You may have noticed that I’ve been away for a very long time. But, I’m back. That could be bad, it could be not so bad. Time will tell!

The reasons for my absence are varied. One is time. Or lack of time more correctly. We’ve given the interior of our home a major facelift this winter. – lots of painting, plastering, ceiling work, trim etc, etc, etc. It’s been difficult to find time (energy) to blog and work on the house. And now, all I can say is, if I never see another paint brush again it will be too soon!!

Another reason is all the spammers out there that made my blogging life hell for a while. I can’t believe they actually believe that anyone they spam would actually accept their spammed comments, let alone read/open them!!! How stupid can they be?? I guess some people have nothing better to do.

In addition to the above reasons, I briefly (?) went through gardening burn out. Yes, what I thought would never happen, did! I got tired of gardening. I got tired of weeds, tired of flowers, tired of shrubs, tired of grass, tired of watering, tired of writing about gardening.  Guess all that’s understandable since I’ve been doing it personally and/or professionally for most of my adult life. And, since arthritis became my constant companion, gardening is no where near as easy as it was just a few short years ago. But this year, I’m ready to go at the gardens full tilt.

We have many plans for our gardens this year; new projects to start, old ones to finish. Today, I’ll be starting some seeds. Not in the greenhouse this time, but in my plant stand. That should work out a little better than previous attempts since our cats are older now and a little less curious. Again, the seeds I’ll be starting are varieties that are not commonly found at the local greenhouses.  The other seeds I’ll be sowing are for plants that are too expensive to purchase finished.

Among the gardening tasks I’ve let slide are the cuttings I’ve rooted. They are well past the potting up point, but over the next day or two, they will finally make into soil filled pots. While I’m potting up cuttings, I have a number of houseplants that are crying to be transplanted into bigger pots, so that task will be taken care of too.

Powdery mildew had infected the rosemary plants I overwintered. Rather than resort to chemicals, I trimmed the infected stems off, and rinsed the plants under the tap. That method worked quite well, (I repeated the treatment three times) and now, six weeks later, there is only a very slight trace of powdery mildew left. One more time should do the trick.

Enough of writing about gardening for one day. It’s time to actual do some.

Catch you later!!

THE ENGLISH GARDEN  – What can I say? Being raised with “English gardens”, for myself, this magazine epitomizes gardening as it should be. It is chock full of fabulous photos that will leave you practically drooling. And not just over the gardens, but the beautiful character homes, country manors and yes, castles.  While most of the gardens featured are well beyond the financial reach of the average person, The English Garden is an excellent inspirational tool. It is not too heavy in the how-to’s of gardening. Plant profiles are standard in every issue, however it often features plants that are only a fantasy for many North American gardeners. That said, with a bit of research and a willingness to substitute, you can tweak the elements you would like to recreate and grow a garden every bit as beautiful as the ones in the magazine that inspired you.  The English Garden is published six times a year. Visit their website via the link provided on our website under Worth Looking Into.

GARDEN GATE MAGAZINE – Now this is a magazine that seems to do it all! It inspires, it profiles plants, it teaches you how to garden, how to landscape, how to grow plants, and it offers tips from its readers and its experts. It is full of fantastic photos that make you think “I want that”. All of its articles are well written and directions are easy to understand. Experienced gardeners as well as new ones will find Garden Gate Magazine interesting and helpful. If I have one complaint about Garden Gate Magazine it’s that it features gardens and landscaping that most people can only dream of affording.   However, it often shows you how to do some of the work yourself, making the landscaping projects more affordable. Garden Gate Magazine is a definite read! It is published six times a year and has one of the best websites. Visit their site by clicking on the link under Worth Looking Into.

A few of the new shrubs waiting to be heeled in

The news gets even better. It doesn’t have to cost anywhere near that to landscape your property! The catch, if you can call it that, is to do the work yourself and, keep your landscaping well maintained, yourself.

Many people think landscaping is beyond their capabilities, but they would be surprised how much they can accomplish with a small budget and the willingness to get their hands dirty. If you are already groaning at the mere thought of landscaping, let the increased sales value of your home be your inspiration.

