Pot legal

by Mark Cullen

While the Trudeau government arm wrestles over plans to legalize marijuana, I have some good news for you. You can plant in pots and you won’t get arrested for it.

‘Container’ gardening, as it is more often referred to, is growing in popularity faster than people can move into high-rise condos in Toronto. And it isn’t just balcony gardeners who are planting up virtually everything that will hold soil. Patios, decks, front doors and walkways are enhanced with containers full of colour and food plants everywhere.

So, what are the secrets to growing successfully in containers? Here they are:

  1. Choose the right container. Whatever you choose to plant in, make sure that it has adequate drainage for water to move through the soil and out the hole in the bottom efficiently. If plants sit in water they rot, unless they are water plants which really belong in a pond.
    Where containers are concerned, the greater the soil mass, the better the performance of the plants. This is why I do not recommend the small 10 inch hanging baskets that are so tempting. Large hangers, that are at least 14 inches in diameter, are so much better. Potting up geraniums in your uncle’s old boots might be cute but even his feet are not big enough to create a cavity for soil to sustain plant life very well. A half-barrel sized container is much better. And no one wears half-barrels on their feet.
  2. Choose the plants for the location of the container. If your container is in full, blazing sun be sure to plant sun loving plants in it. This is more important in containers than it is in the garden as the strength of the sun intensifies ‘off the ground’. Look for dwarf zinnias, asparagus fern (a member of the lily family), petunias, million bells, scabiosa, lobelia and the list goes on. On the other hand, perennial hosta makes a great containerized plant in the shade or partial shade. And with a little care it will come back each year. As will many other perennials.
  3. Choose quality soil. Remove last year’s soil that was in your containers, placing it on the garden where earthworms will pull it down and incorporate it into the soil. If you live in a condo, ask management if you can place it in the condo garden. Just don’t leave it in the container two years in a row. It is tired; the nutrients in it are used up. But it is fine to spread over an established garden.
    When looking for container mix, buy quality: a good rule with soil is, I believe, you really get what you pay for. Choose a brand that you trust (maybe one with my name on it!) Quality soil drains well, is full of nutrients that help to boost plant life through the growing season and some mixes feature water-retaining abilities that reduce the frequency of water applications.
  4. Water with the rain. Use a rain barrel to hold rain water and apply this to your container plants throughout the season. This is how I water all my containers and I believe that it makes a world of difference. Rain water is soft, is charged with oxygen and it is almost always warm, unlike tap water. If only plants could talk, they would tell us that this is their preference. “I hate cold showers!” you would hear them roar.
    Allow container soil to dry to the touch between watering applications. When water evaporates or transpires through a plant, the space that it takes in the soil is replaced with oxygen-rich air. All plants love this. Some plants, like geraniums, prefer to get quite dry, but never bone dry. In time, you will learn what works best for you in your living situation.
  5. Fertilize. There are many options where ‘plant food’ is concerned. The bottom line is that containerized plants demand more nutrients than ‘garden bound’ plants as their roots are limited by the walls of the container and the volume of soil at their roots. From several meters away, I can usually tell if a plant is hungry, especially late in the season when nutrients in the container mix have been used up. Yellowing leaves, poorly performing flowers and a look of general malaise takes over a plant that is hungry. There are many fertilizers on the market, some synthetic and others natural, including a new organic that lasts all season long called ProMix Multi-Purpose Garden Fertilizer.

Mark Cullen is lawn & garden expert for Home Hardware, member of the Order of Canada, author and broadcaster. Get his free monthly newsletter at markcullen.com. Look for his new best seller, ‘The New Canadian Garden’ published by Dundurn Press. Follow him on Twitter @MarkCullen4 and Facebook.

Composing Compost

by Mark Cullen

I had a rather personal conversation about the afterlife with a close friend the other day. After reflection, she looked at me and said, with a note of sarcasm, “Compost”.

Now you can believe what you like about heaven, the various alternative theories about where we go after our heart stops beating, but don’t bring compost into it. Compost deserves more respect.

