Hello my dear gardening friends,

What a wonderful week this has been – with a promise of rain (finally, the ground is so very dry). I can’t believe it after all that mud I endured. Today I raked off some leaves and to my amazement there is still ice under them but the bulbs are struggling valiantly to grow. They look somewhat yellow, but will green up.

Thank you to the 5,000 plus people who came to the Garden Show. It is indeed for the Love of Gardening. A huge thank you to the two people who did the bulk of the work, Neil Roberts, Master Gardeners, and his wife, Anne Greer Wootten, Peterborough Horticultural Society. They have worked so very hard since the last show. Congratulations to you both for a job very well done.

I sent some of you a “walking woman” to be passed along to remind us all about breast cancer. I had a scare this past week – luckily it turned out to be nothing to worry about, but the second Master Gardener in Peterborough is battling that dreaded cancer. Blessings from Mother Nature and you are in my prayers – I know all will be well.

“What was Paradise? But a garden an orchard of trees and herbs, full of pleasure and nothing there but delights.” ~ William Lawson

This is the time of year for those of you lucky enough to have Forsythia growing in the garden to start forcing some of the branches in the house. Forsythia is very simple to force and the yellow flowers will shine as brightly indoors as they do outside. Make sure that you choose branches that have plenty of squat, fat buds for thin branches only produce leaves not flowers. Witch hazel, plum, quince, peach and cherry all force easily; crab and orchard apples are more difficult, and lilac is a considerable test of your gardening skills. The last three should only be tried near the natural season of blossom for the plants. If you try to force dogwood and the beautiful pink flowers turn out to be white, it is not you. This usually happens unless the forcing takes place in an unusually bright place.

How do we do all this? The simplest method is to smash about an inch of the ends of the stems with a hammer, cutting off any little twigs that might be under water in the vase (container). The branches should be brought along slowly in the brightest but coolest place that you can find with the crushed ends in deep clean water. If you have no place that is very cool, try forcing the branches in a bright bathroom, where the constant humidity will help to open the buds. Some people even mist the branches or cover them with thin plastic. Once the buds start to swell, you can bring them into a warmer place and enjoy what to me is a true miracle – watch the buds and leaves unfold.

A Choice of Gardener “HONESTY in a gardener, will grace your garden, and all your house. Concerning his SKILL, he must not be a Sciolist; to make a shew or take in hand that which he cannot perform, especially in so weighty a thing as an Orchard. The GARDENER had not need be an idle or lazy Lubber, for there will ever be something to do. Such a GARDENER as will conscionably quietly and patiently travel in your orchard, God shall crown the labours of his hands with joyfulness, and make the clouds drop fatness upon your trees. He will provoke your love and earn his wages and fees belonging to his place. The house being served, fallen fruit, superfluity of Herbs and Flowers, Seeds, Grafts, Sets and besides all other of that Fruit which your beautiful hand shall reward him withal, that much augment his wages and the profit of your bees will pay you back again. If you be not able, nor willing to hire a GARDENER, Keep your profits to yourself, but then YOU must take all the pains.

I loved this – how many of us would love to hire a GARDENER and let him take all the pain, must admit that I have a few stiff joints this evening.

There are few home properties that do not need a hedge to complete the landscaping. If you are thinking of purchasing plants for this purpose this spring here are a few suggestions.

The purpose that you have in mind for the hedge is of primary importance. Once you have decided Why and Where, then the selection of the material is an easy matter.

Generally hedges have these functions:

They limit access by careless children. I suffered that from my dear next door neighbours – their children wished to visit others, walking through my little wooded area, that was full of wild ginger, trilliums, trout lily’s, etc. I had to erect a fence to keep them out. I hated to do it, but my plants are my children!!! Hedges limit trespass, by indifferent adults and their dumb animals, hide unattractive buildings or unsightly views, provide a suitable background for a landscape, break the force of winds and snow, and form fences that combine beauty with utility.

After the purpose of the hedge has been determined, the next consideration is to give some thought to certain qualities of plant materials to be used, especially hardiness, height and colour. Many kinds that you see in the south are too tender for we semi-northern folk. It is foolish to plant a dwarf of anything if you are looking for something of medium to tall heights. Washed out greens or browns will fade by the side of the brilliant colours of the perennial and annual flowers that you plant, but by the same token all green can be very monotonous.

Soil condition is somewhat important, but you can adjust or rather amend any soil to the requirements of any particular planting. If you have good loam, all you have to do is dig the hole and plant. Heavy clay can be modified by digging a trench 2 feet deep and three feet wide, replace the discarded soil with a rich sandy loam.

In planting, depending on the plant of choice, place them one to three and a half feet apart, but at the same depth that they were in the pot/container. If the plants are B and B (balled and burlaped), it is necessary to loosen the burlap and set them in their hole – the burlap breaks down fairly quickly and will not stop the root development. I prefer to lay the burlap aside or at least cut long slits in the sides being careful not to cut the roots. Pack the earth firmly – do not stamp the earth down, you will break the young tender hair roots. Leave a “saucer” so that the water will drain toward the roots rather than away from them.

