It may not feel like it, but spring has sprung. Soon it'll be time to dust off your gardening tools and get digging.
To help kick off your return to gardening, Globe columnist Marjorie Harris was online earlier to take your questions. Your questions and her answers appear below.
Marjorie Harris is considered one of Canada's leading garden writers. She writes a weekly gardening column for The Globe and Mail and is editor-at-large of Gardening Life magazine. Born in Shaunovon, Saskatchewan back in the mists of time, she was educated from Goose Bay Labrador to Vancouver B. C. and graduated from McMaster University.
She is the author of 13 gardening books, her most recent being How to Make a Garden, The 7 Essential Steps for the Canadian Gardener, published by Random House.
Editor's Note: globeandmail.com editors will read and allow or reject each question/comment. Comments/questions may be edited for length or clarity. HTML is not allowed. We will not publish questions/comments that include personal attacks on participants in these discussions, that make false or unsubstantiated allegations, that purport to quote people or reports where the purported quote or fact cannot be easily verified, or questions/comments that include vulgar language or libellous statements. Preference will be given to readers who submit questions/comments using their full name and home town, rather than a pseudonym.
Tired Horses, Canada: Is there anything edible (if not, then decorative) that can be grown on a windy, shady, cool north balcony. I do get a couple hours sunrise sun in June and July. I have tried begonia, but it will not tolerate the wind.
Marjorie Harris: Most edible plants (including herbs) need about 6 hours of sunlight. You don't mention what floor you are on. For cool and shady, try hostas. They come in all sorts of magnificent colours from green and yellow stripes, to gold to almost white. A collection will look really good. Get the smaller ones so the leaves aren't too exposed to the wind. They respond to living in containers and will last from year to year.
Eugene Corrigan, Canada: I have a large garden space (15,000 sq ft hardiness 5b) with a number of pine, spruce, cedar and other type of deciduous(?) trees around, much like many other Canadian homeowners but limited information available on how to care for them individually or for the grassy spaces around and under them. eg - the cedars foliage seems thin with a good portion of browning. The pine tree (80 ft) has a few dead branches midway up - can I just saw them off? The lower braches on one side of some of my spruces seem to be dying - what can I do to bring them back? How do I keep the grass healthy under the trees mentioned above?
Marjorie Harris: Grass under trees is never going to do well. You might want to consider replacing it with ground covers. Native ground covers such as Cornus canadensis, bunchberry, is a tough beauty which has green leaves and bright red berries. I've found it hard to establish but it's so worthwhile. Try other faster growing species in between. Wild ginger (Asarum canadensis); woodland phlox; foamflower and Jack-in-the-pulpit are just a few of the plants you should consider. They also attract native bumble bees which is very important.
Re pruning: be careful. Get a certified arbourist to evaluate your property before you start whacking away. Some of the browning may be from wind damage in the winter. An good arbourist will shape the trees so they will be healthy.
If the trees are struggling consider giving them a nice big feed of manure and compost. And once it warms up take out the grass carefully and replace with ground covers.
