Calgary Garden Coach

What did you do with your extra hour?... and how to make leaf mold in a bag

Thanks to the time change, this morning I woke up early and what did I do with that extra time?  Snuck over to my neighbour’s and stole their 3 large garbage bags of leaves, of course! 

Let me back up a bit here.  First, the context.  I have ten large spruce trees on my lot and only one medium-ish mountain ash tree, so not very many leaves to speak of.  I always envy those people who bag up lots of extras to put in their compost, rake onto the garden, or to store and make leaf mould with.  I’ve also read about people who patrol their neighbourhoods and steal their neighbour’s bags of leaves, but I’ve never before had the guts.  I don’t really know what I’m scared of – probably just being seen and being thought of as that crazy lady who steals leaves…

Now fast forward to last night, as we were coming home from a potluck at a friend’s house.  Driving past the neighbour’s place, I noticed 3 huge garbage bags of leaves sitting in their back alley.  What?  With a leaf drop-off just a half a block away from our house?  Shameful!  I decided then and there to steal them.  So I did!  And now rather than smouldering with negative energy and thinking that my neighbours are terrible people for putting their leaves in the garbage, I have rescued organic material from the landfill that will eventually become a mulch for the garden.  Everybody wins!

I’ve never actually made leaf mold before (because I’ve never had leaves), but here’s the minimal work method I plan to use to turn these bags of leaves into a beautiful soil amendment:

·         Fill a bag with leaves (done, the neighbours did this part! man, this is easy!)

·         Moisten the leaves, seal the bag and cut some slits in the sides for air flow. 

·         Let the bag sit.  Give it a shake every few weeks if you want to speed things up a bit.

·         Check the bag every month or two for moisture, and add water if things are dry.

·         In 6-12 months, use the leaf mould as a mulch or dig it into the garden to amend the soil.

Now somebody stop me before I start stealing people’s pumpkins too…

why do you garden?

In the latest "Calgary Gardening" magazine from the Calgary Horticultural Society, they published some results from a survey that their Sustainability Committee conducted.  When asked to rank their most important goals in their gardens, society members listed the following, in order of preference:

1. Beautification of an outdoor area.
2. Increase bird, wildlife and beneficial insect habitat.
3. Create healthy and safe living area for family and friends.
4. Conserve water.
5. Improve soil.
6. Produce food.
7. Control weeds.
8. Control invasive plants.
9. Control pest insects.

I would agree with all of the above reasons.  I certainly started out gardening with the goal to add beauty to my yard, but gradually realized the impact that my little garden could have on the environment, including birds and bugs, water, soil, and pests.  I also became a little obsessed with turning my yard into an oasis of nature and beauty for myself and family and friends to enjoy.  I would say my top two reasons for gardening are closely related and intertwined:

1. I don't just want a garden, I want a magical retreat that will make you forget the time and space of your regular life as you spend time in my garden.  I am a long way away from that still, granted, but that is the goal...! 
2. I garden for the pleasure of the process - the idea of changing an "average yard" into a piece of art that takes all 5 senses to appreciate is very appealing!  I also like the challenge of designing something that changes over time, both from spring to fall to winter, and from year to year as plants mature.  I love being out in the garden whether I'm working on a major project (and there will be lots more of those before the garden is "done") or just puttering about deadheading or pulling weeds.  I can forget about everything else when I'm out there and it is the best form of relaxation for me.

So, why do you garden?

Empty compost bins and spread on garden - check!

I did it!  I actually did it!  I managed to get both of my large compost bins emptied and the compost spread on the front gardens and part of the back lawn.  This was on my September to-do list (and my May, June and July to-do lists before that! - you get the picture...) and I finally, finally got around to finishing it.  I’m patting myself on the back on this one, because it’s not the most fun job in the world and I’ve been procrastinating for a long time.  But a garden topped up with fresh compost is a beautiful sight, don’t you think?  