After you have planted them correctly, and we have talked about this at length in other columns, a light cultivation of the soil about the roots is good and so is the addition of a good balanced fertiliser in the late spring to early summer (about a pound for every dozen or so plants). Do not forget to water your newly planted “hedge’ to stimulate growth and vigour.

A few shrubs that will do well in Canada are:

Low Hedges – 1 to 5 feet
Evergreen: Korean Box, Japanese yew, abor-vitae, Mugho pine, Deciduous Spiraea, Anthony Waterer, Japanese barberry, red leaf Japanese barberry, Japanese quince, alpine current (for shady places)

Medium Hedges – 5 to 15 feet
Evergreen: Red cedar, Norway spruce, red pine, Austrian pine, pyramidal arbor-vitaea, Deciduous Siberian pea, mock orange, Osage orange Amur privet, Chinese elm.

If you live in south eastern Canada, the European beech (Fagus sylvatica) makes a tall hedge around eight feet or more. Its beautiful shiny green, oval leaves form a dense curtain in summer. Unlike other deciduous shrubs its dead brown leaves do not drop off in the fall, but stay on the plant providing a good screen even in winter.

Funnily enough the rose of Sharon (Hibiscus syriacus) makes a good hedge, blooms in mid-August when other flowers are scarce. It has very large hollyhock-like blossoms in red, white or blue showing up well against its green foliage.

Korean little leaf box (Buxus microphylla koreana) is an excellent low, evergreen shrub. It has few equals for edging walks, driveways and formal gardens. It grows slowly and even when mature is no more than two feet tall. You only have to prune it once a year – just to keep it tidy, you can save the clippings for propagation.

In July or August, take stem cuttings three to four inches long, remove most of the leaves, push them into sand, so that they will stand upright. Put them in the shade, water them and keep them fairly moist. They will form a callus and roots. In the fall plant the whole thing in the ground – then next summer transplant them to a bed with lots of loam, care for them until they have developed a strong root system, then add them to your “fence”.

I picked up an old book, very small called, “Old Wives Lore for Gardeners”. I found a number of funny things – this one is called, “PESTS – STEP ON IT”.

– A member of the panel of the BBC’s (British Broadcasting Corporation) admirable Gardener’s question time program speaking on identifying small creatures in the garden, said that as a lad he was told, “If it moves slowly enough, step on it; if it doesn’t, leave it – it’ll probably kill something/somebody else.”
I understand for I have two mosquito bites already!!! Also:
Never spray against Greenfly
“There is a giant conspiracy between the insecticide manufacturers and writers on gardening to encourage the public to spend fortunes and waste hours spraying their roses against aphids. A single clove of garlic planted beside each rose is guaranteed by the present writers (who have not been bought by the lobby – though perhaps only because they have never been approached) to absolutely keep greenfly from the plant (true I do this too). The roots will take up from the soil a substance from the garlic inimical to greenfly, and if in early spring a few hatch out from eggs, the parents care less of their offspring’s welfare. They will neither lay nor survive themselves. Whatever it is that the rose takes up from the garlic does not affect its own scent. As long as the garlic is not allowed to flower, there will be no odour of garlic in the garden (I leave the flowers on the garlic and they smell sweeter than the roses!!)
If you do not believe this – then try it for one summer with one group of roses in one bed protected only by garlic, spray all the other roses as you would do normally. You will never waste money or the time again. All members of the onion family, including chives, are partially effective, but garlic is the only completely efficient answer – the systemic insecticide to end all others. In very dry weather, water the garlic so that the excretions from its roots will be sure to be taken up by the thirsty rose.”
By: Maureen and Bridget Boland

I was given several gifts at the show, the most precious from Elyn Green – the greenhouses along the river. Elyn gave me a gardenia. As a young teenager, I went with the local church choir to London when the choir had been chosen to sing in Westminster Abbey – the boys bought each of we girls a gardenia. I have tried for years to grow them, but my water is far too alkaline. What a treasure chest of memories Elyn evoked.

Dear Kate (Smith/Grant) is in Springville nursing home, cards and good wishes will be most welcomed. I am afraid that she will never garden again – the worst things happen to the nicest people. Bruce is staying in their home and he too would appreciate a phone call, we only seem to rally around when people die – this too is a “death” albeit it a living one.

I have another cold – this time with that wretched cough. I must be better by the 5th of May for that is when I start work, but I understand that the soil and fertilisers are here already. Do drop by and say hello to Deborah – she will be pleased to see her old customers. Buy some flowers to tie you over until your bloom outside (although my daffodils are about to open; cheers it must be spring!).

Well my dears, that will do for tonight. Good Gardening – take the hoe outside with you – there are things called dandelions poking through also the coltsfoot is blooming now. Hats, sunscreen (I forgot mine today), insect repellent – the flies are biting – and gloves (the rose canes may be dead, but the thorns bite).

Lovingly, Beryl