What a busy, exciting week! The next Yorkton and District Horticultural Society meeting is on Wednesday, October 21 at 7 p.m. in SIGN on North Street. It’s “Member Sharing” night, where group members share their gardening hints and tips! Everyone is welcome and you don’t have to be a member to attend! If you’re interested, just pop in!
And this is the big weekend! The Saskatchewan Horticultural Association Provincial Convention and AGM will be held in Yorkton on October 23 and 24 and hosted by our Yorkton group. There will be interesting speakers including a flower arranging presentation by All About Flowers; a gardening presentation by Warren Crossman; a session with Don Stein from the Godfrey Dean Gallery on garden photography; and a presentation by Sonja Pawliw about her beautiful Healing Garden, plus a banquet on Friday night with music by Jackie Guy. You do not have to be a member of the group or any hort society to attend. It’s late, but log on to www.yorktonhort.ca or call Liz at (306) 782-2830 as soon as possible to see if you can still register.
And to make this week even more special, the City of Yorkton has proclaimed October 23 to be “Horticultural Day” in Yorkton! Thank you to the City for this special acknowledgement! Also, when you are out and about, stop in at the Yorkton Public Library and see the Horticultural Society display there, and browse through the great selection of gardening books!
I found an interesting article in Canadian Gardening magazine about fall garden tasks. Some of them were things that you would expect, such as cleaning up garden debris, especially diseased leaves and stems; cutting down perennials (except those that might have seeds or plants that would add winter beauty to your garden); and planting bulbs and evergreen trees and shrubs.
But there were other tips mentioned that I wanted to share with you. The article said that fall is the only time that we should move honeysuckle or clematis vines to prevent shock. The article said that if the vines are large we can cut them back by half, and not to worry, they will do very well next spring.
If we have planted any new trees or shrubs this fall, we should wait until the ground freezes and then put a thick layer of leaves around the new plant. Once the root ball has frozen, the leaves will further protect it from frost heaving. The article also mentioned how wonderful a layer of leaves is for both our plants and the soil. I know many gardeners who clean up their yards so beautifully that there is not a stray leaf in sight, especially on the soil. For those of us who have not achieved this Zen-like state in our gardens, we can rest assured that the leaves will benefit our soil’s health!
And here’s one tip that I found fascinating: the article said that “Squirrels “read” the disturbed soil and marks you leave when planting your favourite tulips and crocuses. Outwit them by concentrating spring bulb plantings in large groups and disguising your marks by flooding the soil surface with water. Then cover them with five centimetres of leaves topped with some shrubby branches.” Someone mentioned to me that it seemed they had fewer tulip bulbs than last year: perhaps squirrels are the culprits! I knew they are cute as buttons and marvels of nature, but who knew they were detectives who could tell that soil had been disturbed? Amazing!
Good luck with your fall garden preparations; have a lovely week!
