Tag: Cold climate gardening

You and Pollinators Need This!

September 25, 2024

Design, Gardening, Landscape, Plants

Border with sedum, barberry and blue spruce. Photo PeaceSignsPruners

I think every gardener should plant Sedum ‘Autumn Joy’. It is such a delightful plant and very hardy for those of us in cold climates. And pollinators of all sorts love it and need it.

Here in Manitoba we’ve already had a few cold nights (down to +4^oCelsius, or 39^o F.) Some areas have had a touch of frost. Annuals are looking worn out, most perennials are finished and leaves are starting to change colour. Sedum ‘Autumn Joy’ is just now looking fantastic and is going strong. And everywhere I see it it is covered with pollinators of all sorts. Bees of all types are looking for that last addition to their stores, late emerging monarch butterflies need a good boost before heading south, even moths are flocking to the upright sedums. And when gardens are looking tired, the upright sedums are giving good colour and form.

There are many hardy sedums that deserve attention. There are many that are not that hardy and make excellent houseplants. There are ground cover sedums, low mounding sedums and, of course, the upright sedums. All are fleshy plants, offer interesting texture; they like very good drainage and full sun. Once established they will tolerate drought for extended periods, will thrive in sun-baked conditions where other plants struggle.

Stonecrop is one of the common names for sedum, as is orpine and Ice Plant. Careful when shopping as there is another plant whose common name is Ice Plant. Also beware that botanists consider some sedums to be a different genus: Hylotelephium. Such is the case with ‘Autumn Joy’. The tag at the garden centre may say Hylotelephium or Sedum.

The upright sedums will grow 30 – 60 cm (12 – 24″) tall, depending on variety, with spreads similar to the height. They bloom in shades from bright pink to rose to peach. The stems are fleshy, leaves fleshy in shades from blue-green to burgundy. A word of caution: some of the darker varieties seem a wee bit harder to overwinter, experienced gardeners I know have struggled with them. Don’t cut them back and cover well with snow. Trim at least in half come Spring.

It’s exciting that some of the leading growers are paying attention to sedums. The new introductions like ‘Rock ‘n Grow^TM Back in Black’ and ‘Banana Split’ look beautiful, but we need a few seasons of having them planted to prove their hardiness. The other major bonus for planting sedums? Deer don’t seem to like them at all!

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You Need To Cure That!

August 15, 2024

Cooking, Gardening, Landscape, Mother Nature, Plants

How’s your garlic crop? Looking good? Leaves dying back? It’s time to harvest. For us in Zone 3 harvest is usually early to mid-August. Digging the bulbs is the hard work, but the work isn’t finished once you have everything out of the ground. If you want to enjoy your homegrown garlic all winter, you’ve got to cure it.

Testing a few heads is always a good idea. Bulbs should be firm, garlic cloves filling the papery covering. As with all things in the vegetable garden, sufficient water during growing will give you a bigger product. Always loosen the soil with a spade, fork or trowel; do not pull heads as you can damage the stem which allows rot and fungal infections in. Treat these bulbs like gold – which they are worth their weight in! Be very gentle, don’t hit them or ding them!

Do not, do not, do not, may I repeat: Do Not hose them down or rinse them off! Getting water on the bulbs invites rot: moisture can get into the root crown, under the papery cover of the cloves or into the stem. Do leave them dirty and leave them to air dry. They do not need to be in sun which can dehydrate the bulbs. Find a dim, cool area with good air circulation. If you don’t believe the air circulation is good put a fan on the area.

I’ve always cured garlic and onions by simply laying them out on a table, often in the garage. I turn them regularly because rot will start where the bulb is in constant contact with the table. This is true of winter squash, potatoes and root vegetables. You can hang the produce or lay it on mesh screens, lessening the chances of contact rot. The curing process can take up to two weeks, if your weather is humid. The dirt should fall off or brush off easily. It’s when the curing is finished that I trim the roots and stems.

