Winter.
Plan
The time for hibernation is also the time to dream and plan,
and you can get lots of help from gardeners supply businesses. Seed catalogues
and websites offer suggestions and everything from the cheapest deals to the
newest hybrids. Paving stone manufacturers catalogues show everything from
simple paving arrangements to waterfalls and outdoor ovens. Last summers
photographs can be the traced to make scribbles and drawings of what you hope
to do next year. And perhaps most importantly, landscapers, usually too busy to
talk will be happy to answer questions in winter.
Winter is also a time to observe. Does the snow pack onto
the place where you plan to put a deck? Does water back up behind the retaining
wall? Winter is hard on our gardens and its important to pay attention to
shady spots, windblown areas, heavy drifting as these will often affect summer
growth. top
Logging
Woods can be rough-cleared in winter using skidders or
bulldozers or cut and stacked on the spot if drainage is good. If theres
a commercial harvest, it can be easily extracted from most terrain during
freeze-up. Similarly, plantation thinning can be conducted during the winter
months. top
Winter burning
In Whitewater Region, unlike all surrounding regions, you
can still burn all year providing you get a permit from Whitewater Region or
contact a local fire warden. However, winter is simply the safest time to burn
and most responsible organizations pile their wood and wait for Nopvember to
dispose of it. Once the snow goes, the risks of open burning increase daily.
top
Late Winter. February and March
Prune fruit trees
When the long cold nights start to shorten, its time
to prune fruit trees for summer growth. Remove in this order: dead limbs,
rubbing limbs, centre-crossovers and finally verticals and horizontals. Then
make sure that fruiting spurs are not too close together or on top of other
branches, and finally cut back the length of growth spurs. WE also spray an
environmentally friendly lime sulphur mix for over-wintering pests.
top
Plant lawns frost seeding
For some reason, planting grass seed directly onto the snow
as it is melting has always produced the lushest and thickest lawns. I honestly
dont know why that works, but it does. But of course, you will have had
to clear the ground last fall. You can successfully plant a lawn at any time
during the spring months, however the later you wait; the less likely you will
be successful as lawns need at least three weeks of wet and cool to germinate
properly. Its also important to pick a seed that is appropriate for your
site shade/sun, well/poorly drained and wear-and-tear being the most
significant factors. top
Remove unwanted trees
Its best to cut trees down before they have grown much
leaf. Its safer, doesnt damage exposed plants when it falls and is
easier to dispose of the wood either by burning or haulage. top
Trash removal
Piles grow with time. Now is a great time to get stuff off
to the dump. Everything from cement pads to ex-yardsales should be got rid of
as they occur top
April and May. Snowmelt. Spring
cleanup
Immediately after the snow melts, theres a ton of work
to do.
Dethatch your lawn
In winter, lawn grass will often generate a mold which can
weaken your lawns roots making them less able to compete with other weed
seeds. Also, roadside and driveway lawns are often covered with winter sand and
any leaves left over from last year can choke a growing lawn. Vigorous raking
with metal rakes will prepare your lawn for a good year to come.
Expanding your lawn?
If you plan to expand your lawn into rough ground, this is
the time to cut all shrubs to below mower depth, remove any rocks and sticks
and rake the ground flat. Once clear, a pass once a month with the mower will
take care of any young saplings. top
Lawn mowing
Lawn mowing includes sit-on, hand-trim, whippersnip and
blow. We do not specialize in lawn-mowing and there are always cheaper
solutions out there. We fertilize lawns in May.
top
Clearing rough ground.
When the snow first goes is a great time to remove obstacles
so that the lawnmower can do the job in future. Some folks like to burn rough
areas at this time to get rid of thatch from previous years, but be careful as
fires can quickly get out of control, and the local fire department spends much
of this time responding to embarrassed landowners. Best to have a couple of
friends around and a hose at the ready. And remember, if its after April
1, you need permission and a burn permit from Whitewaters fire warden.
top
Weeding?
I try to resist the temptation to walk on my gardens during
April and May except to lightly rake off any protective winter mulch and to add
a spring root-promoting fertilizer if needed. I have seen many young perrennial
shoots and spring bulbs damaged by well-intentioned but unwise spring weeding,
and the resulting stunted growth is not worth the benefits. top
Annuals and Perennials
Generally, annuals are just planted for this year whereas
oerennials grow year after year. Annual beds and new perennial beds are exempt
to the no-go advice because they are empty of shoots. Weed well and mulch
heavily (see June for details), then plant as you wish. But with tender
annuals, watch the skies and be careful of late frosts. The trade off is one of
risk management. Plant early and you get a better year but you run the risk of
losing out to a late frost. Be ready to replace frost-damaged annuals with new
ones if you plant early. Perennials are usually hardy and should be planted as
early as possible and treated well fertilised if you want to enjoy flowers in
the first year. top
The Veggie patch
Most veggies can be planted in April (peas and lettuce) and
May (everything except nightshades and exotics). Follow carefully the
instructions on each package and try to ensure that one row doesnt shade
out another. top
Start new flower beds
Time was that a lick of Roundup was the first step towards
converting that lawn to flowerbed. Alas, that is often no longer an option. The
only other ways to start a flowerbed is to:
1. dig the lawn (lots of hours and a load of new topsoil and
you will still get weeds), and
2. lay an opaque tarp on the lawn to forbid light and water
to reach the roots. Lay the tarp a year before you wish to start the bed.
