I was looking for a different outdoor decoration for our front entrance this year and stumbled upon the idea to build my own Christmas tree topiary. I usually use greenery from the garden center and around the yard to decorate the two urns on either side of our doorway. While this looks nice I was… Read more »

I’m not very good at planning plant colour combinations. I’m more of a shape and structure person. I can visualize the beds shapes, pathways and plant shapes that I want but often have more difficulty when it comes to combining colours. Maybe that is why I do not have a lot of perennials in my… Read more »

Kolkwitzia amabilis is commonly called Beauty Bush, and you can sure see why. This is probably my favourite flowering shrub in the garden right now. With arching branches amassed with pink flowers in June (about the same time as the peonies start to bloom), Kolkwitzia needs a lot of room to show off. I have… Read more »

The focus of my landscaping over the past few years has been to develop most of the garden structure and fill in the beds with the bones and highlights. That has meant that most of my planting activities have been around trees, shrubs and some perennials for colour. In the back of my mind has… Read more »

I’ve worked at planting a lot of trees and shrubs native to the Ontario Carolinian forest in my gardens over the past few years. Some have been more successful than others, begging the question as to whether our not our changed habitat and environment can easily support what were once in abundance in our area.… Read more »

While I am very happy with my overall garden plan, I am forever tweaking spots that, despite good planning, just don’t work. In 2006 I planned and planted my Kitchen Garden Patio. Part of the plan called for some Little Henry Sweetspire (Itea Virginica) to surround part of the Kitchen Patio. I was attracted by… Read more »

Well, I’m part way through my spring vegetable garden planning. I know what I am going to plant and I’ve prepared a garden layout based on my crop rotation schedule. The next step was to determine my planting schedule. There is a lot of information out there on seed starting schedules. A nice one is… Read more »

We all know that crop rotation is critical to a healthy vegetable garden. Crop rotation helps reduce the risk of insects and diseases as well as manages the fertility of your garden soil. While the concepts are not challenging, actually sitting down and planning out a rotation schedule can be a bit frustrating. Everywhere I… Read more »

It’s time to order my seeds for the vegetable garden again this year. While I enjoy browsing through the many seed catalogues that come in the mail, I tend to order most of my seeds on-line and this year is no exception. I was even able to place my order on-line for the more unusual… Read more »