The key is, keep it simple! Do a bit of research at your local garden centre so you invest in the right plants – ones that grow well in the type of soil type (clay, loam, sandy etc.) on your property and, ones that are appropriate for the amount of sunlight available.  Purchase the largest plants your budget will allow. Nothing looks odder, or says “quick fix” more than tiny shrubs planted around a large house.

Start at the front of your home and think curb appeal.  Add simple entrance gardens or foundation plantings. A few containers placed on the porch or at the end of the walkways give a welcoming feel.

Remove dead, dying or overgrown shrubs, trees and plants.

Trim the shrubs and trees to give them shape and remove dead branches and stems. 

 Keep the plants watered and the beds weeded.

Sweep the sidewalks and porch daily. You never know when someone will drive by just to take a look, so you need to grab their attention by presenting a well maintained property.

One of the most important things you can do to keep your property looking its best, is mow the lawn regularly and at the right height – two and a half to three inches will make your lawn look lush.

Once the front of the house is landscaped, move around to the back. Tidy up the backyard. Remove any materials you’ve been “storing” for a while. Pick up the kids toys and clean up after your pets. Repair pet damage in the lawn by covering the area with topsoil and planting grass seed. If the deck or patio needs cleaning a pressure washer and plain water does wonders.

Place more container gardens on the patio or deck or add a border of annuals around the deck or patio. Keep the gardens in the back yard weeded. Edging the beds will give them a polished look.

Curb appeal is what grabs buyers attention first and gets them to come through the door. By sprucing up your landscape and keeping it maintained, you’ll have a solid edge over other sellers.

The Shade Garden 2007

This small village of ours is about to enter the twentieth (yes, twentieth!) century! So long septic systems and hello sewer system! After years of planning, and construction, the municipal sewage system will is nearing completion. Now that homeowners have recovered from the shock of the rather hefty bill we each now owe the Municipality, we get to hand over more cash for the privilege of hooking up to the system and disabling our septic systems. I say privilege, but truth be know, property owners are not being given a choice. Hook up or be hooked up! I’m not complaining, not in the least. I for one am happy to be saying farewell to septic systems and drainage ditches that are ripe with the smell of raw waste. But (you had to know there would be a “but”), what distresses me more than the cost is that fact that my shade garden is about to be severely damaged! Ouch!

This weekend has been spent clearing the area for the sewer hook up. Unfortunately, that area is right through the middle of the shade garden and across the front garden. Damages to the front garden I can live with. It was brutalized last year when we had a new roof installed. Knowing the sewers were coming in, we didn’t bother fixing it. As for the front walkway that has to be removed to accommodate the sewer hook up, well, I think I should send a thank you note to the Municipality. That path has been an eyesore for years, and this is just the impetus we needed to reposition it and plant grass seed and shrubs where the walkway is now.

But the shade garden! That is breaking my heart! Today we removed the solid board fence and gate that protected the shade plants from the late afternoon sun and provided much needed privacy to the back garden. We also cut back to ground level the silver leaf dogwood that stood beside the gate. Being a dogwood, it will begin growing again shortly, and by this time next year, you’ll never even know it was levelled.

Next weekend, I must begin digging up all the plants that are in the way of the sewer lines being installed later this month. Ferns, hostas, Solomon’s seal, Jack-in-the pulpit, astible, aquelgia, violets, tradescantia and more, will all be uprooted and put into pots until the fall. That is the easy part. The difficult part will be finding a place with enough shade to protect them throughout our hot, sunny summer. And where they will not be in the direct line of fire from the feral felines and free-roaming Fido’s our village is (in)famous for.

When moving a garden, either temporarily or to a new property, there are things that can be done to insure success:

• Dig a large soil ball so there are enough roots to support the plant while it’s in its pot

• Select a pot size that is just big enough to acommodate the root ball. Too small a pot and the roots will wind around the pot. Too big and the plant will send out far too many new roots.

• Use a good quality, sterilized potting mix. Do not use garden soil which may contain insects and/or diseases. The plants may not have the strength to fend them off after being uprooted.

• Fertilize with a water soluble transplant fertilizer (10-52-10). This fertilizer targets the root systems of plants, making them stronger so they recover more quickly from their move.