Keep any produce that is dinged, stabbed or bruised for immediate eating, they will not store well. Cured garlic can last in a cool, dark space for months; the temperature, ideally, is around 12^o C or 55^o F. Warmer temperatures will cause them to desiccate or sprout to soon.

Here on the Prairies we typically grow a hardneck garlic, which is a little tougher than soft neck garlics. This includes varieties such as Music, Purple Stripe, Porcelain and Rocambole. Hardneck garlics give us the delightful scapes in late spring, softnecks do not. Softneck garlics can be braided, hardnecks can not. Colder climates can grow softneck garlics such as Artichoke or Silverskin but plant a little deeper, mulch well and delay removing the mulch in Spring for as long as possible. I find the hardneck garlics more flavorful; I only tried to grow the softnecks and elephant garlic a couple of seasons before deciding to dedicate the space to hardneck varieties.

Fresh, locally grown garlic is fantastic! If you’ve never used fresh garlic for roasting whole heads you are missing out. If you didn’t grow any this year do search it out at your local farmers’ market.

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Do It But Don’t Do IT!

July 27, 2024

DIY, Gardening, Landscape, Plants

Appearing now in your mailbox, inbox and in stores are fall bulbs. Stately tulips, bright daffodils, yummy garlic and more are, or will be, offered to the garden enthusiast.

Do it! Buy them now, especially garlic which has been a fast seller the last few years. During the pandemic, with the food shortages due to shipping problems, people have been more interested in growing their own food and garlic is an easy and popular crop. Fancy tulips like doubles or fringed, special colours, double or rarer pink daffodils can all sell out quickly.

Don’t, however, plant them yet! No planting until mid to late fall. They are called Fall Bulbs for a reason! They need to go into the ground when days and soils have cooled considerably. If you plant in the heat of summer they will react and start to grow. They will have leaves up by early September, might try to bloom by early October and then will be killed by frost. Waste of money, waste of time.

How to store bulbs until you are ready to plant? Some of the guess work can be eliminated by ordering online from a reputable company, like Veseys, pictured above. We are long time fans of this company but you can get great product from Botanus, Brecks, MacKenzie and Wildwood Express, all are well worth checking out. These companies will ship at an appropriate time for your area and garden zone.

Careful ordering from that massive online website, there are many scams. Just so you know, there is no such thing as a blue tulip, don’t fall for it. If you find bulbs in a garden centre or box store, check them out carefully. Sometimes appropriate storage can be a problem and they have them in a sunny, warm spot. Bulbs should not be budding or actively growing, they should be firm to the touch.

So you got happy and acquired bulbs. What now? Keep them in breathable packaging like paper bags or perforated plastic. Keep them in a cool, dark place. In our modern sealed home this can be a challenge so you can store them in the refrigerator. Keep them away from fruits, which produce ethylene as they ripen which can stimulate your bulbs. If you are going to be storing them for two months or more it maybe be better to individually wrap the bulbs in newspaper, paper towel or brown paper. Where the bulbs touch is where rot it most likely to start. Keep an eye on them to make sure there is not condensation on plastic bags.

When to plant is something I cannot tell you: it’s a weather thing. It is, for us on the Canadian Prairies, usually late September at the earliest. I will be writing more about planting fall bulbs as the planting time draws nearer, sometime around mid-September. Subscribe so that you don’t miss a post.

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Maximize Spring Bloom

July 23, 2024

DIY, Environment, Gardening, Plants, Pruning

Lilac Photo: PeaceSigns&Pruners

Did you know that spring blooming trees and shrubs will make their blooms the previous fall? Next springs’ bloomers make their buds on old wood, wood that grows this year. Through late summer and fall, they form the flower buds for next year. The blooms are tightly furled and protected by a hard bud case or shell.

To maximize next springs’ blooms do your pruning now. Once your shrubs and trees have finished blooming it is a good time to do any thinning, shaping or reduction in height. However, you need to get it done by mid-summer, to avoid taking any formed blooms. This is especially important for cold-climate gardeners, who have a smaller window of opportunity.

