my woodland garden

Foxgloves

Every year in British Columbia, there are over 26,000 poisonings that are reported to the B.C. Poison Control Centre. That works out to over 70 calls per day! Over half of all poisonings occur in children under the age of 6 years old (toddlers between one and three years are most at risk) and there is one child every hour poisoned in British Columbia alone. Those are quite frightening figures for parents or other caregivers to consider.  The most common poisons that children ingest are cough/cold medications, pain/fever remedies, plants, and household cleaners. Even pets are not immune to poisoning. Cats and dogs routinely fall ill after eating something that disagrees with them. I read that a cat died after eating only three leaves from a Poinsettia.

If you have ever watched children, you will notice that they tend to put anything and everything into their mouths (unless you want them to eat their spinach or broccoli of course). I have heard of kids eating slugs and worms from the garden. Even as an elementary school age child, I can remember myself chewing on the four-foot tall stalks of some weed on the side of the road because it looked like rhubarb and had an unusual, not totally unpleasant, taste. To this day I still have no idea what it was.

Can a gardener really make a difference in preventing poisoning in children and/or pets? Yes! You can definitely make your garden more child and pet friendly by avoiding all highly poisonous plants. Only planting completely edible plants, however,  is going to make for a boring garden. For example, the following are some common garden plants that you may have never known were toxic:

Elderberry (Sambucus) is a deciduous shrub or small tree with white flowers in the spring and lovely summer berries. The red or blue berries grow in bunches and have 3-5 smooth seeds. The cooked berries are edible and are delicious in jams and cordials. However, the uncooked berries, leaves, twigs, and seeds contain a poisonous compound.  Ingestion may cause nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea. Large amounts may cause lethargy, dizziness and drowsiness. Toxicity is not expected with ingestion of the cooked berries.

Azaleas/Rhododendrons  are  considered toxic. Azaleas are less toxic than rhododendrons.  Every part of the plant is not to be ingested. Symptoms include burning in the mouth, salivation, nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea.

Autumn Crocus or Meadow Saffron is highly toxic. The Autumn Crocus is used to create the drug for gout, Colchicine. Colchicine has a relatively low therapeutic index, which refers the fact that a tiny bit can be therapeutic but it doesn’t take much more to kill you! This makes it dangerous for overdosing.

Daffodils/Narcissus are considered toxic (especially the bulb). Ingestion of any part of the plant may cause nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, and diarrhea.

Iris bulbs and other plant parts are considered toxic and may cause mouth, stomach, or skin irritation.

Mushrooms can be extremely poisonous. Never eat a mushroom that you are not 100% certain about! They can cause death.

Flowering plum and cherry trees have toxic compounds contained in the seeds of the fruit. Ingestion of 1-2 pits is probably okay but be careful with children.

Cherry laurel also contains toxic compounds in all parts of the plant.

Tulips are nontoxic but the bulb may cause dermatitis.

Foxgloves are woodland biennials that grow to 3 feet tall with drooping purple, pink, or white flowers. These are sometimes dotted inside and they grow along a central stalk. The Latin name is Digitalis purpurea, which might sound familiar; leaves from the plant are a commercial source of the heart drug digitalis. If you eat any part of these plants, you will likely have heart problems after a spell of nausea, vomiting, cramps, diarrhea, and mouth pain.You may need your stomach pumped or medication to bring your heart rate back to normal.

Some others include Wisteria, Yew, Lily of the Valleys, Chrysanthemums, Holly, Meadow Rue, Morning Glory, Vinca, Rhubarb leaves, Bleeding Heart, Hellebores, Broom, Solomon’s Seal, Butterfly Weed, Larkspur, Hemlock, Lily, Monkshood, Clematis, Primrose, Columbine, Snowdrop, Oak, Sumac, just to name a few.

Babies Will Chew on Anything!

Learn about each of your garden plant’s toxicity by checking online or in a garden reference book and be concerned if you have any plant that is highly poisonous. Plants that have some toxicity but will not cause loss of life are not as worrisome. Teach your children at a young age about the dangers associated with eating unknown plants. And most of all, try your very best to always keep an eye on the little ones when they are in the yard; it only takes a moment for them to pop something into their tiny mouths. Poisoning is not the only danger with plants-choking is another.

