Calgary Garden Coach

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?)