• Cut back the foliage by at least one third so the plant will be able to sustain itself more easily.

• Keep the newly potted plants watered! They will be in shock after being dug up, which stresses the plants. Don’t add to the problem by forgetting to water them.

• Try to hold over the potted plants in the same light conditions as they were originally growing in.

• Protect the plants from the drying effects of the wind

Suckers waiting to be trimmed off a main branch

More correctly, suckers “sprout” every minute.

You may think your tree is filling out quite nicely, but on closer examination, most of the new branches are shooting straight towards the sun. Those are suckers, also referred to as water sprouts. You may even find suckers appearing on the lawn, some several feet away from the main trunk. And they are not good.

Suckers grow rapidly and are rather weak compared to the rest of the branches. You will find them on limbs, around the base of the tree or on the main trunk. Because of their tendency to grow quickly, they rob the rest of the tree of valuable nutrients, weakening the entire tree in the process. Water sprouts that are left to on the tree, put a great deal of weight and pressure on the limb it sprouted from. That weakens the entire limb, inviting cracked bark or breakage. The cracked bark is an open invitation to insects and disease, and a broken limb is a safety hazard. Therefore suckers and water sprouts must be removed while they are still small.

To remove suckers, simply cut them off with sharp pruners or a pruning saw at the base of the sucker. Try a cut as close to the main branch as possible without cutting into that branch. Keep the cut as straight and as small as possible. The larger the cut, the more inner bark is exposed. The more inner bark exposed, the easier it is for diseases and insects to attack your tree.

Removing suckers can actually stimulate the production of even more suckers or water sprouts. Then it becomes a something you will need to do two or three times a year. An application of pruning paste helps curb the appearance of new suckers.

Silver Leaf Dogwood planted correct distance from building

• We’ve all seen them – shrubs that grow against a house, twisting the plant into a grotesque monster that hides windows and damages siding. Often, people only consider the mature height of a shrub or tree when the mature width should also be considered. Plant shrubs far enough away from building foundations to allow the shrub to reach its mature width without being crammed against a wall. Not only do the shrubs benefit, but you won’t have to worry about the roots of the shrub damaging drainage tiles buried underground.

• Planting in too shallow a hole. Container grown shrubs should be planted so the top of the soil ball is at the same height as the ground. The soil ball should not stick up above the soil level. That exposes the roots to air causing them to dry out, which leads to a plant that struggles.

• Planting too deep is just as damaging. That smothers the stem of the plant, affecting its ability to send nutrients and water to the leaves. It also increases the potential for rotting of the stem which kills the plants.

• Planting the wrong plant. Plants that like some shade, protection from the wind, and moist soil will not last long in an area of full sun that is dry and windy. The same is true of planting a shrub in the shade, when its requirements are full sun and well drained soil. .Read the label at the nursery or do your homework online so you know you are selecting the right plant.

• Incorrect watering. When planting, make sure you water it in well. A slow trickle of water applied for thirty minutes, is much better than a rapid soaking. By watering slowly, you give the root ball time to absorb the water. Soaking will cause the water to drain away into the subsoil and not enough will be retained by the plant to give it a good start in its new home. New plantings should be watered every day for about a week. Then you can cut back to twice a week until the plant is showing evidence of new growth.

New Dawn preparing to flower

Yesterday was absolutely beautiful here! Sunny, warm (over 50F), a few clouds now and then, a good breeze to help dry the soil. Amazing for early March!

A tour of our garden revealed many surprises. Tulips, daffodils, narcissus and Siberian irises are all peaking through the soil. Under the mulch of leaves, perennials were greening up in anticipation of more warm days ahead. The buds on the trees, especially the maple, are beginning to swell. All signs of what’s to come.

A very nice surprise came when the roses and chestnut showed no signs of being winter pruned by our resident rabbits. I think we can in part, thank the large bird population in our garden who, are very messy eaters. They spill as much bird feed on the ground as they eat, I swear! And the rabbits eat the spillings.

