Gentle Reminders

Here we go: your list of gentle garden reminders to help you reach your garden goals.

1. Goals
Like they do in other areas of life, goals for the garden can really make a difference. There’s a sense of accomplishment (especially for newbie gardeners) when you reach your goals and a sense of direction to get you there.

Look at what you have and decide what you want. Make small steps over a longer period of time if the changes you want are big.

2. Don’t Get TOO Excited
There’s so much colour at the garden centres these days, it’s easy to get sucked in. Remember that your date for planting out isn’t until the threat of frost has passed. You can take your chances but make sure you’re listening to the forecast.

By all means, you can buy plants in the next week or so as they will need about a week of hardening off. Be sure to bring them in if frost is in the air though.

3. Prep Your Soil
Soil is the most important part of your garden. If you think about it, the soil provides support, nutrients and moisture: everything a plant needs to survive. Add finished compost approved by the Compost Council of Canada (you’ll see the Compost Quality Alliance stamped on the bag).

Good compost contains “brown” and “green” matter, or, more precisely, carbon-based and nitrogen-based material. It’s easy to tell the difference: brown matter is dry and green matter is wet. Leaf matter would be brown matter and apple cores would be green matter. A good ratio is about 25:1, Carbon:Nitrogen (by weight).

4. Water Less
Spring in Canada is easy for plants. It rains fairly consistently and the soil is already wet from the snow melt. If you’re planting anything from seed (grass, for example), spring is a great time if you don’t want to water. As we move into summer and rains become less frequent, plants with short roots will suffer.

That’s why you have to water less in the spring. I don’t water at all. Everything my garden needs comes from Mother Nature herself – she doesn’t need my help. The roots grow deeper in search of water and thus they are prepared if this summer is a dry one.

Check out my blog from a few weeks ago for some planting ideas to help you reduce your need for water.