Reaching for the Sun

 

Zinnia: My Small Garden

 This year Zinnias were the garden stars along with sunflowers and glass gem corn

My Small Garden Photos

A great year for corn and sunflowers. 

 

Anyone Can Garden

Gardening is the most rewarding and useful activity.

There are many lessons for one thing, that you can learn from a well-designed garden; history, math, language, organizational skills, the appreciation of beauty and so on. Perhaps the most important aspect of gardening is that it can keep us in touch with nature. I view the garden as the place where Civilization and Nature meet. The garden’s job is to maintain the balance between the two forces so that the garden and all that is in it thrive.

A child’s garden can be a simple design that includes fast-growing plants like radishes so the child can see the results quickly and sunflowers so they can enjoy the majesty of these garden giants. What you place between these two is all up to you and the time that is available for gardening.

Gardening does not require you to be physically fit. There are many tools that make basic gardening chores simpler and we will explore those in a future hub.

If you cannot bend over you can create a garden on a tabletop to which you can pull up a comfortable chair. This works well for a container garden. Remember when building a tabletop garden, it is important to consider the height of the table and the container. You want to keep it all within reach.

Window boxes are a great way to make your garden reachable or you can place flower boxes on your balcony railing.

The most important consideration is that this is your garden so if you are designing it for yourself ask this question what do I need in order to garden comfortable?

If you are creating a garden for someone else then be sure to ask them that vital question.

Trellises are another way to keep your plants within reach. You can build your own or buy a trellis.

There is a wide range of plants that grow well on a trellis from clematis to zucchini. Here again, what do you want to grow is an important question to answer? Are you looking for beauty or food, perhaps a bit of both?

Raised beds are another option and the video gives you some ideas about how to make a raised bed garden. You can even add a trellis to your raised bed.

You may find it essential to put in a pathway in order to make it easier to get around. We will examine pathways in a future hub but for now, the type of material will depend upon how you are getting around.

You may want to give some thought to the fragrant garden; herbs, for example, will give off their aroma as you walk through the garden. Herbs are easy to grow and work well in containers regardless of where you place that container, as long as they get the light that they need.

I believe that anyone who wants to can garden, it all rests in the design.

Back to The Garden

Over the years my work has been shaped by a number of influences, music and particular lyrics have played a strong role in helping me choose a path that made sense and served a purpose.

There are many reasons why I have chosen to wander the garden path but the following words from Joni Mitchell’s Woodstock still keep me focused.

And we've got to get ourselves Back to the garden.

The garden is where civilization and the wilderness meet, the place where humans maintain the balance and all thrives.

Over the years we have wandered far from the garden and even when we are gardening the techniques that we use are hostile and unfriendly and upset the balance rather than maintain it.

When I speak about gardening I am referring to everything from growing a petunia in a container to a community garden and onto the schoolyard and beyond.

The intent of this hub, which is the first in a series, is to bring my gardening hubs into focus and thereby create a more useful document for anyone who is interesting in growing plants of all kinds.

Why do I garden? Let me count the reasons; but seriously folks, I garden for many reasons and I will explore them here.

Style plays a major role in many gardening discussion but I feel that what is most important is for the gardener to always remember that it is your garden so style it your way. Anyone, who wants to can garden.

The plot may be as small as single container with a cherry tomato and some basil on a table top, for example, or vast; that depends upon your resources (time, money, land) and your interest.

The wise use of water enables the gardener to conserve this valuable resource and to have a garden as well. A garden needs five things to make it thrive; air, light, water and soil are four that in varying degrees nature will provide but the fifth and certainly not the least is the care and attention of a gardener.

Trees may not be right for every garden but the act of planting a tree begins a long term commitment with another being.

Now if there was a situation when it was important to follow the right plant, right place rule it is when you are choosing a tree or trees for your property. Pick the wrong tree and you may find its roots assaulting the foundation of your home. Pick the right tree and you will enjoy its many benefits for many years.

The plant you call a weed, I may call lunch. Weeds, if they were called by any other name would they still annoy us to such a degree. The topic of weeds and weed control can touch off a frenzy of discussion when gardeners gather.

