Southwest Journal Home Guide, September 2018

SOUTHWEST JOURNAL • SEPTEMBER 2018

Urban lot, suburban serenity An authentic urban retreat in Linden Hills PAGE 8

+ Growing a gardener + A wallpaper revival

PAGE 12 PAGE 16

+ Remodeling inspiration

PAGE 18

+ The new ways of watering

PAGE 22

Contents 8

The White Abbey of Linden Hills

12

The garden that grew a gardener 4 Southwest Journal / Home Guide / September 2018

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612-343-3301 · www.midwestplus.com Keeping plants alive in hot, dry weather ON THE COVER This Linden Hills home adapts to its shady, wooded setting with dramatic lighting. Photo by Susan Schaefer

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FROM THE EDITOR

Northeast TREE

Well, that went fast

Trained & Courteous Staff Climbing & Bucket Pruning/Removals Expert High Risk & Crane Removals Pest & Disease Management Stump Grinding George Welles

Lynn Welles

T

his edition of the Home Guide, our last of the year, came together just as the Great • Minnesota Get Together was getting going (612) 789-9255 www.northeasttree.net over in Falcon Heights. This editor’s note was written as the editor’s Twitter feed filled with Northeast Tree HOME 032218 12.indd 1 3/9/18 1:07 PM instant reviews of new state fair foods and brews, EK Johnson and the typing slowed to a crawl as said editor Construction you dream it we build it daydreamed about deep-fried cheese on a stick and hiking down Underwood Street with a cold beer and the polka-dotted Holsteins snoozing in

By Dylan Thomas the hay in the cow barn.

This is a roundabout way of pointing out that — sigh — another summer is coming to an end. And so is the season when most house projects get done.

Call Ethan Johnson, Owner So, what did we accomplish at our house this summer?

Living and Working Prior to the arrival of a new family member — a baby girl, in June — we had about in Southwest Minneapolis a third of the old paint-encrusted, rope-and-pulley windows on our South Minneap612-669-3486 • ekjohnsonconstruction.com olis bungalow retrofitted with new vinyl tracks. I followed up a month or so later by replacing the storms on those same windows, and now that we can finally get a crossbreeze going in our house it’s possible to give the AC a break from time to time.

The AC needed a break, as my wife and I discovered about a week before her due date, when the fan motor first faltered and then, after a few YouTube-inspired attempts at a manual restart, died.

We recalled how, during our long hunt for a house, our real estate agent had repeatedly advised us to sign up for an HVAC service plan. “Jud was right on that one,” I said as I wrote out an $1,100 check for 10 minutes of a repairman’s very expensive time.

Adopt a refurbished bench or Here’s to the cooler weather on the way. engrave a brick paver at Lake We welcome two new contributors to the Home Guide with this issue. Susan Schaefer has our cover story on the newly remodeled home of Kim Sorenson and Harriet and leave an impression Jim Ridens, located in a woodsy, tucked-away corner of Linden Hills. And a review of that lasts for years to come! current trends in wallpaper comes courtesy Karen Ritz.

Regular Home Guide contributor Sheila Regan brings us the story of a Bryn Mawr couple’s impressive home garden, a gathering place for friends and family with skyline views.

Does any neighborhood take gardening as seriously as Bryn Mawr? The competition in Minneapolis is certainly stiff, but I’ve heard residents of “the neighborhood within a park” brag that Bryn Mawr has more master gardeners than any neighborhood in the city. Maybe next summer I’ll sign up for the neighborhood garden tour, held each July, to see for myself.

Our resident master gardener, Meleah Maynard (a Linden Hills resident, I’ll note), writes in this issue about the new rules for watering. Climate change, and the weather More info: extremes that come with it, are forcing us to re-examine how we care for our lawns www.peopleforparks.net and gardens. or call Finally, we’ve got a preview of the annual Parade of Homes Remodeler’s Showcase, a tour of 55 recently remodeled Twin Cities homes. It’s free to visit most homes on 612-767-6892 the tour, so give it a shot if you’re seeking inspiration for next summer’s project.