Here’s my front shade garden, the most bare and plain garden in the whole yard because I only grow very shade- and drought-tolerant stuff here due to the 2 spruce trees smack-dab in front of the house.  But even this sparse area looks nice with fresh compost on it!

The tree just on the left-side of the picture is coming down this fall and I’ve been looking forward to that for a long time!  This area should grow a lot better next year with only one spruce tree’s worth of roots in the ground rather than two.

And next year I'll only have to buy compost for the back garden - I never have enough!!

support a strong pesticide by-law in Calgary

While an outright ban of pesticides may not be reasonable, I do support a strong pesticide by-law which will ban their use for cosmetic purposes, such as lawn-care companies and home owners who apply blanket applications of chemicals that probably ultimately end up in our storm drains and rivers.  But targeted applications are also often unnecessary or done inappropriately by people who don't have a clue what they are doing - when they could just get out their dandelion digger, for example!  Pesticides should also be banned in playgrounds, picnic areas, and at certain times of year - like right before the monsoons of June, for example.  Really, it's time for people to get over the expectation that lawns should look like a perfect, painted blanket of green. 

Coalition for a Healthy Calgary is asking us to contact the Aldermen who are currently "sitting on the fence" on this issue and ask them to support a strong pesticide by-law in Calgary.  Find more information here.

stachys byzantina (lamb's ears) - a plant for bees

I planted lamb's ears because my kids love to touch the velvety soft leaves, and I hadn't really thought of it as a "bee plant".  But my little clump has been buzzing away with them, and one morning last week I even found this guy, fast asleep with dew on his back.  It's much easier to take pictures of bees while they're asleep!!

home brews for the garden, and dealing with slugs

I've had a few questions about these things recently and it just so happens that other people got around to writing about them first. So, here are a few links to check out:

comfrey tea and more, from The Guardian UK
alfalfa and compost tea from the Calgary Herald
more on slugs from the Calgary Herald

a rain barrel system for watering under the eaves

Hubby got the other two rain barrels set up this week-end.   I am particularly happy with this set-up because I use it to automatically water a very dry spot on the south-west side of the house.  I grow several clematis on those trellises but the rain never actually hits the soil that close to the house.  It is extremely dry there and it has been difficult to grow things.

My solution?  The two rain barrels are linked by a short piece of hose at their bases, so that they both fill up and drain at equal rates.  Therefore, I only need a tap on one barrel (no having to switch back and forth).  There is a soaker hose attached to the tap, which runs in front of the window and over to the base of the trellises.  When the barrels fill, I just open the tap and let them water the clematis for me.  If it is rainy season or I am going on holidays, I just leave the tap open so that the barrels never overflow.  Voila! 

I am expecting big things from those clematis this year!

free spent mushroom substrate ("mushroom compost")

Looking for some free good stuff for your soil?  As we discussed before, the All Seasons mushroom farm near Calgary gives away free spent mushroom substrate on Mother's Day week-end. 
Actually, it is free to help yourself all this week (Mon-Sun) and if you have a truck, they do free loading from 9:00-2:00 on Saturday.
For more info call (403) 946-4396.

more on free spent mushroom substrate

Thanks to reader Jon who added this tip in the comments section of a previous post about when to start vegetable seeds in Calgary.  For some cautions/tips on using it, be sure to read the rest of the comments section of that post.

"I contacted All Seasons Mushrooms today (April 25, 2009) and they told me the Mushroom Compost Give Away will begin May 3rd to May 10th (2009). You have to load yourself until May 9th. On that day, they will have a loader available to put compost into the back of trucks. I have a minivan rather than a truck so I go out and load myself. If you are loading into garbage bags, I suggest taking a container like a garbage can to put the bag into while shoveling the compost into the bag. It is a lot easier than trying to put a shovel load into the bag while holding it."

Thanks Jon!

