3 stealable garden ideas from Oregon’s King Estate

 Jessie Russell / King Estate Winery

 At King Estate Winery in Oregon’s Willamette Valley, the scenic vineyards, restaurant, and tasting room are only part of the story. This place is a must-see for gardeners.  Among its 26 acres of organic gardens and orchards (which deliver crops for the estate’s restaurant, are great ideas to steal for your own garden. Here are three…

Kathleen N. Brenzel / Sunset Publishing

1. Globes of lavender 

Sheared each October to control growth, these lavender plants (Lavandula angustifolia ‘Buena Vista’) form neat patterns on a gentle slope overlooking Willamette Valley. The plants get pruned again in late spring or early summer as well. “Prune this variety after first bloom and you’ll get a second, lighter bloom later in the year, says Jessie Russell, garden manager at King Estate.

Kathleen N. Brenzel / Sunset Publishing

2. Perfect pairing 

Blazing like a bonfire, this shrub combo matches fall foliage with berries. Orange-red berries stud the long, arching branches of Cotoneaster horizontals, while the leaves of smoke tree (Cotinus coggygria ‘Purpureus’), behind, are turning vivid shades of orange and bronze.

Kathleen N. Brenzel / Sunset Publishing

3. Hedge play

Edging the winery’s South Terrace, a low hedge of Japanese holly (Ilex crenata ‘Convexa’) frames the two-toned hedge behind, which gardener Jessie calls “a happy accident.” A pair of red barberries (Berberis thunbergii atropurpurea) flank a green (and well-pruned) Osmanthus delavayi.   

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