Gardening Life articles from June 2005

Gardening Life archives from June 2005

Editor's note.
June 1, 2005... I'M AN INVETERATE ALLEY WALKER, My daily strolls around the neighbourhood are a continual adventure, taking me into back lanes where it's always surprising and fascinating to see what people have done with their backyards--sights I'd miss if...

Screen quest.(ask marjorie)
June 1, 2005... Q I have a third-floor condo across the lane from a large apartment building. Can you please recommend a large vine or small tree that I could grow in a pot on my balcony to help green the space and block the view? The balcony gets sun in the...

Where have all the flowers gone?(ask marjorie)
June 1, 2005... Q I have a wall of peonies facing west, so they have afternoon sun. Until two years ago, they bloomed heavily each spring, but after a terrible ice storm that winter, we have had no flowers. How can I get them to bloom again? --Helen...

Where there's wilt, there's a way.(ask marjorie)
June 1, 2005... Q In 2002, Toronto landscape architect Ron Holbrook did a fabulous redesign of my garden. Included in the plan were a few 'Bloodgood' Japanese maples from a first-rate plant supplier. Unfortunately, last fall they succumbed to verticillium...

The wet look.(ask marjorie)
June 1, 2005... Q In your January/February issue, you mentioned rain gardens ("The Top 10: What's in Vogue for 2005"). I would like to plant one around the edge of my weeping bed, an area that gets full sun. Can you suggest some plants that don't mind their...

Bettering a hedge.(ask marjorie)
June 1, 2005... Q We have a row of cedar hedges that have grown close to seven feet (2.1 metres) tall and we'd like to cut them down to three feet (90 cm). Alternatively, we were thinking of replacing them completely with new, smaller shrubs. Any advice? ...

Ultimate garden solutions: Miracle-Gro[R] has all the right products to help you overcome your toughest gardening challenges.(A GARDENING LIFE ADVERTISING FEATURE)(Advertisement)
June 1, 2005... Kate is a busy working mom with a hectic schedule and, like most of us, a lot of competing commitments--not the least of which is maintaining her beautiful garden with the help of an eager but uncertain green thumb. Learn how your garden...

Hanging out.(green talk: ESSENTIAL INFO FOR CANADIAN GARDENERS)
June 1, 2005... Big city... bright lights? Not necessarily, as the cozy glow cast by the flickering candles in this urban courtyard shows. Nowadays, soft, romantic lighting akin to indoor illumination has become de rigueur in gardens. In particular, outdoor...

Good book.(green talk: ESSENTIAL INFO FOR CANADIAN GARDENERS)
June 1, 2005... Will it be a cedar or a serviceberry for your small city yard? Is foliage your main concern or do you want a tree that also bears flowers or fruit? To help you decide these questions and more, pick up this year's TREES FOR THE SMALL GARDENS...

Neon lights.(new at the nursery)
June 1, 2005... Here are two illuminating entries guaranteed to crank up the colour voltage in any garden. Developed in Germany, PHLOX 'INTENSIA NEON PINK' is a free-flowering annual with a cascading habit--perfect for creating an electrifying hanging basket...

Name that plant.(new at the nursery)
June 1, 2005... This compact shrub with a Midas touch grows wider than it does tall and produces dainty pink flowers in spring and early summer. Zone 3. Mail or fax your answer to: "Name That Plant Contest," Gardening Life, 511 King St. W., Suite 120,...

How to make compost tea.(new at the nursery)
June 1, 2005... All plants relish a good helping of organic matter such as compost or well-rotted manure. Either of these can be used to brew up a nutritious tea that is easily served in a watering can for a quick plant pick-me-up. 1 Cut a generously...

Room service.(shop watch)
June 1, 2005... Helen Kisicek-Soroka of The Flower Room in west-end Toronto would likely need a bigger table for her posies if the European-style shop were any closer to the city's bustling Bloor West Village. As it is, it's tucked into a street a few blocks...

Marjorie's match-up.(shop watch)
June 1, 2005... This delicious pairing of a salmon-pink poppy (Papaver orientale 'Queen Alexandra') (1) and blue Siberian iris (Iris sibirica 'Silver Edge') (2) perfectly illustrates how colours are intensified in combination. The iris's bluer-than-blue...