[Update:

I've never been, but found these directions on  

http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/farnorth/msg021547561811.html

The farm is about 16 km north of Airdrie, just south of Crossfield, actually. You take the QE2 (hwy 2) to the Beiseker/Crossfield overpass, then take the Beiseker highway East for a very short distance, to a sign that says "Service road". Turn onto that, go all the way around the J-bend (do *NOT* go down the unpaved road, stay on the pavement) and head back south on the service road. Just follow it around and it'll take you to the farm gates on the east side of the road.]

On spreading compost on the garden

Compost is truly a gardener’s best friend.  Last year, I posted about how I had 5 cu. yards (!) delivered to my front yard and it took me about 2 months to finish spreading it around (others could do it faster, I’m sure, but most of my gardening is done in small bursts in the early morning before the kids wake up).  Yes, it’s a lot of work in spring but then you’re done mulching and fertilizing the garden for the rest of the year!

In order to save a little time, energy and $$, I only have a big delivery every other year, and in years in between I use my own compost.  But my garden keeps getting bigger and bigger and I don’t quite make enough of my own to apply to the whole garden every year.  Some more tips and benefits:

·         You can spread it on your lawn, too.  Rake a thin layer (about 1/4") over the grass in May or June.

·         Compost breaks down slowly over the season, which follows the general principle of “feed your soil, and let the soil feed your plants”. 

·         Compost also acts as a mulch in that it helps keep weeds down.  Don’t turn over your soil (which awakens all the little weed seeds near the surface), just topdress your garden with a little compost every year.  Keep in mind that it doesn’t help retain moisture as well as bark mulch, though.  If you use other mulch, you need to rake the mulch off, apply the compost, then put the mulch back down (which is why I don’t like using other kinds of mulch!)

·         It is a great slow-release fertilizer, so you don’t have to worry about run-off or applying too much.  Just spread about an inch or so over the garden in late April through May, and don’t worry about fertilizing your garden for the rest of the year (containers are a different story). 

·         It is easier to apply early in the season before plants get too big, but make sure if you do it very early that you don’t put it on top of any plants that haven’t started growing yet.  Doing so will either smother the plants or possibly burn them or cause them to rot.  Leave a little space around the crown of each plant so that the compost doesn’t actually touch any plants.

bee friendly plants for Calgary zone 3

This is by no means an exhaustive list, but simply the plants I have observed seem to be bee magnets in my own garden.  If you have others to add, please do! (click on the comments button, below)

ANNUALS

borage, cosmos

PERENNIALS

salvia, veronica spicata, hyssop (agastache foeniculum), sunflowers, liatris spicata, bee balm (monarda), black-eyed susans (rudbeckia hirta), goldenrod (solidago rigida), honeysuckle, echinacea, catmint (nepeta), sedums, clover

In general, try to plant a diversity of flowering plants that provide blooms from spring through fall, and avoid the use of pesticides.

Update: Articles on attracting bees seem to be a trendy thing these days, probably due to the concern about declining populations.  Here are a couple more articles:

Bring the Buzzzz Back to Your Garden, Fine Gardening
Creating a Bee-Friendly Garden, David Suzuki Foundation

Happy St Patrick's Day (and the benefits of clover)

I had a garden coaching client last year who repeatedly asked me how to get rid of clover in her lawn.  When I suggested leaving it because it is actually a very beneficial plant, she looked at me like she thought I was crazy.  So I thought it might be worthwhile posting a link to this discussion about the many beneficial qualities of clover, and why we have generally been convinced it is a weed.  Be sure to read the comments below the post to get the full story.

They've got to be kidding

These days there are articles abounding everywhere about how to be "green", including many about how to be more environmentally friendly in your gardening practices.  It is hard to believe in this day and age that people out there are still spraying their gardens willy-nilly with chemicals, but apparently it's true.  Still, this recommendation from Better Home and Gardens' "garden ideas & outdoor living" fall 2008 issue takes the cake:

Landscaping Smart, p113:
"Contract with a landscape maintenance firm practicing integrated pest management.  The money you save by not overapplying your own chemicals may pay for the service."

