Earth-Friendly Gardening

Winter Berries and Pines 

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Niki Jabbour, author of The Year Round Vegetable Gardener, and Growing Under Cover was in the Globe & Mail recently, teaching Globe readers how their gardens can help fight climate change, by making their gardens peat-free and becoming converts to the no-dig movement.

“I stopped digging my gardens three years ago,” she says, adding that her soil (which was sandy) is now darker, dense with organic matter, and holds moisture much better. This has the added benefit of preventing the release of carbon that was previously stored in the soil, and which is disrupted and released by digging.

Peat bogs, which are under serious threat around the globe, store vast amounts of carbon, and if gardeners can do their part to preserve them they will be making a serious reduction in their carbon footprints!”

Gardening with ‘Garbage’

Look at used household items from a different perspective.  Newspaper and cardboard can be turned into effective weed barriers under mulch.  Empty yogurt containers poked with drainage holes make perfect starting pots for seeds.  Even used coffee grounds and crushed egg shells can become earth-friendly fertilizers.  

When you add paper, rip it into small pieces. Whole potatoes, onions, corn, carrots, etc. are slow to compost, cut them small before adding them to the compost bin.  Improve your soil and feed your garden naturally with compost you made from kitchen scraps and garden clean-ups. 

Keep leaves out of landfills!  Every year about 8 million tons of leaves end up there.  Another reason: leaves help the grass.  Leaves are full of nutrients, including nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium which improve the soil's health.  Those nutrients are being returned to the soil - but only if you use a lawnmower to cut them into small pieces.  

If you leave the leaves on the grass, it will exclude light.  And then the grass won't be able to photosynthesize.  Eventually, it would die under a thick layer of leaves. Shredded leaves can also be piled into garden beds.  Leaves are a resource - and not a problem!

Don't stop composting in winter! The material will freeze and then thaw, come spring. This way you have lots of material to create an earth-friendly garden in a couple of months.

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Create a No-Maintenance Garden

Ten years ago I created a 36x24 flower garden bed for a friend. He had no clue of gardening or plants and even less time to do any planting or watering. He insisted to have a ‘no-maintenance’ flower bed - that I built on top of a former ugly patch of lawn.
The way I created it, this flower bed really became a ‘no-maintenance’ part of the front yard - and a fabulous one! Copy how I did it:

First, I edged the garden bed border eight inches deep and wide to avoid any grass to creep in. I collected cardboards on garbage day from all over the street.

Cardboard, Cardboard, and More Cardboard
In case you don’t have enough, just use very thick layers of newspaper (even rarer these days : )   Don’t leave any gaps between the boards, remove the plastic that holds the boxes together - and water the boards very thoroughly.  They should be more than soaking wet.  You don’t want to be that person chasing runaway cardboard caught by the wind.  The cardboard will suppress the weeds and eventually break down into the soil, adding useful organic matter.

Compost, Compost, and More Compost

A thick layer of compost went on the cardboard sheets, then the black garden soil, mixed with lots of composted manure. Chicken, cow, or sheep manure are all good for that matter. 

I must admit, I am a compost geek.  Even on road trips I collect organic stuff (Banana peels, fruit waste, tissues, eggshells, napkins, or teabags) and place them in paper bags to bring it home to my compost.  Composting organic kitchen and garden waste produces rich humus and improves the soil.  By composting you reduce the amount of waste sent to landfill sites, thus reducing greenhouse gases.  You will also save money and your health on chemical fertilizers.  Altogether were the compost, the soil and the manure ca. 15 inches thick when I started to plant flowers and small shrubs.

No-Maintenance Plants 

The planting bed was half in full sun and the other portion laid in dabbled half shade most of the day.  In the full sun part, I planted Rosa Rugosa, very hardy roses.  Also lots of Yarrow, Lavender, Salvia, and Purple Coneflowers - seven to nine plants of each, and each plant type in a group.  For lots of colors and blooms during the early fall time, I found a great offer for a six-feet Pee-Gee Hydrangea tree.  I also added lots of Daffodil and Hyacinth bulbs for next year's spring garden color.