Definition.(shop watch)
June 1, 2005... Determinate tomatoes are compact, bushy plants that grow to a certain height, then stop and set all their fruit in a couple of weeks. Indeterminate tomatoes are tall sprawling plants that grow and set fruit over two or three months until...

Trailblazer.(people)
June 1, 2005... Sure. Toronto's GAYLA TRAIL may have written You Grow Girl: The Groundbreaking Guide to Gardening (Fireside, $22), but she's a most unlike y plant guru--unless you count the fact that she grew her first parsley at the age of five. Her new...

Silver bulletin.(hot stuff)
June 1, 2005... 1 Silver/blue plants are cool this year n every respect--learn all about them with Timber Press's handy new hardcover guide. $49.95, at Chapters and Indigo bookstores. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] 2 Have a ball the Provencal way with a...

Blooms away.(trendspotting)
June 1, 2005... High drama (and low seating) marked many of the display gardens at Canada Blooms 2005--the country's largest flower and garden show in Toronto this spring. Here are five of the biggest trends observed by GL: OUTDOOR LIVING ROOMS Gauzy...

Best balcony bets.(five to grow)
June 1, 2005... Fed up with picky container plants? Sonia Day, author of The Urban Gardener, offers her top five picks for balcony-bound green thumbs: Acidanthera (syn. Gladiolus callianthus) A classy summer bulb with tall, elegant sword-shaped leaves...

The digital home live: wireless technology meets today's cutting-edge design at the 2005 Interior Design Show.(A GARDENING LIFE ADVERTISING FEATURE)(Advertisement)
June 1, 2005... In February, the Interior Design Show in Toronto played host to a new exhibit presented by Intel[R]. At the opening night gala of the four-day event (February 10 to 13), co-sponsored by House & Home and Mercedes-Benz Canada, party-goers were...

The House & Home VIP Party.(A GARDENING LIFE ADVERTISING FEATURE)(Advertisement)
June 1, 2005... Top designers, manufacturers, suppliers and interior decorating aficionados mingled over cocktails and hors d'oeuvres at the House & Home VIP Party held inside the DeBoer's Lounge. The long, tented area was lavishly furnished in DeBoer's...

Leafy greens: hostas are more than just great shade plants--their fabulous foliage makes cool cutting material.(cutting edge)
June 1, 2005... five alive Think outside the bloom box altogether by creating bouquets entirely with hosta leaves--their wide range of shades (green, blue, yellow, variegated) and textures (glossy, matte, puckered, smooth) offers an endless palette with...

Balcony buys.(high & low)
June 1, 2005... MODULAR FLOOR TILES $9 20" x 20" solid acacia wood tile is rot-resistant and withstands bright sunlight and heavy rain. At IKEA. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] $20 12" X 12" SnapDeck pre-treated hardwood tiles (four shown...

Weeding 911: when weeds start invading your garden, who ya gonna call? Ted Johnston gives the lowdown on the best weed-busters.(toolshed)
June 1, 2005... WEEDS ARE A BIT LIKE break and-enter artists, moving in stealthily and invading your space when your back is turned. Their methods of entry are many and ingenious: hitching a ride on the wind; dropped in bird and animal scat; creeping along...

The 48-hour make over: with the help of GL and Toronto's Sheridan Nurseries, a hardscrabble front patch gets the true cinderella treatment.(curb appeal)
June 1, 2005... I AM ONE OF THOSE PEOPLE who still has boxes to unpack even though I've lived in my Victorian row house in Toronto's Little Portugal for nearly six years now. (The daughter with whom I was pregnant when we moved here now attends a local...

Designer digs: craving al fresco elegance but short on space? Maximize a small garden's impact using clever design, smart structures and sophisticated, versatile plantings.(part 4 in a series)(Advertisement)
June 1, 2005... During the dog days of summer, nothing is more inviting than a cool, comfortable oasis just steps from your back door. But how to transform a small urban backyard from so-so to stylish? That was the challenge facing Terry Ryan of...

Cornered: large or small, a corner lot poses unique landscaping challenges, says Karen York, who has gardened on one for over 20 years. Here are some tips for tackling such sites successfully.(design)
June 1, 2005... to see or not to see Unlike regular properties, a corner lot blurs the boundaries between public and private spaces. So the first thing to determine is how "visible" you want to be. Do you want the entire garden (and house) to be seen?...

