Nate Mckim and Nick Gleba April 12-14

 

By Nate McKim

Hey everyone! Fanshawe horticulture student Nate McKim here. It’s great to be back at Cuddy’s! Having worked here all last summer, this place grew on me quite a bit, but I don’t think I fully realized how much until I started getting my hands dirty again in the garden beds, and riding around on the tractors. The weather might not have always been on our side during this weekend but as any gardener in Canada knows; there’s nothing quite like working in the great outdoors no matter what the weather, to shake off the boredom and anxiety that can set in from long cold months of frozen ground and inactive gardening tools. With Mother Nature a little on the fence about what kind of weather she felt like throwing our way, we would definitely have our work cut out for us.

Friday found us knee deep in mud and soaked through to our long johns. (Whether or not anyone else but me was actually wearing long johns is past my knowledge and clearly none of my business) With very little gardening to be done due to the nasty rain, we turned our attention to renovating the composting system. Here at Cuddy’s, the three R’s are of pivotal importance. In this disposable society, making the most of what you have (or what you’re fortunate enough to get your hands on) can often lead to very interesting and functional garden projects. Our task was to construct a new compost bin that would be large enough to hold the hefty amount of garden waste produced here on a yearly basis and sturdy enough to last the test of time. By salvaging a good load of used posts and boards from an old horse fence from the neighboring farm (score!) we were able to achieve this. Nick and I spent the day hauling these boards around, predrilling and cutting them to size, and delivering them to the installation team of Shane, Laura and head gardener Lucas. The result was a functional, cost effective and pretty fine looking compost bin.

With the weather looking more agreeable on Saturday we began to set our sights on some gardening work that would keep us off the very saturated turf while still accomplishing some much needed spring maintenance. Nick spent the day pruning the euonymus growing up the sides of the house on the main level

while I spent a not so relaxing day on the patio (cocktail free of course) doing a thorough spring maintenance. Over time the patio’s English ivy becomes quite intrusive and needs to be cut back to re-define the hardscapes.

Unfortunately the Boxwoods had developed a rather bad case of Boxwood Leaf Miner and needed to be sheered back to maintain form and to assert a physical control method on the miner.

 Other shrubs and perennials such as Lavender and Pineapple Mint also required pruning back to encourage a new season’s growth.

With the waterfall acting as a soothing soundtrack of nature, this patio is about ready for some soon approaching summer enjoyment.

The weather finally takes a turn for the better! Even with saturated turf and garden beds, there is still much work to do on Sunday at Cuddy’s. Nick spent his time today tidying up the Prairie Border and helping me clean up the mess I made. The mess in question is a result of the pruning that I was doing around the houses garden beds. This included sheering back all the Boxwoods to a nice compact form, hitting back the Spirea’s for a new seasons growth, maintaining the forms of the Yews and euonymus and some general maintenance pruning to Dogwoods and other shrubs as well as finishing the pruning of the euonymus on the house.

 Starting the spring maintenance around the house is usually a good idea and nice central place to start your gardening. As the weather continues to change for the better, you can continue to move outwards and explore the rest of your gardening spaces and possibilities.

That’s all for now! Just remember, no matter what weather is thrown at you in the spring, no matter how knee deep in mud you may be or no matter how saturated your long john underwear may become, there is always gardening work to be done and good excuses to get outside. So get out there and get growin’! In closing, here’s a good plant selection for awesome early spring blooming when Mother Nature’s got you down with all the April showers.

Erica carnea

‘Pink Spangles’

By: Nate McKim

Botanical information:



Family: Ericaceae

Genus: Erica

Species: carnea

Cultivar: 'Pink Spangles'

Category: Woody

Type: Shrub (evergreen)



Details:



USDA Hardiness: 5 to 7

Canadian Hardiness: 5

Temperature: -23 to -26 Degrees Celsius

Height: 30 cm

Spread: 60 cm



Description and Growing Information:



Landscape: Works very well in a rock garden situation or as a spreading groundcover.



Propagation: Best propagated by semi-hardwood cuttings



Habitat: Central and southern Europe.



Shape: Low and spreading.



Growth: Slow.



Flower period: Late March to early April.



Cultivation: Prefers moist, acidic and very well drained soil that is low in fertility yet high in organic matter



Pests/ diseases: May be susceptible to some fungal diseases; however this is rare as pests and diseases are usually not an issue with this plant.



General Description: Very low and wide spreading plant with evergreen foliage and showy colourful blooms.



Flower description: Flowers are very small, cylindrical and borne in four sided racemes. Pink in colour and very showy in the spring.



Leaf description: Leafs are needle like 3 to 6 cm long with a bright evergreen colour. Leaves have very small petioles, are whorled to opposite and have margins that are turned under.



Texture description: Fine



Bark Description: No ornamental significance



Colour description: Evergreen foliage with bright pinkish red blooms in the winter and early spring.



Fruit Description: Small ornamentally insignificant dehiscent capsules containing many small seeds.



I.D. Characteristic: Showy pink blooms that are a wonderful spring bee attractant.



Notable specimens: The A.M Cuddy Gardens, Strathroy Ontario.

References:

http://canadaplants.ca/display.php?id=3732

http://canadaplants.ca/display.php?id=79

http://apps.rhs.org.uk/plantselector/plant?plantid=2876

http://www.hort.uconn.edu/plants/e/ericar/ericar1.html