Nick and Mark's weekend

Maintenance Practical October 12th -14th


Hey everyone! Nick and Mark are here at the Cuddy Garden this weekend.



Friday morning we planted the remaining daylilies in the garden bed along the driveway. Next we removed all of the annuals from the garden bed in front of the Cuddy house and took apart the hanging baskets in the courtyard. We spent most of the day cleaning up the garden in front of the hatchery. We removed all of the annuals, weeded, cultivated, edged, and removed the cannas. The cannas were brought into the garden shed for the winter in flats lined in burlap.

On Saturday we finished up cleaning the front garden bed with finishing touches on the edges and raking up debris. Next we cultivated, raked, and weeded the garden bed in front of the Cuddy offices. We also removed all annuals from the garden bed. Wedding photographs were being taken at the rock garden so we cleaned up the fallen leaves. Near the end of the day, we removed any Kentucky Coffee Tree suckers from the front garden bed.

We began by scraping the debris by the curb edge at the entrance and power blew any soil away. We also power blew all of the hardscapes from any leaves and debris. We then took all the bigger sticks that were piled in the compost and piled them by the parking lot with the other broken sticks. We then went back to the front garden bed by the hatchery and removed any weeds unattended to the first two days.

Plant Profile

A plant we learned was Astilbe chinensis.

Common name: False Spirea

Family: Saxifragaceae

USDA Hardiness: 4-8

Canadian Hardiness Zone: 5

Height: 30 – 100 cm

Spread: 25 – 50 cm

Flower: The flower is thin and comes to a point. It is violet in colour and blooms late summer.

Leaf: Dark green leaves with medium texture.

Bark: Green stems

Colour: Dark green

Fruit: The fruit is not ornamentally significant

Propagation: Divisions

Habitat: Astilbe chinensis is native to China.

Shape: Mound

Growth: Moderate

Cultivation: Plant in well drained soils in full sun to part shade.

Pest: Black vine weevil and Tarnished plant bug.

Diseases: Powdery mildew and cercospora leaf spot

Notable Specimens: A.M. Cuddy Gardens, Strathroy, Ontario