Plants for Shade
The shaded part got a Rosa Glauca bush, a group of Salomon Seals, five different types of Hostas, and for early summer color several Astilbes in pink, white and red as well as three Japanese Anemones that would bloom in a lovely light pink the following year.  And certainly the same spring bulbs as on the sunny side.

Mulch Generously
Planting was done, so I watered again to have the area soaking wet and added a thick - ten-inch - layer of natural brown cedar mulch. If you add mulch, make sure that it is the ‘real’ thing.  Not these stained pieces of wood that are often sold in garden centers - avoid these in black, dark brown, or red! They contain chemicals (think Scott) that are poisonous for plants and you and will stain your clothes and garden gloves.

Mulched beds improve the appearance of any landscape.  But more importantly, generously topping the mulch protects the plants' root systems and adds nutrients to the soil.  Mulch slows soil erosion, retains moisture, evens out extreme temperatures in winter and summer, and successfully helps to prevent weeds.  You will spend less time weeding and watering your garden and more time enjoying it.

My friend never ever did anything on this flower bed. Once or twice a year I visited, mostly in summer or fall. I cut spent flower heads and maybe watered once or twice in summer. That was all that needed to be done. Now ten years later, the garden still looks fabulous!

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Create Your Own Organic Fertilizer

The Key to a Good Garden is Good Soil. 

Most of the essential nutrients for plants are found in soil.  What flowers, vegetables, and trees need to thrive is Nitrogen, Phosphorus, Potassium, and to a lesser extent Calcium, Magnesium, and Sulphur.  To provide these nutrients to your plants you don’t need to spend any money, save your time and gas to head to the garden center.  Organic fertilizers are way more efficient and helpful to your plants than the artificial ones you buy for top dollars!  Go no further than your pantry, backyard (or the beach) for materials to make your own organic fertilizer.  You can prepare your own bloom or fruit fertilizer year-round:

Fermented Fruits are Prolific Garden Helpers. 

Don’t throw away brown bananas, wilted salad leaves, rotten apples or moldy strawberries!  Not only do they contain valuable Phosphorus and Potassium, they also have the fruit growth enzymes and hormones that encourage the plant to utilize the resources it has to produce large blooms and delicious fruits.  
Add approximately 10% sugar or molasses and water to let the mixture ferment to a mash for a week or so.  Cover it well and place it in the garage or garden shed to avoid the smell in the kitchen. In winter let all your kitchen scraps freeze in a big container that is safely secured, such a garbage can with a well-secured lid.  Place a large stone on top and fasten the lid with a jumpy band to avoid critters’ rummaging.

Wellness Cure for Your Garden:

BANANAS or Banana PEELS  –  Use over-ripe Bananas from your kitchen or those that are offered at very low prices in the produce section of your grocery store.  Roses love potassium too.  Simply throw one or two peels in the hole before planting or bury peels under mulch so they can compost naturally. Get bigger and more blooms and a bomber crop of vegetables.

COFFEE GROUNDS  

Acid and nitrogen-loving plants such as tomatoes, blueberries, roses and azaleas like coffee grounds mixed into the soil. Visit your next Starbucks and bring two buckets with you to let it fill with used coffee grounds. Sprinkle it on top of the soil and fork it well in before watering. 

EGG SHELLS 

Crash the eggshells in very small pieces, and work them well into the soil near tomatoes and peppers. The calcium helps fend off blossom end rot. Eggshells are 93% calcium carbonate, the same ingredient as lime, a tried and true soil amendment! 

SEAWEED – Fresh seaweed needs to be washed before mixing it into the compost/soil to remove salt.  Another benefit of using seaweed fertilizer over time is that it slightly acidifies and adds iron to the soil, which is great news if you are growing acid and iron hungry plants, such as Azaleas, Gardenias, Camellias, and Rhododendrons.  Shred or chop up the seaweed into 1- or 2-inch-long pieces.  While chopped seaweed takes only a few weeks to decompose, seaweed that's left whole can take approximately six months to compost.

