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March 21, 2012
| Vol 1, Issue 4
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Down The Garden Path
with Joanne Shaw |
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Greetings! |
Spring is definitely in the air! Record temps have kick started our spring fever! The garden and lawn will slowly start to wake up in the coming weeks.
If you are looking for inspiration or something spring related to do this month, consider the National Home Show which for the first time also includes Canada Blooms. Running from March 16- 25th, it should have something for everyone. I am looking forward to attending myself this week. Watch for pics on my Facebook page! *********************************************
I happen to have an extra pair of tickets for Canada Blooms. Be the first person to and the pair is yours! *********************************************
If you are looking for inspiration from the comfort of your own home, have you taken a look at Pinterest? I have to admit I am honestly addicted but loving all the great gardening and container ideas... Check it out or better yet follow me on Pinterest here or by clicking the Pinterest image below.
Just a quick note about this newsletter. I realize as we head into garden season that a picture is worth a thousand words and I really want this newsletter medium to be an informative, instructive tool! So I will be trying to add more pictures, both instructional and inspiring to help you with your garden.
Warm regards,
Joanne Shaw
Landscape Designer
Down2Earth Landscape Design
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How Does Your Garden Grow?
| Hopefully you enjoyed the fall and winter stages of your ornamental grass, despite the lack of snow. I usually don't cut mine down until the May long weekend. These great growers need the summer heat to start and then they kick it into high gear and grow pretty quickly in a short time. If you have an established clump of ornamental grass (or other large perennial like hosta) that needs to be divided, the spring while the soil is still soft but not too wet is a great time to do it.
Here's a step by step guide:
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Select grass to transplant
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Use spade to loosen soil around the entire root ball
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Pop entire root ball out and place on level ground surface
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4. With a sharp shovel or axe slice down through root ball (one plant can yield several new starts)
5. Dig a hole, cover transplant up to the top of root ball, water and you're done!
Photos courtesy of Old World Garden Farms
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Let Spring Begin!
| Despite our record warm temperatures it is still a little early to be working in your garden. The spring cleanup can begin once the ground has dried. Keep in mind walking or raking in garden and lawn too early compresses soil and causes the important spring rains to just run off the garden instead of being absorbed by the plants.
When things have dried up a bit go ahead and cut back any parts of perennials that were left up for winter interest, such as flower stalks and seed heads.
Pruning of spring flowering shrubs: Early spring flowering shrubs like Flowering Almond, Lilac, Sand Cherry and Forsythia should be pruned immediately after flowering. If you prune them before they bloom you will lose the flowering this season and maybe next depending on how hard you pruned.
If you want to rejuvenate mature spring flowering shrubs, as soon as the last flowers fade, use a pruning saw to cut off one-fourth to one-third of the biggest, oldest stems at ground level. Use pruning shears to shorten all of the stems to two or three feet from the ground. If you wish to greatly limit the shrub's size, you can cut the branches as far back as six inches from the ground. By the end of the growing season, new branches will have formed. These will arch gracefully from the center and will be covered with new flower buds for next year's spring show. It is still too early this month to start pruning any of your evergreens. I will discuss more on that topic next month.
If you have any further questions about spring pruning or if you need someone to help with the pruning in your yard please contact me and I will be able to help.
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A look through the garden gate...
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Joanne Shaw is the owner and operator of Down2Earth Landscape Design. A graduate of Ryerson University in Landscape Design, Joanne has 15 years experience in designing gardens and a decade in landscape and related business, both for her own clientele and established local nurseries.
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