Many people, especially those living in the city are faced with serious space restrictions when it comes to growing anything.

So you want to garden but your backyard is small or non-existent; well do not let that discourage you, if you have the will, you will find the way.

The first step, as in all forms of gardening, is to assess you existing space. How much room do you have? How much sun and shade does that space get?

Growing you favourite plants in a container is another great way to utilize a small space or tot take advantage of decks, patios and balconies.

The choice of container is up to you and there are many possibilities out there. You can buy a wide variety of containers from urns to window boxes at you local plant centre or you can drop by a garage sale and find that unique planter. You may even find ways to recycle items in your attic or garage. Your personal taste and vision will guide you when it comes to choosing a container.

If you are looking to move beyond the lawn and establish and backyard food production system then you may want to take a close look at the forest.

Have you begun to feel that the time you spend watering and cutting your lawn is a waste and probably doing more harm than good? Tired of using poisonous chemicals to keep that lawn green and golf course ready?

Or are you longing for fresh fruits and vegetables?

Perhaps both appeal to you and if you have answered yes to one or both then it could be time to turn your yard into a food forest garden.

There are many possibilities and adventures awaiting the person who chooses to set out on the path back to the garden.

If you are not yet a gardeners then take that first step and plant a seed, watch it grow and produce more seed that you can save and plant to grow more plants and so the circle continues.

Small Gardens Can Be Great Gardens

Small spaces may present some gardening challenges but with a bit of planning and careful thought, you can create a great garden in the tiniest of places. Be it backyard, balcony, or rooftop, space can be transformed into a green oasis.

To get started ask yourself the following questions:

1. How do you currently use the space? Is it a quiet getaway; a place for you children to play, or pets to roam, for entertaining?
2. What do you want to grow, herbs, flowers, annuals, perennials, shrubs, fruit trees, vegetables?
3. Thinking about a water feature?
4. Do you use it as an outdoor office?

Once you have answered these questions, here are a few more to ponder.

1. How much money are you willing to spend, on hardscaping, plants, watering system and décor, lights, garden art?
2. How much time do you have to look after your garden?
3. What specific challenges do you need to address, sunlight blocked by nearby buildings for example, ugly view?
4. Measure the space and draw a plan. You do not need to be an artist but setting in down on paper will help you focus.

You are now ready to create your garden plan, and, of course, there are more questions.

1. Are you growing in containers? If so, you need to select containers that are the appropriate size for the plants you choose and fit in with your overall décor.
2. Is there a view you which to hide? If yes, then you may want to include a trellis and a climbing plant such as English ivy or you could consider ornamental grasses; it depends upon the situation.
3. Do you want to add lighting, furniture, garden art? If you do they must flow with the design.
4. Think up, small spaces are ideal for growing vertically; you can use trellises and other supports or stackable plant holders for herbs, for example.
5. Fill in all the items that will be in your garden on the plan, again, accurate representation is not the goal, only you need to be able to understand it. Label items, such as chair, light rose, peas.

We grow beans and peas vertically so why not expand that list. When you make the choice to grow vertical your small space expands, growing up means growing more.

Deer Proof Your Garden

Deer. Oh, deer, you may find them to be cute, reminding you of Bambi but once they have eaten your prize roses your feelings may change.

You may get even more annoyed with these four-legged eating machines when the vegetable garden you planned all winter long and so passionately prepared turns into a deer buffet. Deer will devour your greens and veggies and many of the ornamentals that we do love so.

What can you do?

Well first remember this, deer are just being deer and foraging for food where they can find it; it is not their fault that you have gone to so much trouble to lay a feast before their eyes.

Also one of the reasons that deer are becoming pests in areas where they were rarely seen is that human, through urban sprawl and other activities are destroying their natural habitat and hey they have to live and eat somewhere.

So how do you deer-proof your garden? If you are growing vegetables, the safest way to do so is to build or buy a greenhouse. This will keep the deer out and keep your food safe from their hunger.