Lily of the Valley

Yew Berries

Simple Branch Cutting Makes a Beautiful Centerpiece

If you love the woodland, you are probably a lot like me. I like the simple pleasures in life such as walks with family and friends, a cup of hot tea with a good book in hand, a holiday to relax and enjoy the outdoors, simple and healthy food, soft and comfortable clothing, and a simple vase with only one exquisite flower in it on the kitchen table. Well, sometimes more than one is needed but you know what I mean. Elaborate humongous flower arrangements are not my thing, much to my husband’s delight. I am happier with a $3 bunch of tulips than a massive $100 mixed bouquet on Valentine’s Day. The money he saves, though, I expect to be used towards a nice dinner out!

I believe flower arrangements should highlight the blossom or foliage you want to showcase, not jar your senses with twenty different odours and blooms all vying for your attention. The Japanese have perfected the art of displaying flowers (as well as preparing food and creating gardens) to draw your attention to the blossom’s attributes. They use simple containers that will not compete with the arrangement. This is often a plain bowl, a vase with complementary colors, or an unassuming vase. Here are a few examples:

Camellia – a picture of simplicity

Simple Winter Arrangement

Pink Camellia in Bowl

Now some tips to ensure your display will last for as long as possible. First, cut your branch or flower in the early morning, not in the heat of the day. Make a diagonal cut, using a clean sharp pruner or scissors. Try to remove a little bit longer stem than you actually want. This ensures you will have as much length as you’ll need. Remove all leaves and flowers that will be below the water line; foliage in the water will look messy and go bad more rapidly. Ensure you do not tightly pack in too many stems as that will also cause the arrangement to die more rapidly. Place in clean room-temperature water. Put the vase in a semi-bright location out of direct sunlight and refill the water every day, especially if you use a glass container or like to have your house warm.

Here are a few more centerpieces to inspire you. If you go online, you can see literally hundreds of other pictures of attractive arrangements that may also tweak your creativity. And how about just placing a single peony blossom in a saucer of water . . . perfection!

Peonies in Glass Vase

Roses in A Bowl

Simple Blossoms in a Bowl

To create a woodland garden, you need to emulate nature by creating layers. The next time you are in the forest, look around and carefully observe the various heights and textural qualities of the plants surrounding you. You will notice that towering high above are the spreading canopies of the tallest trees. These may be evergreen mature Douglas Fir, Western Hemlock, or Western Red Cedar. Others could be deciduous Bigleaf Maples. Below these giants will be the intermediate trees, usually Vine Maples or Dogwoods in the Pacific Northwest. Below these are the various understory plants, such as leathery Salal and delicate textured Huckleberries. Finally, as you glance about the forest floor, you will see incredible variety in the natural groundcover. There may be lacy ferns, large unusual Skunk Cabbage, Wild Ginger, Kinnikinnick, or False Solomon’s Seal. Generally, you will want to copy all of these four layers that you see in the forest. If you have a small yard, however, you would be advised to omit the towering giants and use only suitable little trees or larger shrubs as the top layer.

Forest Layers

To successfully mimic nature in your own garden, not only do you need to copy these layers, but you also need to achieve the variety in texture and plant forms that you observe in the wild. This will require you to include a good mix of evergreen and deciduous plants in all of your layers to ensure balance and interest in all seasons. The foliage between plant neighbours should also complement each other. In the fall, a yellow-leaved vine maple drops its golden leaves on a carpet of deep green moss or a sea of Sword Ferns; the different colours and textures create balance. Include boulders on the lowest level to emulate the glacier rock deposited throughout the forest floor. Observe how plant forms complement each other in each layer and also between layers. Upright, linear trunks create exclamation marks in the mounding knobs of salal, false azalea, and deciduous berry bushes. See how fallen trees or their remaining stumps create miniature garden portraits when they begin to decompose and provide rich humus for ferns, mosses, and huckleberries.

