Organic Insecticides

I know we are moving rapidly into late fall weather, even though it is only 1 week after the official fist day of fall, but I wanted to share what I had learned about a few organic insecticides.

I consider it late fall because my mom announced that CBC is calling for a cold front to move in and snow next week (yes, I said the 's' word...sigh!). She has informed me that it is officially time to take in the vegetable garden. We will be working on that on Sunday. On Saturday, I plan to move the last of the perennials into my new flower garden, and place wood chips around those plants that need an extra bit of protection this winter.

When I was planning all of these necessary chores, I noticed the leaf damage quite a few of my plants sustained this year from insects and fungus. I tried a few of the organic kinds of things I had heard about and found no dent at all in the problems. So I must say I reverted to using chemical insecticides and fungicides to clear up the problem.

My plan for next year is to have a plan - to have organic insecticides and fungicides in place and ready to go before the infestation occurs. I was watching a show about a couple in Ontario that practice organic gardening, and they very casually mentioned that they use rhubarb tea to treat for insecticides - for the very reason that the leaves of rhubarb plants are poisonous. I thought, "Now that makes perfect sense." So I looked up some Rhubarb Tea recipes for an organic insecticide. There are tons of recipes on the net, so take a look. I'm going to give this one a try:

 http://vegetalshapes.com/OrganicInsecticides.html

Rhubarb tea #1- boil 0.5 Kg (1 pound) chopped rhubarb leaves in 1litre (1 quart) water for 30 minutes. Filter and sprinkle.  Use against aphids and other pests.

Rhubarb tea #2 - put 0.5 Kg (1 pound) leaves in 7 liter (7.3 quarts) water and let it stay 24 hours. Filter and sprinkle.  Use against aphids, whiteflies, spider mites, caterpillars and other pests.

Note: The best time to apply the tea is early morning or late evening. Do not apply in the hot, sunny part of the day, as this mixture could burn the plants.

So, here it is. I will come back to this post next early summer and look this information up. It will be an important part of next year's planning.

Happy fall days, everyone!

Pruning Forsythia

Erika and I were talking about forsythia shrubs today. A few years ago I bought 2 bare-root forsythias. They came up and leafed out the first spring, came up and leafed out the second year and this year, they winter-killed. No idea why. According to my well-thumbed book, Tree & Shrub Gardening for Alberta by Don Williamson (a very informative book), forsythias “quite happily survive in zone 3.” The ‘Northern Sun’ and ‘Northern Gold’ species are hardy ranging from -33⁰ to -35⁰ C. I believe we are zone 2b, and I know that Zone 3 shrubs will survive very nicely in Central Alberta.

Today, Erika talked about the poor performance of her forsythia shrubs. We both believe that it comes down to pruning. This is what my guide states: (p. 165)

“Correct pruning is essential to keep forsythias attractive, but prune young plants only minimally. Flowers are usually produced on growth that is at least two years old. Mature plants should be thinned annually, removing old wood back to vigorous shoots and removing one or two of the oldest stems to the ground. Pruning should take place after flowering has finished.”

Tips for winter survival – these flowers grow best when the shrubs are buried under a protective layer of snow: “As long as there is dependable snowfall, simply pile some salt-free snow over your hardy cultivar in winter to enjoy flowers each spring.” If this protective layer is not provided, “a shrub may flower only on the lower half that was buried in a protective layer of snow.”

So this August I purchased a forsythia again, but this time in a container, a New Hampshire Gold. We will see how it survives the winter.

 

Olds College Gardens (and a Landscape workshop)

Yesterday Tara, Sona & I attended a workshop on sustainable landscape design as part of the Hort Week continuing education courses offered at Olds College. The workshop, Sustainable Residential Landscape Design, with Angela Sommers, was excellent. It was the more indepth course related to the earlier webinar we attended in the winter as part of Olds College Winter Speakers series. The first part of the workshop was an interactive lecture on landscape styles, garden shapes, sustainability of residential design, issues with sustainability for new home building, the benefits of ordering local plantings, composting, rain water gathering, and much more. The second part of the course was the actual design workshop where we worked on a sustainable landscape design for our own homes. After the workshop, the three of us toured the gardens at the college. How beautiful! And what an excellent day! Check out the photos of Olds College flowers...

Great Book ... & only $7!

Foliage, by Nancy Ondra

I found this book at Chapters last week. It was 6.99 in the bargin section, so a no brainer for me considering the beautiful photography as well.

Its a really great compendium of non-flowering plants. About 1/3 of the plants are Zone 4 or less. The book is all about gardening with texture and colour in mind.