You mean people actually spend enough money on chemicals to pay for the cost of a landscape maintenance company?  I sure hope not.  And this article seems to imply that it's OK to spray chemicals if you don't have a maintenance company. 

I'm kicking myself for spending money on this magazine.

the dangers of RoundUp

Speaking of RoundUp, I don't know what this neighbour was thinking.  Trying to kill the grass in the back alley?  Why?  It made an easy groundcover. 

Trying to kill a few weeds?  Was it a windy day or something?  The shrubs, peonies and other healthy perennials that used to be here are also half-dead.  RoundUp kills anything green that it touches, so if you use it, be careful! 

While I don't use it myself anymore, there are a few instances where I still think it a necessary evil to use RoundUp.  For a well-balanced review of the hazards and advantages, click here.

getting rid of weeds in a patio

You need to pull up the entire root of a perennial weed if you don't want it to come back, but that's difficult to do between patio stones.

Instead, pull off the top of the weed, and pour boiling water on the root.  You may need to do this a couple times to entirely kill the root.

This works in the garden too, but make sure not to get the boiling water too close to any plant you want to keep!!

face-off in the birdbath

vote for no cosmetic pesticides!!

Calgary city council is voting on banning pesticides on July 14.  It's about time.  Sigh, I don't know why Calgary has to be followers rather than leaders all the time (we're getting residential recycling next year). 

Anyway, send your support for the motion via David Suzuki's website:

http://www.davidsuzuki.org/health/food/calgary_action.asp

this garden is ladybug friendly!

I finally got around to digging the Sierra Club pesticide-free sign out of the garage and proudly displaying it near the sidewalk.  (You never know, maybe those people down the street who drown their lawn with weed & feed every spring will rethink their practices!)

what to do with plastic plant pots

It was raining this morning so I decided to start tidying up after my spring garden-renovation fling.  Gasp!  Did I really plant this many new plants this year?  No wonder I'm so tired!

First, let me explain that I didn't BUY all of them, many of the pots were old ones that I re-used to start my seedlings, bareroot perennials and bulbs in this spring.  A few were also gifts.

But still, that's a lot of plastic for what I claim to be a very environmentally-friendly hobby!

Anyway, any that aren't recyclable, I wash and save for next year.  Fortunately, almost all of them are now, except the little black 4- and 6-packs for seedlings.  Some places are even starting to use biodegradable plant pots - let's hope we see more of those in the future.  I also save a good selection of sizes for all my little babies that I will start next spring.

The rest also get washed and, fortunately, my recycling company takes them.  I'm feeling slightly less guilty.

ugh. slugs!

My mother-in-law has complained about slugs for years, but I've never had a noticable problem until this year.  With all our recent rain, I can go out in the garden every morning and find ten or more without even trying (if I pick up a rock I can find ten more).

I once heard Jim Hole say that having slugs means you have a good garden!  Lucky me.  I guess after amending the soil for several years (I've been in this house for 4 years now), the slugs have finally found me.  Healthy soil makes for healthy plants but also healthy slugs.

Anyway, what to do?  Here are some options that I am going to try this year:

Spread some more crushed egg shells around the garden - I collect them year-round in a coffee tin under the sink and when it gets full I let the kids go out and toss them around (key spots are strawberries, veggie patch and moist, shade garden). Diatomaceous earth is another option.  Both these things will slow the slugs down as they get cut up crawling over something sharp.

Make slug hunting part of my regular routine - they are easy to find in the morning under rocks and soaker hoses.  You can either stab 'em, squish 'em or drown them in a pail of salty water.  I can't wait till the kids are old enough so I can pay them to do this!

Put down some slug traps baited with beer. 

***Slug bait is attractive and very poisonous to dogs and cats.  I don't even know if they sell it anymore...  I hope not.

I want to be a gnome buddy!

I just received my newsletter from David Suzuki's Nature Challenge.  Of course, this time of year, it has all kinds of information on getting your lawn and garden off drugs - something that I also talk about here!  Check it out.

