife Toshi returned totheir home in Japan inMarch. We are gratefulfor all their volunteer
work in the garden.
They will be missed.
ISSUE 36

On Feb 26, 2019, Jim Card suffered a mild
heart attack and was taken to surgery to havestents placed in 2 heart vessel blockages. He
spent one night in the hospital and isrecovering very well. Thank you to all whosent well wishes, flowers and food to thehouse.
Jim is back to his activiteis at the Japanese
Garden and planning summer activities.

FEBRUARY / MARCH 2019

EDITOR:JAMES CARD