Neighbours talking over the garden gate has long been a tradition. They share gardening tips, complain about the weather and pests yet are ever eager to discuss their gardens. That is what I had in mind when creating this blog. So stop by my garden gate to find out the latest happenings in my garden.
Happy Gardening!
Garden Gnome
"All my life through, the new sights of Nature made me rejoice like a child." ~ Madame Marie Curie"
Arbors are a traditional way of providing support for climbing plants while providing a shady spot to sit or walk. In urban settings they are often used as part of the entrance to the garden complete with a small gate. Home gardeners use them grow grapes or other vining plants while landscapers and homeowners often use arbors to create natural shading on patios and decks.
We walked under an impressive arbor covering a good stretch of pathway at Busch Gardens in Tampa, Florida. The arbor was a simple series of arched supports with wood slats attached. Unfortunately it was not as shady as it would be during the summer months as it was winter when we visited. This arbor would be extremely easy to duplicate on a smaller scale in the home garden using a series of pvc supports similar to building a garden hoop house.
During the first trip we made to Busch Gardens in December, I took a picture of this gorgeous yellow flower. Hurrying to catch up to the others I neglected to take a picture of the tag but I was sure I knew what the flower was so wasn't too worried. Going through the pictures to edit some of them for my blogs I was sure I knew the flower but the name continued to be tucked safely in the recesses of my mind. Thanks to the the Florida Botanical Gardens website I was able to identify the flower as Bird of Paradise (Strelitzia reginae). The funny thing is I knew it was something to do with birds and all that kept popping into my mind was 'parrot'. The boat shaped bracts hold orange or white sepals and a blue tongue resembling birds. Isn't it unique?
Happy Gardening!
Bush Gardens has many fine examples of large topiaries. All of them are quite impressive to say the least. It is amazing how the arborist uses a combination of various plants to create the desired effect in the finished topiary. This huge butterfly topiary was near the pond with all of the California flamingoes and tucked back far enough to prevent getting closer to. Isn't is simply gorgeous?
Continuing on with sharing a few pictures of our visiting Busch Gardens in Tampa, Florida here is a picture of a gorgeous Gardenia with the information tag. I mentioned that many of the plant species within the park had information tags. Each tag gives the common and scientific name as well as a few details about the plant. The Gardenia (Gardenia augusta) is an evergreen shrub that presents masses of fragrant white flowers in April and May. It is a member of the coffee family. Gardenia is somewhat drought and cold trolerant. It prefers full sun to part shade. This shrub would be an ideal addition to our vacation home garden! Hiding behind the trunk of the Gardenia is one of the many birds that frequent the gardens hoping to be fed by visitors.
Visiting these types of parks can be very informative for the home gardener. It is difficult to picture what a mature plant, shrub or tree will look like from a picture in a book or online. More importantly is is difficult to gauge the mature size. Quite often a home gardener will plant a tree or shrub only to find out it is too big for the intended location when it reaches maturity.
It is rather slow on the garden front here in the blistery north so I thought I would share a few gardening related pictures with you from our recent vacation in the sunny south. As mentioned yesterday we enjoyed visiting Busch Gardens in Tampa, Florida twice. The grounds in this amusement part are amazing! While there are rides there are also various exhibits where you can interact with or get closer to the large variety of animals. In addition to the exhibits you can take a free train ride around the park or you can get up close and personal to the wild game via a safari tour.
The kangaroo and wallaby exhibit has several of each on one side with a wooden fence set up so visitors can feed them. Meadering through the exhibit is this gorgeous little naturalized stream conplete with waterfalls, home to waterfowl, fish and several species of plants. This type of stream but on a smaller scale is something home gardeners to easily add as a water feature in their gardens. Isn't it pretty?
We left the chilly north on December 8 to stay mainly at our vacation home in the sunny south, returning north January 9. During that time we made two visits to Busch Gardens. While this is an amusement park it very much has a garden setting. Many of the plantings have name tags that I found quite useful. It's nice to be able to see the actual plant for future identification.
I was quite impressed with the huge lion topiary waiting to greet visitors to the park. Isn't he majestic? I can't imagine how much work goes into keeping him trimmed. I would love to try my hand at topiary. I've tried to find a wire frame for reindeer like those used for Christmas decorating but without the lights. So far I have been unsuccessful so I might have to buy the ones for Christmas and strip them of their lights. This project is on my to do list for my new garden once we move. Hopefully the house will sell soon so I have ample spring to work on the new garden beds.
If you have been following this blog you will know we bought a vacation home last year giving me the opportunity to garden in two very different hardiness zones. It has meant learning about various critters that visit our southern garden. There are venomous snakes and spiders there so it is important to identify these types of visitors to avoid possible bites.