Spring Garden

Are you anxious to see bulbs sprouting, buds unfurling and colorful blooms throughout the garden? There is plenty you can do to gear up for the gardening season.

Trimming and Pruning
April is a great month for trimming and tidying. Now is when you should cut back your ornamental grasses 4-6 inches from the ground. Compost the old growth and look for new, green shoots to appear in a few weeks. Most roses appreciate a good pruning now, too.
Trees and shrubs can be pruned now if you haven't done it already. Fruit trees, evergreens, many deciduous trees, grapevines and roses can all be trimmed and shaped before new growth begins.

Improve the soil of your perennial beds
Good, healthy and rich soil is the most important element for a beautiful garden.
Don't skimp soil improvment!
Empty your compost and mix with good garden soil - or if you do not (yet) compost get at least composted manure, spread it 6-8 inch thick on your garden beds and work it into your last years soil. This is so much better for your plants than the synthetic fertizilers that are sold for top dollar at garden centers. One exemption is natural bone meal that should be added to the soil every time you plant something new in your garden and bone meal, a natural fertilizer to fix nitrogen defencies.

Edging and weeding garden beds
By digging and teasing out weeds now when they are small, you save yourself countless hours of weeding in the summer heat. Cutting in a neat edge on your garden beds also slows weeds' progress and gives your landscape a neat, professional appearance.
Weed not only the flower beds but also your lawn - now, when the weeds are still small.

Mulch all your garden beds
Mulch has lots of benefits:
- A thick layer of mulch (6-9 inches) helps to surpress weeds
- It keeps the soil longer moist - less watering
- Mulched beds look more attractive and tidier
- Mulch balances temperatures, important in our hot summers and cold winters

But use only the natural mulch, not the "dyed or colored" type which could be toxic. (studies in Florida have found levels of arsenic in colored mulches to exceed Federal safety limits in over 75% of the samples tested). The preservatives used in the colorant may also inhibit the growth of many beneficial soil microbes that prevent disease in plants. The dry wood waste and old pallets also have a very high Carbon to Nitrogen ratio (C:N>200) hence if supplemental nitrogen is not added, it may cause a nitrogen tie-up in the soil. Healthy fertile soil has a C:N ratio of only 30:1 hence nitrogen is pulled from the soil as microbes try to break down and decompose the colored mulch. This often results in poor plant growth with increased disease and insect problems.
Also be aware about children and pets in your garden and purchase only natural mulch.

More tips for new gardeners

First-time Gardeners:

HARDINESS ZONE
It is usually shown on a map. These zones show a geographically-defined area in which a specific category of plant life is capable of growing, as defined by climatic conditions, including its ability to withstand the minimum temperatures of the zone.
In order to survive our harsch winter climate in Ontario, the plants you buy should not have a higher hardiness zone than 5.

COMPOST - FERTILIZER
Compost is an organic!!! fertilizer and mulch. Learn how to make organic fertilizer in a compost pile and benefits of compost as organic fertilizer and mulch:- Making compost is cheap or free.- Organic compost improves the environment.
- Compost improves soil structure, texture, and aeration.
- As a mulch, compost helps the soil retain water.
- Compost is an organic fertilizer that improves soil and plants.
- Compost stimulates healthy root development.
- A compost pile is an excellent means of disposing of organic debris, leaves, food wastes, grass clippings, etc.
- Organic compost improves the environment.
- AND IT IS FREE!!!

COMMERCIAL FERTILIZER
Major Ingredients: Most commercial fertilizers have 3 numbers on the front label, separated by dashes. For example: 5-10-5. This is the fertilizer analysis or percentage by weight of the 3 major nutrients plants need: nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium, in that order. These are abbreviated as N-P-K. This example contains 5% nitrogen, 10% phosphorus and 5% potassium. The remaining 80% could be comprised of other nutrients and filler.

