This is a good time of year to assess the state of the landscape because the “bones” of the garden are fully exposed. Gone is all the colour provided by flowers and foliage, as is the texture provided by all plant material except evergreens and the bare trunks and branches of deciduous trees. The real
Using curves in your garden landscape
Now’s the time to assess the yard and see where you could add some curves
Wintering trees and shrubs grown in containers
Try these ideas and maybe you won’t have to purchase new plants next year
My wife and I went on a garden tour in Winnipeg this past summer and we saw just how popular the practice of growing trees and shrubs in containers has become — many of them grown as standards. Such plants are not inexpensive, particularly when many of the standards had woven stems and were quite
Getting David Austin rose plants ready for the cold
Now comes the real challenge of growing these plants — preparing them for a Manitoba winter
Gardeners sometimes take on the challenge of growing a plant that is way outside their climate zone rating. We want to see if we can grow the plant and winter it successfully, or because the plant is so spectacular it is worth the extra effort required to care for it and protect it. Such plants
Growing your own kale
This veggie takes up little space and is packed with nutrition
Many consumers want to know where their food comes from, how it is grown/raised, and its nutritional value, so are growing their own vegetables. Even some urban gardeners with very small yards can achieve this by using containers or interspersing a few veggies among their flowers. One very suitable vegetable is kale, because it takes
Creating texture in your garden landscape
This can be done through touch or visual texture
You may have heard the phrase, “Use texture to create interest in the garden,” but what exactly does that mean? Many relate to texture by the sense of touch — is the surface rough or smooth? If you run your hand over a leaf of lamb’s ears you get the sensation of a fuzzy warm
Growing Oriental lilies in Manitoba
These are quite hardy in the province when given a bit of winter protection
Nothing compares to the huge, fragrant blooms of the Oriental lily. Growing a metre to a metre and a half tall and producing stout stems on which a multitude of heavy blooms appear, they are nothing short of spectacular. Orientals are not as hardy as the Asiatic and martagon lilies, so I treat them a
Fire blight can infect raspberries
There is no cure for this bacterial disease and pruning is the best treatment
Fire blight is a bacterial disease caused by the pathogen Erwinia amylovora that attacks many trees and shrubs (apple, pear, cotoneaster and mountain ash are four of the most common targets). The disease usually appears in late spring or early summer when it attacks the blossoms and very young growth at the tips of the
Goldenrod is a true harbinger of autumn
When we see the golden blooms we know that fall is fast approaching
Goldenrod can be seen blooming in ditches along roads and highways throughout the countryside during autumn. A lovely wild perennial, it is a true harbinger, and when goldenrod first makes its appearance we know fall — and harvest season — are fast approaching. There are several varieties of native goldenrod and each has a slightly
A tried-and-true old favourite
Honeysuckle has been grown for decades and copes with whatever Mother Nature gives it
Sometimes in our quest to create beautiful gardens we focus on new varieties of plants that are popular at the moment. This is particularly true of the shrubs and the plant hybridizers have recognized this and are churning out new varieties by the dozens. Although using new shrub varieties can lead to great results (some
Growing Malabar spinach
Quite different from the regular spinach variety but packed with nutrition
One of the joys of gardening is to try growing and using new plants. Sometimes we stumble upon a new plant quite by accident, as my wife and I did this past June. We were camping near Sydney, Manitoba and took a drive through nearby Austin where we came upon a greenhouse operation. It was
Cyber-Savvy Farmer
