Gardening with Candy Venning
CREATING A BUZZ WITH PLANTS… THE NEW POLLINATOR GARDEN
By Candy Venning Looking back over my 20 years of professional gardening it seems that many of us used to be divided between growing vegetables and fruits (homesteading) vs ‘Pretty gardens’. The pretty garden camp was further divided into perennials vs annuals and now...
A Plea for Stewardship in Hamilton
By Candy Venning Nature is not somewhere we go – it’s where we all live. It’s so easy to get disconnected – we walk along pavements and are tuned to the architecture, people, cars, music, shops and other human-centric aspects of our surroundings. It’s absolutely...
Did I Really Plant That?!
Whether you’re a fresh gardener or an expert, you’ve planted something that you came to regret – a lot. It may have been the pretty flower, the ‘friend's' recommendation or the label that lured you in but eventually it became a monster. A recent discussion on...
5 Big Backyard Strategies for Maximum, Small Yard Enjoyment.
SUBMITTED BY CANDY VENNING 1) Great access – from your house to your yard. Many of the older houses were built when outside space was more for hanging laundry or growing veggies than the spa-like oasis we expect of a garden now. Many houses often have odd access to...
10 Front Garden Design Guidelines
(followed next month, with design tips for backyards) by Candy Venning Going grassless or losing the lawn? Awesome! Skip the boxwoods; they’re not native, they’re all starting to succumb to box blight and there are other choices. Try for a 70% native mix (Liatris,...
NATIVE PLANTS FROM SEED: NEED TO KNOW
By Candy Venning shared with permission from The Halton Master Gardeners Page Winter sowing is an easy, low-cost method to grow native plants from seed that require a process called stratification*. It can be useful for propagating most native perennials/shrubs/vines....
PLANTY TO DO IN JANUARY
SUBMITTED BY CANDY VENNING Wooot woot! This stimulating time of the year is prime time to pore over the online Dahlia & seed catalogs, I mean, what else ya got goin’ on??? Dahlias have been one of my favourite cut flowers, they’re stunning in a garden, easy to...
Gardens and Other Comforts
By Candy Venning Did you find solace in the garden this summer? Was it the buzzing bees, the wind sighing across branches, the birds you had never seen before or the tide lapping in the bay? Perhaps the simple act of working with your hands in the soil, coaxing plants...
Gardeners’ Cheeky Checklist
by Candy Venning The end of the gardening season is in sight, a relief in some ways but as always, a little sorrow mixed in. Put down that mocha-chaca-spice-latte whatsit and pull up yer booties for a final fling round the yard, it’ll give you a satisfied grin to go...
BULBALICIOUS, BOUNTIFUL JOY BUCKS
SUBMITTED BY CANDY VENNING I just purchased approximately 18,000 fall bulbs, I don't live in a castle so no, they're not for me. Fortunately, as the buyer for all my garden clients, I can pick all my favourites and watch them come up in gardens around the city. May I...