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PUBLISHER Janis Hall jhall@southwestjournal.com CO-PUBLISHER AND SALES MANAGER Terry Gahan tgahan@southwestjournal.com GENERAL MANAGER Zoe Gahan zgahan@southwestjournal.com EDITOR Dylan Thomas 612-436-4391 dthomas@southwestjournal.com CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Meleah Maynard, Sheila Regan Karen Ritz, Susan Schaefer CLIENT SERVICES Delaney Patterson 612-436-5070 dpatterson@southwestjournal.com CREATIVE DIRECTOR Valerie Moe vmoe@southwestjournal.com GRAPHIC DESIGNERS Micah Edel Kaitlin Ungs CIRCULATION Marlo Johnson 612-436-4388 distribution@southwestjournal.com

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The White Abbey of Linden Hills A remarkable light-flooded remodel provides a former suburban couple serenity with an urban twist

Story and photos by Susan Schaefer

R

ecent empty nesters Kim Sorenson and Jim Ridens were ready to indulge their desire for a lively, walkable urban lifestyle near recreation, shopping, dining and entertainment.

However, they were reluctant to sacrifice ample space for hosting or their passion for privacy. Happily, they discovered a rare wooded site in Linden Hills that, along with a team of talented design professionals, they have transformed into an authentic urban retreat.

From suburb to city — a quest Not far outside of the majestic medieval Dutch city of Maastricht, high on wooded bluff above a rolling green landscape, sits St. Benedictusberg Abbey.

Famous for its gleaming white walls and stark white interiors, the abbey evokes a profoundly tranquil experience.

Started in the 1920s by the architects Dominicus Böhm and Martin Weber and finished in the late 1960s by architect and Benedictine monk Dom Hans van der Laan, the starkly modern retreat is defined by proportional rules and control of light. Van der Laan constructed space as a means to mingle the exteriority of horizontal nature within the interior confines of vertical walls, flooding it with available light that “allowed human space to be assimilated into the homogenous order of nature.”

A world away, not far outside the charming, bustling main street of Linden Hills, abutting Lake Harriet’s iconic trolley tracks and bandshell, sits a newly remodeled contemporary “white box” home, whose gleaming, snowy, vertical walls conjure the abbey’s monastic experience flawlessly — but with a wholly worldly twist.

When homeowners Kim Sorenson and

8 Southwest Journal / Home Guide / September 2018

Jim Ridens discovered a traditional home for sale on Queen Avenue, a rare wooded site surrounded by the Park Board’s William Berry Park to the north and an equally forested area ringing the ComoHarriet trolley tracks to the east, they recognized that they’d found their perfect spot. Even the neighboring home to the south, with its lush natural prairie landscaping, was nestled far to the back of its property, creating an immersive impression of overall privacy inside the house that Sorenson and Ridens favored.

Sorenson explains, “We definitely didn’t want a tract house in the suburbs, but we coveted one that offered many features not typical of city homes that are walking distance to restaurants, shops and entertainment.

“When we saw this property we knew that we had found a home with ‘good bones,’ in a perfect location, and we both saw what it could become.”

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Contractors & Homeowners Empty nesters with a blended family of five kids, the couple no longer needed a place to raise a family, yet some of their requirements seemed to rule out finding the perfect pied-à-terre. Ridens, who is a principal of commercial real estate firm based in Southern California and commutes regularly, and Sorenson, who works as a paraprofessional in Lakeville schools’ special ed program, still wanted sufficient space for family gatherings and guests, and oh, yes, their prodigious collection of moving vehicles.

Sorenson grins widely when revealing that Jim is an inveterate collector of wheeled “toys” like bikes, motorcycles and unusual “third” cars. Finding this Linden Hills home with a four-car garage, underground storage warren and its own second story complete with balcony was nothing short of miraculous.

Moreover, both are fit and active, craving the pleasure of yard work and nearby opportunities for outdoor recreation. Moving into a high-rise condo simply didn’t conform to Sorenson and Ridens’ demanding wish list.

The Queen Avenue site, with its spacious garage and private setting, adjacent to miles of trails, shopping and dining, “with the added character of hearing the trolley behind us,” had just ingredients to move forward on the house, Ridens asserts.

From traditional to modern — a must Once their decision was made, they sought to assemble a dream team to breathe life into the next criterion — creating a sleek, modern, Zen-feeling dwelling from a traditional home. They found architect Randy Buffie “through a mutual friend,” Ridens explained.

Kim had previously implemented other contemporary house designs and has helped numerous friends with remodeling projects. She clicked with Buffie instantly.

