The leaves are down and gone but the flowers keep coming sweet alyssum, wax begonia, the trailing bacopa, some nasturtiums and a wonderful 14-inch-tall ageratum Leilani Blue keep blooming. While I havent the heart to pull these up, the low temperatures of the last weeks mean the rest of the garden is ready for bed.
That means pulling up withered annuals and cutting down all remaining foliage on the perennials. Do the same to those perennials that fit the half-hardy category; I mark and cut them back, too, and add some extra mulch a good six inches to their winter quarters. Nicotiana and snapdragons are designated annuals in the catalogs, but in my garden, they act like perennials, and the topping of mulch helps them stay that way. Often they return.
Avoid covering the crowns of such plants as the lobelias, which are subject to crown rot. Cut the foliage of German iris right down to the ground; youll destroy the borers that winter over in the foliage and decimate the rhizomes of these plants. Shrubs like vitex and butterfly bush and herbaceous peonies should also be cut back hard, but leave the tree peonies alone. Trim the hybrid roses slightly (some are still in bloom), so their canes wont snap in a big wind or ice storm.
Prune the modern hybrids down to three feet to prevent cracking, and seal the cane ends against rot and insects with a drop of Elmers glue, horticulturist Mike Ruggiero told me years ago. Do a proper pruning in early spring when the first leaf buds appear. Mound a mix of soil and leaves (or salt hay) around the bases of these roses, being sure to cover the knobby graft, which is most vulnerable to freezing temperatures. You can use cones and covers for protection, but the mix of soil and hay works just fine. Rake up and destroy all fallen rose leaves (which carry the spores of the disease black spot and other fungi). Leave the old roses alone. Their bright-colored hips are a favorite of birds and their winter color brightens the gray landscape. I compost all the good clippings, but bag the stems and foliage from peonies, roses, and any other debris which shows signs of disease. Compost everything thats finished and clean in the vegetable garden too (cabbages, carrots, turnips, brussel sprouts, arugula and other late-season crops can weather the early frosts, lasting into the winter).
I have three heads of red cabbage in each of a pair of pots on my terrace that look like giant blue roses. (Roses and cabbages ARE related.) You can cut and eat these or leave them as winter decoration. I stick some branches of pine and holly around them, and keep the soil watered. They freeze/dry in the cold and look good most of the winter. But back to the composting; watch out for seed pods. If compost pile temperatures dont get hot enough as the material decomposes, the composted seeds wont be destroyed, and youll unknowingly be planting them next spring when you spread this black gold in your garden.
Mark the places where annuals grew during the summer. Many will self-seed (ageratum, impatiens, petunias, tomatoes are some regulars in my yard), so get out those markers again so youll know where to look next spring. Plant the seeds of myotis, opium poppies, and those others that need a period of cold to germinate. Seeds with short lives lavender is one should be planted as soon after harvesting as possible, and many hardy perennial seeds are better planted directly into the garden now. Just seed and sprinkle with a light covering of soil topped with leaves. Mark a spot for the larkspurs and throw their seed in February.
Clean up beds but not too carefully, suggests horticulturist Nancy DeBrule. Leaves caught in canes and branches protect shrubs and perennials, and prevent the ground from drying out if snowfall is meager. Once frozen, around the New Year, I put loose branches from the discarded wreaths and Christmas tree as cover for the perennials to help keep the ground frozen. Freezing and thawing over the winter, caused by changes in temperatures, often heaves plants right out of the ground and is often the main cause of their demise. Roots exposed to freezing temperatures and drying winds mean dead plants. Should you find a plant so exposed, press its roots back in place with your foot, then cover with evergreen branches or the like.
Lunes, Pebrero 28, 2011
Gardening bliss, with the local Lake Bloomers Garden Club
Lake Bloomers Garden Club members, spouses and friends - about 40 in all - enjoyed a wonderful Christmas banquet, put on by the Poppy Team, December 8, at the St. Louis De Montfort Church.
Susanne, Edith, Kathryn and Denice organized the event and cooked two turkeys with stuffing, potatoes and gravy.
A superb array of dishes to accompany the turkeys were brought by the members along with delectable appetizers and desserts. Poinsettias adorned each dinner table and Christmas music played in the background.
Speeches were kept to a minimum. Maureen Loebus thanked the Poppy Team for organizing the annual Christmas Social.
She also said she must step down from president's chair, as she is travelling a lot more these days. Pauline Balmer agreed to take the position.
We still need a vice president for 2011.
One of our members brought a keyboard for the night and after dinner Edith introduced the New Dawn Singers.
With Judy Born at the helm, the group entertained with several delightful Christmas Carols, then encouraged us all to sing-a-long with requests from each table.
