CHALLENGE BALCONY

Don’t let a lack of gardening space limit you

By Leanne Burkholder

THINK YOU CAN’T grow anything on your condo or apartment balcony? Let me introduce you to Ryan Godfrey.

Ryan lives in a condo in downtown Toronto. As resident botanist for the World Wildlife Fund Canada (WWF), and Master Gardener in training, he knows plants. But he also knew it would be a challenge to grow anything on a balcony. It took several tries and failures, but he remained undeterred.

“As someone passionate about plants, particularly native plants, growing on my balcony was a way I could have plants with me everyday.”

He looked carefully at the ecological growing conditions of plants – some plants grow on cliffs, some in meadows, some in shallow soil. He then picked plants and soil mediums that matched those conditions (right plant right place). Part of his west facing balcony has two hours of sun, the other part has six hours. Based on these criteria he experimented with over 30 varieties of native plants. He found success with the following: would dry out quickly. So, he moved to larger containers and found much more success. He got creative for maintenance: he hooked up a hose to his kitchen sink, ‘borrowed’ yard bags in the neighbourhood in the fall to put leaf mulch on his plants to overwinter and uses a hairdryer (yes you read that right) to remove the leaves in the spring.

As a certified seed collector, Ryan also often collects the seeds and provides these to other gardeners.

Committed to promoting the benefits of native plants, he advocated them to his condominium board as alternatives to invasives such as periwinkle and more costly annual installations, saving money and maintenance. He helped to create gardens that bloom from April to November, with trilliums (Trillium grandiflora), purple coneflower (Echinacea purpura), rudbeckia (Rudbeckia hirta), goldenrod and milkweed. When the milkweed attracted aphids, he showed the maintenance team how to eliminate them by spraying with water (instead

• Wild columbine (Aquilegia canadensis)

• Cylindrical blazing star (Liatris cylindracea)

• Little blue stem (Schizachyrium scoparium)

• Swamp milk weed (Asclepias incarnata)

• Harebell (Campanula rotundifolia)

• Bluestem golden rod (Solidago caesia)

• Zig zag golden rod (Solidago flexicaulis)

• Wild strawberry (Fragaria virginiana)

• Canada wild rye (Elymus canadensis)

• Wild violets (Viola sororia)

• Prickly pear cactus (Opuntia humifusa)

Ryan started by growing seeds in small containers but found that they would freeze or thaw too quickly with weather changes. He also found that the containers of insecticides). He also encouraged putting leaf mulch on the beds for winter for pollinators and as nutrients and compost. To help inform residents, he installed “pollinator garden” signs that he got for free from the WWF, the David Suzuki Foundation, North American Native Plant Society (NANPS) and Pollinator Partnership Canada.

The gardens were positively received by the board and residents – the project also drew out a few gardeners in his building who helped with promotion and planning. He has also advocated in his community: Ryan has led nature walks at Allan Gardens and High Park that explore “the wonderful (and very queer) sexual lives of plants.”

The takeaway Ryan has for anyone wanting to grow plants in a small space: do what you love – experiment, learn and enjoy the results!

Three approaches to growing fabulous summer flowers

Mini Meadows

Grow a Little Patch of Colorful Flowers – Anywhere around Your Yard

Reviewed by Veronica

Sliva

If you haven’t given much thought to growing a meadow in your yard, a look through this book will get you thinking about it. The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines meadow as “land that is covered or mostly covered with grass”. In Mini Meadows, author Mike Lizotte, owner of American Measows, conjures up a very different picture. His mini meadow is a kind of informal flower garden started with directly sown seed to create an informal and colourful “meadow” that requires little in the way of space, mowing, or maintenance. Mini meadows use less water than traditional lawns while providing a habitat for pollinators.

Lizotte guides the home gardener through the process of creating a mini meadow starting with choosing the right varieties of seeds, preparing the soil, and maintaining it. He advises on what to plant in different circumstances such as planting to beautify a “hell strip”, to stop erosion, fill a boggy spot, or to establish a nesting area for bees and butterflies.

This book is for anyone who wants to create a beautiful, low-maintenance space that invites pollinators. It’s a great project to get kids involved. And the photography by Rob Cardillo is luscious. It makes picking up the book irresistible.

Mini Meadows – Grow a Little Patch of Colorful Flowers – Anywhere around Your Yard by Mike Lizotte (Storey Publishing)

The Old Farmer’s Almanac Flower Gardener’s Handbook

Reviewed by Veronica Sliva

If you like The Old Farmer’s Almanac, you will love their Flower Gardener’s Handbook

Filled with fascinating facts, folklore and history the book is written in the same style as the Almanac with content that appeals to both novice gardeners as well as seasoned horticulturists and the rest of us in between.

The first part of the book is all about planning and prepping the garden with basic information about perennial, annual and biennial flowers. Also included are chapters on Soil Matters and Natives vs Non-natives, as well as all the practical information you would expect from The Old Farmer’s Almanac.

Of particular note is a section on Canadian Frosts and Growing Seasons (as well as one for the United States).

In Part 2 we get to the flowers. This section contains needto-know information on dealing with pests and diseases, fertilizers, being “water-wise” and putting the garden to bed.

If you are interested in folklore such as interpreting plant names, the language of flowers and birth month flowers, it is all there, too.

With pretty photographs, 32 common flowering plants are profiled individually with information about planting and care as well as recommended varieties. There are even tips on harvesting and conditioning flowers for the vase. The plants chosen for this chapter were the result of questions generated by visitors and readers to The Old Farmer’s Almanac website (almanac.com).

Throughout the book “journal pages” you can fill in are included so that you can keep your own records.

This book is for all experience levels and is a companion to the Vegetable Gardener’s Handbook. The Old Farmer’s Almanac Flower Gardener’s Handbook (Yankee Publishing Inc., Distributed by Firefly Books).

Small Summer Gardens

35 bright and beautiful projects to bring color and scent to your garden

Reviewed by Lorraine Hunter small summer gardens 35 bright and beautiful projects to bring color and scent to your garden by Emma Hardy (Published by CICO Books. Distributed by Firefly Books.)

Looking for some clever inspiration for quick and easy containers to brighten your summer garden? Whether you have a large yard or a tiny balcony you will find lots of creative ideas in small summer gardens 35 bright and beautiful projects to bring color and scent to your garden by Emma Hardy.

There are projects for both indoor and outdoor gardening, as well as sections on edible gardening and foliage displays.

Suggested plants include annuals, perennials and edibles. There are low maintenance combos like thistles and grasses in a metal container, a water garden in a galvanized tub or a fragrant special occasion project such as a thyme and sweet alyssum wreath.

From vintage tins, metal tubs and old concrete pots to baskets, glass jars and pottery mugs and bowls, repurposed containers take on new lives for Hardy’s inventive projects. “I love using old containers, which can be bought in second-hand stores and online for my planting displays,” she writes.

You can either follow her plant lists like recipes or use them as a starting point for your own colour schemes and plant combinations.

Hardy presents step-by-step instructions and photos for each project and offers tips and techniques for choosing and preparing containers such as making drainage holes, buying and preparing plants, potting mixes as well as watering, feeding, deadheading, dealing with pests and diseases and more.