Hardy shrubs and trees that bloom on old wood include forsythia, lilacs, mockorange, purple sandcherry, ninebark, azaleas and rhododendrons, weigela, some spirea, some honeysuckles and most of our fruit trees and shrubs. When pruning fruit producing trees and shrubs be careful to not damage your current fruit!

Remembering when your plants bloom is one great reason for keeping a garden journal. If you have trouble remembering come fall here is a great chart from U of Colorado. The chart has plants we can’t grow on the Canadian Prairies but is helpful if you’re trying to push the boundaries or have a great microclimate. I grew a deutzia for many years, said to be hardy for Zone 4. I admittedly had a great microclimate, a sunny yard well protected on four sides by mature shelterbelt and the house.

As always, follow up pruning with some love and care. Water well in the drought of summer and add light balanced fertilizer or compost. While you’re out there, check the trunks of any of your trees and rub off any sprouts before they become branches!

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Hedge Now!

July 19, 2024

Design, DIY, Environment, Gardening, Landscape, Plants, Pruning

Cotoneaster hedge. Photo PeaceSigns&Pruners.

If you are in a cold climate, like the Canadian Prairies, now is the time to do your hedge trimming. If you’re anywhere else in the country this post is a little late for you but mark two to four weeks earlier in your gardening journal for next year. Sorry, but I tend to write as I see inspiration and this morning’s stroll brought the subject to mind.

If you are working on a formal hedge with a straight top and sides your hedge is probably looking quite ragged. That is because all the exuberance of spring growth has happened. New shoots everywhere! Now that summer is upon us, growth will slow down.

Whether using an electric hedge trimmer or manual shears sharpen your blades first or you will end up with ragged cuts. Manual shears are acceptable for shorter lengths, but are a very good arm workout. Of course, you do not have to do it all at one time but within a week is good. If your yard is surrounded by hedges an investment in an electric trimmer is a present to yourself. Chainsaws are not the best choice because they are not meant for fine work.

Dwarf lilac. Photo PeaceSigns&Pruners.

A crisp top line can be achieved by running a string at the height you want to achieve for reference. A pole at either end of the work area with a string between gives you a good guide. You can eyeball it but I’ve seen that often end in disaster with a wavy top, especially if your ground is uneven. Now, here’s a hot tip: when doing the sides of your hedge, your top should be a wee bit narrower than the bottom. That way the sun can get to the side growth evenly, without a bulging top shading the growth below. If you are working with a taller hedge using a ladder, please please please only work in sections you can easily work. It’s a bother to be getting up and down the ladder to move it but over-reaching is a recipe for disaster and injury!

After you’ve hedged please follow up with a little love: water if your area is in summer drought. A light fertilizer is appropriate, but get that on quickly, you do not want to be fertilizing in August. You will get some growth through the summer, enough to cover your cuts, but it will be minimal and can be easily cleaned up later in August or September.

Probably a Preston Lilac. Photo PeaceSigns&Pruners.

In long term maintenance remember that plants only grow at their tips, they only add length at the ends. When you trim an end, dormant or hidden buds break back along the branch for six inches to maybe a foot. This means that your plant can get too dense. It’s an evolutionary protection so that a plant can rebound if eaten by a deer or is broken in a storm. As you hedge, you’ll get a plethora of new shoots below your cuts. This can lead to a top that is too dense, branches that rub and can be prone to disease as well as being an excellent home to bugs like spiders.

As well, as plants get new growth at the top, they tend to focus energy there and not on the bottom. This leads to bare bottoms. As your hedge matures you should go in every year and trim out one or two old branches. You should also trim some of side shoots. Removing a big branch from the bottom will keep your shrub shooting at the bottom, preventing bare spots.

If you’re looking for inspiration check out Instagram’s @hedgelover_ or use the hashtag #hedges. You may also get some adorable hedgehogs!

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