A greenhouse will also help keep another unwelcome garden raider away, the rabbit. A greenhouse is more effective than a fence

Now you could put up an electric fence; however, the price of energy is rising and adding to that bill offsets any gain that you may get from growing your own food.

Of course, a small solar panel could be used to fuel the fence. Deer when properly motivated and food is a great motivator, can leap pretty high. However, for a small garden plot an electrified fence can be a good alternative to the greenhouse.

Deer cannot sense electricity but will come up close to an object before leaping it so if they receive a shock, they are unlikely to proceed and will turn elsewhere for their meal.

If you want to grow organic vegetables then either a greenhouse or a solar-powered electric fence is your best option for success. There are other alternatives such as repellants and some of these will work but they do need to be applied more than once over the season so if you forget, you may wake up one morning and find the cupboard bare.

There are ornamental plants that are not on the deer’s favourite dining menu and if there is something they like handy, your ornamental garden might be safe. Rittenhouse has put together a list of plants that are deer resistant, just remember that a hungry deer is not a fussy deer.

Humans have destroyed deer habitat and humans have expanded their territory so that deer-human conflicts are all but inevitable. If you live in an area that has a large deer population and are a gardener then you will need to plan for deer control when you plan your garden.

Greenhouses will keep the deer out

If you build a glass greenhouse your cost will be higher. However, the added advantage to ether greenhouse is that unlike the fence they will extend the garden season both in the spring and the fall and this increases the yield and variety of plants that you can grow.

The choice is yours to make.

Compost: What is it and Why use it? Part 1

Compost is decomposed organic matter.

Compost energizes the soil food web, which is made up of microscopic bacteria and fungi, along with earthworms, crickets, and many other life forms. Many fungi form symbiotic, or mutually rewarding, partnerships with plant roots, making it possible for vegetables to feed themselves more efficiently ...

How to Save Time When Gardening

Reducing the work you need to do and creating a garden that thrives begins in the planning stage.

My Small Garden is located near my front deck and my container garden.

Planning steps to take:

1- Calculate the amount of time you have to invest in your garden.

2- Determine what available space you have or where your garden will be.

3- The first two steps tell you how big your garden should be.

4- How much light does that space get? This tells you what you can grow.

5- Be sure to write your answers to the above down.

6- What do you want to grow?

7- Draw a rough plan which you can refer to as you go.

8- Get started.

Simple activities:

1. Which garden tasks would you rather not do?
2. Which garden tasks do you enjoy doing? If there is nothing on this list, perhaps, you are not a gardener.
3. If you dislike mowing the lawn, reduce the lawn space. Add a shrub, some berry bushes or a fruit tree or two, Put in a vegetable or cut flower garden or add a deck.
4. Dislike weeding, add mulch. Mulch will not only reduce the need to weed but also reduce the need to water. You are reducing labour in two ways and improving the garden’s health.
5. Keep a compost bin. This gets rid of food scraps, lawn clippings and tree leaves, for example, and turn them into organic matter that will help the garden thrive and reduce the amount of garbage you will need to put out.
6. Spend time in your garden, just watching the plants grow. What could be easier? While there check for any new and unexpected happenings. This way you can catch a problem in its early stages and reduce the work you will need to do, if the situation gets out of hand.
7. When planting put the right plant in the right place. Make sure the plant gets the sunlight it needs.
8. Water in the early morning and water deep; you are watering the roots.
9. Plant a diversity of plants and use a combination of herbs, vegetables and native wildflowers. This will attract the pollinators your garden needs to reproduce.

Time spent in the garden is a great investment; one that will repay you for many years.

Forest Gardens

Have you begun to feel that the time you spend watering and cutting your lawn is a waste and probably doing more harm than good? Tired of using poisonous chemicals to keep that lawn green and golf course ready?

Or are you longing for fresh fruits and vegetables?

Perhaps both appeal to you and if you have answered yes to one or both then it could be time to turn your yard into a food forest garden.

If you do undergo the transformation, you will be no longer be using your time and energy to maintain an unnatural ecosystem- the lawn- which gives you little in return for your efforts.