There are a few sections each focusing on a specific colour of plant; Gold, Red to Black, Silver/Grey/Blue, and Multi-coloured.

These sections are then further separated into the different kinds of leaves with these colours; Spiky, Bold, Medium, Fine and Lacy foliage. Therefor each colour section has its own compendium of plants specific to that pallett.

Its very easy to use. I highly recommend adding this one to the gardening library.

Really cool ideas for planters

Mary Ann sent me a picture of a log planter that was really cool. The photo came from this website and I thought I'd share the whole site. There are a lot of really neat planter ideas here:

Science Photo Library
Search term: Planter and select 'Flowers'.

This is the one Mary Ann found - we both would like to try to make one.

Here's another log planter.

I like this one too.

Well, both Mary Ann & I have tons of room to make logs into planters, but even if you don't, add some pictures here of what you might like to plant this year.

"Residential Gardening Basics" (Angela Sommers) Hort Week Speaker Series

I’ve stated in a previous post that I’d talk about the Hort Week Winter Speaker Series webinar by Angela Sommers. The following information is based on my notes, so if I’ve forgotten anything and anyone else attended (Tara?), maybe you can fill in the blanks. And these notes are based on what interested me in the talk.

The session was divided into 4 main areas:

(Part 1) Design Process
(Part 2) Design & Development
(Part 3) Style
(Part 4) Trends (ran out of time on this one)

(Part 1) Design Process:

Importance of Design

1. Suitability of the site
2. Utility & functional considerations
3. Economy (Budget)
4. Aesthetics

The design process is a logical sequence of steps that allows the designer:
• To isolate landscape problems
• To offer various solutions to best meet needs
• To incorporate existing structures
• To identify potential of the land, such as land forms & site drainage
• To create designated spaces for appropriate needs. Consider as a space, just as in house design

Research for an effective landscape design includes:
• Wants & needs - grass for the kids & animals, deck, shade, style, etc.
• Site inventory – actual inventory of vegetation. Lists of vegetation, measurements, photos, topography, drainage, etc. Tip: Do not include perennials in your initial site inventory
• Site analysis – soil conditions, environmental conditions, views
• Opportunities & constraints – weedy, soggy areas
• Real Property report – have it blown up so you can sketch on it
• Take Photos – blow up as well
• Site inventory analysis – use specific symbols. Mark existing buildings, etc.

Gather inspiration: create an inventory of things you like, find & print off pictures, build a portfolio
• If you want water features, consider size – in the country it is fine, as scale is big; not so great for an urban landscape. Note: maintenance of streams & ponds is high, so look to alternatives – dry streambeds, attach features to rain spouts, use local stones
• Paving & steps, as well as grassy areas
• Garden Rooms – places as intimate as inside – living, eating, cooking spaces. Gather, sit, talk, cook
• Secret Gardens – create mystery by closing off, then open up (use arbours, etc.)
• Accents – What do you like vs. what do you need
• Outdoor Living Rooms – extend the inside to outside. Smaller spaces to be more intimate. Include fireplaces, water, ceiling (create a sense of ceiling with canopy), walls (create with a fence, etc.), floor
• Summer Houses – retreat, cool evening spaces, art studio, etc. Create in logical lines, even with a lot of plantings on the sides
• Balconies – Need to be decorated – area rugs, curtains, plants, etc.

Look for the next installment - (Part 2) Design & Development.

Tough Love - Importance of Pruning for Shrubs & Trees

I know we all want to talk about Spring planting and bed and lawn preparations, but Erika just gave me a magazine article on pruning shrubs & trees. The topic is related to an earlier post on Erika's Forsythia bushes (coming soon, I hope). She implemented the tips from this article and her bushes are growing very well. The article is "Tough Love" by Liz Primeau in Canadian Gardening, April 1997, 26-27. (Don't expect perfect citation style here!) I want to get the information down so we'll have it handy when the time comes.

Points to consider:

• know when to prune and what your goal is
• know the shrubs natural shape – rounded, arching, vase-shaped
• rejuvenate by carefully removing dead wood to encourage growth
• younger wood is resistant to disease and more productive than older wood

Prune early-flowering shrubs like Forsythia soon after the flowers fade as they bloom on wood produced the year before:

• don’t remove more than 1/3 or could damage the shrub
• identify and remove dead or diseased branches first, right at ground level
• make cuts close to root level, but not so close to damage branches you want to keep

Prune to carefully open the center of the plant so light can reach the inside:

• remove crossing or rubbing branches
• where you make the cut on a branch can affect its future growth – cut just above a bud node
• trim the tips of the remaining branches, cutting just above an outward-growing bud
• trim just enough to reform the natural shape
• look for extremely long branches, or high-arching or low-drooping ones

When pruning is complete, fertilize with blood meal – promotes bud-growth for the following year.

