AskTony :: Expert Gardening Advice

Article for Week of: November 2nd, 2009
Frost Damage Protection
Frost protection is much simpler here and only necessary for a few species. Many sensitive species may be successfully grown without protection if strategically located in protected areas of the garden, such as under eaves or larger trees, if sun ... Read More..

Tony Tomeo's Garden Creation Wins At The San Francisco Flower & Garden Show

The 2009 San Francisco Flower & Garden Show is said to be the 3rd largest in the country and 5th in the world, and low and behold, Tony Tomeo’s garden creation won a Bronze Award for overall “Best Of Show.” Designed and built in partnership with Robert Lenney, the 710-square foot garden displayed sustainability in every sense of the word.

The name of the garden was “The Sustainable Garden,” a fitting title for the San Francisco Flower & Garden Show that promoted the 2009 theme: “Sustainable Spaces: Beautiful Places.”

The core components in the garden featured an American traditional wooden farm windmill, sustainable native plants, a live demonstration rain harvesting system and solar harvesting system. The concept portrayed rain collected from the garden tool shed roof to keep the rain storage tank filled in the winter time, and the windmill mechanically pumped the water out of the ground to keep the rain storage tank filled in the summertime, thereby demonstrating how water can be supplied year-round without the need of electricity or the local water agency. The water is then gravity fed to an irrigation drip line to water the plants.

Other sustainable elements in the garden included a new style of a two-sided decorative Corsican block wall and several solar path lights that bordered the meandering decomposed granite pathway. To top off a hard day's work in the garden, two bottles of wine from Parducci Winnery made a pleasant addition on a wooden table next to a wooden bench in the middle of the pathway. Parducci Wines are notably the most sustainable red and white wines in the country.

Both ABC and NBC Bay Area network affiliates featured stories on the SF Garden Show and Rain Harvesting Systems (provided by John Lewis of Rain Harvesting Systems).

Tony Tomeo's Garden Creation Wins At The San Francisco Flower & Garden Show

The name of the garden was “The Sustainable Garden,” a fitting title for the San Francisco Flower & Garden Show that promoted the 2009 theme: “Sustainable Spaces: Beautiful Places.”

Both ABC and NBC Bay Area network affiliates featured stories on the SF Garden Show and Rain Harvesting Systems (provided by John Lewis of Rain Harvesting Systems).

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KFBK1530am with Farmer Fred 1

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