Instead, you will be investing that time, energy and dollars in an ecosystem that provides you and your family with fresh right off the vine, produce all the while, creating a backyard habitat that will attract, butterflies, bees and birds.

The backyard food forest meets not only you and your family’s needs but provides food and shelter for butterflies and songbirds, for example.

The inclusion of native plants and others, such as herbs, berries and fruit trees, in the backyard forest garden will form the layers of your backyard forest.

Your lawn wants to become a forest; it wants to follow Nature’s way and eventually become a forest but the constant maintenance that a lawn requires prevents this natural progression from taking place and creates considerable work for the homeowner.

As you move away from the lawn; from an unnatural and stalled ecosystem that wants to evolve but is constantly thwarted in its desire, you move from wasting your resources to investing them and stop using resources poorly and begin to invest so that one day you can reap the rewards of your work as you harvest, fruit, berries, herbs and vegetables fresh from you own backyard.

The role of the gardener is not to stall ecosystems and combat natural growth but to work with that desire and need to grow and guide the progress so that it meets the needs of all beings.

This way balance is maintained and the garden becomes a place of mediation between Nature and Civilization rather than a war zone.

You can start small. There is no need to overturn your whole backyard into a forest garden the first time around, select a sunny corner and work with dwarf fruit trees for example.

This is a process and you may proceed at your own pace.

If you are interested in converting your backyard into a food garden then the book, I’d suggest is Gaia's Garden:A Guide to Home-Scale Permaculture by Toby Hemenway. It is published by Chelsea Green, 2001, and has a foreword by John Todd.

introduction

edible forest gardens

Why I Garden?

Why do I garden? There is no single reason that underscores why I like to grow plants, just as there is no single plant, I like to grow more than the others. There are a number of reasons why I enjoy spending time in a garden.

First, I believe that people need a hobby, interest or activity, call it what you will, that takes their minds off their day to day realities.

All of us are busy and often have a number of different thoughts or things to do that are competing for our attention.

Speaking of things to do, your hobby or personal interest should not result in you developing another list of things to do. That is not helpful and may indeed take the fun out of the doing.

That does not mean that you do not make a plan, without a plan you may never get started or get started and then have no idea what to do next.

It simply means that your plan is not the law; it is not engraved in stone, and can be changed or tossed aside, in favour of another approach.

I find gardening to be the perfect activity and that is primarily why I garden. It can keep me enjoyable occupied all year round, either doing it; reading about it; ordering seeds or planning the garden and even redrawing last year’s plans.

When I sit down with a seed catalogue, the day’s news and events slip from the forefront of my mind and images of what the plants will look like when they grow. 

This leads to giving some thought to where the new plant(s) will look best and where they will most benefit in the existing garden.

Will this be the year I plant that flowering crab-apple that I have been reading about or perhaps a redwood dogwood. These thoughts nudge out the concerns about the economy, the environment and all the bad news that fills the media.

An hour spent with a seed catalogue in the deep of winter refreshes my mind and awakens the hope that Spring brings when the gardening season begins anew and old friends reappear and new ones are waiting to be discovered.

I garden because I love spending time outside; feeling the wind and the sun on my face and hands.

Of course, these days you need to protect yourself from any prolonged exposure to the sun’s rays but a hat works and gardening gloves serve many purposes.

I love to grow things; there is immense satisfaction and sense of accomplishment from watching a flower come alive from a seed that you planted a few weeks prior.

Gardening offers you an opportunity to make decisions and choices. It is your garden. You can decide what you want to grow; how much you want to grow and what you will do with what you choose to grow.

I often refer to the garden as a place that exists between Nature and Civilization and the gardener is responsible for maintaining the balance between the two. When you create a garden, you are opening the door to remembering the connection that exist between humans and Nature; a connection that is very real, whether we acknowledge it or not.

Gardens do not require chemicals poured over them to thrive; that is the gardener’s job to create and maintain the conditions that allow the plants to mature and reproduce.

