flower salad

gardening philosophies

The dad-garden project has reached a bit of a stand-still . . . or stand-off, rather. My plan was to build a new garden patch along both sides of the walkway. I was going to cut the grass really short along both sides of the walkway from the driveway to the door. Then, I was going to lay wet newspaper over the grass and build on top of it new soil and compost mixtures. The grass and weeds would eventually be suffocated and then decomposed, adding to the soil nutrients. I called my dad at work to ask him how to calculate square yard-age from measurements in feet (sigh, I should have just googled it). We got into a conversation about how much soil I would need to order from the local feed and seed in order to suffocate the grass. Unfortunately, the conversation touched a sensitive nerve of both the frugal immigrant and the embittered witness of the Great Leap Forward in him, turning into more of a confrontation:

"I don't want to suffocate the naturally growing plants in this environment! And I'm not going to spend money on soil! Who buys soil?! What do you think the grass is growing on?"

"Dad, are you saying that you want grass or weeds to grow in your flower garden? The soil is for starting a new flower bed."

"I don't want to suffocate anything that occurs naturally. It goes against the entire philosophy behind this garden!"

"There is a philosophy?!"

"Yes, the philosophy involves no destruction or suffocation of what grows naturally! And I don't want to introduce any plant that will require such high maintenance as buying soil. Gardening is supposed to be leisurely! Also, this is what a true environmentalist does [aurora: 'cause all the other ones are just faking it!]; I don't want to force what will not grow naturally. My philosophy behind this garden is imperative!"

Wow, is buying soil bad for the environment? Really? I actually felt guilty for a second. It turns out that my plan was some sort of herbicidal plot to eradicate entire species of clovers and dandelions. Apparently, this garden was going to have a philosophy and buying soil was not part of the equation. What is this so called philosophy rooted in? Saving money and exerting as little effort as possible? Sounds like the foundation of any good garden . . . sorry, environmental garden. I don't know, maybe the man has a point. But, until my client/dad figures out how his garden philosophy translates into practical terms (i.e. throw a handful of wildflower seeds into the lawn and cross your fingers?), this project is on hold indefinitely.

Refusing to give any smidgen more thought to the garden, I spent the rest of the afternoon chatting with my mom. With her mother's senses, she decided to soothe our (ok, fine, my) battered egos with delicious homemade wonton soup (made with Chinese chives that she grows in the backyard). I happily gave the garden planning/plaining a rest and enjoyed the fruits of her labour. At least someone's labour was appreciated today! Geez.

garden art

Here's a little side-track before starting up the garden work. It's just really interesting to find all these random objects in my dad's backyard. It's a little something different from your usual garden gnome decor.

pHish test

I'm finally on-site at the garden-to-be. My dad was very prepared for me. He had a sample of the front lawn soil ready in a jug of water, along with the pH testing kit waiting for me when I got here last night. I hope it really doesn't matter that the pH testing kit is actually for aquariums . . .



I tested the pH of the soil-water and it is definitely around 7.2, which means that it's slightly basic or alkaline (I recall now that my dad drained our old swimming pool into the front lawn almost a decade ago . . . hm, I wonder if chlorine/pool water is alkaline). In any case, I think this 7.2 reading may be a slight issue. From my reading of mostly wikipedia and a few other blogs, most plants prefer a slightly acidic soil. The good news is that my parents have almost 8 years worth of composting in the backyard, which I will mix into the soil, increasing the level of acidity. Right now the test result is rather turquoise; I need to get it to move more towards the green level.


I also found out that if you're working on a fair bit of ground, most garden centres or nurseries deliver truck loads of soil to you. I also found this really useful plant finder. I'm going to be using it to find some nice plants for the dad-garden.

the edible balcony

easy to grow and fragrant

I'm going to try planting some of these in my dad's garden-to-be. I'm not sure if the fragrant flowers are easy to grow. We'll see. (see plant finder)

Easy to grow:
ladies mantle
coreopsis
zinnia (red flowers)
celosia

Fragrant flowers:
lavender
sweet peas
peonies
lilac shrub
honeysuckle
jasmin

native plants to eastern ontario that are nice

Some perennials that need full sun:

New England Aster
- purple daisy-ish flower
- blooms in august
- 3 to7 ft
- Aug to Oct

Black-eyed Susan
- yellow daisy-ish flower
- blooms in july
- june to oct
- 1 to 3 ft

Yellow wood sorrel (Oxalis stricta),
- yellow,
- May-Oct,
- 6-15" (distinguish from creeping wood sorrel which is alien)
- little yellow soft flowers a few petals

Swamp milkweed
- fushia bundle of flowers
- bloom in july

sunlight drawing

My dad asked me a few weeks ago if I could transform his ginormous front lawn into a luscious flower garden. So, I googled a few garden advice sites that emphasized two factors: sunlight and soil pH. I assigned my engineer dad some homework: email me a few drawings of how the sunlight falls onto his front lawn in the morning, noon, 3pm, and 6pm. This is what he came up with:

I was expecting a hand-drawn diagram, or at best, a few photographs of his front lawn. But, AutoCAD will do, I guess.

Once I learn to decode this "drawing", I'll have an idea of which areas will have a ton of sunlight (8 hours+) and which areas will have partial sunlight (I'm not exactly sure what this means, yet). Then, I can help him pick his plants. I'm still waiting for him to send me his soil pH test results. More on that later.