^CityGardening

May,2001

A Monthly Newsletter for Toronto Gardeners

MAY SPRINGS FLOWERS FORTH             

Tiptoe through the tulips, perennials, annuals, herbs, roses, vines …    

O’ were my love you lilac fair/Wi’ purple blossoms to the spring, wrote the poet Robert Burns just three years before he died in 1796.  And May does start seeing the lilacs commence blooming, to say nothing of May Day (1^st May, of course), Mother’s Day (second Sunday, May 13^th) and the traditional Victoria Day weekend (this year 19^th through 21^st of May).  Ignore the latter though as far as gardening goes.  Retail outlets are mad houses.  The only people to benefit from all the horticultural hurry are chiropractors.  A little each week and both you and the garden will benefit.

            If you fertilized the lawn last fall, early this month it will require feeding again.  Light infestations by weeds can be controlled culturally.  Larger weeds can be pulled or cut out.  The grass itself will choke out seedlings if it is fertilized, watered and mowed properly.  Feed then without delay.  If it is dry, turn an oscillating sprinkler on for an hour in any one location every three days.  At average municipal water pressure, this delivers a half-inch, just the right amount for healthy growth.  When mowing, never cut the grass shorter than two inches.  What happens if there are heavy weed infestations?  Either apply a weed-and-feed formulation or a selective herbicide.

            You may want to give some consideration, however, if the area is a small front lawn, to replacing with a modest selection of ground covers.  This will require digging up, adding compost and fertilizer then grading the area, but there is a wide selection of suitable plants available at the local garden centres.  Ground Covers edited by Jennifer Bennett and published by Firefly at just $10.95 is a great little Canadian book on the subject.

            Take care of your peonies and the dahlias will look after themselves has been the humorous advice given to novice gardeners if not to Toronto city councillors.  Much more in this month’s feature article on page three.  In 1919, Cole Porter had a U.S. hit song in Old Fashioned Garden.  This had columbines, violets, marigolds, hollyhock and phlox all blooming at the same time.  It never did achieve the same level of popularity in England.  These days though the U.K. is apparently a hellhole of foot-and-mouth disease.  And worse, according to Matthew Fisher of the Toronto Sun.  Despite claims that the tourism industry is desperate, he found it was still a case of, in their own words “rip-off Britain,” the height of the prices only matched by the depth of the service proffered.  Why not admire gardens here.   

            While taking care of your own, such as feeding the spring-blooming bulbs as they fade.  Remove the spent flowers by all means but the foliage must be left to die back naturally if repeat blooming is to take place again next season.

            Leave until after Victoria Day when he soil is warmer to plant out heat-loving tomato, pepper and eggplant.  Anytime on from the first week of May is suitable through to seed directly in the garden the cucumber tribe: Cukes themselves can be grown up fences or posts to save space, but melon, squash and pumpkin need a square yard for each plant to flourish.

            Good idea also to lay in a bottle of insecticidal soap, a sure fire resource with which to naturally combat many a garden pest with a sense of security.  Only use as a last resort though.  The best bug control devices are still the fingers.

The Epic Gardener

            Just over a year ago, the Epic Plant Company launched their own website www.epicplants.com.  This includes one of the best feature we have ever seen in an attempt to overcome garden rage.  This is the distressing disease every gardener has at some pint been overcome by upon being unable to source a highly desirable plant.  Now you can at least conduct a “retail/company search” to see who has Epic plants near you.  Then there is the “plant search engine” which allows you to enter the common or botanical name and discover more about that particular perennial.  Or go to “What’s New” just before that nosy neighbour is expected to commence boasting of her latest discovery and, instead, leave her green with envy.  A most deserved top o’ the garden hat to the experts at Epic down in the Niagara Peninsula.

Dutch Predictions for 2001

            The Netherlands Flower bulb Information Centre keeps track of International gardening trend with all care accountable by a nation that, despite its size and location, is the world’s premier exporter of flowers.  Fashion may be a fickle thing but the pastels colour that have ruled the roost for the last few years are now being replaced by bright colour, they say.  Fragrance is also much in demand after hybridizers had wreaked havoc.  Look also for more in container gardening for deck and patio as well as plants with winter interest, such as the dogwood, Cornus, and contorted forms of hazel and willow.

What’s Bugging You?   

We try, we really do.  But attempting to keep up with day-to-day reported outbreaks in a monthly newsletter is an exercise in futility.  Worse yet such attacks are often extremely localized.

So what do professionals do?  First they study, study, study.  Then they study some more, they amass a library of books on the subject.  They collect bulletins , especially illustrated ones, with the avidity of tax collector.  They own microscopes, and special hand viewing lenses for field use.

But above all they know where to go for advice themselves. The provincial government has a department, which resounds in the official title of the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs.  Mercifully this is usually known simply as OMAFRA (www.gov.on.ca/omafra).

There are two wonderful services available at Guelph for information on turf grass and landscape ornamentals.  They both provide pre-recorded bulletins on pest and diseases, as well as fertilization and cultivation.  These messages change weekly April to October and are available by phone toll free at 1-888-290-4441.  Remember, these are aimed at professional but contain much that is invaluable to amateur gardeners.

Where to call when you need personalized help?  There are volunteer master gardeners at the Civic Garden centre to assist you free of charge at 416-397-1345, every day from 10 am. to 1 p.m.  The Royal Botanical Gardens, Hamilton, 905-527-8938, 9 a.m. to noon, Mondays, Wednesday, and Fridays operate a similar service.  Problems with composters and composting?  Check out 416-392-4689.

Mark Cullen is online at www.markcullen.com with his “10,000 Gardening Questions Answered.”  Mark also has a phone-in radio program Saturday mornings from 10 to noon on CFRB.  Also from 10 to noon, Bruce Zimmerman has an open-line format show, Saturday on 610 CKTB’s.  Keep in mind it is often difficult to positively identify a pathogen or identify a plant over the phone.  Many true gardens centres have trained staff for just such eventualities.  Contact them before heading in with a nice fresh specimen, hopefully sealed in a bottle to discover what’s bugging you.      

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