July garden checklist June 27, 2026 The dog days of summer are around the corner, giving us permission to sit back and enjoy the garden we created in May and June. But don’t put the shovel and shears too far away, because there are many pleasurable tasks best done in early July. Prune shrubs: Spring flowering shrubs such as Forsythia, Spirea, Weigela, Viburnum and Lilacs should be pruned in early summer. They will set new flower buds in July and August for next spring’s bloom

Soil Garden Clippings for June 20, 2026 Ask a 10-year-old student what is it that plants need to grow, and they will reply with sunshine and water. Correct. Tell the same student that plants also need soil, and they won’t disagree. Ask them why plants need soil and you will get a startled, puzzling look. Tell the student that soil’s main job is to hold the plant up and they will begin to understand. After all, if plants were growing in a bathtub, they would surely fall over.

Garden Clippings for June 13, 2026 Most home landscapes have at least a few Boxwood plants. We love Boxwood for their dense evergreen foliage, their slow growth, and versatility. Boxwood are hardy, will grow in sun or shade and will tolerate both wet and dry soil. Until recently, Boxwood was considered a relatively pest and disease-free plant. However, in late 2024, Box Tree Moth arrived in Lambton County, and by the following spring it had begun causing serious damage by fee

Summer vegetable seeds Garden Clippings for June 6, 2026 Too many gardeners have told me that their veggies aren’t growing yet. The plants are not dying, but they look the same as the day they were planted in the middle of May. Therein lies the issue. Aha! The middle of May was only three weeks ago. May was cooler than we would have liked, and plants don’t like cold soil. That’s true for tomatoes, but especially true for peppers. Peppers will remain stubbornly idle until suns

Spikes Garden Clippings for May 30, 2026 For the tried, tested and true, the solution to an empty urn is 3 or 4 Geraniums with a spike in the centre. The combo has worked for decades, and it will work again. Geraniums, more appropriately called Pelargoniums, for fear they get confused with perennial Geraniums, have been a staple in flower gardens as long as I can remember. Their tennis-ball-sized blooms in red, salmon, pink or white, are borne on tidy plants growing to about

Garden Clippings for May 23, 2026 Everybody’s grandmother grew Peonies. Monster flowers, up to 20 cm across, are multi-petalled and available in many colours. Peonies’ bold blooms appear in late spring to early summer. Even after flowers fade, Peonies remain a handsome plant, with heavily textured leaves that stand proud in the mixed perennial garden. The reason why everyone’s grandmother grew peonies is that they live forever. While most perennials like to be split and/or mo

Garden Clippings for May 17, 2026 Queen Victoria must have been a wicked gardener. She chose the Monday preceding May 24 as a national holiday to celebrate the last day that frost might fall on Southwestern Ontario soil. Wrong on all counts. Queen Victoria reigned from 1837 to 1901. She is credited with shaping Canadian Federation and naming Ottawa as our Capital. In 1845 we officially honoured the Queen by choosing her birthday as a national holiday. But since Canadians pref

Ferns, indoor Garden Clippings for May 9, 2026 Ferns are a staple for the shade garden. If given a woodland setting with rich soil and ample moisture, Ferns will thrive and grow to become a lovely blanket groundcover of lush foliage. Ostrich, Maidenhair, and Marginal Sheild Ferns are among the list of native Ontario Ferns. If you plant these in your shade garden, you will appreciate their steady growth that some might find too invasive. Ferns with a more obedient growth habit

Garden Clippings for May 2, 2026 “I want a zero-maintenance garden.” Landscape architects and garden designers do not want to hear these words from their clients. The response we return with will go something like “there is no such thing as a zero-maintenance garden. But we can design a garden that is low on maintenance.” We start with dwarf plants. Most flowering shrubs such as Weigela, Viburnum, Spirea and Lilac will need to be pruned annually or biennially to keep their sh

Garden Clippings for April 25th It was overdue. We hadn’t put down a layer of fresh mulch since the backyard wedding in 2022, and the landscape was looking tired. Through the past 4 years, much of the original mulch has disappeared, perhaps blown away, but more likely decomposed, adding nutrients to our sandy soil. So far, we have spread 11 cubic yards. I figure we will need 2 more yards before we put away the pitchfork, wheelbarrow and rake. Admittedly, our landscaped areas

