Gardening Life articles from June 2004

Gardening Life archives from June 2004

Editor's note.
June 1, 2004... WHILE ENJOYING a moody stare at my front garden last autumn, I noticed a flurry of activity around a large clump of ornamental grass. Closer inspection revealed not a dog or a squirrel, but a well-dressed young woman who was busily trying to...

All decked out.(Nature Mix Outdoor Project: Part four of a series)(Advertisement)
June 1, 2004... A portable container garden is a sure way to outfit any outdoor space in beautiful colours and textures. Consider container gardens as occasional furniture of the outdoors, ready to be put to an endless variety of uses. 1 Select...

Correction.(letters)(Correction Notice)
June 1, 2004... A recent "Green Talk" item on Montreal landscape architect Claude Cormier ("Avant Gardener," May) stated that his Blue Stick Garden will be installed this summer in Surrey, England. In fact, it will appear from June to September at...

Turf's up!(Green talk: essential info for Canadian gardeners)
June 1, 2004... What's more appealing than a country picnic? To set the stage for your own pastoral interludes this summer--whether they're in the city or on the farm--consider building a turf-top table/bench for sitting, reclining or enjoying outdoor meal....

Marjorie's match-up! (Green talk: essential info for Canadian gardeners.
June 1, 2004... Popular, easy-to-grow annuals, nasturtiums (Tropaeolum) gain unusual cachet when combined with Bowles' golden sedge (Carex elata 'Aurea'). Sedges are excellent perennials, and this one (hardy to Zone 5) has chartreuse/yellow leaves with...

Sitting pretty: there's no excuse for boring. Add drama to your garden with simple yet stunning planting projects made with Scotts Miracle-Gro[R] Garden Soils.(Part 2 in a series)(Advertisement)
June 1, 2004... Create a special spot to relax and enjoy your garden. Horticultural designer Paul Zammit tucked a ginkgo tree and teak bench into an underused corner of an urban garden to fashion a focal point, then surrounded these with plants and flowers,...

Definition.(Green talk: essential info for Canadian gardeners)
June 1, 2004... from the French for "pricked," picotee describes a flower with single-hued petals that are edge in a contrasting colour, such as many pink, begonias, petunias or the 'Penumbra' primrose shown here.

Good book.(Green talk: essential info for Canadian gardeners)
June 1, 2004... According to revered gardening writer Christopher Lloyd, you don't need your own back 40 to enjoy the flora and fauna of a country meadow. "The underlying principles of meadow gardening are the same wherever you live," he writes in Meadows...

A full house.(shop watch)
June 1, 2004... Located amid the rolling hills and fertile pastures of Ontario's Northumberland County, tiny Warkworth has much to recommend it, from a popular maple syrup festival every March to a rodeo in July. Another big lure is STONE HOUSE GARDENS &...

Name that plant.(Green talk: essential info for Canadian gardeners)
June 1, 2004... The gorgeous white flowers borne in late spring/early summer on this mounding woodland shrub (Zone 5) would not be out of place in a wedding party. Mail or fax your answer to: "NAME THAT PLANT CONTEST," Gardening Life, 511 King St. W., Suite...

How to choose and plant climbing roses.(Green talk: essential info for Canadian gardeners)
June 1, 2004... With their enchanting, often fragrant blooms, climbing roses can enhance any vertical surface or structure, from fences and walls to arbours and obelisks. Check the rose's ultimate height--they range from six to 30 feet (1.8 to nine metres),...

Pick of the crop.(Green talk: essential info for Canadian gardeners)
June 1, 2004... Now that visions of fruits and veggies are dancing in gardeners' heads, here are five of GL's favourite edibles this season. Look for seedlings at your local garden centre or put them on your "must-grow" seed list. 1 'Sweet Beauty'...

Hot stuff.(Green talk: essential info for Canadian gardeners)
June 1, 2004... Hats off to a new line of BOTANICAL HEADWEAR that revives the art of English illustrator Lilian Shelling. Shelling was born in 1879 in Kent, where she created the five drawings that the Royal Horticultural Society has now reproduced on...

Field of dreams.(Ask Marjorie: your gardening queries answered)
June 1, 2004... Q I'd like to know what you can grow on a septic field. Our field is approximately 24 by 110 feet (7.3 by 33.5 metres) and, as this is Manitoba, we have to cover it with straw every fall. If I could plant tall flowers or grasses over the...