The garden is a learning ground where you can learn about botany, biology, math, history and become acquainted first hand with the processes that make the garden grow.

You see the relationships between the various beings who work with you to make your garden grow.

Birds and butterflies, for example, bring their beauty and other services to the well-tended garden. Bees carry out the important work of pollination and you observe the connection between what the bee does and your garden’s growth.

I garden because I love to grow things and watching a plant break the surface as the seed spring into life is always a wonder and an encouraging moment. I like to have cut flowers for our house and do not want to buy them but step outside and cut them myself. That way I know that they were grown without artificial pesticides and fertilizers.

Tomatoes are a favourite food but the ones I buy at the supermarket just do not have the flavour that the ones I plucked off the vine in my own garden do.

It is only truly fresh when the farthest distance it travels is the distance from my backyard to my kitchen table.

Simply spending time sitting in a comfortable chair in the backyard after a slow stroll through my garden is one of the best ways that I know to calm my mind and relax at the end of the workday.

As I take my first step into the garden, I can feel the day’s concerns sliding off me. My eyes begin to focus on the plants, their fruits and foliage as I look to see what has changed and how each plant is faring.

Then when the quiet inspection is complete, I sit back and watch the dance of life performed by the bees, butterflies and other small creatures who are busy at work maintaining the garden while I sit back and enjoy the view.

There are many reasons to garden and each one of us may well have our own and that is another reason that gardening is a delightful way to spend our time; our gardens are our own creations; and we are free to pursue our own interest when in the garden.

Gardens, both great and small, are a refuge from the concrete and asphalt world that surrounds so many of us as we travel back and forth to work.

Anyone who wants to, can garden; it is a matter of will and design and is a wonderful opportunity to get away from it all without ever leaving home.

Great Gardens Grow

Great gardens take time. The learning curve never ends.

When people ask me how to get started with a garden, one of the first questions I ask them is how much time do you have to spend in your garden each day?

The reason I ask this question is people often have great gardens in their minds but in their daily lives, they simply do not have the time to care for those gardens. Sure, the first few days are full of energy as the garden bed or beds are prepared and the seeds and seedlings are planted and everything is watered.

But then life happens and the busy schedule that is many peoples’ reality starts to take over and tending the garden gets put aside or left to the weekend. Now, once a garden is established, you do not need to visit it every day, although I do recommend that if you really want a thriving organic garden then allow yourself at least five minutes each day.

During those five minutes, all you are doing is observing, looking for changes like any unwanted visitors or signs that something may be wrong, brown leaves, chew marks and so on.

This early warning will increase your odds of saving the plants before the problem zooms out of control.

Also, in unusual weather, heavy rains, excessive heat or not enough heat, you need to care for your plants, to help them endure the extremes, and still produce the flowers, and vegetables you want.

Great gardens take time. Do not start a garden you do not have to have the time to tend. Be sure to enjoy a quiet stroll around the garden. You are looking for anything unusual, so you can handle it, pests, diseases, before the situation gets out of control, then,  back and watch nature do her thing.

When you calculate your time as part of the overall garden design process you will avoid building a garden that is too big for your lifestyle and also avoid the disappointment that can follow, especially if this is your fir

Beans, Beans, Beans

Beans are a perfect crop. For the home gardener, there are two types of beans that you will want to consider. One is the pole bean. Pole beans will need some kind of support; support that is strong enough to keep the plants from tumbling to the ground.

The support must bear the full weight of the plants but it has to also withstand the summer winds and storm. You do not want to come out one fine sunny morning and find that last night’s storm knocked your beautiful beans flat.

The other is bush beans, which are a smaller and more compact plant, and will provide a heavy first harvest as well as a lighter second picking before the plants are finished.

When you use bush beans you may be able to plant more than one crop during the season so that a continuous supply of beans is always close to maturing.

I have built tripods/teepees from poles to use as supports and if the poles are long enough and put into the ground at least six inches and securely fastened at the top they have withstood some fairly heavy wind storms.

Beans should not be sown until the danger of the last frost has passed; damp and cold soil will cause the bean seed to rot and bye-bye bean.