Not so nice is all the litter that has been buried under the snow. Why people cannot throw their garbage into a trash can is beyond me! Pop cans, drink cups, chip bags, papers all scattered around the property.  The other nasty, we found are the land mines left by dogs. Poop and scoop is a foreign concept to some of the dog owners here. But, I’m not getting into all of that!

Since it is just the first week of March, I resisted the temptation to begin the garden clean up. The mulch was left in place and shrubs were left un-pruned as I know more cold weather, and snow, will come. One thing I did do, and it broke my heart to do it, was cut back our “New Dawn” climbing rose. Yes, my pretty climber that reached over the porch roof, is now a mere ten inches high. Why you ask? Read on!

The rose has to be moved to allow easier (and safer) access to the porch which will be undergoing some renovations this year. In preparation for that move, I took the precautionary measure of cutting it back before its leaves began to sprout. In theory, having less growth to maintain will make transplanting easier on the rose. When it is moved to its new home, the rose can concentrate its energy on developing new roots, rather than dividing its energy between new roots, new leaves and flower buds. It will likely be sometime in April before the “New Dawn” is transplanted.  I will wait until I know it has just broken dormancy, as evidenced by the swelling buds of this year’s leaves.

All in all, yesterday was a delightful taste of spring. A kind of day that gets the inspiration and imagination going, A taste of warmer days ahead and another gardening season that will be full of colour, fragrance and beauty.

Annuals grown from seed by homeowner

If you’ve never started seeds indoors, here are some tips to help you succeed.

Sterilize! Use sterilized seed starting mix (not potting mix or garden soil), and sterilized flats and pots. If you are re-using some of last year’s flats, wash them with a bit of bleach in warm soapy water, rinse well and allow them to dry completely.

Organize! Have everything ready before you begin sowing the seeds – flats, pots, labels, marker, spray bottle of room temperature water.

 Fill the containers with the seeding mix. Water with warm (not hot) water. Allow it to drain and water again if necessary. The seeding mix should be moist right to the bottom of the container.

Make up labels. Using a waterproof marker, write the name and variety of the seeds on the front of the label. Write the date you sowed the seeds on the back.

Not all seeds germinate under the same conditions. Some require light to germinate, some complete darkness, some a light covering of starting mix.  Some need to be treated to a period of cold before sowing (place those is the freezer or fridge prior to sowing). The back of the seed packets will give that information. Separate the seed packets into different piles according to their germination preferences. Sow seeds with the same requirements, in the same flat.

Sow the seeds according to the instructions on the seed pack or in the seed catalogue.

Insert labels after each variety is sown.

If you are covering the seed bed with starting mix, mist with the top of the seed bed with the spray bottle. The seed bed should be moist, not wet.  

If the instructions state complete darkness is required for germination, cover the flat with black plastic. Otherwise, cover with a clear plastic flat cover.

Set the flats in a warm, draft free space to germinate.

Keep the tops of the seed flats moist by misting with the spray bottle. Depending on how hot and dry your house is, you may have to mist the flats two or three times a day. Note: If you use a watering can, you run the risk of flooding the seed bed and washing away the seeds.

The minute you notice the seeds have begun to germinate, remove the sheets of plastic if used, and replace with a clear cover.

The closer the seedlings are to the light source, the better. Too far from the light, the seedlings will become spindly. Avoid placing the flats in direct sun as the seedlings, being very tender at this stage, can fry or become sunburned. Keep the flats misted.

When the seedlings have two sets of true leaves on them, fertilize them with a 10-52-10 starter fertilizer applied at half strength. (At this point you can begin using a watering can.) Fertilize once a week, until the seedlings are growing well.

When the seedlings begin to reach the top of the plastic cover, remove it.

When the seedlings have several sets of leaves on them, switch to 20-20-20 water soluble fertilizer for two applications.

After that, begin using 15-30-15 fertilizer on flowering plants and 20-20-20 on foliage plants.  All fertilizer applications should be at half strength.

If you notice flower buds forming, resist the temptation to let them develop. Until the seedlings are ready to plants outdoors, you want their energy concentrated on producing strong foliage and roots, not flowers.

Good air circulation, clean containers, and sterilized seeding mix all help prevent damping off and other diseases from infecting your seedlings. As always, avoid wetting the foliage when you water.