Sunday, May 31, 2009

Reel mower

Its been so busy in the garden lately that I haven't had a chance to post or take pictures. I had company for a while and then had to put in all the plants that waited out the late frosts in the garage. I may have lost a fern but all of the remaining plants seem to be doing well. Of course the real test will be to see if they show up next year!

In between planting and weeding I'm trying to stay on top of the rapid lawn growth. I can't wait until its all gone but that will be a few years. This year I hope to remove the center concrete path and dig up all the grass in the back yard, except for the pathways. The sods will be used to build a low berm with two "peaks" and a flagstone path through a shallow valley. That will give the flat yard some interest and allow me to plant more of those alpine plants I love.

Since the lawn square footage is decreasing all the time I'm finding the electric lawn mower harder and harder to use so I have been planning to replace it with a reel mower. Maybe I should call it a push mower because every time I say "reel mower" I get a look that says, "yes, mine is real too". :-) Canadian Tire has a sale on so I got a 14" Yardworks model. The size is perfect but I think the handle might be a bit flimsy. I really haven't put it to a fair test though because the grass was far longer than this type of mover is designed to handle. I will try it again next weekend and I'll bet it will handle a week's worth of growth better than the 6-8" I made it chew through last night.

Monday, May 18, 2009

Lousy weather

I haven't had much to say lately because I've been so dismayed by the weather. It has been cool with sub-zero temperatures several times in the last week so I moved the plants that are still in pots to the garage and the unheated front porch. The plants that are in the ground are now under floating row covers and old bed sheets. It looks just horrible and I'm worried the protection won't be enough since the forecast now calls for snow. So much for the May Long-weekend being the start of summer.

Most of time I like living in Edmonton... the weather is not as bad as you might think and the pests are limited to mosquitoes, ants and wasps. No cockroaches the size of aircraft carriers, no alligators, poisonous snakes or rats, we really have an easy time of it here. Today, however, I'm shaking my fist at the sky and wondering why I don't move to a zone 5 or 6 area!

Here's a picture of Narcissus Jetfire that's blooming in the garden in defiance of the return of winter! Come on Jetfire, warm the arctic blast!

Wednesday, May 6, 2009

May showers bring June flowers!

I'm so happy we got some real rain today. If I had a rain gauge I'd know how much. I really should get one! But we got enough to make things nice and wet and that is exactly what we needed.

It was too wet to take pictures but I do have some garden pictures on flickr that haven't appeared here.

Monday, May 4, 2009

... and the bulbs are continuing to prosper...


Scillla


and Chionodoxa

are doing nicely!

New shade garden update



Well, yesterday I planted most of the plants I bought or grew for this area... it felt great to get them in before the rain but I was too exhausted to take pictures so I took some today. These show the light of the setting sun lighting up the plants and I think it looks lovely. I still need to add a couple of shrubs. I'm thinking of putting a Pinky Winky Hydrangea and a Sem False Spirea (Sorbata sp.) Then I'll put in a soaker hose and top it off with mulch and some branches and rocks to give it more natural look.

Saturday, May 2, 2009

Shade Garden "Before"



Not much to see, is there? It should be looking much better in a week or two.
The cold snap is finally over and we are getting seasonal temperatures. I'm still under lifting restrictions but I'm healing well so I'm digging a new flower bed today. I started yesterday, very, very carefully and slowly and it was OK so I'll continue today. The area is near the elm trees on the street. The elm leaves have been falling and decaying here for years and when I moved in 7 years ago I started piling excess leaves here as well so the ground is nice and soft and loamy. I'm sure a shovel full of leafy soil weighs less than 10 lbs. The area gets morning sun and just a slip of sun an hour before sunset so I'm planning a shade garden here.

I planted a pagoda dogwood last year in the corner. Its supposed to be barely hardy here but I don't know if it made it. I don't see much that could be interpreted as leaf buds. The leaves fell off early last year, in September, I think, so I wonder if its dead. Its not crispy so I'll leave it for a bit to see what happens.

I also want to plant a Pinky Winky hydrangea in the corner and one or two Sem False Spirea (Sorbaria). I'll have to leave room for them as I've also bought a bunch of shade and semi-shade lovers... a couple of hostas, spirea, aquelegia (columbine), heuchera, ferns, solmon's seal, Cornus canadensis, ajuga, saxifrage, epimedium, etc. and I'm going to put them out today. Jim Hole said yesterday that we could plant perennials now, that a late frost won't harm them, and perennials are outside at the garden centres so I'm taking him at his word. Before and "in progress" photos later.

Once I have planted these new acquistions I'll start renovating the bed along the path to the front door. I have big plans for this area but I have to wait until the hostas show their noses so I don't stick my showel in the wrong place. More on that later.