There is a wide variety of beans to choose from and remember when you buy seeds of any kind, beans included, read the seed package and follow the instructions.

Beans are also a great way to introduce children to gardening and the connection between food and the earth.

What you need are a bean seed, a small garden pot (3 inches across) some soil and water. You will also need a place at home to put the pot where it will get 4-6 hours of sunlight.

Fill the pot with soil; make a small hole using the pinky finger about ¼ inches deep, put in the bean cover over, water.

Then place the pot in a sunny spot and watch it grow. Be sure the planter has drainage and be sure to place a saucer or something else to catch the excess water.

We have done this exercise with quite a few children over the years and they enjoy the planting and have often told us about their beans and even brought pictures.

This exercise works well with children between the ages of 2 and 4 years old but children up to 7 have participated and had fun.

Are You a Humble Gardener?

Why does a gardener need to be humble? After all, look at what he or she creates, beautiful flowers, healthy herbs and tasty vegetables, surely that is a sound reason to be proud. But, pride is not the issue, it is important to take pride in your work, to fully appreciate the value of what you do. 

When I refer to humility or humbleness, I mean the quality of being courteously respectful of others. This attitude is the opposite of aggressiveness, arrogance, boastfulness, and vanity. The humble gardener does not say, "Me first," but her humility allows her to say, "No, you first, my friend."

Humility is the quality that lets us go more than halfway to meet the needs and demands of others.

The second reason for calling a gardener humble is the root of the word humble itself. Humble derives from the Latin word "humilis," meaning "low," which, in turn, comes from the Latin "humus," which means "earth" or "dirt" or "soil."

Soil is the foundation of the garden; soil nurtures the roots, feeds them and helps them develop strong and vital plants. The humble gardener knows this and understands that the job is to build healthy soil, for once this has been achieved, the garden will thrive.

The most effective way to build healthy soil is first, to avoid artificial additives which will drain the soil of its vitality because these poisons kill the millions of little helpers who work with the plants to produce delicious tomatoes and beautify roses.

The second way to grow healthy soil is to add organic material to it periodically. Compost is a perfect source of organic material and your plants will reward you when you spread it around.

You can purchase compost, be sure it is organic or make your own. When you make your own you reuse those kitchen scraps (vegetable cuttings and eggshells, for example, rather than tossing them away.

Grass clippings can be added to compost as can leaves, rather than bagging them up, cover your garden in the fall with them, or bag them set them aside until the following spring when you break them open and add the contents to the garden beds.

The humble gardener appreciates the bounty that nature provides and the assistance the birds, bees and spiders as well as many, many much smaller beings provide in helping your garden grow.

You Can Garden!

I garden in a small space because I have bad knees and recently had a triple bypass, but my Small Garden works wonders.

If you want to grow something, anything, be it fruit, flowers, herbs, or vegetables and have even the smallest space you can do so. It is all a matter of determination, knowledge and design.

A single pot of geraniums on the stairs leading up to your apartment, a community garden plot, a backyard, side yard or front yard garden; containers on balconies, decks and patios; all are ways people express their desire to grow plants.

Ingenuity will see you through.

Your first step is to get to know the space where your garden will be; in particular, how much natural sunlight does it get none, all day or somewhere in-between? Once you know that you can start to develop a plant list selecting plants that thrive in the amount of sunlight that yoru have available.

Now how big is that space; room for one container or can you set up a small backyard market garden?

Garden design is one of the places where it pays to be honest with yourself. You may have space to grow enough food for a family of four but are you actually going to invest the time that is required to do this or is a small kitchen herb or cut-flower garden more stable for your lifestyle?

If you have a small space and that is our focus here, then the process is easier, similar but also simpler? How much light does the space get; how big is it and once you know the answer to those two questions, what do you want to grow?

Containers are a highly effective means to grow your favourite plants in very tiny spaces. Fruit trees, vegetables, herbs, tomatoes, cut flowers and many, many vegetables will do well in a container. The main rules: 1- make sure the container is big enough for the plant tog row and 2- be sure that there is drainage so the plants' roots do not get overly wet and rot.

