gardens4everybody

Fall tasks can help make Spring less hectic. In this episode we discuss starting a new bed in the fall so its ready to go in the spring, leaf clean up, pruning raspberries, cleaning up hostas and spirea.

We apologise for some areas of poor audio on this recording. David Hill kindly gave his time to discuss how he came to office. David discussed his respect for taxpayers money and using resources wisely. We reviewed the need for nutritious low cost food in our community. David discussed an interest in dealing with invasive plant species using systems already in place. David has also has been involved in local pollinator projects.

Fall is time to get houseplants back inside, or to bring new tropical purchases indoors. We chat about checking the plants for insects, preparing the plants for coming indoors and preventing insects hitching a ride into your home.

We now have a website and you can find a fact sheet about this topic there.

Evergreens seem so able to manage without any help but as the climate changes they need more TLC. We discuss types of evergreens, their fall needs and when to prune.

Elizabeth gets to ask Maryanne for tips on getting as many tomatoes as possible to ripen before the end of the growing season. We also talk about the advantages of leaving plant roots - especially of bean plants in the ground.

Wilson shares his path to politics. He has a passion for transit and makes that a priority. He is also championing improved tree cover in Ottawa. Wilson is supporting a citizen led pollinator project in Barrhaven and discusses how the City is passing bylaws to make this type of initiative easier. Maryanne and I then try to persuade Wilson to update his mainly grass and weed backyard. We offer advice- he listens - we will have to follow up to see what happens!

Mike is the fourth generation running Ritchie Feed and Seed. This Ottawa garden center is nearly 100 year old. Mike shares his vast experience to talk us through some of his products that we use regularly in our gardens. From seed starting to fertilizer. He also has some tips on managing Japanese beetles.

Succession planting is all about using the growing area we have to maximum capacity. When one crop is finished you can plant a new crop. Choose either seeds of crops that mature within 60 days or cool weather crops with longer days to maturity that you started indoors in June. Its as simple as choosing the right seeds.

As gardeners we have to adapt to the weather. We've been having wet weather and that can cause garlic to start to rot. We discuss how to manage this and save your harvest. We also discuss managing problems from dry or cold weather.

There are lots of different opinions on care of tomato plants- especially around pruning. We discuss some of the pros and cons of pruning and why you might decide to give it a go or not. We also discuss general care including staking the plants, mulching and watering. Oh and Fozzie decides to try to get out attention away from Tomatoes by licking us - oh dogs!