Buffie acknowledges that he loved working with Jim and Kim.

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“My firm designs in many architectural styles, and Jim and Kim had a contemporary design aesthetic, which is a style I really enjoy,” he says.

Ridens agrees, adding, “Randy shared Kim’s vision of the house and did a great job of letting her ideas emerge in a wellcoordinated effort.”

So how did the client-architect process proceed? Buffie explains that with Ridens living most of the time in Orange County, California, and Sorenson then living in Lakeville, their meetings mostly occurred when Ridens was in town, “until we were down to interior finish selections.

Then, Kim and I worked through those together. Jim totally trusted Kim’s judgment and tastes.”

Buffie continues, “Since this was the third home that Kim had remodeled, she knew just the look that she was after.”

Buffie firmly articulates how important it is to have a client with a clear vision. “Because of Kim’s experience and well-defined design concept, we quickly focused our design direction and the material selections, with me providing design options for review.” There is an obvious, easy, congenial vibe between Buffie and Sorenson. Both agree the design process was flawless.

All designs must be realized through the talents of great builders, and Sorenson absolutely enthuses about the builder, Jeff Ripley of Ripley Built. “Jeff was simply outstanding to work with.”

As anyone who has undertaken a whole-house remodel in Minneapolis knows, there are numerous restrictions.

Buffie enumerates, “Our plan was to change the house from a two-and-a-half story traditional to a two-story contemporary. City guidelines state you can only change 20 percent of the exterior wall area, requiring the remodel to keep the same window and door openings on 80 percent of the existing exterior wall area.”

Crossing the line would have required tearing down the whole home and conforming to current setback restrictions. For this residence that would have required moving the foundation back 13 feet, which in turn would have

Check it out 4001 Queen Ave. S. will be in the Homes by Architects Tour Sept. 15 and 16.

ɕɕKim Sorenson worked closely with architect Randy Buffie, who shared her contemporary aesthetic.

made rear yard car maneuverability almost impossible.

The silver lining in adhering to these limitations has been that the deep back yard and garage space proportions have been maintained, and innovative modern windows and a 22-foot back wall sliding glass door have rendered a home that looks brand new, not remodeled.

The “new” home is designed as a smooth, simple white box with textured gray additions that contain the fireplace and sunlight wells. Like the famous Benedictine architect monk, sunlight is a wellknown form giver in Buffie’s design work, and this home is a perfect example.

“Sunlight does so much for your sense of well-being and disposition that using it in an artful way creates a healthy home that can rejuvenate your soul,” Buffie remarks. “There are three vertical sunlit boxes that traverse the two floors of the home. Each sunlit box is illuminated at a different time of the day as the sun moves around the home. The sand blasted glass panels that glow from the sunlight during the day can also be illuminated at night with LED lighting inside.”

The impact of this design is truly

10 Southwest Journal / Home Guide / September 2018

remarkable. Along with the clean lines and simple material choices, the Sorenson-Ridens residence evidences a calm, serene, light-filled setting that certainly mirrors the Benedictine monkarchitect’s philosophy of mingling the external environment within the interior, flooding it with available light “allowing human space to be assimilated into the homogenous order of nature.”

But that’s where the comparison ends. Sorenson and Ridens are 100 percent worldly and lively. They admit that they live to entertain, boasting that they’ve already hosted several great gatherings since completing the house and that it “works great.”

Ridens effuses that “the best thing about the house are its location and its ‘vibe.’ We get to park the car and walk to places!”

Sorenson adds, “Actually, with the expansive back deck, we don’t even have to leave. We can simply sit right here in our tree house back deck and listen to the music easily heard from the Lake Harriet Bandshell.”

Now that’s as priceless a benefit of this unique mix of the natural and designed worlds as you can find.

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September 2018 / Home Guide / Southwest Journal 11

A gardener’s husband discovers his own green thumb in their lush Bryn Mawr yard

By Sheila Regan

W

The garden that grew a gardener

12 Southwest Journal / Home Guide / September 2018

hen Dennie Juillerat and Kevin Thompson moved into their Bryn Mawr home together in 2001, Thompson had one thing he wanted to make perfectly clear.

“I said I don’t mow the lawn, and I don’t garden, just so you know,” Thompson recalled.

