Please join us for 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.
We will have a guest from Howland鈥檚 Honey talking to us about the production of honey and what might be happening to the honey bee. This is a fascinating topic and I know we鈥檒l learn a lot!聽聽 Everyone is welcome! As we鈥檝e mentioned before, you don鈥檛 have to be a member to come to the meetings: if a topic interests you, please come and join us! Please check our website www.yorktonhort.ca to see what鈥檚 new!
Make a cup of tea and sit down with me for a few minutes. Last time we were together we were talking about landscaping. Did you have a chance to do that diagram of your yard? If not, no worries: just take a few minutes to study your snow-covered yard.聽 Today we want to consider what鈥檚 functional in our yards. I was reading Roger Vick鈥檚 book 鈥淕ardening On The Prairies: A Guide To Canadian Home Gardening鈥� and this is how he defines functional: 鈥渘ot only is each element in a convenient place, but also privacy is provided where needed, maintenance is relatively simple, and materials withstand our climate.鈥�
So when you look at your yard, does it follow these principles? Mr. Vick says that the last point is the most important: we have to choose what will work in our climate. He advises us to take a tour of neighborhoods around us, and pay attention to what is planted. Eventually we will start to see a pattern of the particular kind of plantings we like, and from there we can start to make decisions about what we want in our own yards. This will apply to everything from deciding whether we want small hedges to mark the edge of a property, colorful shrubs as foundation plantings, bushy trees for shade, or low-growing shrubs for groundcovers or soil stabilizers.
There 鈥� now we have spring homework as well! This spring, go for a walk or drive and see what kind of landscaping appeals to you. For homeowners who are beginning a new yard, you have a blank slate to fill, and this is the time to take your wish list and your yard diagram to the greenhouse and let someone knowledgeable about trees and shrubs advise you on the best choices.聽 聽
For homeowners with established yards, your work isn鈥檛 done! There are always shrubs that need to be pruned or even relocated: we have a beautiful ninebark that is a glorious shrub, but it has outgrown its space. We will have to ask advice on how to deal with it. Our yards may have trees that need to be trimmed for a multitude of reasons: they may be getting too big too close to our house; they may be interfering with utilities; or they may be crowding or overhanging neighbor鈥檚 yards. So just because we have established plants doesn鈥檛 mean we can sit back in our lawn chairs and say 鈥淚鈥檓 done.鈥� A gardener鈥檚 work is never done!
Mr. Vick also writes about how our yards need three 鈥渁reas鈥�: the public area, which is the attractive and welcoming front yard; the private area, which is our backyard oasis and retreat, whether it be a large patio, garden, play area, or combination of the above; and a service area which is the practical area for storage of garden tools, lawnmowers, garbage cans, and other necessary items.
Lots of ideas for us to think about before spring work begins! Isn鈥檛 it fun?聽 Have a great week and a Happy Valentine鈥檚 Day!聽 Happy Birthday, Mom, love you forever.