It also has a contest to win a garden gnome that looks like David Suzuki (or just a visit from one?  I'm not entirely sure.)  Anyway, I've never had a desire for a garden gnome before but this is one gnome that I want to have in my garden!!  How cool would that be? I'm going for it...

Michael Pollan on the omnivore's dilemma

When I read his first book, The Botany of Desire, I was hooked on Michael Pollan.  The basic premise of this book and a major theme in the rest of them, is that from a plant's-eye view, humans are not really in charge of nature like we think we are.  Even in the garden, where we select the flowers, fruit and vegetables that we want to grow.  Actually, we are more like the bees, attracted by a plant's beauty, colours, patterns, flavour and/or fragrance, and compelled to propogate that plant.  Then he uses this idea to discuss gardening, the history of various plants, industrial vs. organic. vs. local food and more in his other books.  It's fascinating stuff (and I've posted links to his writing before).

Well, I didn't put it as eloquently as Michael Pollan, so check this out.  It's a brief summary of some of the themes covered in The Omnivore's Dilemma, which I'm currently reading.  The discussion below is also interesting.

http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/view/id/214

why I hate lawns

Actually, that's not quite true, I don't hate lawns.  They serve a purpose - they can be walked and played on.  And they can be maintained organically.  And they don't have to be watered all summer if people would just learn to accept a brown lawn for a few months.

But I hate when people do this!  A certain house in my neighbourhood does this every spring - throws synthetic fertilizer (I bet it's also weed & feed, the worst kind!) all over their lawn, sidewalk and nearby street.  Grrr.  What about the poor fishies who live downstream of our sewer system, where this fertilizer will inevitably end up?

And not totally unrelated, what is with the compulsion to trim the edge of the lawn beside the sidewalk with a gas-guzzling power tool so that you can have a perfect, vertical edge?  Seems pointless to me. 

organic pest treatments

• compost - Most store-bought fertilizers are inorganic and don't contain micronutrients that are also required by plants.  Add organic fertilizers (also seaweed, Turkey Trot, animal and mushroom manures) to feed the soil, not the plants.  Ultimately, plants will be so healthy that they won't be as susceptible to pests.
• diatomaceous earth - a sharp dust that cuts the soft bodies of slugs as they travel over it
• baking soda - a tsp to a litre of water, with a drop of dish detergent added, can be sprayed on leaves with blackspot (roses) or powdery mildew.  It won't cure them, but will keep the diseases from spreading.

composting is not complicated

Calgary is finally getting around to organizing curbside recycling pickup, but unlike Edmonton, will not be picking up compostable waste.  The argument is that it is much better environmentally to have people compost in their own homes or backyards than to spend the energy and emissions trucking it around the city.  Yes, it is, I just hope people actually do it.

One reason why people don't is because it sounds complicated.  There are recipes out there about what ratios of dry and wet (browns and greens) you should have.  Yes, these recipes work if you want to make compost fast.  If you don't care about speed, all you really need is a place to make a pile.  That's it.  You don't even need a bin.  Just throw organic kitchen waste, leaves, coffee grounds, egg shells and even dryer lint on your pile.  If you're willing to do a tiny amount of extra work, keeping it moist (about as wet as a wrung-out sponge) and turning it once in a while will really speed up the process. 

If you're in an apartment, vermicomposting is a great way to go - you can make compost for your houseplants or to share with friends.  There is more information posted on this Calgary company's site.

Why Bother? by Michael Pollan

I recommend anything by Michael Pollan, and here's a recent article from the NY Times Mag's Green issue:

Michael Pollan's "Why Bother?" makes the case for gardening, arguing that: "Measured against the Problem We Face, planting a garden sounds pretty benign, I know, but in fact it’s one of the most powerful things an individual can do — to reduce your carbon footprint, sure, but more important, to reduce your sense of dependence and dividedness: to change the cheap-energy mind."

... makes my husband's wacky idea of raising chickens in the city seem like a great idea... (almost?)