Dream garden.(A GARDENING LIFE ADVERTISING FEATURE)(Advertisement)
June 1, 2005... What would it take to transform your outdoor space into the kind of garden you see featured in magazines? Here, we gather some cutting-edge products and services that can help take your garden from drab to dreamy this summer. PLUS, enter our...

Backyard Bali: lush plantings and a clever design on the diagonal turn a barren plot in Toronto into a tropical oasis.(makeover)
June 1, 2005... IN LEWIS CARROLL'S FAMOUS POEM The Hunting of the Snark, the Bellman observes: "What I tell you three times is true," suggesting that if you hear something often enough, you begin to believe it. Landscape designer Kim Price put this...

Sedges: subtly seductive, these shade-tolerant grassy lookalikes enjoy life on the edge--of ponds, pools or pathways.(plant this)
June 1, 2005... SEDGES (Carex spp.) look a lot like grasses and are often confused with them, but actually they're in a class of their own. There are about 1,500 species of sedges, originating in temperate zones around the world, as well as hundreds of...

What's the best way to feed my plants.(gardening 101)
June 1, 2005... MOTHER NATURE doesn't go around sprinkling granular fertilizer over the landscape, but most plants thrive anyway--in meadows and woodlands, where there's plenty of vegetation and fallen leaves to decay, the soil is rich and fertile. The key...

Six in the city.
June 1, 2005... Carrie Bradshaw--the cosmo-drinking, shoe-obsessed heroine of one of TV's most beloved urban comedies--may have been more interested in Fendi bags than fertilizer, but she was always a big proponent of indulging in whatever it took to get her...

Show & tell: a B.C. gardener trying to make her backyard camera-ready finds that nature has its own ideas.(first person)
June 1, 2005... Preparing your garden for a photo shoot is a little like going on stage or falling love--you desperately want to look your best, particularly if you're inherently a show-off. So the moment Knew that my garden in central Vancouver was going to...

Dream weaver: fibre artist Lucille Crighton creates luscious tapestries full of colour and texture--on her loom and in her shade-filled city garden.(city style)(Cover Story)
June 1, 2005... the thriving beds of shrubs and perennials that fibre artist Lucille Crighton has planted in her garden in Toronto's Beach neighbourhood reveal her mastery of form, colour and texture. It's a talent she exercises with equal flair whether...

Little miracles: stunning backyard retreats across the country show that petite urban plots can be transformed in a big way.(small spaces)
June 1, 2005... pool room space-defying montrealers create a water wonderland by stephanie whittaker photography by jean-claude hurni THE PLAN SEEMED SIMPLE ENOUGH: Jean-Claude and Lindsay Hurni wanted a swimming pool behind their century-old...

Made to order: complete with "slices" and "crust," pizza gardens are hot, hot, hot, delivering fresh fixings and a heap of fun.(food)
June 1, 2005... mmm... pzza! What is it about a crispy pizza slice richly coated with tomato sauce and gooey cheese that makes it such a popular favourite? Undoubtedly, part of the appeal is that it's a hot meal you can eat with your hands--but there's more...

Regional wrap-up: GL's cross-country checklist for June/July.
June 1, 2005... west Lift and divide bearded irises once every three years, right after flowering. Over time the surface rhizomes spread outward, bearing the best flowers on the newer, outer shoots and leaving the plant's centre rather bald. Once...

Mary Walsh.(back talk: DISHING THE DIRT WITH CANADA'S GARDENERS)(Interview)
June 1, 2005... You wouldn't expect it of the woman who--as sword-wielding Warrior Princess Marg Delahunty--assaulted hapless politicians for years on the CBC TV show This Hour Has 22 Minutes, but actor/playwright/director Mary Walsh, an original member of...

The inside guide to a greater outdoors: from the best plants and products to easy design and planting tips, our garden centres have everything you'll need this year to create the perfect garden.(A GARDENING LIFE ADVERTISING FEATURE)(Advertisement)
June 1, 2005... STEP INSIDE Whether you're a novice gardener or a seasoned pro, there's something for everyone at our garden centres, where our high horticultural standards are everywhere in evidence. Not an expert? Not to worry! You don't have to...