If you decide to mix native plants with carefully-chosen imported woodlanders and their cultivars, you can create a serene, low-maintenance landscape that is well suited to our climate; feathery Astilbes, Peonies, and Coral Bells on your ground layer can blend beautifully with second layer Rhododendrons or evergreen Viburnums which both have large, leathery leaves. These foliage relationships will copy the lacy Lady or Maidenhair ferns that complement the thick leaves on the Salal growing nearby. On your third layer, you can imitate Vine Maples and Dogwoods with the beautiful Stewartias, Amelanchiers, Japanese Maples, or flowering Cherries that are available.

Lynn Valley Forest Floor

So the next time you are in the forest and find a spot that captures your heart, take some time to observe the plant combinations that strike your interest. Take a photograph if you have your camera handy. If you have paper and pencil, perhaps you can draw the different shapes and leaf textures that give the area its specific beauty. Then with your plan in hand, visit your local garden center and try to find comparable plants that will reproduce this natural design. Copying the Great Designer is a free blessing for our garden enjoyment.

There are many native plants that are safe to eat but not all of them are tasty. I want to provide you with a list of my favorite native shrubs that produce edible berries. These are easy to identify, look great in a garden setting, and will provide you with nutritious treats.

My all-time favorite berry bush is the common deciduous Red Huckleberry (Vaccinium parvifolium) which is found throughout the Pacific Northwest. It grows well in part-shade on the rich humus from decaying logs and stumps. Although it can grow a few meters tall, you will generally see it top out at about 2 meters. It has lovely bell-shaped spring flowers with red, tart, and juicy berries ripening in late summer. Because the berries are quite small, they take a while to collect. If you have children, you can perhaps entice them to pick a bucket by promising to bake a cake or pie with what they bring you. My mother used to make a nice pound cake in which she would mix about 1/2 cup to 1 cup of the berries. Yum! They are also nice tossed in a pancake recipe instead of the traditional blueberry. The berries can also be made into jam or dried.

Red Deciduous Huckleberry

Very similar to the Red Huckleberry is the Black Huckleberry (Vaccinium membranaceum). It grows in very similar conditions but can tolerate total shade and higher elevations. I have found large swathes of these bushes high up on some of the mountains I hike. When I find I patch, I generally look about nervously until I am sure that I am not sharing the area with some bears, who also love these berries. Two of the beautiful attributes of these bushes are their glorious red and orange fall colors and their stunning winter silhouettes, especially when lightly dusted with fresh snow. These berries are extremely delicious and juicy and make a great hiking snack. Just be careful not to stain your clothes with the deep purple juice.

Black Huckleberry

Alaska Blueberry (also called Early Blueberry, Oval-leaf Bilberry, Oval-leaf Blueberry, and Oval-leaf huckleberry,  Latin name Vaccinium ovalifolium) looks very similar to the black huckleberry but the berries are a bright blue. Also juicy and delicious!

Alaska Blueberry

What would a list of native berry bushes be without our incredible Blueberry (Vaccinium Corymbosum)?  This plant is actually native to eastern Canada, but has naturalized in the West (thankfully). There are so many  cultivars of this bush that it  would take a book to detail them all. So I will, instead,  tell you about my many Blueberry bushes that I have personally planted and can vouch for. First of all, I should advise you to plant more than one to ensure prolific fruiting. You also need moist, acidic soil preferably in full sun to part sun. Water well in drought because their roots are quite shallow and they will suffer if allowed to dry out. The berries taste best if left on the bush until dark purple, but you will have to net them if you want to wait this long; the birds also love these berries. My all time favorite blueberry is the Vaccinium Corymbosum ‘Chandler’. This cultivar boasts that it produces the world’s largest blueberry. I am not sure about that, but I do know that the berries are extremely big and delicious. By the way, the picture below is not to scale (just in case you were wondering)!

