Here are some
articles Welland Vale Nurseries have found from
around the web.
Shade-loving
plants can brighten the garden
It's a summer
gardening dilemma: People love shade, but most plants prefer sun. Under
towering trees or man-made structures, shade creates cool oases. On a
triple-digit afternoon, that sunless shadow can lower the temperature 10 to 20
degrees. But that same shade can kill sun-loving plants. They'll stretch their
stems into a gangly, unattractive mess as they search for slivers of light.
Flowers? Forget it. There can be a happy gardening medium, a space with
cooling shade for humans and enough light for flowering plants to thrive. The
key is finding the right spots for the right plants -- and people, too.
Gardens: plants for cracks
The back garden path is a different beast, being
exposed to the sun and occasionally hot and baked. It calls for something
Mediterranean in nature rather than just in name, and creeping thymes are the
thing. You can create a kind of tapestry effect by mixing those with different
coloured flowers (white 'Snowdrift', pink 'Bressingham Pink') and variously
variegated types (green and gold leaved 'Doone Valley',
glaucous Thymus pseudolanuginosus), or stick to
one kind for a cleaner effect. I've also considered mixing in a small
section of the non-flowering, mat-forming chamomile 'Treneague', which is the
plant to go for to create Miniature Rivers of chamomile lawn.
Keeping plants happy in
summer
Heat and sunlight not
only affect gardeners, they also impact plants. Leaves can become sunburned and
begin to get large yellow patches that turn grey or brown in the centre. If
plants showing signs of sunburn are in pots or containers move them to areas
where there is more afternoon shade. If the plants are in the ground, it may be
necessary to erect some form of shade cloth protection on the south and west
sides of the plant. If certain plants become too stressed in the summer,
it might be a good idea to consider moving the plant to a more suitable
location in the fall or early spring, or add protective, shade-giving plants to
the existing landscape.
The dirt on soil: What you
need to know about what your plants need to thrive
Despite the glamour issue, or lack of it, if you want to garden well, you will eventually get serious about soil. You learn that soil is a mix of sand, clay and silt particles. You read about the importance of soil porosity and that some of these pores need to be filled with air and others need to be filled with water. You are also constantly counselled to add copious quantities of compost or other organics to your soil. I go on about this constantly, like a broken record.
August in the Garden
For many gardeners
the month of August begins the downhill slide into off season. Warm climate
gardeners have a second chance, but some don't have a second wind after
summer's heat. Your garden is hardier than you think and there are plenty of
gardening tasks for August that will keep your flower and vegetable gardens
going longer, as well as opportunities to get a head start on next year's
garden plans.
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