Gardening with Candy Venning
The Garden as Medicine
By Candy Venning by Candy Venning We as a species, have looked at the garden in so many ways – is there enough space for a lawn, is there too much lawn, is it too wild, too hot, too shady, too ….something and not enough something else? May I humbly suggest a different...
Garden Musings
Candy Venning This spring will mark the 26th year I’ve worked in the landscape industry, creating hundreds and hundreds of garden plans. Although I can’t convey all my experience in a few hundred words, I’d like to share these simple, guidelines to get you started on...
Winter… aka; OMG why is it so dark for so loooong?
By Candy Venning Did you know that native plants are awesome but can be hard to source, may be expensive, and that growing from seed is economical, and for many varieties, quite easy? Get ready, get set, for winter sowing your native plant seeds – I’ve done this as...
BULB TIPS – I’ve planted thousands, so hear ye!
By Candy Venning Unless you planted them or inherited them, there’s no excuse for 1970’s style ‘red soldiers’ and ‘Yellow sentinels’- aka boring tulips. Mix it up! Plant every colour of everything; whatever is on sale, especially if they’re Alliums. Remember, what may...
Back to school ‘checklist’ for gardens
By Candy Venning Surely we all have enough lists in our lives? This one aims only to be helpful, not demanding and is easy on the finances. Come spring I plan to give a workshop covering all these topics in a lighthearted way with strong visuals so I’m using it as a...
OBSERVE & COLLECT
By Candy Venning This month, although it’s hot, the garden is still fresh, it’s still coasting on that tremendous effort spring pumped into ‘the great unfurling’. We’re in that sweet spot before the weight of August crushes our love for summer, a time to relax, so...
Safari Time!
Submitted by Candy Venning Gardens are accessible ecosystems bursting with life backed by the evolution of millions of years under our very noses! Hear me out, A garden is more than that simple word can contain – it’s an outdoor laboratory to experiment with and learn...
The Birds are Back in the Garden!
Submitted by Candy Venning I absolutely must tell you about something exciting that happened to me today! Last week I had heard that the Tree Swallows were starting to be observed locally – back from their winter in Florida and Central America. We had a pair nesting...
Musing on the Garden
Submitted by Candy Venning Have you ever stopped to wonder what it is that might define a garden as ‘Canadian’? Or, before we had borders and a name for this geographical area (Canada), what makes up and defines a garden as being ‘of this place’? For some, images of...
Indoor Plant Tips
By Candy Venning Over the years, and despite never buying myself a plant, I have somehow collected Aloes, Oranges, Agapanthus, ferns, spider plants and clinging tenaciously with their nubbly roots – a few orchids one of which blooms every year for months (I do not...