Spring Cleaning

Yesterday was a beautiful spring day so I decided to get a bit of work done outdoors.  It took several attempts to start the lawn mower after its winter hiatus but finally it started.  After cutting the lawns I hauled out the pressure washer to clean some of the winter grim from the windows and doors.  The maple trees are dropping seeds so I pulled a few of the tiny maple seedlings from a couple of the garden beds.  As I worked my mind wandered thinking how I will miss this place a lot if or when we move. 

It has been a very wet spring to the point local farmers have had to delay planting.  I noticed how wet the ground was as I was mowing.  A few times the mower left ruts as I was turning it!  In fact the spring has been so wet only the ducks are happy.  Speaking of ducks, the mallards are back with a nest under our bushes.  I'm not sure how many eggs are in the nest as I try not to disturb them.  As a sign of appreciation the parents always bring the little ones back to visit us. 

Happy Gardening!

Garden Gnome
©2006-2011

The Mallard Family Visits

I am certainly going to miss the visiting wildlife here when we move. Oh sure we will still have visiting jackrabbits, skunks, raccoons, the occasional opossum and many song birds, we won't have the visiting waterfowl. Over the past several years while living on the water we have come to think of the visiting waterfowl almost as pets. We ensure their habitats are kept to their liking to encourage their return and just like song birds we feed them. The swans and mallards bring their babies back to visit us pretty much daily so they really do consider our home their home.

Mallard Drake

The Mallards started visiting us shortly after we moved here in 2007. They were very timid as if trying to figure out whether we were friend or foe. They must have like us because the same pair have been visiting us ever since. In spring of 2008 they nested under our evergreens. No one was allowed near the nesting site so that meant the dock was off limits. Papa Mallard has beautiful feather colours with a gorgeous deep shiny emerald green head. He is usually around when Mommy Mallard is nearby.

He has become quite friendly even following me around when I'm near the water. He loves sitting on the dock railing just watching over his domain. This year the mallards are getting even more comfortable. Here they are playing in a low puddle in our backyard only about 10' from our house.

Mallard Hen

The Mallard hen is ever so friendly except when on the nest. Well even then she is friendly because she knows we won't disturb it. Female mallards like most birds are drabber in colour likely an evolutional adaptation to prevent predation while nesting. Still I think she is quite pretty.

The couple enjoyed playing in puddle created by a low level in the yard that was caused by a former paved formal garden. During heavier periods of rain this low area fills ups forming a bit of a small pond. The mallards were enjoying the warmth of the sunshine while collecting a few earthworms. It really looked like they were enjoying themselves as much as I did taking pictures of them.

Happy Gardening!

Garden Gnome
©2006-2010

The Importance of Snow

Snow Covered Garden Beds
January 8, 2010

Friday we received our first snow storm of the winter considerably later than normal. Usually we have snow flurries as early as October with some accumulation in November and even heavy accumulation in December. This year we received no accumulation until January. Why is that a concern? Snowfall is part of the annual precipitation for the area. Those in rural communities growing commercially know a low snowfall can mean the soil is too dry in the spring. Spring runoff from the thawing ground and melting snow makes its way to ditches where it ends up running into tertiary and secondary waterways. It replenishes the marshlands that is home to a large variety of waterfowl and other wildlife. In the end the spring thaw ends up in the Great Lakes and connecting waterways.

In recent years we have seen falling water levels in the waters in the Great Lakes waterways. We live on the water so see first hand the falling levels. We have a boat and have heard some insurance companies will no longer insure some boats because of the lower water levels. This past summer we saw unseasonably cold with a bit more rain than normal but not enough to compensate for the drier fall and lack of precipitation so far this winter. I don't know if these changing weather patterns are part of a normal weather cycle or a further indication of global warming. At any rate the lack of precipitation in our area will affect our growing season this year.

Happy Gardening!

Garden Gnome
©2006-2009

Another Garden Visitor

Well Hello!
July 25, 2009

Last week we had a unique visitor to the garden. Now we are used to having a lot of visitors to the garden but this is a first. Pictured is the albino toad that visited. He particularly liked hanging out with the gnomes near the side entrance. Albino toads do not survive well in nature simply because they lack the natural pigmentation that provides camouflage thus making them easy prey. This one has likely survived because not only is he nocturnal he is inhabiting our gardens that aren't lit at night. The only outdoor lighting we use is solar garden lighting so the gardens aren't brightly lit giving this little guy lots of hiding spots.