We had one of our friends and his 8 year old visiting us. A couple of days after they left and our kids were visiting, we pulled into the driveway where I spotted what I thought was a hair band the little one had dropped. I instinctively bent down to pick up the hair band then stopped short to take a better look. While the hair band was still, I noticed a orangey red band. There was a slight movement then the hair band uncurled to reveal a small! Pictured is the baby ringneck snake sunning himself in the warmth of the sun on our driveway. He was about 3 - inches long.
Ringneck snakes are common harmless, beneficial snakes in Florida. They feed on earthworms, slugs, small skinks, lizards and tiny frogs. As with any snake they may bite if cornered but it is non-toxic to people. Ringneck snakes are sociable so they are usually found with other ringneck snakes. They reach a length of about 2 feet at maturity. Newly hatched ringneck snakes are prey for large spiders and centipedes.
Ringneck snakes have a rather unusual defensive trait. When disturbed the turn upside down displaying their orangy red underside upwards in a curled fashion. It could be the orangy red colouration serves as a visual warning to predators that they may be distasteful or poisonous. It could be just a camoflauge method for prey to trick them into thinking the snake is already dead very similar to how an opossum plays dead to avoid predation. The ringneck snake also releases a foul-smelling odour to defend against predators. If playing dead and the odour doesn't work the snake will viciously bite.
Palm trees are quite common at our vacation home. I love them! They are rather majestic looking. We will be shopping for palm trees our next trip to our vacation home. To my understanding palm trees are not without problems though. The first problem we discovered is they attract palmetto bugs. These huge and rather ugly bugs also known as the American cockroach are more annoying than anything else especially when they get in the house, and they do. The second thing I have noticed is palm trees look to be higher maintenance although that might just be from what we've seen. The large, lower fonds die off then need to removed to encourage the tree to grow upwards. It is likely no more work trimming hedges except when the trees get taller reaching the lower fonds.
I had high hopes of planting an orange tree at our vacation home during our visit but the hopes of that were dashed. It was unseasonably cold with several days of morning frost, not the kind of weather for planting trees. My orange tree will have to wait until our next visit. That's ok though as I have a lot of plans for our vacation home garden. I'm not impressed with the mulch we used so by then I will have a better idea of what I want to use. Several homes are using larger stones as mulch. This looks nice so might be one idea. I'm off do do a bit of research for our vacation home garden plans.
My gosh, we have been at our vacation home throughout the holiday season. Unfortunately it has been unseasonably cold here with frost several mornings. Folks had their plants wrapped in sheets and quilts to protect them from the frost. Our casualty was a potted poinsettia but other than that the gardens weren't harmed. Here's to another great year of gardening at both of our homes!
Looking back on 2010 we did nothing but battle adverse growing conditions. The problem is battling these types of conditions can be rather difficult. A dry growing condition can be compensated by extra watering, irrigation and shading but a too wet of a growing condition if difficult to battle. Raised beds help somewhat but traditional row gardening is at the mercy of the extra moisture. There really isn't much adjustment available for temperatures.
Raised beds get a bit warmer quicker and stay warmer longer extending the growing season somewhat. Shading can help protect against high heat while covering the garden beds or using mini greenhouse protection can help protect against frost. For the most part though, in normal home gardening growing conditions adjusting for temperature is still rather hit and miss.
When adverse growing conditions hit, the best you can do is hold on tight, do what damage control you can and hope for the best. That's one of the things that makes home gardening so much fun!
All garden pools regardless of their size are constructed pretty much the same way. You can use a rigid, pre-formed black pond liner or black pond liner however if you want to save a bit of money you can use a pre-formed kiddy pool. Ideally the pond should be at least 3 feet deep at its deepest but if over wintering fish the pond should be deeper. The pond excavation site should be leveled which is very important when using pre-formed liners. Pond constructed with pond liner should be leveled then lined with old rug material or sand to cushion the bottom somewhat. Once the liner is in place water is added, smoothing out the liner as the pond fills. Filtration and water movement is added then the edge is naturalized with rocks and vegetation along with the pond planted. Floater plants are added and finally the fish. Our experience was it was better to add fish a good week or so after the water had time to age. Here's a video outlining how to set up a garden pond. Enjoy!
Small ponds have become a common garden feature. They create a lovely, natural accent that attracts birds and other garden visitors. Ideally a garden pond is set up as a small eco-system with plants and fish. When done properly the pond becomes sustainable in that the plants filter the water while removing nitrogen and providing shade to prevent algae problems. The fish provide nitrogen for the plants while keeping beneficial algae under control.
New pond owners often introduce fish too quickly to their garden ponds, before beneficial algae has a chance to form and the water age a bit. The solution for many is to add a few snails to the pond because beneficial algae is mistaken as being needed to be controlled. This is the wrong solution. Beneficial algae should be control through water filtration and shading of the pond. I refer to the beneficial algae as pond patina. It's a light coating of algae on the pond sides that does not cause the pond water to turn green. String algae is a bit more difficult to control. It should be manually removed. If the water turns green, knock down the algae by adding a bit of cornmeal or the contents of a package of grape koolaid mix. The grape koolaid provides immediate shade that causes the algae to die back a bit. The grape koolaid is also an effect way to control pest birds like grackles that frequent the pond creating another problem - snails!
