I am now into week 9 of following an organic lawn care program. To recap, on April 17 I added organic matter to my one acre of lawn with the hopes of increasing the amount of micro-organisms in the soil as this is the key to a successful organic lawn care program. On May 5… Read more »
A Little TLC Goes A Long Way
Last spring a neighbour gave me some azaleas she had dug up and left in pots, bare rooted for about 6 weeks. They barely survived the winter in her garden I suspect because they did not have a chance to root properly as they were planted in a very open, windy location. Never one to… Read more »
Weather Can Be Fun
Being a gardener I am always watching the weather, wishing of course I could control it. I know I can check the weather instantly on the internet but that gives me results for the nearest airport, several miles from where we live. But what are the conditions like in my own backyard? Yes OK, I… Read more »
My Carolinian Garden
Having spent some time researching trees for our property, and in particular my woodland areas, I have been on a quest to add trees and shrubs native to the Carolinian Forest with a particular interest in those native to Ontario. Although I do not plan to limit myself to just native plant material, there are… Read more »
Drip Irrigation Saves Time and Water
Every year seems to be getting dryer and dryer. Watering the vegetable garden has always been a chore I have not enjoyed as I never seem to have enough time. This means my plants don’t get watered when they should or as often as they should. So this year I decided we would install a… Read more »
The Soil Test Is In
One of the starting points of any organic lawn care program is getting to know your soil. A soil test is a useful tool that indicates the acidity (pH), the presence of main nutrients (nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium), micronutrients (magnesium and calcium), salt saturation and organic matter. It will point out any important deficiencies which… Read more »
Another Woodland
One of my objectives this year was to reduce some of the lawn expanse in the yard. Although I love a nice lawn, some areas were just too large and open. Plus with our recent trend to dry hot summers and problems with japanese beetles it’s getting harder to maintain a lush lawn without too… Read more »
Building a Stone Fence From Fieldstone
A large part of our back yard faces a natural bush which is great except for the invasive grape vine and other invasive weeds. We have spent many hours pulling vines out of trees, cutting it back, digging it up, but of course wherever we stop there is more and it just keeps creeping in.… Read more »
Creating A Woodland
The back of our property is bordered by what is largely a scrub bush and a 2 acre or so ‘sinkhole’ which receives local water runoff. My hopes are to turn the scrub brush into a woodland which will include some native Ontario trees and shrubs. In other areas along the back of our property,… Read more »