Plant an old favourite

When I was just a boy growing up on the farm, I started a flower garden. Of course, this was before the era of designer plants and before bedding plants were available in the spring, at least in rural Saskatchewan! If you wanted to grow flowers you did it the old-fashioned way — you planted

Low-maintenance topiary

Watering is all you’ll have to do once this is made I have always loved the look of formal gardens but they are far too much work to maintain, so I designed a pair of “lollypops” to sit in formal urns on either side of my front door. You could call this low-maintenance topiary art.


Gardening in the shade

Many plants will actually thrive in shady areas There are many garden plants that can not only survive, but thrive in the shade, like annuals such as begonia, lobelia and sweet potato and perennials such as astilbe, bleeding heart and hosta. If you have a shady area, here’re some tips:  Shade gardening often means

What causes evergreens to brown?

There are several reasons for browning needles on evergreens, whether they turn completely brown or have needles with brown tips and green bases. “There are several potential causes, but the correct cause may be difficult to determine,” says Joe Zeleznik, North Dakota State University Extension Service forester. “Insects, diseases, flooding or mild winter temperatures may


Try this plant in your garden

It is always fun to try a new plant in the garden. A number of years ago I was given a seedling of bloody dock — also called bloodwort, wood dock or bloody sorrel — by a friend whose plant had self-seeded in her garden. Its Latin name is Rumex sanguineus. I planted it in

Bigger seed changes the canola seeding equation

The best chance for maximizing canola yields is a plant population of eight to 10 plants per square foot and a minimum of five throughout the growing season, says Doug Moisey, an extension agronomist with the Canola Council of Canada. “Typically when you have four to five plants per square foot or higher your yield


Keep that Easter lily

Perhaps you were fortunate enough to receive a potted Easter lily as a gift this spring or maybe, like me, you bought your own. I was lucky enough to find one with buds not yet open — one bud was just on the verge of opening — so I will get to fully enjoy every

Fruits of our labour

Gardening can be a rewarding experience. First we till, preparing the seedbed. We carefully plan, sow the seed and mark the rows. We expect our vegetables to grow where we have planted them. Some years the rain and sunshine come in just the right amounts. When we get too much rain or not enough, it


Getting an azalea to rebloom

Were you lucky enough to receive an azalea as a gift plant for Easter? Azaleas are popular pot plants used as gifts for special occasions such as Easter and Mother’s Day. Although an azalea can be enjoyed until it has finished blooming (a healthy plant will bloom for several weeks) and then discarded, many gardeners