May 7-13 is ‘Composting Week’ across our great nation. This is a perfect time to reawaken your commitment to save the planet and the green world on it. Convert the raw, organic material from the kitchen and the garden into the magic elixir that feeds the earth and all plant life that relies on it for sustenance.

Here is your compost update:
1.  We throw out up to 50% of our compostable materials. According to Susan Antler, executive director of the Composting Council of Canada, we generally are not very good at composting the organics from our kitchen and yard. “Whether at home in the backyard composter or through green bin composting programs, those banana peels (no stickers please), apple cores, fallen leaves and garden trimmings can be recycled.” Antler says that 61% of Canadians have access to some form of composting and that many of us do not take full advantage of it.

2.  We do compost, but we could do better! 45% of households reported composting kitchen waste; 68% of Canadian households recycle garden waste. The big challenge is implementing broad based programs in ‘multi family dwellings (apartments and condos) where recycling rates are much lower than single family dwellings.

3. What happens when you put a banana peel in the garbage (landfill)? The decomposition of organic waste in landfills produces a gas which is composed primarily of methane, a greenhouse gas contribution to climate change. Methane is 21 times more potent than carbon dioxide in terms of its global warming potential. 

4. Organics = soil health. Make no mistake: 90% of the success you achieve in your garden is the direct result of proper soil enhancement and natural fertility. The concept of ‘soil health’ begins with the acknowledgement that soils are living ecosystems. Susan Antler reminds us that, “A handful of healthy soil contains more living organisms than there are people on the planet.” When we add finished compost to our soil we enhance the life-giving bacteria, fungi, protozoa, nematodes and other more visible creatures such as earthworms. A 2cm to 3cm layer of compost over your garden soil this time of year is just a stupendously good idea.

5.  The Environmental Commissioners report (Canada) states that, (healthy soil) “is like Times Square on New Year’s Eve, all of the time.” In other words, the activity below the surface of your lawn and garden is immeasurably active and alive, especially when it is healthy. What is healthy soil? It is soil that makes nutrients available to plants in a variety of unique and effective ways. It builds and enhances soil aggregation and porosity, sequesters nitrogen and other nutrients, reducing nutrient loss to pollution, it out-competes disease and pest organisms, enhancing crops yields (and blooms!).

In short, composting and adding quality compost to your garden is the ultimate Carbon Trading Scheme as plants use photosynthesis to fix carbon in an organic form from carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. And no money flows through bureaucratic government sponsored hands.

Composting in your yard?  What you need to know:
a.     Brown stuff/Green stuff. The green organic material that you add to your compost bin or pile is nitrogen-rich. The brown stuff (fallen leaves, shredded newspaper) is carbon-rich. Ideally you should put one part ‘green’ into your compost for every 5 to 10 parts ‘brown’. This will help to prevent your compost from smelling bad.

b.  Turn it. Oxygen is your friend. Like starting a fire by blowing on it, you will ignite the decomposition process in your bin or compost pile when you turn it over with a garden fork every few weeks. It is ok if you don’t do this, but you will wait much longer for results.

c. What is a visible marker that your soil is healthy? Earth worms. The more the better. Odette Menard works for the Quebec Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food. She is an esteemed member of the Soil Conservation Hall of Fame (yes, there is such a thing in Canada) and she is an authority on earthworms. “Earthworms stabilize the soil by digesting it and combining it with organic matter which leaves it less vulnerable to erosion. They create a lot of space for roots and air, helping to provide an ideal environment for microorganisms to grow.”

Do the earth a favour: this Composting Week, make a pledge to really help the planet and grow a better garden. Compost.

Mark Cullen is lawn & garden expert for Home Hardware, member of the Order of Canada, author and broadcaster. Get his free monthly newsletter at markcullen.com. Look for his new best seller, ‘The New Canadian Garden’ published by Dundurn Press. Follow him on Twitter @MarkCullen4 and Facebook.

Top 8 Flowers from Seed

by Mark Cullen

Standing in front of an extensive rack of seeds at the hardware store, I reached for the cosmos. Cosmos is different from ‘The cosmos’ you may be thinking of. While you may reach for the stars, I will be very happy just reaching for a packet of seeds that will provide me with a riot of colour in my garden this summer. Like cosmos.

Not everyone who plants gardens understands that there are some enormously productive flowering plants that are best grown from seed sown directly into your garden soil. Cosmos is just one of them. It grows to about 1.2 meters and blooms its head off in a sunny garden.

Here are my top 8 picks for flowers that perform best from seed. Now is a great time of year to buy yours. I find that if I wait until spring many of my favourite varieties are not available:

  1. Nicotine. An unfortunate name for a wonderful flowering plant. While images of a hacking cough might be on your mind when you see the word ‘nicotine’, the truth is you will be blown away by the fragrance, once it is established. Come mid-summer, the nicotine in my garden is the biggest hit, late in the day when the air is still and the hummingbirds are at their peak of activity. ‘Old fashioned’ nicotine produces large clusters of trumpet shaped flowers. Grows up to 2 meters high. Loves the sun.
  2. Centaurea. ‘Cornflower’ Grows to about 80 cm high so is best at the back of the flower bed. Blue is the signature colour but others, like yellow, red and orange are also available. Cornflower is perhaps the best plant for drying to bring indoors. Come winter next year, you will glad that you grew (and picked) some Centaurea.
  1. Nigella. We don’t grow nigella to knock our eyes out with colour. We grow it to lighten up the show. Fact is, you will want to stop and pick it while you tour your garden at the end of each day this summer. Loves the sun. Features light, airy foliage. It is the ‘rice crispies’ of the garden. Often called ‘wild fennel’.
  2. Calendula. ‘Pot Marigold’. I am not sure how this low-growing flowering plant got the name ‘pot marigold’. It is neither a marigold nor would anyone in their right mind smoke it. All I know for sure is that this plant produces masses of yellow or orange flowers mid summer. I sow them in a row in my veggie garden and pick them to bring indoors. They stand up quite well in a vase and honey bees frequent the blooms in your garden. An edible flower. Thrives in full sun. Grows to 30 cm high.
  3. Zinnia. Create a riot in your garden. If I could only recommend one flowering annual plant to you, it would be zinnias. Providing you have lots of sun. Zinnias are very reliable germinators. You can cut them and bring them indoors where they can last for up to 10 days. There are many varieties available, ranging in heights from the 30 cm Pom Pom to giant, well, ‘Giant’ zinnias that mature at about a meter high. They are available in a riot of colours. Require a location in full sun.
  4. Sunflowers. I grow about 12 varieties of sunflowers. But then, I have a big garden. Sunflowers can take up a lot of space but man, are they easy to grow! Get kids in on the action starting on the day of sowing the seeds. They will love the speed with which they explode through the soil and the growth that can occur during one hot, sunny day. If you have an average or small garden, consider some of the popular varieties that only mature to about 50 cm or less: Teddy Bear, Junior and Dwarf Pacino.
  5. Nasturtium. Low growing, sometimes with a vine-like growth habit. ‘Hot colours’ that produce for several weeks in the garden. They love the sun but last best in a ‘cool’ part of the garden facing east. When they look their best they are stunning. My favourite variety is Whirly Bird as they bloom outside of the foliage (while some varieties hide their flowers). Grows to 40 cm.
  6. Morning Glory. If you didn’t grow morning glories as a kid, you really missed out. But then, you can do it now and BE a kid all over again. A twining vine that needs vertical support at least 2 metres high. They produce large quantities of medium sized, trumpet shaped blue flowers that are very attractive to hummingbirds. But here is the catch: they perform best in marginal soil. If you are adding to your garden soil when sowing the seed, be sure to mix in about 30 to 40% clay. When you make growth a little tough for a Morning Glory you encourage it to bloom like crazy. Don’t fertilize.

Mark Cullen is an expert gardener, member of the Order of Canada, author and broadcaster. Get his free monthly newsletter at markcullen.com. Look for his new best seller, ‘The New Canadian Garden’ published by Dundurn Press. Follow him on Twitter @MarkCullen4 and Facebook.