A prickly question.(Ask Marjorie: your gardening queries answered)
June 1, 2004... Q My husband and I would love to have a cactus garden but we live just north of Halifax. Is there a cactus that would survive in our Zone 5 garden? --Sybil MacMillan, Fall River, NS A You are on the cusp of a big trend. Gardeners are...

Let the chips fall.(Ask Marjorie: your gardening queries answered)
June 1, 2004... Q I have a very large, beautiful pine tree in my backyard. Some of the roots appear above the ground, and they leak sap in the summer. The sap gets on our shoes so I am planning to put wood chip mulch around the tree with containers and...

Ivy league?(Ask Marjorie: your gardening queries answered)
June 1, 2004... Q I would like to grow Boston ivy on the side of my house, which has aluminum siding. Will the siding provide a rough enough surface for the ivy to cling to, or will I have to grow it elsewhere? --Christine Millar, Riverview, NB A...

A place in the sun.(Ask Marjorie: your gardening queries answered)
June 1, 2004... Q We have moved from a small, suburban home, where I had too little space, too much shade and clay soil, to a beautiful country home north of Toronto (Zone 6). Now I have sandy soil, a huge lawn surrounded by evergreen trees, a pool and lots...

Starting from scratch.(Ask Marjorie: your gardening queries answered)
June 1, 2004... Q We recently built our first house, a grey stone bungalow, on a lot with five spruce trees in the corner and one maple tree. I'd like an old-fashioned English country style garden, but I don't know where to start. Do you have suggestions for...

Quercifolia query.(Ask Marjorie: your gardening queries answered)
June 1, 2004... Q I have had an oakleaf hydrangea (H. quercifolia) for two years. My understanding was you should cut it back to three inches (eight cm) above ground level in spring. I did that last year but it didn't grow as much as it did the first year...

Sunsational: stately yet informal, sunflowers brighten up any setting, from country kitchens to urban dining rooms.(cutting edge)
June 1, 2004... singled out For a look that capitalizes on the sunflower's rustic charm, display cut blooms in equally earthy containers, such as vintage amber/ brown glassware, old earthenware lugs or creamy country pitchers. Here, single stems have...

Weeded bliss.
June 1, 2004... PRODUCED BY VIRGINIE MARTOCQ high & low LONG-HANDLED HOES $25 Canadian-made Telesco-Weeder with telescopic handle and rustproof blade. At Gardenscape Tools. $30 Canadian-made Grizzly F Dutch Hoe with gold...

Garden essentials guide.(A gardening Life Advertising Feature)(Advertisement)
June 1, 2004... WELCOME TO OUR GARDEN CENTRES! COME INSIDE... Exquisite gardens can be created with just one visit to our Garden Centres. From the hottest annuals and perennials to an extraordinary array of accessories and tools, our Garden Centres...

Hands on: GL's cross-country checklist.
June 1, 2004... June/July west Fight recurring black spot on roses by picking off and destroying affected leaves, but don't add them to the compost--put them in the garbage. To make an eco-friendly fungicide, add one teaspoon (five mL) of baking...

Way to go: bricks or bark? Slate or cement? Ted Johnston appraises a panoply of materials to lead you up the garden path.(toolshed)
June 1, 2004... THERE ARE TWO KINDS of garden paths: the practical sort that get you from one place to another via the most direct route and the more laid-back kind designed to let you wander and stop to smell the roses. Both are important in determining a...

Potentilla: colourful cultivars give a horticultural workhorse a fresh lease on life.(plant this)
June 1, 2004... THE INITIAL GLIMPSE of a low hedge of yellow-flowered potentilla is heart-touching--at first. The sight soon palls because, unfortunately, poor old potentilla (a.k.a. shrubby cinquefoil, which means "five leaves") is ubiquitous. Used as an...

Circle of life: infused with rich symbolic history, today's medicine-wheel garden is a place to grow and reflect.(design)
June 1, 2004... LIKE GIANT, SILENT WAGON WHEELS, about 20,000 manmade stone circles on and around the Great Plains of Alberta, Saskatchewan, North Dakota, Montana and Wyoming greeted the pioneers of the 19th century as they rolled westward. Today, fewer than...

Hidden oasis: a noisy, unappealing garden in Vancouver is reimagined as a lush, tranquil refuge.(makeover)
June 1, 2004... IT TOOK VISION AND PERSEVERANCE to transform a dank, overgrown garden on the corner of a busy Vancouver street into the delightful space it is today. Before, a sad array of scraggly, misshapen magnolia and cherry trees starved of light and...