Tools for woody shrubs:

• 24” (60 cm) lopper (for getting inside)
• curved pruning saw (for thick branches)
• sharp secateurs
• leather-palmed gloves with gauntlets

Node - where new branches erupt
Secateurs - small pruning shears with a spring that holds the handles open and a single blade that closes against a flat surface
Loppers - a type of scissors used for pruning twigs and small branches; usually operated with two hands, and with handles around 65 cm long to give good leverage; divided into 2 types: bypass and anvil

"Residential Landscaping Basics with Angela Sommers"

On February 22, 2012, I attended the web conference, "Residential Landscaping Basics with Angela Sommers", here at RDC. It was excellent! I'll post the notes I frantically scribbled about designing the layout and planting of yard and gardens in a later post. This evening I'm waiting for the web conference to begin for the next Hort Week 2012 Winter Speaker Series: Environmentally Friendly Yards with Dr. Ken Fry. Join us if you can at 7:00 pm in Room 932 here at RDC.

Angela Sommers
Biography: Angela Sommers works as a Landscape Architectural Technologist, owning her own company since 1998, she designs and constructs residential, commercial and municipal gardens. Angela has a great passion and commitment to the environment and community. She is a regular instructor of Landscape Design and Spiritual Gardening courses for Olds College as well as being a feature presenter at Hort Week. Angela’s passion for aesthetic and sustainable landscape / garden design continues to expand bringing people and gardens together in fun and meaningful ways.

Succulents

Michelle and I were discussing plants that would be ideal for her bare, desert-like, hilly front yard. She cannot seem to keep plants from dying in the south-facing dry conditions. Succulents would be the answer, we thought. And I remembered our landscape specialist, Rene, telling me to plant a certain succulent in my south-facing flower bed. It has quite a lovely silvery green, velvety leaf and it was called ___ [something] ears. She said it spreads like crazy, makes a great ground cover plant and I was to make sure it is contained within the scope of the bed. And I proceeded to tell Michelle all about it – but I couldn’t remember the name. I decided to Google it – and these were my search terms:
• Donkey’s Ear (yes, there is such a plant) a little velvety, and little silvery green, but it just didn’t look quite right. And Michelle pointed out it grows in Madagascar...
• Rabbit’s Ear – so again, a little velvety, a little silvery green, but not good for our Zone. Something not quite right. And I noticed one of the pages on Rabbit’s Ear plants asked the question – Rabbit’s Ear or Lamb’s Ear? So I searched Lamb’s Ear and...
• Lamb’s Ear. This is it! This is the plant that I have ready to plant in my south-facing bed.

Here are a couple of sites on Succulents, as drought-resistant, almost-impossible-to-kill plants, for Michelle:

SimplySucculents

Succulents for Northern Gardens

Lovable Lamb's Ears Plant

Lamb's Ear (HGTV)

Anyone with personal experience with this plant or other succulents, we'd love to hear about it. I planted mine to winter last year, and plan to move the plants to its permanent home this year, so I have no personal info on this interesting plant.

Maria's Garden Photos 2009

I tried to create a slideshow gallery of my 2009 garden photos, but haven't figured out how to do that yet. So I've linked to my online album. 2009 was the first year my garden seemed to really bloom. And each year I've added more plants to my flower beds. So the 2010 gardening photos will be posted soon. I'll try not to duplicate the images, just show what is newly planted and newly blooming each year. Enjoy!

Maria's 2009 Flower Garden

Hello and welcome to our gardening blog!

Even though the Central Alberta growing season is rather short, gardening can be on your mind all year long. Beginning in the winter (I know, an odd place to begin when thinking of gardening and planting), planning takes place with the first arrival of the annual seed catalogues. In winter we watch the weather - too little snow means not enough moisture in the soil, too much snow can adversely affect Spring runoff, cold temperatures could mean winter-kill, and the list goes on. Spring comes and May long weekend cannot arrive soon enough - the traditional planting weekend in my family going back to the homesteading days of my grandparents. In summer we wait for the late-blooming perennials and days of family events and living outside with your gardens. Fall arrives and we think of the many things we need to accomplish to put our gardens to bed before the first snowfall of the season. And the cycle begins again. Here we will offer tips, advice and discussion for other gardeners of all abilities, as well as provide a place, a gallery, to look at breathtaking blooms from our gardens.