It seems that every year I have a major garden design project or two under way, and despite my many good intentions, garden maintenance seems to fall to the back burner. Well, I’ve promised myself that 2010 will, for me, be the ‘Year Of The Maintenance’. While I have a few small projects already planned… Read more »
What a Change
It’s been a busy summer what with putting in the new pool, a new garage and landscaping around the new areas. In addition, I took the opportunity to widen some other gardens while I was at it. View of Garden House and Pool In August after the landscaping is in. The new landscaping is virtually… Read more »
A Great Year For Potatoes
We harvested our first potatoes ever today easily finding a few new potatoes ranging from the size of a golf ball to the size of a tennis ball. It has certainly been a great year to grow potatoes. Despite mounding the potatoes three times in the beginning of the season the plants are a still… Read more »
Another Reason To Prune
I’ve been busy in the garden this past week pruning some shrubs and trees. Most of my summer blooming spirea have finished blooming and this year I gave them quite a severe pruning to control their size and encourage nice new foliage. In addition, I’ve pruned back some tall weigela branches. Pruning weigela is not… Read more »
House Wren Makes Himself At Home
What a thrill it was to watch what I think is a house wren make a home in one of my birdhouse gourds a couple of weeks ago. This gourd is right outside our kitchen, adjacent to the kitchen patio, so I enjoy it’s bubbly song and energetic bouncing back and forth each morning while… Read more »
Staking Tomatoes
Every year it’s the same question — what is the best way to stake up our tomatoes? While you can grow tomatoes on the ground, I prefer them staked up for several reasons. I think they produce more good tomatoes that way, the tomatoes are less likely to rot or get eaten by slugs, the… Read more »
The Peonies Are Hanging On
Despite a couple days of rain, the peonies are stilling blooming well. Peonies are my favourite garden perennial. I mean, what more could you ask for — fantastic enormous blooms, easy care once established, fairly disease resistant and a green foliage plant that looks great most of the remainder of the season. While I place… Read more »
The Year Of The Aphid
In the science fiction book ‘The Day Of The Triffids’ plants eat meat, walk around and end up attacking everyone. Well I wish the plants in my garden could do something similar to the aphids attacking them this year. Populations are quite high already this year with almost all of my summer blooming Spirea showing… Read more »
Treating Boxwood Psyllid Organically
Fighting pests in a pesticide free Ontario can certainly be a challenge. I have found that one of the key solutions is to know your pest, learn it’s life cyle and investigate which organic solution might work. It certainly does make us have to think before we spray which is a good thing. My boxwood… Read more »
Red-bellied Woodpecker. A Rare Sight in Ontario.
I was thrilled to see this Red-bellied Woodpecker at our feeder this winter. I’ve had a challenge getting a picture of him as he stays for only a short period of time each visit. The Red-bellied Woodpecker is one of the rarest of Ontario woodpeckers, preferring mature deciduous forests, primarily Carolinian forest, for its habitat.… Read more »