The first meeting of 2016 of the Yorkton and District Horticultural Society will be on Wednesday, February 17 at 7:00 p.m. in the Sunshine Room at SIGN on North Street. Everyone is welcome! As we’ve mentioned before, you don’t have to be a member to come to the meetings: if a topic interests you, please come and join us! There is an interesting year ahead with a variety of speakers, with entertaining and educational information for us! Please check our website www.yorktonhort.ca to see what’s new!
The Yorkton and District Horticultural Society is pleased to offer Junior Gardener bursaries to schools or daycares to encourage young gardeners! Teaching youngsters about gardening has multiple benefits: not only are they made aware of the miracle of watching things grow, but they also learn valuable lessons about how to care for living things, where their food comes from, and the joy of picking and eating something that they have grown themselves!
Once instilled, an interest in gardening can “grow” into a lifelong hobby that promotes care of the earth, beauty in the gardener’s yard, and a healthy and active lifestyle! Hard to imagine that all those great things can come from teaching a child how to plant seeds!
Teachers are encouraged to apply for the Junior Gardener bursaries. There are many gardening projects your students can enjoy during the school year. If your application is selected, you will receive a bursary each year for three years. For full details or to download an application form, log on to www.yorktonhort.ca
I have a great gardening book called “Gardening On The Prairies: A Guide To Canadian Home Gardening” by Roger Vick. This book has so much practical information that I refer to it often. One chapter is devoted to landscaping, and a frosty winter day is the perfect time to look out your window at your garden, then sit down with a pen and a piece of paper to make some notes. Let’s face it; landscaping is never really over in our yards. Plants get too big, some don’t survive, some have to be moved.
If you are beginning a new yard, it is very important to have a plan. Mr. Vick has a diagram in his book that shows the home and everything that surrounds it: the driveway, the fence, a garden shed, sidewalks, even the gas line. Now think about what you want. His advice is to keep your landscape design simple; use materials that are in keeping with the building; use materials that are in keeping with those of the neighbors; and make your design functional.
For an established yard or a new yard, it all makes sense. As you gaze out your window at the winter landscape of your yard, you can ask yourself certain questions: would it be nice to have a tree right in front of the living room window for shade and privacy? would it make sense to plant shrubs along the driveway right where we always shovel the snow? if our front yard is small compared to our house, should we really plant a tree that grows to thirty feet?
For our homework, gardeners, let’s study our yards and do those diagrams and see if there is something we would like to add or subtract from our yards. We’ll talk more about this next time we have tea!
Just a reminder: Saturday, March 12 is the day of the 6th Annual “Yorkton Seedy Saturday — Prairie Sun Seed Festival” from 12:30 p.m. till 4:00 p.m. at Yorkdale School. There are many things to see: local organic and heirloom seeds, seed swap, kids interactive station, and of course, interesting speakers. Mark it down on your calendar!
Have a great week!
