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