Its called planning ahead.
Once the lawn has been killed, we bring in a rototiller,
composted soil or mulch and manure. We turn the ground deeply, then add the
composted soil and turn it again. For best results, we recommend an initial
sowing of buckwheat to further fertilize the soil which we then cut down within
45 days, plant, edge and mulch top
Construction.
Get the deck, driveway, patio and shed plans approved and
off to quotes. Excavation can be done and aggregates delivered once the frost
is out of the ground. Never start wet or dry stonework until one week after the
frost is all gone as melting often resettles a frozen base. top
June
Weed, weed and weed and then mulch
By June, the weeds that started in April are huge and the
garden looks a mess, but those last flowers to show, the tardy Hostas are
finally up. I pull out all the stops for this first weed of the year, gently
loosening every inch of the bed with a garden fork, then getting down on my
knees with hand tools and removing every single bit of root I can and fully
loosen the soil to six inches or so. In some case I will even dig up perennials
that have weeds in the root, clear them of weed roots and replant, although in
doing so I may be compromising their flowering potential for this year. Once I
have finished weeding, I lay a good 6 inches of mulch on new beds, and top up
the mulch in old beds. The mulch is optional, but is fairly cheap and makes for
very fast weeding in future. Last steps are to edge the beds -- for neatness
and to draw attention to the soon-to-flower shrubs. Finally, I will remove
deadwood and prune some woody shrubs. Although some weeding will take place in
subsequent months, June is the big investment.
top
Planting
Most perennials planted in June will not flower the same
year; however June is still a good time to divide and plant providing you can
irrigate well during the hot summer months.
top
The veggie garden
Tomatoes, chilies, peppers, cilantro, basil, lemon grass,
eggplant and other exotics all need to be planted when the nighttime low is
above 5 degrees (10 degrees for chilies).
top
Hedges
If you want to do 2 cuts in a year, do the first one in
early June. If doing one cut, a June cut will leave you with a shaggy hedge
during next winter. Its a matter of personal choice. top
Construction
This is the best time to start decks and patios. Concrete
can be poured with expectation of good results, there are no load restrictions
and summer labour is available now the universities are finished their winter
sessions. Plus it leaves lots of time to finish in case something goes wrong.
top
July/August
Weeds
Topping. edging and mulching where necessary. An exception
is the veggie garden which requires constant topping (cutting the
weed off at ground level). My preferred hoe, the flat push-hoe is not available
at local stores, but at Lee Valley. Some weeds are starting to go to seed. A
good investment is to get rid of them before they do.
top
Construction
Still lots of time to start projects. Most can be completed
within a three-to-four week period. top
Hedges
A July cut is my preferred one. We generally cut a hedge in
a box-horse shape There will be some regrowth so it wont look bare all
winter. We also cut back the bottom and remove any unwanted shrubs that might
compete. If we find a wasps nest, we kill it.
If doing two hedge cuts, the second cut should be in Mid
August. We recommend that you do not cut hedges within two weeks of danger of
frost. top
September, October -- FROST
Weeds
Every weed that we missed is going to seed and will be
tenfold next year. It never ends. Thats why mulch is cheaper in the long
run. top
Divide and plant
If you liked that large Hosta, consider dividing it into a
group of hostas. Ditto for the rest of the garden. Fall is my favourite time to
divide and transplant and the nurseries start dropping their exorbitant prices
after mid-September, so you can often score deals at a fraction of the spring
prices. This is also a good time to plant trees
top
Garden teardown after the
frost
Once the frost does its work, teardown becomes a good option
for some but not all. For the disciplined garden, we deadhead and chop
verticals except winter-profile shrubs such as rose cedum, Coneflower and red
dogwoods. We remove the clippings to the compost or to the dump, do a final
edging and pull any perennial weeds such as burdock, thistle and dock. Natural
gardeners would rather leave the dead seedpods over the winter to break a
monotonous snow meadow and for birds and animals to browse. top
Garden teardown after the
leaves have fallen
Once the leaves are all off the trees, the last maintenance
job is to get them off the lawns for the winter, as they will generate winter
mold and throttle a good lawn. For the disciplined gardener, we put them on the
compost pile. For the natural gardener, we put them on the flower beds and
leave them there to protect the perennials from ground frosts during the
winter. Both frost and leaf teardown can be done separately or together after
the leaves have all fallen. top
Construction
Interlocking wall stonework and wet casting and pouring
become more risky in the late season because both glue and cement set poorly at
low temperatures. Dry work such as paving and stackwalls can proceed well into
freeze up providing the base has been fully compacted beforehand. Drainage work
can also be done prior to freeze up and then construction can follow next year
after the drainage activities have been proven effective. top
Clear ground for lawns
Rake and pick rocks and sticks in anticipation of frost
seeding (see Late Winter above)
top
Last-minute tree care
Late fall is a good time to cut branches, pollard (cut back
main branches of some trees to keep them small) and remove some trees
altogether inpreparation for winter. top
Lawns
We wind down lawn care as they stop growing . However on our
last visit, we lightly fertilize for the winter
top |