How do I deal with dandelions?(gardening 101)
June 1, 2004... 'TIS THE SEASON when homeowners seeking the "perfect lawn" look for ways to fight their perpetual foe: the dandelion. Botanical immigrants from Europe some 400 years ago, dandelions have cast their wind-borne seeds across North America,...

Pure country.
June 1, 2004... A field of wildflowers as far as the eye can see, the exquisite sweetness of a just-picked summer peach. In this age of urban sprawl and ever-encroaching development, you may (unless you live in the country) have to drive longer and farther...

Mix masters: Elke and Ken Knechtel showcase magical combinations and amazing collections at their three-acre home and nursery in B.C.(country style)
June 1, 2004... Nestled at the foot of Golden Ears Mountain near the town of Maple Ridge, B.C., there's a garden that is the envy of collectors and a never-failing source of surprise and delight to visitors. Owned and operated by Elke and Ken Knechtel, it is...

True grit: for a Manitoba teacher, the rewards of putting down roots in the community she adopted 30 years ago continue to multiply.(prairie style)(Cover Story)
June 1, 2004... Settle in Birtle and you'll add 10 years to your life, say the residents of this scenic community about 320 kilometres west of Winnipeg. When Val Thomson arrived in the mid-'70s as a new teacher following a two-year stint with CUSO in...

Weekend wonders: country gardens that began as part-time obsessions turn into full-time delights for city dwellers in two provinces.(retreats)
June 1, 2004... tim forbes creemore, ontario most summer weekends, a busy toronto designer slows down by tending 11 gardens on his bucolic one-acre property by wendy jacob photograph by stacey brandford Until eight years ago, Jim Forbes had...

Haven on earth: in Vancouver's rural Southlands district, a former horse pasture is the setting for a rustic eden heavy on climbers.(inspiration)
June 1, 2004... It's a mystic morning in a mystical west coast garden. The fog is lifting and there are droplets of water the size or marbles perched delicately on the lady's mantle near the front steps. I can hear a rooster, some frogs, the songs of...

Think big: planted solo or en masse, towering flowers amid giant leaves add structure and drama to wide open spaces.(elements)
June 1, 2004... Giant perennial plants were put on this earth to make those who have tiny gardens green with envy. Where one large plant will have to satisfy the urban gardener, collections of them become superb problem-solvers for a large country or...

Pick a pepper: hot in hue, rich in taste and nutrients, even decorative, sweet peppers are as sublime as they are familiar.(food)
June 1, 2004... My brother and I, squabbling all the way, accompanied our mother to the garden centre to buy the salvia, marigolds, dusty millers and other showy annuals she planted every year on the Victoria Day long weekend. In an attempt to redirect our...

Midweek chic: a few well-chosen elements can help set the mood for your guests to relax, unwind and enjoy the evening.(A Gardening Life Advertising Feature)(Advertisement)
June 1, 2004... Dreaming of the weekend? Create that Saturday night feeling anytime by hosting a simple, sophisticated backyard barbecue. 1 unwind Usher in the evening by enjoying a glass of light and refreshing wine with your guests. Half-an-hour in the...

What's on: a national roundup of events, lectures and garden tours.(Calendar)
June 1, 2004... western JUNE 10, CALGARY The Calgary Rock and Alpine Garden Society presents Bob Roualt speaking on "Hiking and Wildflowers in the Rockies." Lakeview Community Centre, 7:30 p.m. Free admission for members and first-time visitors....

Country & western.(how to get the look)
June 1, 2004... country & western from "Mix Masters," page 56 All quiet on the western front? Hardly. In B.C., Ken and Enechtel have created a delightfully original country haven by combining the region's uniquely sculptural local plants with the...

"Name That Plant" winners.(source guide)
June 1, 2004... The answer to our March/April contest is Perasires japonicus, a large-leafed perennial that reaches three feet (90 cm) in height and spreads indefinitely so it should be used with caution. Hardy to Zone 5. Congratulations to our five winners:...

Trevor Herriot.(Back talk: dishing the dirt with Canada's gardeners)
June 1, 2004... "My parents weren't much for gardening," says award winning writer Trevor Herriot, "but I had aunts and uncles living in the country who had big gardens. I think that had some influence on me." No doubt it did. Four years ago, the...