Professional Gardening Tips
Trees are the most long-lived growing features in any garden. Once they are well established, it is very difficult to move them; pruning them if they become too big is difficult, needing skilled workmanship, and is never a permanent solution to the problems of excessive roots and over-extensive shading that arise. Since Victorian times the gardener’s problems in tree-planting have […]
In spring any color is welcome, but I sometimes think that we end up with a glut of yellows, especially when the daffodils are out. Fortunately, Mother Nature gave us contrast in the form of a few blue flowers that bloom at the same time. The best ones, lungwort (Pulmonaria sps.), false or perennial forget-me-not (Brunnera macrophylla) and true forget-me-not […]
Gardeners practiced the concept of the three R’s: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, long before it became trendy. People who grow things have a special relationship with the land and they naturally take steps to take care of it. Take composting for example, they have always known that recycled plant material was beneficial to the soil. Nothing from my grandmother’s garden or […]
Collectors everywhere know what it is like to have a quest—an ongoing hunt for the one little porcelain box or wheat penny or 1950’s lunchbox that will make it all worthwhile. A good part of the joy of collecting in the search for the missing pieces that will fill in the collection. For some people the hunt is everything, and […]
ASPLENIUM—Spleenwort (Asple’nium). Ferns which are great favorites for cultivation out of doors and under glass. The cultivated hardy kinds are natives of North America, the others grow wild in tropical Africa, India and other countries. They belong to the Polypody family, Polypodiaceae. Asplenium is derived from a, not, and splen, spleen, and refers to the medicinal properties these Ferns were […]
How to Grow Phlox From the Greek phlego, to burn, or phlox, a flame, referring to the bright colours of the flowers (Polemoniaceae). A genus of nearly 70 species of hardy, half-hardy, annual and perennial herbaceous plants all, with one exception, natives of North America and Mexico. Almost all the most important species are from the eastern United States, though […]
The description bedding plant is not an exact one and only means that the plant is grown elsewhere in some quantity and then planted out as a temporary occupant of the bed; this being known as `bedding out’. The bedding plant in private gardens has, in general, had its day, since this style of gardening entails much expense. In public […]
Japanese Maples Landscape Planting If your soil is heavy, it should be an amended with sand, bark, or other material to improve drainage, and the soil should be mounded above grade to assure good drainage. Maples are very adaptable to soil types, so if drainage is good, the addition of compost for nutrients and tilth is all that is needed. […]
Gardeners today with busy schedules want less work in their gardens, and thus a need is established for plants that do just that. Their focus is more on leaf texture and foliage colour, rather than blooms and pruning schedules, consequently plants that don’t require a lot of care and maintenance are sought after. Self sufficient ponds, shade gardens and woodland […]
Gardening is such an integral part of my life, that I can’t imagine not doing it. That’s why I cringe inside whenever I hear someone say, “If we have a drought and water restrictions this spring and summer, I just won’t plant my garden.” Drought and water restrictions may force us to act differently. It may even force us to […]