Time to Lay the Foundation...

Before jumping headfirst into the gardening season, I feel that I should start by providing a little bit of a framework to my posts. Since not all the content in my blog will be applicable to every gardener at any given time, I think I should at least fill you in on the ‘lens’ that I use when viewing and maintaining gardens. I also feel that I need to outline the climatic conditions of the area in which I garden as well as how I am hoping to make this blog relevant to as many gardeners as possible. Finally, I would like to take a moment at the end of this post to give you a ‘sneak peak’ into what I have in store for you! So hang on tight- this may be a dry post… and exceptionally nerdy [laugh followed by snort]… from here we will get right into the gardening- I PROMISE!

THE LENS

Let me start by saying that I am a landscape gardener by trade (my academic background is a B.Sc. in Environmental Biology and a Masters in Forest Conservation). My role in life is to use ecological principles to keep my gardens (and all the individual plants) healthy, while also striving to keep these spaces looking PERFECT! These are two goals that don’t often mesh perfectly (this presents a really fun challenge). Often, in making ‘picture perfect’ landscapes, some textbook gardening practices get somewhat tossed out the window and vice versa (more of this in future posts… insert ‘impending doom’ sound effects here). My posts will therefore shed light on all sides of the maintenance spectrum: ecological principals, gardening techniques, as well as tips and tricks for making things visually appealing in your garden.

THE ZONE

It doesn’t take a brain surgeon to know that growing conditions across the country are highly variable! It is this reality that is at the root of most cases of ‘garden envy’. So it goes without saying that my blogs are going to reflect my specific location (which is the Oakville/Burlington area in Ontario, Canada). If you are familiar with gardening zones, my area falls within the Plant Hardiness Zone of 6b. If you are not familiar with hardiness zones, here is your ‘super-duper-Cole’s-Notes’ definition: essentially our beautiful country is divided into zones based on plant survival. These zones, originally based on minimum winter temperatures, are now based on climatic conditions. Areas with similar conditions are considered part of the same zone, with the harshest conditions being in zone 0 (such as Pond Inlet in Nunavut). On the other side of the spectrum is Vancouver British Columbia which falls in the 8b Plant Hardiness Zone (garden envy alert! garden envy alert!). For more information on Plant Hardiness Zones, check out the Natural Resources Canada website or the Agriculture and Agri-food Canada website.

Not sure of your zone (and want to know what it is)? You can find that information out here! (Just a little note to any American readers out there: our Canadian Plant Hardiness Zones are not the sames as yours! If you would like to know more about your zone, you can find it at the United States Department of Agriculture website.)

Why all this talk of ‘zones’ you ask? Well if you are in a zone higher than my Oakville/Burlington 6b sites, you have a longer growing season and chances are you are further ahead in your garden maintenance schedule right now. If you are in a lower zone, you will be ‘behind’ (at this point in the year, you may still be under snow!). As the season progresses, lower zones may be further ahead in their maintenance tasks as gardeners in those regions begin to prepare for the start of winter earlier in the year than gardeners who live in milder climates.

GETTING ON THE SAME PAGE WITH INDICATOR PLANTS

So how can I make this blog relevant to as many people as possible?

Throughout the year, and hopefully with every post, I am going to try to give you an idea of where I am in the gardening season through the use of plant phenology indicators. Plant pheno-WHAT?!?! Ok, ok…. so sorry for the all the geeky science stuff (it really is juicy once you sink your teeth into it!). This is a concept that is rooted in the practice of pest monitoring and control. Essentially, it was noticed that the growing stages of certain plants (‘indicator plants’) coincide with various developmental stages of pests (more importantly, the stages that are most vulnerable to control measures). These plants are called “plant phenology indicators”. For more information on this, I highly recommend reading the blog post from Jen Llewellyn at ONNURSERYCROPS. This post also includes the indicator plants typically used in Ontario. Since I already use these plants in my pest management and monitoring strategy, I will use them in my blog posts too. Since many of these indicator plants are not found across the country, I will also use some common plants in the landscape trade in the hopes of being applicable to more gardeners. My hope is to provide at least a general idea of how far along my area is in the current growing season. With that said, it may be the case that some of my indicator plants are not hardy in your area- I realize this is not a perfect solution to uniting gardeners across the Plant Hardiness Zones- but it is my best attempt!

UPCOMING FEATURES

Moving forward, I have many ideas for this blog, but I just wanted to take this time to shed some light on two features that will be reoccurring throughout the growing season:

1) Task Lists- on a weekly basis (usually closer to the end of the week) I will strive to provide a list of all the tasks that I completed during my week in the gardens- think of it as your ‘to do’ list for the weekend ahead! I will also send these lists out in my newsletter- so be sure to sign-up!

2) ‘The Tool, the Technique, the Trick’ feature- maintaining gardens and keeping them looking spectacular requires the right tools and a bit of finesse. This feature will introduce the tools I use, how to use them properly, and the tricks that I use to add that ‘finishing touch’ to the job.

So there you have it! The stage has been set… thanks for reading this long-winded post! It is now time to play in the dirt!