But Juillerat, who had grown up in a family that enjoyed gardening, had big plans for their front and backyard — which, when they purchased it, had no garden at all. As they began to grow their garden, Thompson would call every plant a nasturtium, as a joke.

“What kind of nasturtium is that?” he would say.

Soon, his interest in gardening grew, so that now, both men agree his horticultural vocabulary surpasses Juillerat, whom he married soon after marriage equality passed in Minnesota in 2013.

Every inch of their property is now part of their elaborate garden, which is divided into different areas that have unique purposes. From marshy pollinator-friendly havens to a reading nook surrounded by hops, to delicate flowers popping out all over the place, their abode is abundant with flora of every kind. They even have some plants they never put in themselves, like the morning glories that Juillerat is convinced were seeded via bird droppings.

There’s the decadent fountain area, with separate waterfalls that flow into each other. The pools are covered with lily pads, and in the water are shimmering goldfish. In the past, the fountain was stocked with koi, but those proved too tempting for the neighborhood blue

heron that would swoop down and take them as lunch for its young.

“It’s majestic if you happen to see it,” Thompson said. “I get feeder goldfish in the spring — they are just as entertaining. If I pay a quarter for them, I’m less upset.”

They also have a vegetable garden with lots of vertical fixtures that both allow for more roominess and protect the plants from critters.

“We try to use the vertical space as much as possible,” Juillerat said.

The verticality of the garden also makes it pleasant to walk through with a cocktail on a late Friday or Saturday afternoon.

“We used to have a tradition on Fridays that people would stop in,” Juillerat said.

“If they wanted to come over for a cocktail, they would have to endure the tour.”

As you might imagine, cocktails in the garden turned out to be extremely popular with the couple’s friends, so much so that it got to be a little too expensive after a while. However, they still enjoy sharing their garden with neighbors, friends and each of their families, including three grandkids between them.

“We have a reputation in the neighborhood,” Juillerat said. “People come here for information about plants, for ideas.

People come by with a lot of questions.

That is always fun for us to engage with.”

In fact, since gardening is so popular among people on their block and neighborhood, it’s almost like there’s a community garden feel. Their next door neighbors, for example, boast a number of plants that Juillerat and Thompson gave to them on their boulevard.

The house itself is a 1915 bungalow that has gotten a lot of renovations over the years. Their airy kitchen was once half its size, but they tore out a wall between the small kitchen and Denny’s daughter’s old bedroom.

They brought the stairway up to code and put in a lovely stain glass window purchased at an antique store in the Milwaukee area.

“We love going to estate sales,” Juillerat said. “When we are in search

of something, that’s how we start our weekends.”

Their second-story deck — which provides an overhead view of their yard, not to mention a killer view of the Minneapolis downtown skyline — was also a remodel project.

“We wanted to walk out of the kitchen and have our morning coffee,” Juillerat said.

To make that happen, they turned what used to be a machine shed into a

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deck that spans the entire width of the house.

The deck has two dining areas, plus vegetable plants and flowers and, yes, nasturtiums. It’s an open area where they can invite their families to enjoy a meal or have salsa and hot sauce showcases that highlight the fruits of their garden.

In addition, there’s a third dining area below the deck, right outside the Airbnb room the couple rents out. The room was named “Da Club” by a friend of theirs in older, wilder days, but they converted it into a bed-and-breakfast room after their wedding a few years ago as a way to make up a little extra income. The small business has proven successful, in part because of their magnificent garden, so they’ve kept it on for short-term guests.

Perhaps most amazing of all, Juillerat and Thompson don’t hire gardeners or landscapers to help them. Sure, their kids might help them out once in a while, but for the most part, the vision and labor are theirs alone. That goes for the renovations they’ve done on the inside of the house, too — though they did get a neighbor to help with their in-progress walk-in closet in the upstairs bedroom.

For them, creating the space is part of the enjoyment — in addition to reaping the rewards over breakfast outside or when friends and family stop by to enjoy the view.

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Exploring the trends behind wallpaper’s resurgence in home design // By Karen Ritz

Forget fussing with that gallery wall.

Turn the whole wall into art!

Wait, maybe all four walls — and the ceiling! Maybe just the ceiling.

And forget those dusty wallpaper books at the paint store. Go big. Bigger.

Customize the color.

We’re talking not-your-grandma’s wallpaper.

Worried about resale value or being “married” to the pattern for as long as you own the home? Many new products peel right off.

Ready to get started?

A Pinterest board can help curate your likes and dislikes (search “custom wallpaper”). And by all means, picture yourself on the cover of a home decorating magazine, relaxing in your new space.

ɕɕMinneapolis-based Area Environments curates original work from artists all over the world to produce exclusive wallpapers and large-scale murals.

Browse their website, areaenvironments.com, by artist, art style or color.

Their talent includes a new partnership with Art Lifting, a collection of artists from 20 states who were homeless or living with disabilities and are now provided with a chance for secure income through their talents.

ɕɕNow that your mind is open to the infinite possibilities of wallpaper, you could follow in the footsteps of fashion designer Tommy Hilfiger and cover your wall with the latest, Instagram-worthy scratch-and-sniff wallpaper from Brooklyn-based Flavor Paper (flavorpaper.com).

So far, your Flavor options only are bananas, cherries and citrus, but they have lots of color options, and it is surely only the beginning of things to come.

16 Southwest Journal / Home Guide / September 2018

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hether you’re considering a kitchen makeover, updates to the living room or a whole-house remodel, the Sept. 28–30 Remodelers Showcase is one place to find ideas and inspiration.

The showcase is part of BATC-Housing First Minnesota’s larger Fall Parade of Homes. Now in its 70th year, the home tour begins Sept. 8 and features 427 new metro-area homes ranging in price from $199,900 to $3.6 million.

The 55 homes includes in the Remodelers Showcase open for just three days at the end of the nearly month-long event. For the fall edition of the Home Guide, we took a closer look at four of the Remodelers Showcase stops in Southwest Minneapolis.

2304 Mount View Ave. This mid-century Bryn Mawr house “really hadn’t been touched since it was built” in 1952, said David Stockdale, founder of EdgeWork Design Build and the owner of the home.

An extensive remodel updated the house and gave it a contemporary feel, from the one-of-a-kind fireplace featuring a concrete veneer and built-in LED lighting to the new flat roof. Stockdale said the project involved removing roughly 80 percent of the second floor — every room except one — and the entire back of the house to extend the footprint 8 feet.

Unique treatments and details like the laser-cut metal panel stairs bring the home into the 21st century. EdgeWork removed walls to open up the main floor, and skylights bring in additional light.

“The house was really dark before and is very light and bright now,” said Stockdale, who also added a one-bedroom unit above the detached garage that could eventually be used as an accessory dwelling unit but will probably serve as an office in the near term.

18 Southwest Journal / Home Guide / September 2018

A dose of inspiration Pick up ideas for your next project at the Remodelers Showcase

by Dylan Thomas

4540 Upton Ave. S. Nate Jurmu, owner of Buffalo-based contractor Frontier Structures, said the owner of this contemporary Linden Hills home came to him with “a really good vision” for her remodeling project.

At 10 years old, the house had just one significant structural issue that needed attention. For the most part, Frontier Structures’ job was to update the home and make it more usable for its new owner.

“We just brought it to a fresher look,” Jurmu said.

Those updates included replacing the tile covering the entire main floor with French oak, which Jurmu said “made a big impact on the feel of the house.” The kitchen features Wolf and Sub-Zero appliances and a custom kitchen hood.

The master bathroom was completely gutted and rebuilt with a new soaking tub and a separate shower contained in the same enclosure. Jurmu said a new upstairs laundry features folding doors that tuck into a pocket — a sleek, modern approach to disguising the washer and dryer.

The audio-visual components of the home were thoroughly updated as well, and Frontier Structures even made structural modifications to accommodate a jaw-dropping, drop-down TV in the master bedroom.

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While most of the tour is free, 4540 Upton Ave. S. is one of the tour’s “dream homes” that require a $5 admission. The money raised will be used by the BATC-Housing First Minnesota Foundation to fund remodeling projects for homeowners in need.

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September 2018 / Home Guide / Southwest Journal 19

4108 Garfield Ave. S. White Crane Construction completed a whole-house remodel of this 1915 Tudor, located in the Kingfield neighborhood, for a couple who had lived overseas, bought an Uptown condo after returning to Minnesota and then decided they needed just a little more space.

What they found was an “absolutely gorgeous old home,” said Donella Olson, senior designer on the project. But it needed a few updates.

