Maackia 016: Mid-summer Check In

I thought I would do something lower key this month and spend some time actually enjoying the plants in my garden after a very busy spring.

The good:

Most plants are doing well despite my general neglect. Everyone that should have flowered have done so by now, although a few of them less vigorously than their first year (mainly Weigela, but I guess that was to be expected). The big surprise this year was that the one-off Lavandula that was planted to fill a space with no expectation of survival, did just that (I'm a zone 4, in case you were wondering). Not only did it survive, but it has been thriving! Naturally, more were added so that it wouldn’t be alone. I mainly attribute this surprise to being planted on the West side of the house, directly next to the foundation (yay, microclimates!). I also have a feeling that the amount of snow that was piled on top of it also played a hand, as it is not abnormal to have over a meter fall there by the end of winter. Will this luck last? Who knows. But it has been interesting to watch so far!

The bad:

I did lose a few plants over the course of the winter. Both were Coreopsis, which is unfortunate because I love how they look and feel in a garden. One was eaten by voles, and the other one probably received too much water in late fall and rotted. The soil surrounding the house is on the clay side (not ideal), and likely didn’t help things. I really like them, though, so replacements have been installed again this spring. I’ll just be more careful with the watering this time around.

The only other weird thing to crop up this season is that my Ginkgo doesn’t want to grow. This will be its fifth year since I planted it in the front yard, and I am not sure what is causing the issue, as it has not put on any meaningful growth since moving to Sudbury. I have read that soil acidity can have an effect, but I have not tried adding lime to the soil yet. It’s not due to laziness — I just want to confirm that amending the soil might help with an authoritative source instead of relying on a random page I found on the internet. I am always a bit leery of one-off pages telling me to do things in the garden. 🙃

The new experiment:

I haven’t added many new things to the garden this year, but the one thing that has been added is a Rhododendron ‘Helsinki University’. I really miss all the rhododendrons in the David C. Lam Asian Garden at the UBC Botanical Garden and have always wanted to add more to my garden. The main problem is that growing evergreen rhodos (not azaleas) in a northern climate can be tricky and slightly boring, as the main cultivar in circulation for northern climates is Rhododendron ‘PJM’ (or an offshoot of that). It’s just not that interesting compared to all the different shapes, sizes, and colours I became accustomed to at UBC. But I can’t be too picky, I guess, so I traded the pink PJM rhodo for a pink rhodo from Finland. Hopefully, it will fare well through the winter!

As I have been working through various issues with different projects this season, my mind has been returning to how I can best help people with their gardens at home. Particularly if they are doing everything by themselves.

I’ve experimented with a few different ideas within this newsletter and on the website: garden recipes, planting details, and a garden design guide (which I really need to finish). All of these things make sense to me, and would have been helpful to me if I were starting from scratch. But the problem with relying solely on my perspective is that I don’t have a “beginner’s mind” anymore, and haven’t for some time. And since I stopped doing on-site consultations here in Sudbury (due to a variety of reasons), I find I no longer get the same feedback about what people are struggling with in their gardens.

So I thought I would check in with you, dear reader. What have you been seeking help with online? Is there something you find yourself struggling with repeatedly, or are you reacting to what your garden throws at you day to day? Or, do you just enjoy seeing photographs of flowers and stories about garden design from time to time? Honestly, I’m curious!

I’m going to continue to reflect on the ways I can try to help from afar, and I am hopeful I will have more large-scale developments to share with you soon. I had hoped I would be further along at this point, but some issues just take longer to sort out than you would like (boy, would I love to own my own garden centre right about now!). Dreams for another day, though.

In the meantime, enjoy the warmth and the height of your garden’s growing season — happy August!

n