Q: Where do you buy your plants?
Q: What type of fertilizers do you use?
A: Osmocote 14-14-14. All seasonal beds are top dressed with Cedar Grove Compost and tilled into existing soil. All landscape beds are top dressed with Cedar Grove Compost every other year.
Q: How many times do you change the seasonal color?
A: In the spring (late April early May) and in the fall (late September).
Q: Do Pansies last all winter?
A: Yes. In the Northwest, Pansies will survive through the winter. After a hard freeze the Pansies will die back, but will come back once the weather warms up into the 40s.
Q: Do you use bark in your landscape beds? If so, what type is the bark?
A: The Port of Edmonds uses medium fine bark. Only a few landscape beds have bark applied to them. Most landscape beds are top dressed with cedar grove compost.
Q: What type of pesticides do you use?
A: Port staff usually does not use fungicide or pesticide for the annual flowers. Bayer Rose and Flower with systemic is used on the roses to control aphids. Port staff also uses Rose Defense (pesticide) when needed to kill worms that eat rose leaves. All seasonal beds have slug bait applied after planting and as needed throughout the year.
Due to limited staff all landscape beds are sprayed with Round-Up, Crossbow and R-11 Activator (allows herbicide to soak into the plants leaves) to control weeds. Port staff hand weeds all the seasonal beds. Annuals or perennials infested with aphids are removed. Annuals covered in powered mildew are also removed.
The Port of Edmonds staff does not use any restricted herbicides. Port staff attempts to limit the quantity of herbicides used in the landscape beds. Control of caterpillars and aphids on trees is contracted out.
Q: Do you pick the flowers off after they are done blooming?
A: Yes, this process is called deadheading. When you remove dead flowers it allows the plant to focus its energy on new flower growth instead of seed production. Plants that have not been deadheaded tend to be more susceptible to aphids, whitefly, rust, and mildew. Deadheading also improves the plants over all appearance.
Q: How do you design the different beds and what philosophy do you use?
A: The Landscape Coordinator researches design ideas by looking in magazine, looking at other yard designs and on the internet. Each area has its own theme and color scheme. For example, the north lot area colors are usually blue, pink, purple, and white. The flowers picked for this area grow loosely and have a country garden look.
The flowers at the Marina Operations area are yellow, orange, blue-purple, and red. These are all considered hot colors. The flowers in these areas are more erect and compact. Although color adds to the beds, a mixture of textures, leaf, and flower size, also make the seasonal beds more appealing. All seasonal beds have a mixture of perennials and annuals.
Q: Does the Port of Edmonds have a volunteer program? If so, how do I volunteer?
A: Yes. The Port of Edmonds has a Community Garden Program. The Port of Edmonds volunteer program begins May15 and runs through October 30. The hours are Monday-Thursday 7:30 am- 12 pm. Volunteers will receive a Port of Edmonds hat, gloves, and hand pruners. Interested individuals can contact Debbie Eckholt, Landscape Coordinator, at 425-774-0549 ext 401 or via email.