Gardening That Grows With Me
While we may not have had record snow falls this year, this is the first year in a long time I can remember almost constant snow cover on the ground. I can almost hear the garden purring in delight. It’s … Read More
Living where we do we have come to enjoy the sight of deer grazing in our back bush. Having said that, I must admit to taking some offense when the deer completely chow down on a particular garden favourite (mine, … Read More
Moving into our new home in 2004 I was filled with great excitement at having over 2 acres to garden. Building our gardens over the past few years, I have been at times excited, at times challenged and more often … Read More
With an abundance of rocks, both large and small, available to me free in a lot near us I have become quite addicted to adding rocks in my landscape. I have used rocks as edging between the beds and grass, … Read More
I used to think that vegetable gardens had to be tucked away somewhere as they looked rather ugly next to their beautiful cousins in the flower gardens. It turns out some vegetable plants can really be rather decorative while they … Read More
July is the month when we are most rewarded for all of our hard work in spring with an abundance of summer colour. So many shrubs and perennials bloom during July that I fear if you blink you miss something. … Read More
Ask any gardener and they will likely tell you they often rail against the weather. Well this year has been a year full of all kinds. We’ve finally hit our first extended heat wave which has driven me in most … Read More
We often consider a good garden performer, whether perennial or shrub, to be a good garden specimen when it provides an abundance of blooms. Yet sometimes, just a few over-sized blooms can make a dramatic statement in the landscape. Three … Read More
It has been a great gardening season so far this year. Although we have had some dry and hot spells, we have had a fair amount of moisture this year and the temperatures have been a little cooler than normal … Read More
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 … Read More
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 … Read More
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 … Read More
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. … Read More
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 … Read More
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 … Read More
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 … Read More
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, … Read More
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 … Read More