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April 2000
INDIGO TURNS A GREEN LEAF While April Brings Forth Slugs, Squirrels As Well
As Prolific Blooms Time
to pull back the mulch from the perennial beds, herbs and bulbs if this has not
already been done. Take the
opportunity to back the over-wintering dead ornamental grass stems.
Leave the roses until later in the month, around the time the forsythia
starts to bloom. Roses may wait but
the slug will not. Another
relatively mild winter has let far too many survive.
Unhappy will be the hostas and other perennials as they emerge to face
these munching menaces. Well,
scraping actually, as slugs and snails have their teeth on their tongues.
Isn’t it wonderful what you learn by gardening?
Metaldehyde, the poisonous principal in most slug pellets, can kill
wildlife, birds and pets. There are
also indications that slugs may be developing resistance to it and that it may
only stun them, not kill. Josie McDonagh at those wonderful Safer folks has the
solution: iron phosphate pellets in the new “Safer’s Slug and Snail Bait”.
Attracted by yeast in the pellets, the slugs absorb the iron phosphate
and stop feeding immediately. Plant
damage stops and they crawl away to hide and die.
This should be in any garden centre worthy of the name. Another
pest can be the ubiquitous squirrel. Not
only do they raid the birdfeeder but also, once ensconced in the garden will
shortly be tearing at the tulip buds. Guardian Pest Deterrents has a new birdfeeder to discourage
the little brutes. Working off a
couple of D-cell batteries, it creates the same kind of static electricity you
feel after walking over a carpet, only at about one third that strength.
Birds sit on just one of the poles and so, just as when they sit on
high-tension wires, do not receive any shock.
Squirrels make the connection between two of the perch poles and receive
enough of a shock to send them on their way to less perceptive neighbours.
For more information see or call 1-800-675-8360. Another
mild winter has also left millipedes, earwigs and other creepy-crawlies to
survive under patio slabs, down cracks in concrete or lumber and assorted other
skulking places. Route them out and
destroy them the chemical-free way. Pour
boiling water down the cracks and crevices.
This is also a great way to remove weeds and their seeds that have taken
up lodging there. When
gardening makes it to the front page of the Financial Post, you can be
sure that the item is Knipophia-hot.
And why not so with Canadians spending an estimated $8-billion annually
on their gardens, GST-excluded? The
trek to Cruickshank’s on Mt. Pleasant has been a part of Toronto gardeners’
heritage for 75 years. Caroline
Cruickshank founded the family firm in 1925, and with her husband later expanded
into a mail order business with an international reputation.
Linda Ledgett and her partners bought out the venerable company in 1989.
And on the first day at Canada Blooms Heather Reisman, CEO of Indigo,
announced the acquisition of Cruickshanks as their venture into combining books
and up-scale gardening. Later in
the season, they will go on-line through cruickshank@indigo.ca.
Ms. Reisman expects within four years that 10% of all gardening sales
will be through the Web. Meanwhile,
look shortly for Cruickshank “boutiques” in existing Indigo superstores.
Perhaps even herbal teas at the coffee counters? When
not purchasing books at Indigo, it might be an idea to brave those April
showers. With so much to do, and a
mild March hurrying it along, this month promises to be even more hectic than
usual. Lawns, trees, shrubs,
evergreens, bulbs, herbs, perennials, vines, roses, vegetables- it is an awesome
list. So to make things easier we
are featuring a handy summary of what, how, when and why on page three.
The
Envy of St. Patrick
Irish
celebrations of St. Patrick’s Day may be past but thoughts of potatoes are
just beginning. It is barely worth
the labour, time and trouble to grow regular white or “Irish” potatoes.
The new selections being offered at select garden centres this spring are
another matter. If you thought that
‘Yukon Gold’ was extraordinary, wait until you meet with some of the others
now available. ‘Yukon Gold’
tends to be an early variety and is best planted with a later form, ‘Yellow
Finn’. At one time ‘All Blue’
was nothing more than a curiosity. Now
everybody in the know wants blue potatoes. Almost purple skin and blue flesh of an excellent flavour
mark this as very desirable. If a
blue coloured mound of mashed spuds doesn’t appeal, then the lavender-skinned
‘Caribe’ might. It has white
flesh inside very large tubers that are drought resistant and develop fast,
making it perfect for home garden production.
‘Epicure’ is another with top-flavoured white flesh.
Surprisingly, it has been around since 1897 but deserves better
recognition. Then
there are Fingerling Potatoes. The
small tubers are numerous but take all season to develop below long, straggling
vines. Perhaps the most famous of
these is the Baltic area ‘Russian Banana’.
Delicious in a potato salad the flesh is -as the name implies- a rich
yellow, as is the ‘Rose Finn Apple’. You’ll
need a good soil to grow it, but that perennial favourite of true farmer’s
markets, ‘Purple Peruvian’, is worth trying. Yes, it does have purple flesh of excellent eating quality.
Try telephoning local garden centres for these unique varieties.
For the uninitiated, the tubers for planting are confusingly referred to
as “seed potatoes”. Prepare the
soil now in any sunny location but don’t plant until it has drained and warmed
up much later in April or even very early May.
Where’s
the Best Place to Buy Plants?
Simple:
wherever there are fully trained staff. And
this means formal education, not the “I-love-plants” variety.
Many horticultural operations that despise the fast-buck business or the
keen but casual that is its counterpart insist on at least key staff possessing
an ODH-- Ontario Diploma of Horticulture. Taken
through Guelph University, it usually takes two or more years to attain.
