Calgary Garden Coach

I'm a Healthy Yard

I seem to be collecting ladybug signs this year, without intending to!  That's OK, I think they look great.

I got the round one from taking part in the City of Calgary's Healthy Yards program.  You get lots of sustainable gardening information (which I didn't really need), a compost bin and a rain barrel (what I really wanted) all for free, just for signing up and promising to compost, use your rainbarrel, and not to use pesticides in your yard for 2 years.  Since I do all those things anyway, it was a great deal!  I highly recommend this program.

pictures just can't do a garden justice

This garden won 1st for Open Large Garden, 1st for Perennial Garden, 1st for Senior's Garden, and 2nd for Plant Lover's Garden in the garden competition this year.  It was covered in Gardens West's xx issue, but seeing it in a magazine was not the same as in person.

That's why I love the tours of the winning gardens.  There is nothing like experiencing a beautiful garden by being in it - the smells, sounds, and depth cannot be recreated in photos.  You get to walk down the paths and find the surprises around the corner.  Plus, you get to talk to the gardeners and ask them questions. 

backyard chickens in Calgary?

My husband and his wacky friends keep talking about keeping chickens.  I can't say I hate the idea.  Anyway, here's an excellent reference from Garden Rant on backyard chicken-keeping with lots of helpful links:

This Week in Chickens

Conservative Calgary took forever to ban smoking in public places, recently just partially banned cosmetic pesticides, and isn't getting curbside recycling until next year.  Do you think we're ready for chickens?

compost bin sale

Calgary's annual backyard composter sale is June 21, 8am to 4 pm.

If you don't compost yet, why not?  It's easy.

I've had this particular bin in the past and the one thing I found is that it benefits from a little more air.  If you have a drill or hole saw, cut some extra holes all around the sides of the composter for better air circulation.

don't believe everything you read

There was an article in the Herald on Saturday (April 12) entitled "How does a garden grow with kids?"  so of course I read it!  It was okay, in that it skimmed over a lot of information very briefly, and had the usual ideas such as sunflowers etc.  But it really bugged me that it recommended "butterfly bush" (buddleia) for a butterfly garden, a beautiful shrub that doesn't grow here!!  Then I looked at the byline and it was from someone writing for the Fort Worth Star Telegram.  No wonder!  Definately make sure the information you read is local.

That reminds me of a similar issue I noticed recently.  I had pulled out my "Practical Guide to Gardening in Canada" by Reader's Digest, that my husband gave me back when I started gardening.  It has mostly sat forgotten on the bookshelf all these years while I've used other more useful and beautiful books.  But I pulled it off last month and when I flipped through, I recognized more than just a few pictures from Sissinghurst, a famous garden in England!!  And they weren't credited, either.  How cruel, to advertise yourself as a book for Canadian gardeners and to print pictures like that!! 

rain barrels

Clean Calgary is having their annual rain barrel sale Saturday April 26, 9-11:00 am (get there early).