Olson said the European farmhouse look of the kitchen — “minimal and natural feeling,” with white tile walls and open walnut shelving — was inspired by the couple’s time in Switzer-

land. She and the clients bonded over their shared Danish heritage, and visitors might spot the influence of that country in the design, as well.

The upper floor had been remodeled in the 1980s to create a small bathroom from an enclosed porch. Olson said they took that space to create a large master bath, then opened another wall between a sleeping porch and a bedroom to create a second-floor sitting space.

The homeowners repainted almost every room in shades of white and grey and stripped the dining room wallpaper, creating a contrast with the Tudor’s dark woodwork, she added.

5100 Upton Ave. S. This remodeled kitchen features the Scandinavian-designed cabinetry of Puustelli USA, and it’s an example of how smart choices can make a space more functional without breaking the bank.

Jennifer Wetherall, a designer with Puustelli, said the homeowners originally planned to build an addition as part of the project but balked at the price.

“We challenged them to see if they could work within the existing space,” Wetherall said. And the homeowners, minimalists by nature, embraced that challenge.

The project involved a tiny kitchen space — just 8 feet-by-10 feet and hardly big enough for more than one person at a time — which posed a challenge for the dedicated home cooks.

“It was like a cave,” Wetherall said. “It was really tight, and everything closed in on you when you were in there.”

The project opened a wall between the kitchen and dining room, replacing it with a new counter and seating that also acts as a half-wall dividing the two spaces. The kitchen’s dark wood upper cabinets were totally removed and replaced with drawers covered in a contemporary birch veneer.

They went down to just five cabinets, including one corner cabinet with a pull-out lazy susan, “and everything fit,” Wetherall said.

“And it’s amazing,” she added. “It’s so clean and crisp” The homeowners chose narrow European appliances, including a 24-inch-wide refrigerator, to give themselves more room but couldn’t resist a full-size BlueStar gas range.

IF YOU GO Remodelers Showcase (part of the Fall Parade of Homes) When: Sept. 28–30 Where: 55 homes in various locations across the Twin Cities Info: Guidebooks are available at area Holiday Stationstores or online at paradeofhomes.org.

Gardening Angel Garden Design Residential & Commercial

Design • Install • Maintain Margi MacMurdo gardeningangel612 @ gmail.com

612.206.7089

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September 2018 / Home Guide / Southwest Journal 21

LIVIN’ THING

Keeping plants alive in hot, dry weather

T

his is the second draft of my column on watering. I tossed out the first one a few days after writing it.

I could tell the minute it was finished that something was wrong, so I didn’t turn it in right away. I’m glad I did that, because after lugging the hose around for another spell of hot, dry days, I realized what the problem was — my advice was a bunch of bull!

Why? I think my attempt to offer up normal-world suggestions about watering during the summer of 2018, which to me has felt like a nonstop onslaught of diseases, bugs, rain, heat, wind, heat, humidity, heat, dryness, heat, dryness and more dryness, is about as helpful as my applying a Band-Aid to a torn-off arm stump.

As a trained master gardener and longtime horticulture writer, I am used to answering questions and offering suggestions based on time-tested research. I’m usually fine with that, except when the research seems questionable because it feels like someone who has never gardened in their life came up with the results. Or the study was funded by Monsanto or Bayer or some other entity with a vested interest in saying something crappy is actually great and totally safe.

But now there’s something new to chew on: We are living in uncharted, extraordinary times.

As our planet warms and we try to garden in increasingly unusual and erratic conditions, it seems only logical that the research we rely on needs to evolve, too. In some ways, I’d say we’re just winging it out here.

So, while it’s a good idea for gardeners to be aware of the commonly advised watering know-how, I think we also

By Meleah Maynard need to rely on our common sense and do what we can for our gardens, the earth and our spirits. (Please don’t email to say natives will solve all of these problems. They won’t.)

Here is some of the main oft-heard, research-based watering advice: • Water in the early morning or evening when temperatures are cooler to reduce evaporation.

• In general, lawns and established perennials, trees and shrubs need about 1–2 inches of water per week, including rainfall.

• Don’t use sprinklers, because overhead watering can lead to diseases that favor wet leaves.

• Don’t spritz things with the hose because those little sips of water don’t encourage plants to establish strong root systems they can depend on.

• Water established lawns, trees, shrubs and perennials only about once per week to give soil time to dry out in between waterings. This will motivate plants to develop stronger, deeper root system that the plants can rely on in dry times.

• Water newly planted things frequently for the first two or three years as they establish root systems.

22 Southwest Journal / Home Guide / September 2018

All of this advice is reasonably sound in many ways, and I believe the studies that suggest watering plants deeply and infrequently, rather than letting them wilt and dry up, helps keep them healthy from year to year. But I’ve also long thought that this watering advice isn’t super-practical for humans with busy lives and even moderately sized gardens.

Recent weather has only heightened that disconnect. For example, we don’t have an in-ground drip system, so I have always used an overhead sprinkler as best I can, and that rarely before breakfast or around happy hour. Even though I do water at least an inch per week, I have recently resorted to giving many plants a refreshing drink from the hose because I know it’s not good for them to be so stressed in these drought-like conditions.

In the last month, in an effort to sustain our gardens according to the watering rules I have mostly always followed, I have run up our water bill while worrying that I am single-handedly emptying out the Mississippi, and

still many plants look half-dead and Family Owned Pride zombie-like. Normally I find watering Integrity relaxing and enjoyable, but now it feels Mastery more like making rounds in a hospital, Trusted when in disasterso I have decided to go into triage mode. think pro master!

I’m letting go of the watering rules and focusing first on watering the trees Call Jim! and shrubs, which can easily succumb to stress and disease if they are not promasterplumbing.com watered well. How much to water You deserve to work with a vintage home Licensed Bonded Insured expert on your next remodeling project. depends on the age and size of the tree.

Over 29 Years Experience Find us on Houzz In general, newly planted trees need Lic. # 61664PM a couple of inches of water per week for the first couple of years. For older trees, before watering, measure the Home Restoration Services HOME 051916 12.indd 1 5/2/16 Pro 1:24Master PM Plumbing HOM 090618 12.indd 2 8/24/18 1:10 PM LICENSE # 1095 diameter of the trunk, place your hose 952-512-0110 anywhere inside the drip line (under Your Sign of Satisfaction roelofsremodeling.com the tree canopy) and let it run slowly (no gushing water) for one hour for every inch.

Remember, most tree roots are in the top 2 inches of soil. Ideally, you want to move the hose frequently when you water so you wet the roots all around the base of the tree inside the dripline.

Also on the triage watering list are fall-blooming perennials that pollinators depend on, like ligularia, Japanese anemone, asters, toad lily, turtlehead, boltonia and golden rod. Annuals Three generations of exceptional remodeling and renovating that require large amounts of water to look only moderately happy have of homes around the Lakes area and Southwest Minneapolis. been chucked into the compost bins.

And perennials that are sad, brown Roelofs Remodeling HOME 032218 H4.indd 1 2/28/18 1:03 PM and fried, like ginger, ferns, geraniums, lady’s mantle and a few other plants, have been cut to the ground for the season. I’ll cut down the rest as they brown, too.

I know it is way early to have done that, 4. To help prevent lower intelligence 7. To help prevent memory loss 1. To help prevent learning disabilities and I don’t know how it will affect their 8. To help prevent headaches 5. To help prevent hearing loss 2. To help prevent behavior issues overall health over time. But continuing 3. To help prevent diminished motor skills 6. To help prevent brain damage to water as I normally would feels too much like fighting Mother Nature, and that doesn’t seem right to me.

Today, there are over one million kids who have been poisoned by lead from old paint. Home repairs that I’m not sure how my gardens will fare create even a small amount of lead dust are enough to put your family at risk. If you live in a home or apartment that was built before 1978, make sure you renovate right with a contractor that is Lead-Safe in this changing world. All I know is Certified in accordance with the new EPA guidelines for any renovation or repair project. things are changing, and we’re going to have to change too.

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WHY YOU SHOULD HIRE A LEAD-SAFE CERTIFIED RENOVATION CONTRACTOR:

Meleah Maynard is a writer, editor and master gardener. For more gardening ideas and tips, visit her blog, which has been renamed Livin’ Thing, livinthing.com.

To find a Lead-Safe Certified contractor in your area, visit epa.gov/getleadsafe or call 800-424-LEAD.

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September 2018 / Home Guide / Southwest Journal 23