Toads should be actively encouraged in your gardens. They are ideal for controlling a vast array of insects and they don't cause any problems. Toads breath through their skin so are very susceptible to insecticides especially slug bait. If you are gardening organically which you should be your toads will be safe and enjoy their garden stay. Part of the Hippocratic Oath in medicine states "do no harm". This idealogy should be extended to gardening as well. Gardeners are stewards of the land so should seek to control pests in the least damaging method possible.

Happy Gardening!

Garden Gnome
©2006-2009

Ontario Lawn Pesticide Ban

Female Mallard
(Anas platyrhynchos)

This adult female Mallard has been frequenting our backyard likely in search of a suitable nesting site. While she seems be enjoying her stroll through the lawn and I love her visits, I cannot say the same thing about grass. Sorry folks but I am a grass hater in the form of a pristine, green, outdoor growing, carpet. I can say that even though we laid sod last year as a quick fix before hosting a large outdoor event. Don't get me wrong, grass does have some uses like preventing ground errosion and ground cover but for the most part, the way grass is used is not environmentally friendly.

We are so used to seeing perfectly manicured, chemically dependent, expanses of green lawn. A considerable amount of money is spent to keep them looking that way using fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides, copious amounts of water without even considering the environmental impact of maintaining lawns. People pay a huge amount of money to kill dandelions in their yards yet will pay to buy dandelions for their salads. Does anyone see the irony in this? People are complaining about the rising cost of food yet instead of vegetable gardens they have a well manicured yard. Does anyone recall victory gardens? During WWII the government encouraged urban citizens to plant backyard gardens to provide their own fruits, herbs and vegetables, something rural folk had been doing all along. Preserving the bounty from the garden was a high priority as well. A small patch of yard can provide a surprisingly large amount of food instead of grass, something many have already realized.

Quebec introduced it's Pesticide Management Code in 2003 with the final phase effective in 2006. Ontario Premier Dalton M^cGuinty announced his pesticide ban for the sale and cosmetic use of pesticides on Earth Day to go into effect 2009. More than 300 pesticides, herbicides and fungicides will be banned under this legislation including products like Round Up, Killex and Weed 'n' Feed affecting lawns and gardens. Farming and forestry operations will be exempt from the ban as will pesticide used for healthy and safety concerns. This announcement has sent some residents into a stock-piling mode for these pesticides as stores have already started pulling pesticides from their shelves. However, since the ban includes the use of for cosmetic reasons some of these folk will likely get themselves into a bit of hot water. The City of Toronto has begun fining up to $5,000 to people using pesticides and guess what, neighbours or anyone can easily file a complaint that someone has used a pesticide. I doubt the manufacturers are very happy about this new ban. What this ban will do is if force property owners to use organic methods for weed control. However, folks against the ban say that this will force property owners to do more mowing as a means of control, something that will increase CO₂ emissions. Compounding the problem is many municipalities have noxious weed control bylaws in place so it is up to the property owner to remove the noxious weeds on their property or the municipality will enter the property and remove them at a cost to the property owner along with in some cases a fine. What really needed is a paradyme shift of public attitude to see that instead of grass there are other low maintenance, environmentally friendly ground covers and at least part of any property with a lawn should be used to grow fruits and vegetables.

Personally, I agree with the pesticide ban but I don't think M^cGuinty went far enough. I think he should have banned grass used for cosmetic reasons aka lawns. There are so many other maintainence free ground covers that could be used in place of perfectly manicured lawns. The problem is when some people have replaced their lawns with wildflowers or other suitable ground cover, municipalities have waved their little fingers under the property owner's nose, slapped them with a fine and told them to rip out the ground cover and replace it with grass. Heaven help the environmentally friend homeowner who has to deal with a home owner's association! M^cGuinty should encourage the citizens of Ontario to use low maintenance ground cover that does not need mowing. Just think of how much we could reduce our carbon emissions just by not mowing grass. He should encourage and even provide an incentive for every citizen in the province to grow a modern day version of victory gardens!

Happy Gardening!

Garden Gnome
©2007