At Christmas time we generally do a charity draw in lieu of a 50/50 and our draw this year brought in $145.00.
The winning ticket was held by Mikki Welsh who chose to donate the funds to Community Services.
Each table had a secretly marked chair and the person sitting on that chair took home one of the lovely traditional red poinsettias as a door prize.
With all the eating, socializing and singing, we didn't talk about gardening much, but plan lots of interesting speakers and garden tours for 2011.
Our January meeting will be Tuesday, January 11, at 1 P.M. at the Catholic Church on Fern Road in Lake Cowichan. We thought this would help to get people out that don't like driving at night in the winter months.
The Snowdrop team will be hosting the January 11 meeting, and guests are welcome. Stop by and see what we are all about.
Susanne, Edith, Kathryn and Denice organized the event and cooked two turkeys with stuffing, potatoes and gravy.
A superb array of dishes to accompany the turkeys were brought by the members along with delectable appetizers and desserts. Poinsettias adorned each dinner table and Christmas music played in the background.
Speeches were kept to a minimum. Maureen Loebus thanked the Poppy Team for organizing the annual Christmas Social.
She also said she must step down from president's chair, as she is travelling a lot more these days. Pauline Balmer agreed to take the position.
We still need a vice president for 2011.
One of our members brought a keyboard for the night and after dinner Edith introduced the New Dawn Singers.
With Judy Born at the helm, the group entertained with several delightful Christmas Carols, then encouraged us all to sing-a-long with requests from each table.
At Christmas time we generally do a charity draw in lieu of a 50/50 and our draw this year brought in $145.00.
The winning ticket was held by Mikki Welsh who chose to donate the funds to Community Services.
Each table had a secretly marked chair and the person sitting on that chair took home one of the lovely traditional red poinsettias as a door prize.
With all the eating, socializing and singing, we didn't talk about gardening much, but plan lots of interesting speakers and garden tours for 2011.
Our January meeting will be Tuesday, January 11, at 1 P.M. at the Catholic Church on Fern Road in Lake Cowichan. We thought this would help to get people out that don't like driving at night in the winter months.
The Snowdrop team will be hosting the January 11 meeting, and guests are welcome. Stop by and see what we are all about.
Want bountiful soil? Try lasagna gardening
For 30 years I've been trying to discover one particular name. It was the name of the member of a local garden club who won the contest to give a title to the newly formed organization.
Mystery solved. I learned last week that it was not a member but the husband of member Mary Anne Baehr. Her husband, Jim Baehr, gave this active and interesting garden club name: The Island Transplants. A fitting name indeed, as all were residents of Hilton Head Island, newly arrived and carrying their garden baggage with them.
The Island Transplants have grown in number over the years; there are serious gardeners within their membership, many of them well known locally for their plant expertise. Meeting with them last week was reunion time. Present were many longtime friends and charter members Nita Furner and Kit Steffan.
The focus was on herbs; hostess Judy Walker provided small plates of food prepared using herbs and little salt.
In today's world, eating healthy means growing healthy food. As more gardeners grow organically, we look forward to the day when organic foods are priced no differently then those grown with chemicals.
LASAGNA GARDENING
Grassy lawns are taking a hit. In many cases, it's the expense of maintaining a carpet of weedless green that has led to creating more garden and less lawn. But how to get rid of the grass without the use of killer chemicals?
There is a way; it's a system of layering that suffocates grass and weeds while creating a garden with rich soil that will provide all the nutrients you'll need to grow a bountiful vegetable crop. It's called lasagna gardening and once you've completed the initial preparation, it will require no digging, tilling or weeding.
Start with wet newspaper, the thicker the better. Wet the newspaper by soaking in a bucket of water. While it's soaking, mark the outline of the garden -- in full sun if you're growing vegetables -- with stakes or string (I use a garden hose). Now lay thick pads of wet newspaper close together, so the edges overlap to keep grass or weeds from sneaking through.
Next, add a 2- to 3-inch layer of peat moss to cover the paper. Spread a 5- to 7-inch layer of organic mulch material such as compost, mulched leaves, 4 inches of grass clippings, another 2-inch layer of peat moss, horse manure if you can get it or buy processed manure, and 2 more inches of peat moss.
I finish with a dusting of wood ashes and sawdust. I don't layer lime in my lasagna gardens, as there's been lime added to the compost bin. A layer of pine needles goes on last, for the looks of it and to serve as mulch after the garden is planted.
To break down the materials in the lasagna garden and have rich, crumbly soil in six weeks or less (it depends on the time of year; less time is required if it's summer), cover the bed with black plastic and weigh down the edges with bricks.
Now you're ready to plant. Don't bother digging: just pull back the layers with your hands, pop in the plant and pull the mulch materials back around the roots.
