It’s getting into gardening season, and Misty Gardens’ Paul Kneeshaw came to the Reid-Thompson Public Library on April 22 to give a talk to interested attendees – and it was so crowded that people had to stand along the walls. The Humboldt Journal asked him to go into detail about his gardening tips and tricks, what’s trending in gardening, and what are the challenges and benefits of gardening in Humboldt.
This year, the trend is to move away from landscaping to raised beds. This means planting things in smaller spaces, concentrating the number of plants. As well, eating healthy is trending in general, which translates to kale and herbs becoming more popular to grow.
Kneeshaw also said that gardening isn’t just for your grandma anymore – younger families are getting into it as well.
“They’re people who were disconnected and are learning how to do it and getting back to that,” he said.
Kneeshaw has several pieces of advice to be a successful gardener. First, he said that it’s important to water plants in the morning so they go into the night dry. Disease is more likely to occur when plants go into the night wet, due to the cooler temperature. He also says not to water leaves and recommends using a weeping hose and putting it in the ground so the roots are directly watered. He also espoused on the benefits of using mulch.
“Mulch is the magic I think,” he said.
Plants develop based on how many days of heat they have, and mulch keeps heat around the plant. It also makes it difficult for weeds to develop around the plant, as well as helping to make your garden more water efficient.
Because he answers people’s gardening questions every year, he has a good idea of what people are doing wrong.
“One of the concerns is not pre-planning,” he said.
This means not paying attention to how many days plants need to develop, planting something too late, and then it’s too cold when the plant comes up.
“You have to sit down and make a plan and figure out when to plan stuff,” he said.
He also said to pay attention to sun plants versus shade plants. Sun plants need about six hours of sun a day, but a shade plant (like ferns) can be burned with too much sun.
Here in Saskatchewan, everyone knows about the long, cold winters – but that translates to sunny summers.
“We’re blessed with awesome summers,” Kneeshaw said. “Long days, lots of sunshine ... the flowers we grow here are much richer in colour.”
In addition, Humboldt has heavy clay soil, which holds water better than sand.
So this year, remember to plan your garden and go pick up some mulch – and there are more benefits than just having delicious vegetables.
“Gardening is like a therapy and gives you a sense of accomplishment,” he said.