Grass seed explained Garden Clippings for April 18, 2026 It is time to look after up a few weak or dead patches of grass. Do you know which grass seed to select that will grow best in your yard and blend with your existing lawn? Most good quality lawn seed will contain a blend of seed varieties. Once you’ve sown the seed and it begins to grow, the varieties will jockey for position and depending on your soil and environment, eventually one will dominate while the others will

Lawn Repair Garden Clippings for April 11, 2026 Snow plough damage at the road. Grub damage. Mice or rodent trails. Fungus. A layer of leaves that smother the turf. Cavities caused by fallen limbs. Weak grass. Every spring I find it necessary to do a little lawn repair, a task I find less rewarding than planting, transplanting, pruning or anything more creative than grass work. The easiest way to deal with small patches of damaged turf is with a few bags of topsoil and a bag

Why is my grass brown? Garden Clippings for April 4, 2026 Please don’t drive by my house and take notice of the grass. It looks awful. Our front yard grass normally looks just fine. In fact, it looks better than most in our neighbourhood. I fertilize faithfully and add water only when needed. The mower is set at its highest setting, helping to keep the ground shaded, cooler, and preventing the soil from drying out too quickly. Weeds in our summer lawn are few and far

Early spring garden checklist Garden Clippings for March 28, 2026 This March will not go down in the record books as the most pleasant. We’ve had a few days of warm sunshine, but mostly, we have seen one cold day followed by the next. And the wind has been relentless. For gardeners, the bright spot has been a few days of heavy rain to help get rid of the snow. Rain also percolated through the deep freeze so there is no more frost in the ground-not even on the north side of

Bark Garden Clippings for Jan 17, 2026 When we think of bark on a tree, we tend to compare it to the skin of a human. Take a close look at both and you will find the similarities remarkable. The primary function of both bark and skin is to protect the material within and beneath it. In our Grade 7 science class, we learned that xylem and phloem, the pipes that bring water and sugars up and down, sit within the inner layers of bark. Without bark’s layers of protection, the tre

Good Weeds Garden Clippings for Feb 7, 2026 Most gardeners have done it. When they least expect it. Pulling out weeds and a sudden jab of pain on the hands or arms. Like a bee sting. The offender is Stinging Nettle, a perennial weed that resembles no other weed and is not easily identified. The quick solution is a pair of gloves. Stinging Nettle is a nasty green weed that can grow to over 1 metre. Leaves are rough around the edges, with a pointed tip. The stems and underside

Invasive Plants Garden Clippings for Feb 14, 2026 A few decades ago, Purple Loosestrife hit the news. The pretty perennial, with delightful rose-coloured flowers, began appearing in high numbers in Ontario wetlands, along roadsides, and in cultivated gardens. Purple Loosestrife is believed to have entered North America from Europe and Asia around the turn of the century. Seeds and roots probably came with soil that was used as ballast in ships and dumped on this side of the A

Winter impact Garden Clippings for Feb 28, 2026 The winter that will not end. Old folks tell me that this winter is just like the winters of years gone by. Relentless cold with more snow than I have ever needed to shovel. Will this colder-than-normal winter have an impact on trees? Yes, indeed, although the effects might not be evident until summer. Fruit trees, particularly Peach and Apricot, have spring buds that begin swelling as soon as warm and sunny weather arrives. But

Lessons for seed sprouting Garden Clippings for March 7, 2026 It’s almost time. Time to start vegetable seeds indoors. I have always been an advocate for sprouting your own garden seeds. Yes, you can buy started plants at your local garden store, but sprouting your own seeds gives you the advantage of choosing from a vast variety and doing so at a lower cost. A reliable growing medium, a variety of containers and a well-lit room is all that is required for backyard gardeners

Sycamore Garden Clippings for March 21, 2026 When our kids were kids, about 20 years ago, we exchanged homes with a family near Southampton, England, about two hours’ drive west of London. The exchange saved us a bundle on hotels and took place before Airbnb was in business. When in England, I insisted we stroll through a piece of New Forest National Park and spend time at Royal Botanical Gardens, Kew in London. The kids were not impressed. They insisted we visit a Jaguar