Nitrogen: The first number gives the concentration of nitrogen in the product.
Nitrogen encourages foliage growth, among other benefits.
Phosphorous: The middle number refers to the concentration of phosphorous. Phosphorous contributes to many fundamental plant processes such as rooting and setting flower buds. Potassium: The final number states the concentration of potassium.
Potassium contributes to the overall health and vigor of plants.

HOW TO READ THE PLANT LABELS
Plants that you buy at nurseries or garden centers always have labels that show the maximum height and width of the mature plant - to show you how far apart they should be planted from each other. Most important is the location info, if the plant likes sun or shade (or partial shade) and the watering instructions. Then you can find the hardiness zone, blooming time and pruning instructions. Most of the time these instructions are given as pictograms.

MULCHING
Place mulch around the plants. This serves many purposes; it cuts down on weeding, as well as aiding in temperature control and water retention. Your flower bed will always look fresh and groomed. Even if you love to work the soil and weed the plants - it would be more rewarding to tending to the plants or just watching them grow, rather than weeding.

WATERING
If you have lots of trees and shrubs in your garden, your perennial flowers live in dry shade and are very thirsty, as they receive very little rain and the big roots of the trees "steal" them their moisture.Water the roots - not the leaves. Water around the plant, not on top of it. The tap water we use in the garden is not as good as rain water for the plants. Ideal would be to install a rain barrel.
To maintain really healthy plants, water for longer periods of time, but less frequently. If it is not raining, water at least once a week. Do not let the plants dry out.
Always water very early in the morning so the plant leaves have time to dry out during the day which helps prevent fungal disease and sunburn (water acts like a magnifier glass of the sun rays).

PLANT A HERB GARDEN

The sunny part of your garden is ideal for herbs. All herbs prefer full sun and well-drained and "fluffy" soil, maybe added with a little bit coarse sand. Herbs are blooming too! Here is a variety of herbs with attractive blooms, just plant them in a sunny flower bed between your other perennials.

Lavender
Compact, green foliage is topped with fragrant spikes of blue flowers. An excellent border and pot plant.

Basil
Basil is a beautiful plant that has culinary, medicinal and ornamental qualities. There are about 150 species and they can be rich, spicy and mildly peppery and are used traditionally in Mediterranean, Italian and Thai cooking.

Chives
Tastes like mild, sweet onions. Great in salads or herbal vinegars.

Rosemary
Goes great with poultry, lamb, pork and is terrific in vinegars. Mulch well or cover with evergreens before winter.

Sage (Salvia)Beautiful gray-green foliage, with blue flowers. Used in sausages, pork and veal dishes, as well as in poultry stuffings.

Oregano
Used in a variety of tomato dishes and in Italian, Spanish and Mexican cooking as well as in vinegars.

Orange Thyme
A citrusy thyme that is excellent with fish, roasted vegetables, stews and soups or in marmalades and chutneys.

Freezing your herbs:
I use a lot of herbs for cooking. But some herbs grow so vigorously that I have to cut the surplus in fall. I rinse the twigs thoroughly under running water, cut them in tiny pieces, fill them into a separate ziplog bag for each type, (mark the name on the bag) and store them in the freezer. That gives me herbs for many months ahead and memories of summer.

Soil is - were it all begins

Change your soil, bring it back to life - the organic way!

I can't wait for my compost to "harvest". This winter I accumulated more than ever and soon it will be spread over and worked into the garden soil. A good part of this compost is thanks to gardener-friendly Starbucks, were I pick up loads of coffee grounds (best ratio of "green" and "brown" material).

Imagine: 90% of garden success is related to the quality of soil!
Without good soil, all of your gardening efforts are wasted.

Benefits of organic lawn and garden care: Lawns and gardens cared for organically produce plants with greater drought tolerance, disease and insect resistance and yields. Organic gardening is less expensive and time-consuming than the chemical alternatives. Your applied compost is chemical free and it won’t make kids, pets and yourself sick. Pesticides have been linked to birth defects, hormonal imbalances, cancer and many neurological problems. I highly recommend to read the book "The world according to Monsanto" or watch the DVD...

