WhatFinger


Spring garden and lawn work

April gardening



“It is Spring! It is Spring!” proclaimed versifier Ogden Nash. “Let us leap! Let us sing!/ Let us claim we have hives/And abandon our wives!” but requesting that to “ . . . Please go and focus/Your whims on a crocus.”

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Alas, not everyone is quite so enthusiastic. About this time last year, for instance, David Skene-Melvin wrote a letter to The Globe and Mail, “My Scots father, who was more pessimistic than Environment Canada’s senior climatologist David Phillips – “till April’s dead, change not a thread” – was wont to say: “Ne’er cast a clout ‘till May is oot.” Dress as you will. Gardening season is nigh and the grass is green both sides of the fence. Really. As soon as the snow goes which could be a while yet – Easter and David Phillips, senior climatologist for Environment Canada reported, “All of our models are saying cold, cold, cold.” No spring weather until May for Toronto, he said. “You’ve heard a lot about the Barrymore temperament. It’s not true except maybe about Ethel and she’s full of prunes,” actor John Barrymore told director William Wyler. One tends to feel the same way about environmentalists depreciating lawns. The latest recommendation from these oxygen-free radicals is to tear up front lawns across the continent and establish vegetable gardens instead. It should come as no great surprise to learn that the proposal appears to have originated in California. First though they should get the lead out – literally. In urban areas, especially older ones, there is likely lead in those front lawns. According to a study published in the alternate Toronto weekly NOW last year, lead is the major problem when it comes to establishing urban vegetable gardens. It may have accumulated from traffic in pre-unleaded gas days, for example, or ancient lead-based paints on exterior walls. In Ontario’s older, urban residential areas the levels may range from 500 to 1,000 ppm noted the NOW researchers. And eating veggies grown in soil with lead levels exceeding 1,000 ppm is definitely verboten. Back to the drawing board – or perhaps the backyard. Large adult crane fly flights last September indicate some damage is to be expected from their grubs damage late this month and into May. These are known as leatherjackets, greyish-brown spindles with tough skins that feast of grass roots, resulting in dead patches of lawn. This recently introduced pest is impervious to any chemicals available to home gardeners, even in areas where such are still permitted. Starlings seem to be the only the only birds to relish the beasts. Some nematode distributors claim their little parasitic worms just adore the brutes but some question remains at what soil temperatures they become active. If you fertilized the lawn last fall, nothing further in nutrients is required until next month. But if God really meant it about giving us a day of rest each week, then why did He invent crabgrass? Apply crabgrass pre-emergence herbicide before the forsythia buds start showing yellow if the weed was (a) prevalent last season and (b) if permitted by law. Better still learn the simple, inexpensive way to a good weed-free lawn. It might come as a surprise to some, but for centuries nary a chemical was used to maintain weed-free turf. We’ve said it before and doubtlessly will say it again, the troika of lawn care are a half-inch of water every three days; mowing no lower than two inches; and moderate fertilizing. Take care of the odd occurring weed by use of those useful gadgets located at the end of the wrists called fingers. Even with the record extent of winter weather, pull back mulches from perennial and rose gardens if not already undertaken. Any remaining dead foliage and stems should now be cut back, including ornamental grasses. Watch for perennial weeds making a break for it about this time. Easy to control if tackled early with enthusiasm, a dismal chore later in the year. Hosta virus X (HVX) has been reported to likely be particularly prevalent in the short-season garden centres beloved of the big box stores and supermarkets. Illinois’s famed wholesale Q&Z Nursery tells us that suppliers to such do not exhibit sufficient care in selecting sources for their propagation stock. Said Josh Spece in Horticulture Review last January, “it is impossible to give a definitive description of symptoms“ of HVX. He believes most hostas from the “big box stores” should be “on probation” for the first two years (www.inthecountrygardenandgifts.com). Best buy from a reputable source – look for retail outlets displaying a green “LO” indicating they are members of Landscape Ontario association. As larger bulb blooms die, cut back the seed head and stem down to the foliage but never ever cut away the latter. Those leaves, however unsightly, feed the bulb below to develop next season’s flowers. Conceal if you must with strategic plantings of annuals or perennials. If squirrels are a problem tearing off the bulb flower heads, make a note to plant Daffodils, Narcissus, Scilla and Aconites this fall. All are poisonous to the furry ruffians who leave them strictly alone. If you wish other wildlife in your backyard, the Canadian Wildlife Federation notes you can find tips and techniques to attract such at www.wildaboutgardening.org. Politicians should be aware, however, that attracting woodpeckers to their gardens might make hardhats mandatory. Back to the poet Ogden Nash:
It is Spring! It is Spring! On the lea, on the ling! . . . Let our primitive urges Disgruntle our clergies, While Bacchus and Pan Cavort in the van!
If this is a trifle too much be advised that from 24 through 27 April the International Bellydance Conference of Canada ( www.bellydanceconference.com) is being held at Hungarian Canadian Cultural Centre. Apparently it is a great way to keep fit and nto only for activities horticultural. As Sarah Binks, the Sweet Songstress of Saskatchewan (1906-1929) penned in her Song to the Four Seasons:
Spring is here, the breezes blowing, Four inches of top-soil going, going; Farm ducks rolling across the prairie; Spring is here – how nice and airy!


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Wes Porter -- Bio and Archives

Wes Porter is a horticultural consultant and writer based in Toronto. Wes has over 40 years of experience in both temperate and tropical horticulture from three continents.


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