Be sure to place something under the container that will catch any runoff; this may be particularly important on balconies and stairs where there are other people living below you.

Anything can be a container; anything that can hold soil and some water that is. I have used a pair of old work boots to grow Johnny-jump-ups and put them out on my balcony. They brought more than a few favourable comments and drew peoples’ attention to what else was growing there.

Visits to garage sales and flea markets can uncover some intriguing containers that may add a distinctive design touch. Make sure to match the container to the surrounding elements.

My favourite small space, single container garden consists of one Camp Joy Cherry tomato plants plus two basil plants. The Camp Joy is a heritage plant and a good producer. Tomatoes and basil are natural companions both growing in the same container or cooking in the same dish.

This combo is ideal for deck or patio and is be perfect on a backyard patio just near the kitchen door so the plants are right at hand when needed; as long as that spot get 6 hours of sunlight each day, they will provide you will tomatoes and basil to add fresh flavour to your meals.

Tomatoes: Growth Habit

Gardeners love tomatoes.

Growth Habit:

There are three basic choices, determinate, indeterminate and semi-determinate.

Determinate: varieties are often referred to as bush tomatoes. This is because the terminal (top and end) buds end in a flower cluster that produces fruit. The plant will stop growing when the terminal flowers develop. The fruit then develops and ripens over a short period of time, depending upon the weather. Tomatoes like heat so in cooler summers this process will slow down. The determinate varieties usually mature early and will produce small plants with generally smaller fruit. The small size means they do not need to be pruned or staked and can be great for a balcony or patio, especially if space is limited.

Indeterminate: these varieties are very popular with home gardeners. The indeterminate varieties will they often produce high-quality, flavourful, desirable fruit; they do mature later in the season than the determinate varieties do. Indeterminate refers to the continual growth habit of the plant which will continue to grow and flower until a killing frost. These are tall plants and will require staking for best results. Pruning is also vital if you want to enhance quality. Both flowering and fruiting occur over a longer time period.

Semi-Indeterminate: the name says it all they have characteristics that are intermediate between determinate and indeterminate. Basically indeterminate in nature, they will need staking and pruning in order to improve quality, but this is not essential. The indeterminate varieties are also very popular with home gardeners as they can provide a fairly early and good-quality yield.

I generally grow Camp Joy Heritage Cherry Tomatoes. They have performed well for me over the years and I first grew them in containers on my balcony. I could sit on my chair watch the Lake and pick a tomato for a quick snack. Add some fresh beans and a bit of lettuce and an instant balcony salad was created.

I have also grown Camp Joy indoors with less success but one plant did continue to produce fruit for nearly eight months, mind you for the last few weeks it was one tomato at a time but when you consider that was in winter that was a gift.

How To Attract Butterflies

 There are two things that butterflies are seeking: one is nectar, the food that adult butterflies need, and the other, host plants, the place where the female will lay her eggs and the food that caterpillars need. Both are necessary to create a successful butterfly garden.

It does take some thought and a bit of planning but then so does any successful garden. You need to know which butterflies are native to your region. You need to know what they like to eat and where they sleep, in short, you need to know butterfly habitats and habits.

Your public library or nature-society can be a very useful source of this information.

Let's start with a look at the butterfly.

Adult butterflies and moths have mouthparts that are shaped into a long, coiled tube. Butterflies feed on liquids (nectar) and they get all their food through this tube.

Their offspring or larvae, on the other hand, have chewing mouthparts, which they use to devour leaves.

The eyes of the butterfly are large, rounded compound eyes. This allows them to see in all directions without turning their heads. Butterflies are nearsighted, like most insects, and are more attracted to large stands of a particular flower than those planted singly.

Butterflies do not see the colour red as well as we do, however, they are able to see polarized light (which tells the direction the sun is pointing) as well as ultraviolet light, which is present on many flowers. This helps guide them to nectar sources.

Butterflies use their antennae to smell and their sense of smell is well developed. All butterflies' antennae are club-shaped, as opposed to moths, which can be many shapes but often are feathery.

