HOUSE & HOME
5 LANDSCAPING TIPS
– By Brandon Gelderman
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Watering: Best time of day to water your garden
and lawn is in the morning before 9 am. This will
allow for the water to penetrate into the roots of the
plant. Each plant requires a
certain amount of water so to
be sure, either check through
books, visit a local nursery or
online at www.canadaplants.ca
Lawn Mowing: In southern Ontario, residents like to
have lawns that are nice and short. Unless you have the
correct short grass species, your lawn has to be mowed
at a height of 3”. Best way to
check the height of your lawn
mower is to put a measuring
tape while the lawn mower
isn’t running, and measure to
the height of the blade. For a
push mower it is the highest setting the wheels will go.
At first you may not like the look of the lawn, and over
time your neighbors will be wondering why your lawn
looks so lush. Keeping the lawn at this height you can
also help prevent grub problems and water consumption.
Mulch: A natural cure for weeds is to either let it
grow tall and pull the “root” of the problem or another
cure would be to dig it out.
Once you get the “root” of the
problem out, then we suggest
to mulch your gardens once a
year using a natural shredded
bark mulch. The alternative is
the dyed mulch, which looks
nice only for a short period of time. We suggest the
natural shredded because it decomposes and adds that
little bit of protection to roots.
Planting: A great time of year to plant in the garden
is spring and fall. Summer is also a good time, plants
will just need more water – once every other day early
in the morning until they are established. Also check
to see how much water each plant requires and be sure
to check the soil condition before planting. Each plant
requires certain types of soil in which to grow best.
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Organizing the garden: I’ve been taught different
ideas by many instructors, on ways to plant a garden.
Some instructors speak about planting in masses (this
is planting 5 - 20 of the same type of plant in the same
area.) Or plant different species of plants throughout the
garden. There are different issues with both ideas. With
the large mass planting it’s easy to spot weeds because
they will be very noticeable and this way you can get
them quickly. The unfortunate part of planting masses
is if a disease arrives on the property it could wipe out
the whole area.
Planting different species of plants throughout the garden
looks nice too. Be sure to arrange the plants to allow for
appropriate area size for the plants to grow. Most plants
grow slowly, and five years later they have to be removed
because they were planted too close together. We need
to read the information on the plant label or in books
to learn what each plant requires. If the plant needs
30cm of room to grow, be sure to allow them this area
because they will probably grow larger than expected.
There is also the method of planting a low maintenance
garden, which can work well. Even Zen gardens that are
full of rocks require raking and maintenance. Decide
how much time you want to dedicate to your garden
and enjoy it! Happy Gardening! •
Photo: Gelderlands Inc.
Brandon Gelderman is a landscape designer and founder
of Gelderlands Inc. in Burlington.
905-637-1509 www.gelderlands.ca