This works for seeds too; scatter the seeds but don't replace the mulch materials. If you're planting herbs, remember to let a few plants "go to seed." The seeds will sprout, and seedlings will emerge through the mulch.
Mystery solved. I learned last week that it was not a member but the husband of member Mary Anne Baehr. Her husband, Jim Baehr, gave this active and interesting garden club name: The Island Transplants. A fitting name indeed, as all were residents of Hilton Head Island, newly arrived and carrying their garden baggage with them.
The Island Transplants have grown in number over the years; there are serious gardeners within their membership, many of them well known locally for their plant expertise. Meeting with them last week was reunion time. Present were many longtime friends and charter members Nita Furner and Kit Steffan.
The focus was on herbs; hostess Judy Walker provided small plates of food prepared using herbs and little salt.
In today's world, eating healthy means growing healthy food. As more gardeners grow organically, we look forward to the day when organic foods are priced no differently then those grown with chemicals.
LASAGNA GARDENING
Grassy lawns are taking a hit. In many cases, it's the expense of maintaining a carpet of weedless green that has led to creating more garden and less lawn. But how to get rid of the grass without the use of killer chemicals?
There is a way; it's a system of layering that suffocates grass and weeds while creating a garden with rich soil that will provide all the nutrients you'll need to grow a bountiful vegetable crop. It's called lasagna gardening and once you've completed the initial preparation, it will require no digging, tilling or weeding.
Start with wet newspaper, the thicker the better. Wet the newspaper by soaking in a bucket of water. While it's soaking, mark the outline of the garden -- in full sun if you're growing vegetables -- with stakes or string (I use a garden hose). Now lay thick pads of wet newspaper close together, so the edges overlap to keep grass or weeds from sneaking through.
Next, add a 2- to 3-inch layer of peat moss to cover the paper. Spread a 5- to 7-inch layer of organic mulch material such as compost, mulched leaves, 4 inches of grass clippings, another 2-inch layer of peat moss, horse manure if you can get it or buy processed manure, and 2 more inches of peat moss.
I finish with a dusting of wood ashes and sawdust. I don't layer lime in my lasagna gardens, as there's been lime added to the compost bin. A layer of pine needles goes on last, for the looks of it and to serve as mulch after the garden is planted.
To break down the materials in the lasagna garden and have rich, crumbly soil in six weeks or less (it depends on the time of year; less time is required if it's summer), cover the bed with black plastic and weigh down the edges with bricks.
Now you're ready to plant. Don't bother digging: just pull back the layers with your hands, pop in the plant and pull the mulch materials back around the roots.
This works for seeds too; scatter the seeds but don't replace the mulch materials. If you're planting herbs, remember to let a few plants "go to seed." The seeds will sprout, and seedlings will emerge through the mulch.
Hospice seeks volunteers for gardening, light housekeeping
The following are volunteer opportunities in Kitchener-Waterloo. For more information, call the Volunteer Action Centre in Kitchener at 519-742-8610 or check the website at http://www.volunteerkw.ca/ www.volunteerkw.ca END
Hospice of Waterloo Region volunteers are dedicated to providing comfort, care and support to people affected by a life-threatening illness. Our volunteers make a difference in peoples' lives every day. Hospice has recently renovated a new facility and we are building teams of gardening and light housekeeping volunteers to help keep our new hospice family centre looking beautiful, inside and out for the enjoyment of our clients. If you would like more information on becoming a volunteer, visit our website atwww.hospicewaterloo.ca/ www.hospicewaterloo.ca END or contact us at 519-743-4114.
Interested in volunteering? Looking to have fun and make a difference to the lives of individuals with developmental disabilities? Sunbeam Residential Development Centre is looking for swimming program volunteers in our warm, shallow pool at our Kingsway Drive location one weekday morning per week; outing and special event assistants to join our staff and clients for Tuesday and Saturday social activities; a communications assistant to help a client who can't speak use a special computer program to communicate. Other opportunities also available. Contact Christine for more information at 519-893-6200 ext. 253 or c.rushton@sunbeamcentre.com
The House of Friendship's Live and Learn Program is looking for independent, responsible, child-honouring volunteers to help in the children's program. If you have three hours a week to give, enjoy nurturing, and compassionately playing at a child's level, then you can play a valuable part at Live and Learn. Help this local support program for mothers and children living on a low income, as you lovingly hold, help care for, play, and learn with infants, toddlers, and preschoolers while their mothers participate in the Live and Learn group. If this sounds interesting to you, contact Michele, our Live and Learn co-ordinator at 519-570-0954 or email liveandlearn@houseoffriendship.org
Hospice of Waterloo Region volunteers are dedicated to providing comfort, care and support to people affected by a life-threatening illness. Our volunteers make a difference in peoples' lives every day. Hospice has recently renovated a new facility and we are building teams of gardening and light housekeeping volunteers to help keep our new hospice family centre looking beautiful, inside and out for the enjoyment of our clients. If you would like more information on becoming a volunteer, visit our website atwww.hospicewaterloo.ca/ www.hospicewaterloo.ca END or contact us at 519-743-4114.