Humber College offers many excellent technician courses and Landscape
Ontario, a professional body based in Milton, administers apprenticeship schemes
and other courses. Most of the rest
of the staff will have participated in these, although some garden centres hire
spring help from landscape architecture degree courses. But
where can you find these wondrous people? Since
both Sheridan Nurseries and Weall and Cullen are both famous as being two of the
top employers of any businesses across Canada, these two do friendly battle
every season. Their stock is
extensive, properly tagged and well maintained.
And they both have several outlets in Toronto. Outside
the city, it would be hard to beat Humber Nurseries just outside Brampton, who
have what is probably the best selection of perennials, certainly of ferns
around these parts. Another nearby
top garden centre is Clargreen on Southdown Road, Mississauga.
An added attraction is that they are one of the most distinguished
commercial orchid growers in Canada. Back
in the city, Plant World on Eglinton West deserves an honourable mention, as
does the fairly new Summerhill Nursery on MacPherson. Absence
from the foregoing does not imply that any other nursery or garden centre is not
up to snuff. There are in fact
numerous other outlets with trained, knowledgeable staff and a wide range of
well cared-for stock. The
“one-stop-shop” superstores almost always fail on these counts. They also display a peculiar reluctance to apply for
membership in the aforementioned professional association, Landscape Ontario.
Strange, since every other true garden centre displays with pride the
green “L.O.” logo prominently at the centres, on vehicles, advertising and
literature. So
the choice is yours – or is it? With
some of the chemicals around these days it would be nice if the staff knew what
they were talking about. Do they?
Out
in the Garden for the Month of April April
is a hectic month for Toronto gardeners in the know. This might truthfully be termed “the month of
preparation”. Time spent now
equals many fewer problems to be solved later in the season.
Here is a handy checklist of some of the major gardening tasks to care
for. Lawns
require fertilizing if this was not done late last summer or early fall.
If applications were made then, hold off until next month unless
weeds are the problem. Control crabgrass by applying a pre-emergence herbicide
before the forsythia blooms have dropped. If
your –or you neighbour’s- lawn was infested last year, rest assured it will
return again this season. Note that
coarse, perennial grasses emerging now and being called crabgrass are
actually not- crabgrass is an annual and has not emerged yet.
Broadleaf weeds can be either dug out by hand or removed with a
herbicide. Deadhead
daffodils, tulips and other blooms as they die. Remove flower and stalk but never, ever remove the foliage
which must be left to die back naturally if the bulbs are to reflower in the
next year. You can assist then
further by applying bulb fertilizer. Some
gardeners use bloodmeal fertilizer for this, which may deter squirrels. If
not done last fall, divide perennials now.
Most will require splitting every three to five years.
The notable exceptions are peonies, which strongly object to being
disturbed. Another exception is
bearded iris, whose rhizomes are divided in late July or early August… or
should be. Otherwise, remove every
perennial plant. Set these aside in a sheltered, shaded place.
Spread three inches or more of compost, plus a handful of bonemeal
fertilizer to every square foot and, using a spade, dig the whole bed.
While doing so remove every last perennial weed root, rocks dog bones,
defunct politicians and similar debris. Use
a knife, sharp spade or, in desperation, an axe to split each perennial clump
into four. Discard the centre or
oldest sections plus three out of four of the remaining segments.
A major and all-too-common error is to return every last piece back to
the bed. Remove any weeds from
those selected and replant carefully in odd –not even- numbers.
Water well, then apply Safer’s slug bait. Hardy
seeds may be sown outside of this month, especially herbs.
Parsley and chives both make wonderful borders for herb gardens and
chives –both regular and garlic forms- are also splendid tucked into perennial
borders. In fact, lacking space but
wanting flavour, there is no reason why most
-if not all- herbs can be treated in the same manner, joining perennials,
summer bulbs and even dwarf shrubs in a single great display of gardening glory. Sick
and tired of wood carving material sold as vegetables by the supermarkets?
If you have at least six hours of sun a day you can grow your own
superior product. Many can be
raised by seeding about the middle of the month.
These include beets, carrots, chard, green onions, lettuce, peas, radish,
spinach and turnips, to name but a few. Beans
are not planted until the last week of the month.
Cucumbers, squash and pumpkins are seeded the first week of May.
It is possible to sow inside tomatoes, peppers and eggplants the first
week of May, but the average gardener will probably do best simply to buy from a
local, reliable outlet. Forsythia
blooms serve as an indicator for two more chores: pruning roses and summer-
flowering clematis. Uncover the HT,
floribunda and grandiflora rose bushes. Cut
out all except the three to five strongest, thickest stems.
Now reduce these in turn down to three buds from the base (about six
inches or so). The topmost bud
should face away from the centre of the bush.
Fertilize and spread a mulch of composted cattle or sheep manure three or
more inches deep around each bush. Clematis
vines must be cut back to about 15 to 18 inches and given a generous handful of
garden lime plus a similar mulch of compost. Fertilize
all trees and shrubs early this month with any granulated proprietary brand labeled
for the job. Liquid preparations
are considerably more expensive. Or
if you are like the Three Musketeers and of the "all-for-one and
one-for-all" school of thought, try Milorganite on lawns,
perennials, bulbs, roses, vines, shrubs, evergreens, trees, herbs, vegetables-
whatever is desirable growing in the garden.
Boost with bonemeal (another natural product) and by late spring you will
have a garden that will leave your neighbours green with envy.
Horticultural
Happenings
Toronto
Field Naturalist Outing
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