What's New In Our Gardening
Committee?
For February and March, 2010
When we think of winter, we might think
of cold, frosty temperatures with lots and in some cases, lots of snow.
Some of us will be following the Winter Olympic Games or just trying
to deal with various life-style changes while longing for the coming
spring in our Northern Hemisphere and still others may be facing the
dreaded heat of the coming summer months, especially if you live in
Australia.
Gardeners of our Northern Climate are very familiar with winter in
knowing that cold temperatures and snow are not the only enemies that
befall our gardens this time of year; it is the winter winds combined
with those oh so few, sunny days that can kill many of our plants
laying in dormancy.
Roses and other exposed shrubs fall easy prey to the cold winter winds
along with the warm winter sun especially if they were not planted
right to begin with nor given any protection in the fall. Do you
wonder why branches of exposed roses and shrubs dry out; Trees split;
what causes root damage to perennials? Look no further than to the
winter wind and winter sun for answer to these questions.
Across North America gardeners continue to make water conservation a
major focus using rain barrels at the base of downspouts along with
growing drought-tolerant native plants and incorporating the use of
deep mulch which helps store water within the soil resulting in less
watering especially where climate change has interrupted normal
rainfall.
This time of year gardening is of course waiting for spring to arrive
but we have been looking at many options leading up to this activity
like taking a look at invasive plants often regarded as weeds through
a suggestion from Gardener Kythera Ann and what can be done about
controlling them or getting rid of them altogether.
We discussed
Chocolate Mint;
Hogweed;
Goutweed;
Kudzu;
Loosestrife; and the lovely named
Salvation Jane. Each one of these names is linked to
information about the particular plant listed and reading what
we have put together to share will soon reveal that while some
of these plants are downright dangerous to touch or deadly to
ingest, others although bothersome, are quite useful.
Other topics we covered have to do with an alternative to using
salt to control those slippery doorsteps and walkways;
prolonging the beauty of cut Roses and just how to prune those
beautiful Climbing Roses you are so proud of. Check out our
Tips this month for more information about these
subjects.
Now we will leave you with a bit of a mystery. Ask yourself
what you would do if there were no grocery stores in your
area, none!
Until next time, Happy Gardening,
The Gardening Committee


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