Interested in volunteering? Looking to have fun and make a difference to the lives of individuals with developmental disabilities? Sunbeam Residential Development Centre is looking for swimming program volunteers in our warm, shallow pool at our Kingsway Drive location one weekday morning per week; outing and special event assistants to join our staff and clients for Tuesday and Saturday social activities; a communications assistant to help a client who can't speak use a special computer program to communicate. Other opportunities also available. Contact Christine for more information at 519-893-6200 ext. 253 or c.rushton@sunbeamcentre.com
The House of Friendship's Live and Learn Program is looking for independent, responsible, child-honouring volunteers to help in the children's program. If you have three hours a week to give, enjoy nurturing, and compassionately playing at a child's level, then you can play a valuable part at Live and Learn. Help this local support program for mothers and children living on a low income, as you lovingly hold, help care for, play, and learn with infants, toddlers, and preschoolers while their mothers participate in the Live and Learn group. If this sounds interesting to you, contact Michele, our Live and Learn co-ordinator at 519-570-0954 or email liveandlearn@houseoffriendship.org
Wynstream keen to get started on the gardening
MORE good news this week Green teamers - another school has joined us!
Everyone please welcome Wynstream, whose brand new Green team has been chosen from a range of year groups.
And here they are - in Year 3 we have Wayne Birch and Marlie Hyman; in Year 4 they are Joanna Gazdziak and Nathan Gould; from Year 5 Green team members are Crystal Orchard and Reese Drew; and from Year 6 we have Wiktoria Kolasa and Callum Saunders.
This Green team is very keen to start gardening - composting and growing in particular.
Wayne said that he likes a bit of gardening while Marlie says daffodils are her favourite flower and she is looking forward to them showing again this year.
Joanna is keen on composting and said apple cores were particularly good for it while Nathan says he can hardly wait to use some of the compost in his gardening.
However, the Green team is most likely to start off indoors as they have been looking already at how to save energy. Ideas to "tell off " teachers if they leave things switched on when out of the room seemed to have gone down well with the group.
Reese and Crystal are both keen to learn all they can about recycling.
Wynstream already has a well organised recycling team where they go round each week to all the classrooms and collect, in an even bigger bin, all the wellused paper from the classrooms. They carry this off to the very big bins hidden behind the buildings from where Exeter City Council collects the school's recycling once a fortnight.
Wiktoria said: "It seems to work well and it's good fun doing it as well!" Both Callum and Wiktoria are keen to reduce the school's carbon footprint.
. You must all now be looking forward to half-term next week!
That means there is no Green team page in the Echo, but remember to buy the Echo on Friday this week when there will be an eight-page Green team special reporting on the Acorn Awards, which are being presented tomorrow at the city's Corn Exchange.
Everyone please welcome Wynstream, whose brand new Green team has been chosen from a range of year groups.
And here they are - in Year 3 we have Wayne Birch and Marlie Hyman; in Year 4 they are Joanna Gazdziak and Nathan Gould; from Year 5 Green team members are Crystal Orchard and Reese Drew; and from Year 6 we have Wiktoria Kolasa and Callum Saunders.
This Green team is very keen to start gardening - composting and growing in particular.
Wayne said that he likes a bit of gardening while Marlie says daffodils are her favourite flower and she is looking forward to them showing again this year.
Joanna is keen on composting and said apple cores were particularly good for it while Nathan says he can hardly wait to use some of the compost in his gardening.
However, the Green team is most likely to start off indoors as they have been looking already at how to save energy. Ideas to "tell off " teachers if they leave things switched on when out of the room seemed to have gone down well with the group.
Reese and Crystal are both keen to learn all they can about recycling.
Wynstream already has a well organised recycling team where they go round each week to all the classrooms and collect, in an even bigger bin, all the wellused paper from the classrooms. They carry this off to the very big bins hidden behind the buildings from where Exeter City Council collects the school's recycling once a fortnight.
Wiktoria said: "It seems to work well and it's good fun doing it as well!" Both Callum and Wiktoria are keen to reduce the school's carbon footprint.
. You must all now be looking forward to half-term next week!
That means there is no Green team page in the Echo, but remember to buy the Echo on Friday this week when there will be an eight-page Green team special reporting on the Acorn Awards, which are being presented tomorrow at the city's Corn Exchange.
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