It pains me to see customers spending hundreds of dollars on new plants and simultaneously refusing to spend a few more on a bag or two of compost and a box of starter fertilizer. These two items are not unnecessary “add-ons” that the retailer is just trying to add to the sale, they are critical components of a successful transplanting process - or as I like to refer to them as “plant insurance”. Unless you have phenomenal soil, you should always add compost and starter fertilizers when you are planting new plants. Here is why…
May is, without a doubt, the primary month for planting up our containers. In the garden center you will find an endless supply of annuals and perennials ready to be creatively combined, for what will hopefully be a summer-long display of blooms. But to be successful (as in “over the top” successful) with our pots, we need to pay attention to a few details. Here are my thoughts on “growing in” containers…
May is high season in the garden center, when all levels of gardeners venture out for their annual spring ritual of adding some color to their yards. Whatever level of gardener we might happen to be, I think it is safe to say that we all get the same rush of endorphins whenever we interject colorful plants into our gardens. It is a feel-good kind of activity…
April is typically the best month in our region to overhaul our bedraggled lawns after a long, dark and wet winter. By this time of year, the moss has made huge strides and the dandelions are in full bloom. Keeping a healthy and attractive lawn doesn’t have to be an enormous amount of work, nor does it have to be…
Summer-blooming bulbs, like Lilies, Dahlias and Gladiolus (to name just a few), have a very warm spot in my heart. I have fond memories as a child of planting Glads and coming home from school every day to check their progress, feeling the stems for potential flower buds, until finally they would emerge into their glorious colors. It was absolute magic for a youngster such as myself. You too can experience those same feelings (no matter what your age), simply by…
When you have been gardening for over 60 years, like I have, you see a lot of trends and fads come and go. A recent trip down memory lane jogged a few for me around the subject of growing vegetables. Two that I remember well are French Intensive Gardening (or Biodynamic Gardening), and Square Foot Gardening. Here’s a little background…
I am feeling a bit philosophical today, so bear with me. Last week I finally bit the bullet and got into the garden for my spring cleanup. I had purposely left everything in the fall to die back naturally, as normally happens in nature. In retrospect, I think it was a good idea as it provided lots of visual interest throughout the entire winter. But alas, the time has come to remove the dead and rotting foliage from my perennials and evaluate just exactly what survived and what needed to be replaced. Here is what I learned…
And so, it begins again. Another gardening season is upon us and it is time to get off our proverbial butts and venture out into the cold abyss of our gardens to start the ritual of gardening once again. Up to this point I have to admit that I have been dragging my feet, but there is no turning back now…
The Golfing Gardener
Trevor Cameron
I am sure many of you, like me, are battling the seemingly endless procession of rabbits invading your garden. In my landscape, the cute little furry destructors are there every morning to send me off to work, and then there to welcome me home. The main perpetrators are usually…