Your guide to the garden
Grab your gardening gear, it's the first long week-end of the season
Probably the best advice every given about getting one's garden ready on this first long weekend of the summer came from comedian Dave Barry.
"Your first job is to prepare the soil," he says. "The best tool for this is your neighbour's garden tiller. If your neighbour does not own a garden tiller, suggest that he buy one."
Certainly, there's no escaping that before one experiments with the large variety of new plants on the market here in southeastern New Brunswick, there's the drudge work of preparing that garden bed.
The National Garden Bureau lists what has to be done first:
"Soil that was turned last fall and left in clumps needs to be broken up. Soil that was left unturned or that is hard and flat from snow and rain also needs to be turned, worked and leveled."
Their experts recommend that you work down about 12 to 18 inches to really loosen the soil. Add organic matter such as compost or peat moss as you work the soil. This will enrich it and provide a nutrient-rich base for your plantings.
Then comes the job of planning to add some new varieties to this year's garden, and figuring out what can go right into the soil now and what should wait for a few more weeks. As a guideline, remember that May 19, Victoria Day, is a full moon. Traditionally, the last frosts of the season in the Metro Moncton area will be this week.
Bob Osborne, owner and garden guru at Corn Hill Nursery near Anagance, is always on the lookout each year for new plant picks. On his website, he suggests four great new varieties to consider this year, a unique rose, a new hosta, a vigorous grape and a peony with beautiful foliage.
The Polareis Rose, with stunning blooms that are white infused with soft pink, is nonetheless tough as our Maritime winters. The Blue Mouse Ears Hosta is the hosta of the year for 2008, a small powder blue wonder whose small leaves are indeed cupped like a mouse ear.
Best of all, it's slug resistant. The hardy new wine grape, the Frontenac, is vigorous and highly ornamental, and makes for great eating fresh if you are not into wine-making.
But the star of the season is the rare and lovely Fern Leaf Peony, with finely dissected fern-like foliage that is unique among peonies. It is hardy enough to withstand our winters and so dense growing that people seeing it for the first time stop in wonderment. Unfortunately, this rare treasure is also pricey, costing $65 for a one-gallon plant and $95 for a two-gallon.
But while you speculate about what new or rare addition you might make to this year's garden, you can start by sowing the basic hardy crops that can go into the soil in May and provide you with great harvests throughout the summer.
In our climate, good choices to plant now are snap peas that have edible pods that are crunchy and tasty and snow peas that cook up beautifully in stir-fry recipes. You can start your first planting of lettuces such as Mesclun and Arugula and spinach, and sow successive crops over the next few weeks for a regular supply throughout the summer.
Beets are another early starter. This year, look for the new "fast crop" beets that mature in only 50 days.
You can also put in broccoli, Brussels sprouts and cabbage, but in our relatively short growing season, if you haven't been growing these as seedlings inside your house for the last six weeks, you would be advised to purchase them as bedding plants from the host of local nurseries and garden centres, and just transplant them into your garden.
They will mature much quicker than starting them from seed, and are more likely to yield a tasty crop that won't bolt (go to seed) in the hot days of midsummer. Select early varieties of carrots to sow now as well as Swiss chard and radishes.
For best results, sow seeds or transplant plants on a cloudy windless day. That is because bright sun and wind cause the plants to lose moisture and this delays their time in getting started to grow.
Make sure your early plantings are well watered, rarely a chore in our region as May brings as many showers as April.
Remember as you plant this food for your body, that gardening nourishes the mind and even the soul as well. As Gladys Taber described it, a garden is "evidence of faith. It links us with all the misty figures of the past who also planted and were nourished by the fruits of their planting."
Going back to the National Garden Bureau, their experts remind us that keeping active, both mentally and physically, can add years to our lives.
"The physical efforts of gardening -- digging, planting, bending and walking -- are great forms of exercise," according to Janis Kieft, who writes for the bureau. "Gardening also provides stimulation of all five senses -- sight, smell, taste, hearing and touch.
"Participating in activities such as gardening reduces stress, an all too common reality of our daily lives that contributes to disease, illness and emotional problems,"
More recently, as trends towards establishing "healing gardens" grow in popularity, we are reminding that tending to the needs of plants provides a time to be alone with one's thoughts.
Moments of calmness can be achieved just appreciating the wonders of nature or sorting through concerns in a tranquil setting. Gardening is, above all, a way to become immersed in another world.
Local gardeners are also reminded that the Westmorland Horticultural Society is always interested in new members. Their next meeting is May 27 at 7:30 p.m. at the Lewisville Middle School.
A major highlight of the summer gardening season is the society's annual Flower and Garden Show and Silent Auction. It will be held Aug. 19-21 at the Beaver Curling Club, 73 Capital Ave., Moncton.
More Home and Garden
Search Articles
More CE Network Sites & Partners:
