Garden Inspirations Series
(Part 2)
Text and Photos by Rob Danforth
Diversity in our gardens is a style that can add variety in structures and textures as well as plant protection. My shaded salad greens and cilantro grow better in a weak summer sun so I hide them behind taller plants so the sun is dappled or filtered. By mixing plants rather than clustering them I can make plants harder for pests to find. Diversity is a major change in Canadian gardening style, away from the traditional rows and monocultures that industry uses to accommodate mechanization and large scale farming. Urban organic food gardening is very small scale and most probably not mechanized – why not experiment and invent a new style?
(Bonsai Maple Forest, Japanese Pavilion, Montreal Botanical Gardens, QC)
Most of the Bonsai I have seen are single trees in a special small pot or single trees in a natural landscape on a slab. This deciduous forest is maple trees and the bonsai style preferred here is to have tree trunks of varying thicknesses and roots showing to suggest stability, vitality, and strength. Controlling the size of the leaves is a challenge, as the leaves on these tiny trees will grow to natural size, despite the tree’s diminutive stature. If the deciduous tree experiences an inordinate amount of shade, the leaves will be even bigger inorder to grab more of the available light.
(Cabbage and Sage, Gloucester, ON)
The cabbage family and sage are good companions. Both prosper well in close proximity to each other just like tomatoes and basil. Sage is also a perennial if conditions are right – my in-ground sage flowered in the second year! Unfortunately some perennials (e.g., rosemary) do not like Canadian winters. We end up treating them as annuals. Clearly plants prosper in conditions similar to their homeland. Good to keep in mind when buying seed from distant sources in which climate may differ from ours.
(Echinacea/Coneflower, Orleans, ON)
Echinacea in a garden is beneficial on many fronts. The plant is a perennial and will regrow more often than not! It is very attractive to bees and other pollinators, and it is also a contaminant sucker (experiments in phytoremediation at the University of Victoria, BC) to remove some impurities in the soil. There are short and tall varieties available (1.5 -2 feet & 3 -3.5 feet) in various colours. Add some eye candy and support your veg with pollinator friendly flowering plants. Flowers often do more than brighten a garden and it is worth checking to see what else they do!
(High Density and Inter Planting, Oshawa, ON)
High density planting was addressed last month but diverse interplanting is also an excellent technique – plant veg with your flowers and/or flowers with your veg. If you look closely at this image, you will see the tomato plant hiding in the floral growth. High density and diverse interplanting shades the soil to lessen evaporation and reduce weeds as well as hides vegetables from marauding insects who hunt by scent. The scent of the flowers masks the scent of the vegetables and not having all your food plants in a close group or row means the insect pests have to work harder to find the other plants. For example, I saw an entire row of potato plants totally devoured by the Colorado Potato beetle. The bugs just went from one plant to the next in a big bug buffet! The gardener was devastated.
Also, in this picture, among the echinacea and cleome, is the yellow weed, goldenrod. It actually is reasonably attractive to look at, and it attracts soldier beetles which are helpful insect predators in your garden. One of the gardens at Ottawa U included goldenrod and I have seen it in a number of other places (e.g. Winnipeg gardens, as well as my neighbour’s yard). Some weeds can actually be an asset. What else do they do? Some weeds attract pollinators and insect predators, some give you a heads up on soil conditions, and some are even edible!
(Indoor Lettuce Leaning Toward the Limited Sun, Orleans, ON)
You may have noticed that sunflowers turn their heads to face the sun as it passes. If you grow salad greens or microgreens indoors in a sunny window, be sure to rotate the tray daily so the plants will not grow sideways as they reach for that sun. This tray of leaf lettuce (to be harvested young but not as young as microgreens) has its back to the sun to have the plants straighten up – which they did by late afternoon. Similarly, if you are growing under lights, keep the light one to two inches above the plants so the plants do not reach for the light and become tall, spindly, and weak. You can also trim the top growth and then lower the light or raise the plant to encourage low bushy branching and stronger plants. Weak plants attract marauding insects, like sharks to wounded fish – all part of nature’s design. Weak plants also will suffer more transplant shock than healthy ones.
(Rugosa Rose Privacy Hedge, Tankerness, Orkney, UK)
This perennial hedge produced the largest rose hips I have ever seen! The 6 foot tall hedge separated the lawn from the road, had more eye appeal than any fence, and provided an excellent wind break (Orkney is very windy – laundry had to be triple clothes pegged and sometimes even that was not enough). In addition, the hedge was a more natural part of the landscape than any artificial structure, much to the delight of the neighbourhood birds, insects, rabbits, ducks, and chickens – a farm was close by and ducks and chickens roamed our yard – loved the taste of those free range eggs! Could your garden benefit from a natural windbreak?
(Hardware Cloth Composter Base, Ottawa, ON.)
Composters will attract raccoons and rodents. A bungee cord lock can discourage a racoon but rodents seek the warmth of decomposing material and will burrow in from below. A “hardware cloth” base – not “cloth” at all but a metal screen; the ½ inch holes in the metal mesh are sufficient to deter rodents – with a footprint larger than the base of the composter will allow nature’s composting agents to enter through the metal mesh but keep out the rodents. The excess hardware cloth should be bent up around the base of the composter bathtub style. Otherwise, you could purchase any of the elevated composters mounted up off the ground on cradles – however, be sure to take measures to accommodate the liquid runoff from these elevated composters and shelter them to protect the warmth and moisture they need to work.
(Balcony Rail Planter, Edmundston Botanical Gardens, NB)
This restaurant grows herbs, tomatoes, salad greens, and flowers from the balcony rail. The produce is handy to the kitchen and is regularly used in the meals they serve. This convenient gardening offers a pleasant view, a cosy venue, and fresh food to the balcony diners.
We keep herbs on the deck near the kitchen so we can harvest a little as needed – no fridge space or herb keepers required. We also kept patio tomatoes and pots of green bush beans on the deck as well – produce was very fresh and very handy.
(Urban raised bed, Ottawa Little Theatre, ON)
With a little imagination and effort, idle space can be transformed into a space for food plants and the flowers that support them. Some vegetables are very attractive, and the flowers that bring in the pollinators and insect predators increase the eye candy. However, if you use your front lawn, please check the bylaws and the “locates” (underground pipes, wires, & cables) before digging. I have seen many modest front yard gardens in Vancouver, Winnipeg, and Ottawa. Some were fenced to keep out the passing dogs and tom cats that like to scent mark their territories. Some homeowners mixed the veg with the flowers and shrubs so one could not actually say it was a front lawn vegetable garden. The mix of plants was very visually interesting!
(Deadwood Showpiece, Annapolis Royal Historic Gardens, NS)
Even plants past their best before date can be attractive. Some bonsai include natural deadwood, or driftwood, silvered and smoothed by nature and some bonsai are deliberately stripped of their bark in a few calculated places to suggest age. The textures and colours of driftwood can add both interest and contrast, and make a nice focal point in your urban garden – as good as any manufactured garden decor.
Diversity
Proximity
Interplanting
High Density
Natural Decor
all
add
positively to successful organic gardening!
Past DtE “how to” articles on organic urban food gardening can be found in the resource section of the Senior Organic Gardener’s website: https://seniororganicgardeners.ca/
Happy Gardening!