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Early June 2000
Finally, this is the month to prune spring-flowering shrubs. As with most things horticultural, the reasoning is simple. Shrubs that have bloomed in the past couple of months will form next year’s flower buds over this summer. If they had been pruned last March, these flowers would have been sacrificed, as they will if you leave the work until August or later. There are two simple statements governing the art of kind cuts. Firstly, we prune to create more or better growth, flowers or fruit, and to control shape and discourage pathogens. Secondly, the best flowers and foliage occur on younger growth. To these statements we might add that the harder a deciduous shrub is cut back, the more growth is created. Such shrubs as Forsythia, Rosa rugosa, Mock Orange, Bridalwreath Spirea and Honeysuckle should be limited to six or so of the youngest branches. Cut everything older out right down to ground level. Make sure none of the branches that are left cross each other, lest they rub together, weaken, and eventually snap. Try to leave each branch equidistant from its neighbour and to replace one of the six with new growth from the base each year thereafter. Evergreen conifers must also be lightly sheared in early June. Aim to remove about half of that soft, new growth that was made this spring. This is the only way to create the dense, lush growth that made them so beautifully full when newly planted. Pines (those evergreens with very long needles) have new growth called “candles”. Cut these back by one-half, a sticky but necessary chore. Use kerosene to remove the resultant mess from clothes, implements and hands. And after all this, you deserve to go and see how they do it at one of the greatest (and free!) gardens in Toronto, Spadina House up on Austin Terrace, a short walk north of Dupont subway station. Luckily, their lawns have not been disfigured by the notorious white grubs of the European chafer grub. These pupated a month earlier this year -in May- and later this month is target time if they are to be effectively controlled. Unfortunately, chemicals are the only route here. Wooden garden furniture is beautiful and
complements almost any décor. The
problem is that given our climate, it doesn’t always last as well as it might.
Mackenzie King wrote with some feeling on this in his famous diaries.
Canada’s famous prime minister was a keen gardener with a great feeling
for the natural look of landscapes he created.
It’s too bad that he did not live to see the furniture of Recycled
Plastic solutions, a Waterloo, Ontario firm.
At a trade show earlier this year Jackie Arlein showed me classic lawn
and Those seeking something a might more rustic –and the real thing- can turn to the Colour Your World on Danforth east of Dawes (and only this branch in Canada), where Kevin has some very original rustic wooden planters that he is trying on for size. These look far too good for the front porch, but are in their element on the back patio or lawn. Made to hold either single or numerous pots, even Mackenzie King would fall for these, despite his trouble with squirrels. Yes, our famous spiritualist P.M. was bothered by Sicirus as much as any other gardener. Too bad Rhonda Massingham Hart’s ”Squirrel Proofing Your Home and Garden” was not available three-quarters of a century ago. A wonderful compendium of squirrel lore and lawlessness, the price would have appealed to that frugal P.M., at just $17.97. It should be available at your local bookstore, but if not then hit www.storeybooks.com. If you really want to have fun in the
sun, there’s a little town in eastern Spain that has nothing to do with
fighter jets, sled dogs, or crazed people in the streets with equally crazed
bulls. Since 1944, as many as
20,000 people a year have taken part in the
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Current Issue
deck
furniture designs that are constructed from planks of plastic wood.
mother
of all food fights – the annual La Tomatina festival in Bunol, Spain.