Snails are going to happen in the pond which is one reason you should not introduce them. Snails are generally introduced into ponds naturally on the feet of visiting birds. Snails are beneficial BUT they multiply too fast blocking intake lines and filters. Any snail die down will cause additional problems like bacterial build-up and water souring. If (really when) you notice snails have been introduced to your pond, keep a close check on the snail population level. As soon as you notice snails in your pond you need to start doing a bit of scooping and do no ever, ever, ever release the snails to the wild!
Snow is bombarding part of southern Ontario like you would not believe. London had received 71 cm last report and it was still coming down. The problem with snow is some of it has to be moved in order to carry on with daily living unless of course you are able to hibernate for the winter. Snow has a lot of benefits though. It is a great insulator and wind barrier. Instead of piling snow from the driveway on each side consider piling it in your garden where it will protect from soil erosion, insulate the garden bed and provide extra moisture for the spring.
Gardening seems so far away with winter setting in and the holiday season upon us. That brings me to the never ending question of real verses artificial Christmas trees. Hands down I am on the real Christmas tree even though we have used an artificial Christmas tree for the past 5 years. Now here my reasoning.
When we moved to our last house we bought an eco-friendly fiber optic artificial tree that lit up using one halogen light. At that time my allergies were running amuck and my asthma was far from being under control. That is precisely the time to not introduce allergens from a real Christmas tree. This year we are not putting up the artificial Christmas tree other than the ceramic one using a CFL but we do have plans for a real Christmas tree.
Real Christmas trees are grown on farms as a cash crop. Until harvest the trees add oxygen to the air while filtering the air making it cleaner. The trees can be used for home heating in a wood stove or wood fireplace by removing the branches while the branches can be composted. Those are a few eco-friendly reasons to use a real Chrismas trees. At the same time buying a real Christmas tree is supporting local growers making for a stronger community economically.
Christmas is just around the corner so I thought I would do up a gardening wish list. The nice thing about gardening is everyone knows you garden so it is easier to buy gifts for those special occasions. Here's a few things that are on my gardening wish list:
seeds - I'm especially fond of receiving seeds and it doesn't matter what. I look forward in anticipation to see if I can get the seeds to germinate and what the plant will look like.
fancy pots - I am very much utilitarian when it comes to planting which means most of my pots tend to be plastic or plain terra cotta. I really love the looks of the glazed pots to set a plainer pot in while adding a bit of interest to the gardens.
a gazing ball - I would love to have a gazing ball!
gnomes - Trust me on this one, I could never, ever, ever have too many gnomes :)
copper tape - I use copper tape to snail proof my garden beds and containers so a roll of that is always very much appreciated.
a garden bench - I love garden benches, just to stop and sit a spell while out in the garden.
We are still experiencing unseasonably mild temperatures here, not that I'm complaining. The lawns look almost the best they have all year with the extra bit of rain we've been having. There have been a couple of squirrels skirting about the yards but still no sign of the wild rabbits. I've been told that the rabbit population is cyclic but to not see any is rather discerning. I suspect with the harder economic times the wild rabbits are ending up in the stew pot. Duck season is in full swing to so we hear the occasional shot reminding us that the snow will be upon us shortly.
There is very little going on outdoors this time of the year. We still have another day's worth of leaf gathering to do and put the plastic up on the screen-in sunporch but there isn't any actual garden work to do. I still have to wash the solar lights I want to keep if the house sells but other than that pretty much all of the garden work is complete. It's now time to start dreaming of next year's garden.
Once the final lawn cut for the season has been done it is time to winterize the lawnmower. This is not a difficult task but neglecting to do so may cause starting problems in the spring and premature rusting of the lawnmower bed. Here's what we do:
remove any grass build-up under the bed
hose down the bed and under the bed well
allow to fully dry in a sunny location
rub a bit of oil onto the blade to prevent rusting
pour gas stabilizer into the gas tank
place the lawnmower in corner of garage ready for the following season
We cleaned out the two smaller and one larger garden bed on Saturday. While a good portion of the leaves were mowed over with the mulching lawnmower to provide mulch for the lawn another good portion were vacuumed up. Rather than waste the leaves collected by the leaf blower/vacuum my husband dumped them onto the two smaller beds and the garden paths where they will break down over the winter enriching the soil. In the spring any remaining will be worked into the soil to continue providing nutrients as they break down. We also ended up bagging some of the leaves. Despite all leaf raking and gathering there is still a lot more to come as one of our maples still has a fair number of leaves to fall.
I am a wife, mother and grandma who enjoys the many aspects of homemaking. A variety of interests and hobbies combined with travel keep me active. They reflect the importance of family, friends, home and good food.