Nectar Preferences (food)

Different species of butterflies have different preferences of nectar, in both colors and tastes. If you want to encourage different butterflies to visit your yard then your best bet is to supply them with a wide range of nectar source or plants.

Diversity is the keyword here, ecosystems thrive on biodiversity. This is an opportunity to explore and have some fun and a chance to engage your imagination.

Consider a circular garden bed that is just off of centre in your front or back yard. You can use twine or even a garden hose to lay out the circle. It does not have to be a perfect circle. A diameter of 4 to 5 feet is sufficient to add beauty and function to the yard.

If you combine wild and cultivated plants and use plants with different blooming times of the day and year you will encourage a wider range of butterflies to stop by.

When you plant your flowers in groups of the same plants this will make it easier for butterflies to see the flowers than singly planted flowers would.

Housing:

If you want the butterflies to stay in your garden and raise a family then you need to provide them with food plants where the females can lay their eggs. Some females are pickier about which host to lay their eggs on than others.

The butterfly larvae are also distinctive. Some caterpillars have hairs or forked spines, which may be or may not sting (often the hairs are just for show).

Certain swallowtail caterpillars imitate snakes or bird droppings. Other caterpillars, like sulphurs, blend into their surroundings very well.

If caterpillars are eating excessive foliage from a prominent or desirable part of a plant and you want to place them elsewhere then use gloves to move them if they're hairy to the backside or another less noticeable portion of the plant.

All insects are cold-blooded and cannot internally regulate their body temperature. Butterflies will readily bask in the sun when it is warm out, but few are seen on cloudy days.

It is a good idea to leave open areas in a yard for butterflies to sun themselves, as well as partly shady areas like trees or shrubs, so they can hide when it's cloudy or cool off if it is very hot.

A flat rock placed in full sun will provide the spot that butterflies need to bask. Butterflies like puddles. Males of several species congregate at small rain pools, forming puddle clubs.

Permanent puddles are very easy to make by burying a bucket to the rim, filling it with gravel or sand, and then pouring in liquids such as stale beer, sweet drinks or water. Butterflies love overripe fruit, that has been allowed to sit for a few days.

Garden Design Fundamentals

There are two things that you need to remember when designing a garden. Pay attention to both and you will create a space that you and your family can enjoy.

The first one is simple: It’s your garden. You do not have to please anyone else with your plant choices but yourself.

The second one is what I call the right plant right place rule or RPRP. When you place a plant where the conditions give it what it needs (water, soil, light) that plant will do well and reward you with fruit and flower throughout the season.

For RPRP to work you need to know three things:

One: what are the conditions where you are planning to garden, for example how much sunlight and/or shade?

Two: Be sure the plant gets the water it needs. If you are in a dry area, use plants that can tolerate the dry conditions, if the site is wet, use plants that like it wet.

Three: will the plant grow in your garden hardiness zone.

More on zones in a future hub,

Talk with the staff at the local plant nursery, ideally seek out the manager or owner when you have specific questions.

Now that you have the bare essentials we will move on to the other design elements that will help you create a garden that everyone can enjoy.

Basic Garden Design Elements:

· Line is likely the most important design element and certainly is the one you will most often use in your design. For an informal look use, a curved line, for a more formal one use straight lines..

· Texture is defined in 3 categories. 1-Coarse includes plants, structures and hardscapes that are bold and large. 2-Medium texture takes in many plants and smaller structures. 3-Fine includes plants such as ferns and grasses and structures that are thin and delicate.

· Form is the shape and structure of your plants, hardscapes or garden structures.

· Colour is the visual POP in your design. Blues, Purples and Greens are calming and seem to move away from you. Whereas warm colours like red, orange and yellow seem to bring things closer to you.

· Scale or proportion in the landscape is simply the size of your plants or structures and how they relate to each other and the area you are landscaping.

You now have the basics. It does not matter whether or garden is large, small or somewhere in-between if you follow RPRP and apply the five design principles you will enjoy the results. Happy gardening.