Fact is that plants fertilized organically - using compost, manure, bone meal, blood meal, fish emulsion, sea weed etc. - require less fertilizer than plants fed with synthetic fertilizer (and it's less expensive too). Recent studies have shown that synthetic fertilizers DO NOT encourage the growth of microorganisms which live in the soil and transform nutrients - but also shows the fact that the application of a synthetic fertilizer actually kills a significant percentage of beneficial microorganisms.
Micro organisms break down organic matter such as compost and convert nitrogen from the air into a plant-useable form. Others are organisms which keep cutworms, chinch bugs and grubs in check such as beneficial nematodes.

It can take several weeks for the soil organisms to recover from a single application of synthetic fertilizer. Long term use of synthetic fertilizers can cause a lawn or garden to become a wasteland on the microscopic level where only the most tolerant of microorganisms can survive.
Compare it with your diet: It is healthier to eat fresh, organic food that you prepared and cooked, than to eat only processed food and to compensate this unhealthy dieat, buy lots of vitamins and minerals.

Here are some recovering steps to help your garden:
INEXPENSIVE TEST OF YOUR SOIL
Determine the organic content by filling soil in a glass jar, add water and let stand for at least a day. The content in the jar will show in layers. Compare the amount of odd shaped material on top of the soil with the rest of the jars content. That’s your organic material. Used as an organic mulch, it can cut back waterings, cooling the root zone and suppressing weeds.
ADD ORGANICS
Properly aged compost contains many of the beneficial microorganisms that your soil needs for revitalization. Add 15% organic compost worked in the first foot of soil. For lawns top-dressing - spreading evenly on the surface - will show similar results after several weeks. The compost you use can come from a backyard composter or farm animal manure, all properly composted before you apply it to a lawn or planted garden. Compost that is too raw can burn your plants. Apply compost to lawns in early spring or fall only.
ORGANIC FERTILIZERS
Poor soil will benefit from the application of organic fertilizers (not "organic-based" - which is in fact chemical). Apply organic fertilizer as often as you applied synthetic. By the third year you will need to apply less (no more than twice, spring and fall, for lawns). Once your garden (or lawn) has a healthy, well balanced soil, an application of fertilizer is appropriate if you want your plants to grow larger or produce more fruit or flowers, annuals and vegetables require the most, shrubs and evergreens require less, trees require little fertilizer (unless diseased).
Nitrogen-rich fertilizers should be applied more heavily in spring, when most new growth takes place. Cool weather plants such as grass will benefit from fall application. Trees and shrubs benefit from a light feeding of phosphorous and potassium in spring. They will also benefit from an application of bone meal when planting.

MORE HELP for your plants:

- Companion planting such as marigold helps by discouraging insects - Fixing nitrogen from the air and make it available for other plants e.g. pole beans and corn - the corn stakes the beans, the beans feed the corn
- Shading plants in the heat of the summer, for sample corn or sunflower shading cucumbers and squash
- Boosting growth in their neighbor, such as tomatoes and basil grown together increase each others yield by 30-40%
- Killing microscopic soil borne disease organisms: chives or garlic planted near roses kill blackspot fungal spores in the soil
- Plant were they belong: Moisture loving plants in dry areas become stressed - and vice versa. Stressed plants are less able to fend insects off.
- Mulch: Use organic material, this and coco mulch, cedar, pine and composted bark must be topped every year. They are retaining moisture too
- Water deeply to encourage root growth, but only once a week in dry
summer. Frequent, light watering makes plants dependant upon the water
and they suffer when it’s interrupted. Best time to water is in the early
morning this way the leaves have the chance to dry off before the noon heat.
Organic mulching cuts back on watering requirements.

Check out these websites: http://www.organicgardening.com/
http://www.organicagcentre.ca/ for more info.

Happy gardening!