Here is the link to a new recycle program for yard waste in the Squamish area.  It had been piloted last year in the Highlands and was apparently successful enough that the service has been extended to all of Squamish.  For residents of Garibaldi Highlands, note that the schedule has changed from last year.  The link below lists the Do’s and Don’ts of the program and has a printable schedule.

http://www.carneyswaste.com/squamish/

Have you ever really looked at a leaf?

I was told once that when you have a child you will use them as an excuse for all manner of things, never being on time, cancelling appointments, forgetting important things.  Not being a Mom at the time, I didn’t think that could be me.

And now…  I feel like I have been offered an out for the past few years of silence on Greenscapes’ blog.

Welcome spring, welcome back and here is to turning over new leaves.

I will be attending the last Winter Farmer’s at the West Coast Railway heritage Park this coming Saturday, April 9th. 

I will have handmade potato basket/garden totes, pottery and an interactive Paint a Pottery Plaque station for children (although not strictly enforced – the odd adult has been known to enjoy themselves).  I have a limited number of Blueberry bushes available at the moment and will be taking names for those interested in blueberry bushes and everbearing raspberry canes for delivery a little later in the spring.   

Stop by the market between 10am-3pm and enter the contest to win a 45 Minute Garden Consultation session.

I’ll start by saying thank you to all who stopped by the Greenscapes booth at the Winter Farmer’s Market, March 12th at the West Coast Railway Heritage Park.

The winner of the 45-Minute Garden Consultation prize is Lorraine Black and the winners of the 20-Minute Garden Consultation are Diana Lonergan, Wendy Booth and Patricia Wilson.

 The next Winter Farmer’s Market is on April 9. Hope to see you there.

With all this snow I decided to feed my soul, I needed a pick me up.  I compiled my seed order this morning and set out to find a source for Heritage and Heirloom vegetable seed varieties. 

After looking at a variety of sites I began to wonder what, if any, was the difference between Heritage and Heirloom when it was used to describe plant varieties.  It seems that the words are interchangeable.  A loose definition of a heritage or heirloom plant is a variety or cultivar that originated before the widespread introduction in early 1950s of hybridized seed. 

I hadn’t given it much thought past vegetables, but the term applies to annuals, perennials, and herbs as well as vegetables.  Whatever the form, the common thread is that they are rarely found in today’s garden.

Today I did my part to preserve seed diversity, I chose varieties carefully, all heirloom, as an investment I intend to keep from year to year.  I have also enlisted 2 close friends to share the wealth and increase our chances of success.    

Here are a some  sources fromVancouver Island that I found useful.

http://www.brothernature.ca/                good general selection

http://www.twowingsfarm.com/            great selection of tomatoes

http://www.saltspringseeds.com/          good selection of squash and tomatoes

http://www.eagleridgeseeds.com/

http://www.fullcircleseeds.com/index.htm

http://www.earthfuture.com/gardenpath/Seeds_Catalogue.htm

Although we are still seeing a blanket of white, it is time to start planning any tree pruning you will need to do before spring is truly here.  Any tree pruning should be done as close to bud burst as possible.  This reduces the length of time that large unhealed wounds are exposed to air and rain bourn disease and reduces the incidence of rot.   The first thing the tree focuses on when the growing season finally arrives is sealing the wound through what is called compartmentalization and then begins the process of healing the wound. 

Most maples have beautiful form and may need very little pruning.  If possible, restrict any pruning at all to dead and diseased wood only.  If not, the prune time of maples is more critical than most other trees.  It is important to prune while they are still fully dormant, before the sap starts to flow.   Because maples ‘bleed’ badly if pruned while the sap is flowing, it is important to be aware of how close to leaf out your tree is before you decide to renovate or remove any larger limbs.

I will be returning to Squamish Farmer’s Market in August for 2 Saturdays only, August 21st and 28th.  However, in the interim I am having a SUMMER SALE to reduce inventory of the larger specimen sized plant material.  Some things are just too big to tote to Market.  Specimen size, 5-10 gallon hosta, perennials and ferns are available.  Of course the sale applies to any of the stock I have on hand including a large selection of perennials, native and edible plants.  Pot sizes range from 3” for dwarf hosta and small perennials to 1- 2 gallon for larger perennials, blueberry bushes and raspberry canes.    Bearded Iris varieties are available potted up or can be purchased as bare root rhizomes by request.    

I have included a list of available plant material with the number of varieties available for each species in ( )s.  More plant photos can be seen at www.plantsandpots.ca Call or email for price and size availability.  Further discount on large orders, delivery available.

