Hello Everyone!
We’ve been very busy here at Art’s and I hope you come by and see our new look!! We have changed things around a bit to make it easier for you to shop and be inspired! Mother nature has certainly given us some interesting weather to work with this spring but we are West Coast Gardeners…we can adapt our strategies! Ladies and gentlemen, here is your list:
Lawns
Mow, Fertilize with a good slow release lawn food and over seed any worn areas. We have some handy dandelion pullers and some really therapeutic long handled weed torches for those problem areas. Remember, ideal growing conditions for lawn is a nice deep non-compacted, well-draining soil between 6-8 inches, 6 or more hours of sun and a neutral ph. A healthy lawn is able to outcompete just about any weed.
If you are having lawn issues, figure out which of the growing conditions are not being met and fix it. If you cannot fix the issue ie, only 1 or two hours of sun then perhaps turf grass is not for you. There are a number of options and we can help!! You can come in and talk to Dave our own Lawn Whisperer or any of our horticulturists.
Trees and Shrubs
Protect your trees with a cleared tree circle 2-3 feet, mulched with composted mulch or even a living groundcover mulch to prevent weed whacker damage. On new plantings and shrubs with soft growth such as roses watch for aphids at this time and spray them off with the hose. With the temperature fluctuations this spring powdery mildew is an issue on many plants, watch for it and remove affected leaves early or cut back affected branches on fast growing vines such as honeysuckle.
There are also organic as well as non- organic control methods available. Now is also a great time to plant and mulch your garden beds. Treegators are a good investment if you are planting larger trees in your yard. They are quick to fill up and will slowly trickle water down into the plant roots. Now is also a good time to feed your plants, we have a good selection of organic fertilizers as well as fertilizers specific to your planting needs.
Planter Pots and Hanging Baskets
Yes, I would say you could get cracking on these. Do be mindful of the evening temps though and if you’ve planted tender annuals be prepared to throw some Remay or newspaper over them if the evening temperature takes a dip. Our hanging baskets have just arrived and we do have a very good selection of basket stuffers.
We have a number of planter classes coming up if you need some inspiration, we also have our new Creation Station for you to come out and visit to help you get some Plantspiration! Consider straying from the norm and mix up your planters with Dwarf Conifers, Perennials, Herbs and a dab of Annuals. You can even incorporate a hard feature such as a decorative shovel, water bowl or concrete ornament to bling out your pots! Don’t forget to feed your plants every third time you water to get maximum impact!!
Veggie Gardens
We have some handy dandy growing charts so you can make sense of what you can plant now by seed and what you can plant out as starts. Even with the warm weather I am keeping my tomatoes and peppers in for a little bit. The daytime temps are good but the night time temps are still a little cool for the heat lovers like tomatoes, peppers and watermelon.
We have tons of seeds and veggie starts. We have a great selection of the colourful tomato cages which I like to use the tomato cages for tomatoes and peppers (I can cover with a clear plastic bag for an instant greenhouse), snap peas…I put the cages wide side down and bend in the legs as well as for some of my floppy perennials such as peonys!
Water Gardens
Make sure everything is in working order, clean up any remaining debris. Feed your water lilies and add some marginals such as Marsh Marigold or some cool Equisetum. Add floating oxygenators such as Water Hyacinth and Frogbit. You want to achieve about 75% surface coverage to prevent algae blooms. Feed your fish as they become active once they run out of mosquito larvae to snap up!
That should be enough for now, don’t forget to stop and smell the flowers and even get out and go for a walk in your neighbourhood to see what’s in bloom!! A lot of plants are blooming early so don’t miss them!!
Happy Gardening! Laurelle