Still plenty of work to do
With the seeds safely in the ground, now it's time to make sure they get the best chance
So, you planted your garden and you imagine incredible things in your horticultural future.
However, if you do not take care of the details over the next few weeks, your efforts will not impress anyone very much.
What exactly do you need to do? We are so glad you asked, as that is why we are here, to answer your questions and guide you to gardening success.
1. Weed. A beginning gardener is already not impressed. “Weed? Me?” Yes. Before the perfect night out at the gala, you must do some prep work, and not all of it is fun. Like weeding. Those innocuous-looking green shoots in your garden, that do not look like the ones that you planted, need to be eliminated or they will outcompete the good guys and your garden will be relegated to takeover history. You may give up gardening and take up sailing or lawn bowling.
Using a garden hoe, sharpened on a grinding wheel, knock down the small weeds in your garden before they put down a long, tough root. This is easy right now. It can even be fun. Make a game of it and see how many weeds you can murder in one stroke of a hoe. It’s harmlessly aggressive behaviour.
2. Water. You can save time by watering less. More time for weeding. Most new gardeners overwater. Test for the appropriate time to water by pushing your finger into the soil. When it is dry to the first knuckle, water your seedlings and newly planted bedding plants deeply. When it is dry to your second knuckle, water larger plants like roses, flowering shrubs and perennials. Plants that have been established in your garden for a year or more do not need watering, except in a drought. We prefer to use rainwater from our rain barrels whenever we can. It is warm and oxygen rich.
3. Feed. Plants, like us, need a meal every so often. We can afford to be more casual about feeding plants than, say, your kids as most of the nutrients that a plant needs are absorbed from the quality soil that you planted them in.
There are two ways to feed plants: organically and inorganically. Our favourite organic fertilizer is compost or compost tea. You can make compost tea by placing half a pillowcase full of compost in a large garbage can or rain barrel of water over night. The solution is loaded with microbes and other good stuff that will help your fledgling plants grow.
Apply every 10 days to two weeks all summer.
There are many inorganic fertilizers on the market. One look at the fertilizer aisle at your garden retailer and you will know.
Most commercial fertilizers are either water soluble, like 20-20-20 and available immediately to the plant. Or try longer lasting “Once and Done” types. A tablespoon or so placed on the surface of the soil of a hanging basket is all you need for the whole season. They cost more, but they last and are immensely convenient. 4. Give them room. Newly seeded vegetables and flowers often grow too closely together. It is in our nature to sow seeds too thickly. As they sprout, prick them out of the soil with a fork or a butter knife and move them around the garden where they have more room. In the case of leaf lettuce, arugula and mesclun mix, you can just cut them and eat the greens. They will come again for another harvest in about two weeks. Cut, repeat. It’s fun.
5. Harvest. We often sow seeds, nurture and grow plants until they are ready for consumption, only to miss their best before date. How often is the zucchini so large that you cannot give it away or the lettuce bolts to seed, making the leaves bitter or the sweet peas finish flowering before you place them indoors in a vase for a spectacular show of colour?
One of the maladies of the gardener is that so much comes at us this time of year we often overlook the opportunity to squeeze the most from the experience.
Which reminds us of that bench you have in the corner of your garden or balcony.
Mid-June is the perfect time of year to sit, enjoy the sound of honeybees, songbirds, wind in the trees and sunsets.
This is, after all, is why you bothered to survive a Canadian winter.
Mark Cullen is an expert gardener, author, broadcaster, tree advocate and member of the Order of Canada. His son Ben is a fourth-generation urban gardener and graduate of University of Guelph and Dalhousie University in Halifax.