Perennials

• Iris 50 varieties of Bearded, Siberian, Japanese and Louisiana
• Hosta varieties  2” dwarf to 36” giants 20 varieties
• Aster (2 varieties)
• Anemone
• Black Mondo Grass
• Bell flower (Campanula) (5 varieties)
• Berginia
• Columbine (Aquilegia)
• Coral Flower (Heuchera)(5 varieties)
• Delphinium
• Day Lily (Hemerocallis) (2 varieties)
• Geranium (5 varieties)
• Golden Rod (Solidago)
• Dwarf Golden Rod (Solidago)
• Grasses (5 varieties)
• Helianthus (perennial Sunflower) (3 varieties)
• Ligularia
• Lily of the Valley
• Lungwort
• Lupine
• Loosestrife (Lysimachia)
• Rhudbekia (2varieties )
• Saxifrage
• Sedum (5 varieties)
• Spiderwort
• Solomon Seal
• Shasta Daisy
• Viola (5 varieties)
• Wooly Lambs Ear (Stachys )

Native Plants:

• Deer Fern
• Sword Fern
• Star flower
• Saxifrage
• Wild Ginger (Asarum caudatum)

Edibles:

• Blueberry Bushes (2 varieties)
• Strawberry plants
• Ever bearing Raspberry canes
• Jerusalem Artichoke (Helianthus)
• Chive, Garlic Chive
• Mint (3 varieties)

Here is another sampling of the iris varieties available this summer as bare root or potted up in 1 and 2 gallon size pots. 

 ots. 

My attendance at the local Squamish Farmer’s Market is finished for the spring but I will be back again August 21 and August 28 when it is time to think about fall planting.  

Blueberry bushes are available (1 gallon pot @$8) as well as ever bearing raspberry canes (1 gallon pot @$4) and strawberry plants (8 @ $10).  Delivery about town is available.  Just call to arrange your order.

I have include photos (category and order number or cultivar name will appear if you scroll over the photo) of a few bearded irises that I will be dividing shortly and I will continue to add new photos as I lift them.  I will have bare root  rhizomes available for sale ($6) at the time of lifting or upon request.  I will also be potting up plants into 1 gallon pots to make available throughout summer and fall, although the number of varieties I can transport to Farmer’s Market is somewhat limited.

 

Here is a summary of Blueberry care.  If you have any other questions I will be around the Farmer’s Market May 22, 29 and June 5 or give a call and I can help you out.  I still have 2 varieties available, Blue Crop and Duke.  I will be bringing these to Market, although delivery is always an option.  

Exposure:  Blueberries grow well in both full sun to partial shade, in ground or in containers.   Plant about 2 ½ – 3 feet (1m) apart.   

Soil:  Prefer a moist, but well drained soil, avoid very too sandy or soil very heavy with clay.  Areas where red huckleberry, azalea or rhodos are growing well will have suitable conditions for blueberries.  Areas where the water table is 18-30” below the surface are also good.

Blueberries also prefer a very acid soil, pH 5, so additions of humus, peat moss, saw dust (fresh or weathered) or leaf matter, eg. Oak leaves leave behind and acidic residue, will help to acidify the soil and improve moisture holding capacity.   If you know the soil is sweet (alkaline) it can be acidified with aluminum sulphide.

Blue berries are shallow rooters, and benefit from a covering of mulch.  Mulch the base of plants with sawdust fresh or weathered straw or leaves.  Oak leaves are especially good for mulch, as well as incorporating into the soil, because of the acidic residue they leave behind.    

Feed:  Use a feed formulated for Blueberries.  Ammonia Sulphate is the best source of Nitrogen for blueberries, they cannot convert or use the nitrogen(N) in Nitrate of soda or ammonium nitrate, so avoid fertilizers where this is the main source of nitrogen. 

If bushes become chlorotic (yellowing) in color, it is an indication that they are not able to access the nitrogen in the fertilizer.  Change fertilizers to a form that contains ammonium sulphate.  This will also jump start vigorous growth when plant stall out

Pruning:   Pruning prevents the bush from becoming too dense and twiggy.  This produces larger berries, more vigorous growth and a better producing plant the following year. 

Prune early spring before leaf out, when fruit buds are easily distinguished from vegetative buds.  Fruiting buds will be fatter and rounder than vegetative buds and most often at the ends of branches.  All cuts should be made perpendicular to the branch, no more than ¼ inch above an existing branch or bud.  Do not cut stem where no bud exists, this causes stem die back.   

Very little pruning is necessary in the first 2-3 years after planting.  Cut back weak and horizontal growth to an upright shoot or visible bud. 

Regular annual pruning should begin the spring following the second at the end of the third season

1. Remove the low spreading branches next to the ground, leaving only the tall upright braches or shoots. 
2.  If the center of the bush is dense, the weak and the older branches at the centre should be cut out.  Remove no more than ¼ of the bush in any year. 
3.  Many of the slender small branches should be removed leaving strong branches and shoots.  Leave vigorous shoots 6” or more in length.  Most of these slender branches have no fruit buds and if they do they will be small and weak. 
4. Fruit is produced on last year’s wood, the biggest berries being produced on the most vigorous wood.  Most bushes tend to overbear and unless a part of the new shoots are removed each year the berries will be small.  If branches contain too many fruit buds, reduce to 3 or 4 buds per shoot. 
5. Fruiting wood will produce well from 1-4 year.  4 year old wood should be removed in favour of younger, more productive wood.