Tip of the Week

Grasses for the Garden

This is a huge topic, but many many gardeners are finding grasses to be a great addition in the garden.  My most recent favourite is Calamagrostis brachytricha, Korean Feather Grass.  It makes a neat clump of pale green arching leaves about 2' high, followed by feathery pale pink plumes about 4' tall.  The plumes age to a nice straw color. It looks super planted in groups of three or more.  It is neither invasive nor rapidly spreading, and does well with sun or part shade. Like a lot of grasses, it needs moderate water.  It is deciduous.  It tolerates clay soil.  Worth it for those elegant arching leaves and plumes.  Grasses are in the nurseries now, as summer is their time.

Kay Hamilton Estey

Don't Mess Up Your Mulch

While you're cleaning up under your roses and other shrubs, be careful not to disturb the lower levels of mulch!  Many critical beneficial insects overwinter in egg or larval form in leaf litter and mulch beneath your plants!
Annie Joseph is a 'green gardening' professional and her seminar will help you discover ways to keep balance in your own garden.

Build a trellis

What's the secret to building a sturdy bamboo trellis? Plastic zip ties. Use 14-inch plastic zip ties, rather than twine, to secure bamboo poles together. The zip ties cinch down tightly, and unlike twine, they never stretch or sag. For a traditional-looking trellis, simply wrap twine over the zip ties to disguise them.

Willi Galloway is the creator of digginfood.com.  She will be teaching the secrets of building trellises at the show.

Tips for succulent success

- Many succulents appreciate some shade or protection from intense sunlight. Most do well in as little as 2-3 hours of direct sun each day.  Succulents like soil that is well aerated and drains well. Coarse bark or crushed lava work well for this; sand does not. Succulents are very efficient at collecting, storing, and using water and also efficient in their use of nutrients.  So they are happy with smaller doses of fertilizer than most plants.
Robin Stockwell is the owner of Succulent Gardens Nursery and will be offering all his best tips for succulent success in his DIY Stage seminar at the show.