Peter Thomas Bowyer
Designer, Builder, Aesthetic Pruner - A Gardener For All Seasons
California Landscape Contractor 712862
CLASSES AND EVENTS
Peter Thomas Bowyer leading a hands-on pruning workshop at Hakone Estate & Gardens, 21000 Big Basin Way, Saratoga, CA.
Evergreens
in the Japanese Garden
Saturday
October 4th. 10 AM – 1 PM at Hakone
Estate & Gardens.
Fee $35. To register send a check Payable to Peter Bowyer, P.O. Box 8031, Emeryville CA 94662 or email RSVP.
An introduction to the character uses and care of woody evergreens in Japanese Gardens. Learn planting design, growing environment, physiology, life cycle, varieties, design uses, buying, planting, care and problems of evergreens. Learn holistic integration of aesthetics, horticulture, and problem solving, especially how to prioritize seemingly contradictory information. Class meets in the Cultural Exchange Center. Lecture, demonstration and tour of the garden.
Japanese
Maple Aesthetics & Arboriculture
Saturday, November
1st, 10 AM – 1 PM
at Hakone Estate
& Gardens.
Fee $35. To register send a check Payable to Peter Bowyer, P.O. Box 8031, Emeryville CA 94662 or email RSVP.
An introduction to the character, uses and care of Japanese Maples. Mostly lecture. Topics include: growing environment, physiology, life cycle, varieties, design uses, buying, planting, care and problems of Japanese Maples in the ground or in containers. This class will teach holistic integration of aesthetics, sound horticulture, and problem solving, especially how to prioritize seemingly contradictory information.
Class meets in the Cultural Exchange Center. Lecture, demonstration and tour of the garden.
ON-GOING LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES:
Learn Landscape Construction
Hands-on
Join Peter Bowyer and the Oakland-Fukuoka Sister City Association at our Torii Landscape, located in the Lakeside Garden Center, Lakeside Park, Oakland, CA. Learn skills you can use and talk shop with a pro while volunteering. Saturday mornings workdays are scheduled for August 23, September 20, October25 and December 13 from 9AM - 1PM.
Past venues include:
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San Francisco Landscape Garden Show
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University of California Santa Cruz Agroecology Farm & Garden
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Merritt College
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Hakone Gardens
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Golden State Bonsai Collection-North
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Nurseries
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Rockridge Public Library, Oakland
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Albany Public Library
ON-GOING LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES:
Pruning Cascade-form Conifers
Aesthetic
Pruning for Fruit Trees
A
Japanese touch to Native Garden Design
Rendering California's natural landscapes using principles of Japanese garden design. "You should design each part of the garden tastefully, recalling your memories of how nature presented itself for each feature…Think over the famous places of scenic beauty throughout the land, and…design your garden with the mood of harmony, modeling after the general air of such places.” The Sakuteiki, c. 11th century, Japan.
Traditional Japanese Garden Styles Slideshow
Origins and evolution of traditional Japanese garden styles: Boating style, Dry Garden, Tea Garden, Stroll Garden and Courtyard Garden. Emphasis on the unity of architecture and garden in the traditional Japanese living environment. Peter draws on visits to over 50 gardens in Japan.
Summer
Pruning and Seven Other Ways to Dwarf Trees
Why do we dwarf trees? Many signature trees grow too big for the space they occupy. Some effects can’t be had with smaller trees. Dwarf cultivars of sufficient size are twice the cost and hard to find, while smaller specimens grow too slowly, leading people to plant the less expensive, faster growing large varieties. Then they grow too big – what can be done?
Pruning Wisterias
Hands-on learning with Peter Bowyer and the Merritt College Pruning Club at the Oakland Public Library’s Rockridge Branch, 5366 College Avenue. SUSPENDED PENDING RESOLUTION OF INSURANCE COVERAGE. Event normally held every year on the second Sunday in September, from 10 AM – 4 PM. Requirements: hand-shears drinking water and warm weather attire.
Japanese Design, California Native Plants and Pruning: Case Study
Slide show and discussion on recreating the landscape of Oakland CA using California plant communities, Japanese garden design and botanical analogs in the Oakland Sister City Garden in Fukuoka, Japan (See Fukuoka page).
The Intersection of Pruning and Design: Case Study
Slideshow and chalkboard discussion of how the arrangement, line, form, mass, void, color and texture of trees contributes to an overall garden designed by the late Katsuo Saito. http://www.jgarden.org/biographies.asp?!D=120
Aesthetic Pruning of Mediterranean and California Native Woody Plants
Identifying and glorifying the essence of selected species from the world's Mediteranean climates.
Grass-cycling Workshops
for Professional and Public Agency Gardeners
Soil Management for Organic Gardeners
Improving soil's physical and chemical properties with organic and sustainable tillage, fertilization, soil amendments, crop rotation, inter-planting, irrigation, cover cropping, green manures and mulching.
French-Intensive Vegetable Gardening
How to get the most out of limited land using techniques developed in 19th century France: Double digging, hot-beds, enclosures, intercropping, companion planting. How to make best use of your site's topography, exposure, soil characteristics and climate. Hands-on learning or demonstration of double-digging technique.
Composting
Classroom and hands-on learning how to compost. Learn how to kill weed seeds and diseases, volatilize toxins and leech salts. Learn to mix variable ingredients. Building and turning free-standing and containerized piles. Sheet composting.