Laura and Shane
Practical weekend
Friday April, 12th 2013
Day one of our practical weekend! The weather was gloomy and wet, and the grounds at the cuddy gardens were terribly squishy and swampy.
We arrived at 7:45 am and waited for Lucas to arrive and open the classroom, once we were in the class we all gathered around for Lucas to give us our duties for the weekend. There are three groups here this weekend so the morning started off a little bit slow.
Lucas walked Shane and I around the areas we would be working on and explained what he wanted us to do over the weekend, I took notes to ensure we wouldn’t forget anything.
Once he finished giving us our tasks, Shane and I went to the tool shed to get some loppers and hedge trimmers to begin pruning the Yew hedge on the outside of the prairie border which took us the remainder of the morning.
After lunch Lucas took Shane and I to the area where the new compost bin is being built and showed us what we would need to do to assemble it. He helped us for the rest of the afternoon and we got it nearly finished, only had a few more boards to add on Saturday.
We cleaned up, signed out and headed home for the night, tired but satisfied with the work we accomplished.
Saturday April, 13th 2013
I started the day by pruning the boxwood in the prairie boarder, using the DDD method (dead,dying,damaged) and trimming off as much of the boxwood miner and psyllid, and anything that looked unsightly. While I was pruning Shane was raking out prairie border to try to get out some of the pods that make the garden look messy.
Shane also dug up some Kerria Japonica ‘plendiflora’ suckers and we gave them to the greenhouse weekend students to be potted.
We picked up the piles of debris and put them in the trailer, we then moved over to the gardens across from the car port and pushed any mulch that had come down onto the drive way back into the bed, and went through the garden and pulled out any large branches by hand. We continued this routine all the way along the length of the bed until lunch time.
After lunch the weather seemed to improve and the sun even managed to come out! So Shane and I went back over to the compost bin and continued to attach the boards to the posts. We ran into a couple of problems with boards being too small and some uneven seems but managed to cut some extra boards and it all looks great!
Once we finished that we went over to the dry garden and I began to fan rake all the debris out of the paths and Shane filled the RTV bucket with pea stone and brought it over to the dry garden.
Once Shane dumped the stone down on a tarp he began to help me rake the pathways which took us to the end of the day, we cleaned all our tools and put them back in the tool shed.
Another successful work day!
Sunday April, 14th 2013
Today was a much better day in terms of weather! The sun is out and shining and the temperature was quite warm. We arrived at 7:45am and signed in as a group.
We were assigned the task of edging the prairie boarder and the garden by the road but unfortunately the weather over the weekend caused the ground to be very soft and mushy, so when we attempted to edge it was just a mess, so we decided edging would do more harm than good.
Shane and I started off the morning by setting up the string lines in the dry garden so we could begin straightening the stone borders around the garden beds.
We set the lines and then straightened any stones that were out of line, we had some trouble every now and then getting the string line right but we did our best and continued to straighten as much as we could. Around 2:30 we filled the back of the RTV with pea stone and brought it to the dry garden. We spent the rest of the afternoon raking gravel along the dry garden to even out any low spots.
At 4:15pm we took down the string lines and packed up and took all of our tools and equipment back to the shed to be power washed. We put everything back where it belonged and did a walk around to make sure we didn’t forget anything, and came to the classroom to sign out for the night.
We had a very productive weekend, we hit some challenges but did our best to over-come them! All and all we had a very successful and educational weekend!
Plant Profile
Laura Hill & Shane Sofia
Weekend Practical Assignment
April 12-14/2013
Botanical name: Hamaelis x intermedia ‘Primavera’
Common name: Primavera Witchhazel
Family: Hamamelidaceae
Genus: Hamamelis
Species: × intermedia
Cultivar: 'Primavera'
Category: Woody
Type: Shrub (deciduous)
USDA Hardiness Zone(s): 5-9
Source: http://www.plantdatabase.co.uk/Hamamelis_x_intermedia_Primavera
Origin: Asia
Height: 2.4 – 3m
Spread: 90 – 120cm
Temp (C): - 28
Temp (F): - 18
Habitat: Horticultural origin.
Growth: Slow growth habit
Flowering Period: February to March
Landscape Use:
• Accent
• Mass planting
• Borders/hedges
• General garden use
Propagation:
• Cultivars are usually grafted
Shape:
• Upright and spreading
• Slightly rounded
Cultivation:
Pests:
• Deer Resistant.
• Japanese beetle, chews on the foliage in specific areas.
• Occasional galls appear on foliage.
Notable specimens: A.M Cuddy Gardens, Strathroy, Ont.
ID Characteristic:
• Upright/spreading from.
• Grey/greyish-brown bark.
• Smooth textured.
• Large yellow late winter/ early spring flowers.
• Capsule like fruit.
General Description:
• Multi-stemmed.
• Large deciduous shrub/small tree.
• Flowers in late winter/ early spring.
Flower Description:
• Long/ narrow petals.
• Spider-like.
• Flowers will open and close depending on weather conditions.
• Long lasting flowers.
• Pale yellow flowers that bloom from February- March.
• Fragrant.
Bark Description:
• Smooth textured.
• Grey, greyish-brown.
Leaf Description:
• Alternate/simple leaves.
• Leaves are droopy, grey-green colour.
• 7.6cm – 15.24cm
• Foliage has a ripple-like texture.
Texture Description:
• Smooth textured bark.
• Soft textured leaves with a ripple-like pattern.
Colour Description:
• Leaves are greyish-green in spring and red/yellow in autumn.
• Grey/greyish-brown bark.
• Yellow petals on flower.
Bud Description:
• Buds are bare (naked).
Fruit Description:
• Does not have major ornamental importance.
• Capsule shaped and black
Works cited
"Hamamelis X Intermedia." - Plants in Profile. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Apr. 2013
"Hamamelis X Intermedia Primavera." Hamamelis X Intermedia Primavera. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Apr. 2013.
"Hamamelis X Intermedia 'Primavera'" Plant Database RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Apr. 2013.
“Hamamelis X Intermedia 'Primavera'" (Witch Hazel 'Primavera'). N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Apr. 2013.
" WSU Clark County Extension." Primavera Witchhazel. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Apr. 2013
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