Minter Country Garden Blog
April Lawn Care
Every lawn has its own unique needs in the spring – from eliminating moss to controlling weeds, improving drainage to just giving it a boost with fertilizer. Whatever the situation may be, it’s important to remember to tackle your lawn’s challenges one at a time. Learn how, in this week’s article on early spring lawn care.
Plant Some Privacy
In today’s stressful and more crowded living spaces, the need to create more privacy has become an important element of garden design. Without the blocking effect of dense hedging, vines and climbers can shelter back gardens and patios, making even the plainest privacy screen more attractive. Walls and unsightly chain-link fences can virtually disappear, and old rundown buildings can be transformed by the creative use of these plants. In addition to screening, vines and climbers can also provide shade, perfume and even tasty fruit! For centuries, Europeans have been using grape vines to cover patios and enjoying the fruits each fall.
Small Fruits, Big Flavour
Many folks are under the impression that perennial vegetables and small fruits are difficult to grow and require a great deal of maintenance. Well, compared to fruit trees, they actually take amazingly little care! Here are some of our favourites.
Indoor Plant Care for Winter
This is one of the hardest times of the year for our indoor plants due to the extra warmth from heaters and fireplaces and the low humidity inside our homes. The short daylight hours aren’t much help either! Things do get better, though, as we inch along with increasing daylight, but there are a number of important things we can do now to keep our plants back in good shape.
Winter Flowering Shrubs
Now that we’re officially in winter, any outside colour is a real treat. Believe it or not, though, a wealth of flowering shrubs have been blooming in many gardens since late November!
Gifts for the Gardener (or the Gardener at Heart)
When it comes to gift giving, they say it’s the thought that counts, and it’s true! Should you be stuck for ideas, however, we are happy to offer you several. No matter what kind of gardener is on your list – from ‘The Pro’ to ‘They Kill Plastic Plants’ – we have a plethora of beautiful, practical, fun, long lasting and/or tasty gifts to shop from!
Winter Porch Pots
I love the idea of continuing colour into the winter months using outside porch pots. They are beautifully assembled collections of hardy evergreens, deciduous plants, or cut branches that really pop in winter artistically arranged in an attractive container. In addition to looking amazing, though, they need to withstand the abuse of winter weather (with some protection in the worst conditions) without losing their aesthetic appeal.
Indoor Flower Bulbs
Hyacinths, ‘Paperwhite’ narcissus, and amaryllis are winter delights to enjoy in our homes when the weather has changed our outdoor gardens into cold, grey, bleak winterscapes. All of these ‘indoor bulbs’ are specially prepared to bloom easily inside our homes. The trick, however, is to create the very best conditions for optimum flowering over the longest period of time.
Winterizing Your Garden
Strategically plant your winter colour in groups, contrasting blocks of bright colours, like yellow, with more pastel shades for the most vibrant effect. Centre groupings of pansies with the many unique colours of evergreen carex grasses and add colourful conifers,...
My Favourite Ornamentals For Fall Foliage Colour
Sourwood Tree I can't make up my mind if I like a sourwood tree (Oxydendrum arboreum) better in August or in October. In August, its cascades of white flowers are a nice treat. Then in late summer, its foliage turns to red, lasting well into late October. It’s a...