Well it has certainly been an up and down month since the last issue of Down the Garden Path. As I was wrapping up the April issue we lost internet access at the house, much to the chagrin of my 2 teenage boys who didn't know what to do with themselves for the 6 days it took our Internet provider to fix the problem at the box.
The 'up ' in the month was the business trip I was able to take with my husband at the end of April to San Francisco. It was a great 6 days and I am happy to share some beautiful pictures from the Hagiwara Japanese Tea Garden with you in this issue. Thanks to the time difference I was able to pretty much keep up with work while I was away but design appointments were booking up for the week of my return and I was looking forward to getting on with the season. And then it happened... my laptop fan stopped working (unbeknownst to me) and subsequently fried my hard drive... and that back up I attempted before I left for San Francisco hadn't worked.
So my busy week meant an even trickier week trying to work from my phone or other computer. After a week my computer is repaired but the 1st recovery didn't work so now I cross my fingers that the 2nd recovery works this week so that I can have my data back.
All of this has really taught me that we need to focus on what we know and let others help us with what we don't know. I can help you with your garden, whether it's help with the design or the maintenance and I need someone else to help me with my computer. If I had let someone help me with the computer I would have saved myself alot of frustration. Let me help you or someone you know with your garden because it's what I am good at - just keep your computer away from me!
Have a great May!
P.S. Thanks to the computer issues, I decided to get my pruning article from last year out of the archives. It is a very popular issue for my customers and I hope you enjoy it and maybe even get more out of it this year as your plants will be that much bigger.
Facts Everyone Should Know About Plant Tags And Plant Info
Your plant tags and plant info from the internet may not be accurate.
Let's start with plant tags. The plants that are at our local nurseries are not all necessarily grown here in Ontario nor are the plant tags necessarily printed here or contain our Zone 5 growing information.
Please keep that in mind and try not to take the tag info as absolute. Japanese Maples in British Columbia may reach 20 feet. Here in Ontario with our winter and shorter growing season, you would be hard pressed to find a 20 foot Japanese Maple.
If you have questions please talk to a qualified, experienced person at your local nursery. I know the teenagers working there try to be helpful but they often will defer to the tag.
If you decide to search for
plant information on the internet, make sure you are searching for Zone 5 growing information.
If you have a design from me but are concerned about a plant please contact me.
Most plants I use in my designs I have in my own garden or I have experience with and I can reassure and inform you.
Want To Step Up Your Pruning This Spring? Follow These Steps
Pruning of Summer Flowering Shrubs: Summer flowering shrubs like Spirea, Potentilla, Weigela, Hydrangea and even Roses should be pruned in early spring before growth begins and then again later in season to remove spent flowers and encourage more blooms.
Pruning of Evergreens:
Cedars, Boxwood and Yews, can be lightly pruned in early spring to remove any winter dieback and prune for shape prior to spring growth. Note to trim hedges a little more narrow at the top to let light get to the bottom of the plant, this is a common mistake that leads to the dying off or lack of green on the lower branches of evergreens.
Pine and Spruces can be a little trickier to prune:
If this all appears a little daunting, give me a call and I can arrange to have a trained professional come by to take care of your pruning needs.
Golden Gate Park in San Francisco, California - April 2013
Wisteria and Rhododendron's in bloom.
Beautiful colour and texture.
View from a bridge.
Waterfall built around natural slope.
Zen Garden.
Rhododendron in bloom... ours never get to this height.
Hellebores in bloom... yes we can grow these here!
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.