Blueberry ‘Chandler’

Some other Vaccinium Corymbosum cultivars I have planted are: ‘Blue Gold’ which is very heavy fruiting, ‘Reka’ which is fast growing and tolerant of heavy wet soil, ‘Chippewa’ which is a lower and more compact variety, and ‘Blue Crop’ which was my first purchase and the bush that triggered my love for these outstanding, low- maintenance, and beautiful shrubs. I should add that even if these plants did not produce these delicious berries, they would still be valuable for their gorgeous white spring blossoms and their incredible red and orange fall foliage. Stunning!

Serviceberry or Saskatoon Berry (Amelanchier alnifolia) can grow to the size of a shrub or small tree. They like shorelines and rocky bluffs so you can find many of these bushes in Lighthouse Park, Whytecliff Park, and Horseshoe Bay. The flowers are a bright white and are stunning in early spring. By late summer, the berries are dark purple and ready to eat. They taste a lot like blueberries and are also high in antioxidants. I have noticed that you can buy the juice of these berries in the heath food section of your local supermarket. Nice!

Serviceberry Blossoms

Serviceberry Berries

The Salmonberry (Rubus Spectabilis) is a very common berry bush in the Lower Mainland of Vancouver. It is also one of British Columbia’s tallest native berry bushes, generally growing 2 to 4 meters high. The pretty pink flowers bloom in February to April, depending on spring weather and height above sea-level. As soon as the flowers open, the hummingbirds will arrive to the area. They love to sip the nectar from these blossoms. The fruit arrives in May or June and the plant is named from the colour and shape of these berries; they resemble salmon eggs. These berries are delicious right off the bush and are very delicate. This makes them difficult to add to a cake or muffin recipe; they taste so good they probably won’t make it all the way home, anyway.

Salmonberry

Salmonberry Flower

Another favorite berry bush is the  Aronia Melanocarpas (Autumn Magic Black Chokeberry). I have two of these in a swampy area of my yard where the soil is predominantly clay. These bushes also have lovely white spring flowers and, like the name says, magical fall colors. They will thrive on total neglect and need no pruning. Another nice attribute is that the berries are a bit unpleasant tasting so you will be able to harvest them before the birds. I have eaten them plain, but I will confess to making a face while I did so. They are much better being added to sweeter dishes, such as applesauce or a fruit smoothy. I have heard that these berries are much higher in antioxidants than even blueberries; but their flavor makes them inhospitable for commercial fruit production. Here is a picture of the bright red fall foliage and the deep black berries:

Autumn Magic Berries and Foliage in the Fall

The Trailing Blackberry (Rubus ursinus) is the only blackberry that is native to our area. The one you see most often on roadsides is the Himalayan blackberry (Rubus discolor) which was introduced from India and is now considered invasive. If you have ever had a neighbour let this plant grow rampant, you will know it can grow under, over, and through fences. It can also pop up from under the ground at least 2 meters from the parent. It is also terribly thorny, although I will say the berries are yummy. “Bramble” is a word that describes any impenetrable shrub and is now synonymous with the blackberry bush.

Our native blackberry is also somewhat invasive but controllable. It often grows on roadsides, recently burnt or logged sites, forest edges, and ditches. The berries are black and succulent and very high in antioxidants. Most of the blackberries you will buy in the supermarket are from Mexico and are the cultivar “Tupy”. I find these not nearly as sweet or juicy as our local native or naturalised bushes but I do enjoy berries in the middle of our winter so I will not complain.

Trailing Blackberry

Tall Oregon Grape (Mahonia Aquifolium) is a medium sized shrub with prickly evergreen leaves. It grows throughout the Pacific Northwest. Aquifolium means “holly-like” referring to the spiny leaves. These leaves are a deep dark green most of the year but some will turn a beautiful purple in the winter. In the spring there are pretty, fragrant yellow flowers that become deep purple edible berries later in the summer. I have taken this first photo from my garden in late April. The berries are very tart so you will want to mix them with sweeter fruit for consumption.

There are two other mahonias native to the area, also evergreen with blue-black berries. These are Mahonia Nervosa (Dwarf Oregon Grape) and Mahonia Repens (Creeping Mahonia). Both are fragrant and spreading.

Oregon Grape flowers in April

Oregon Grape berries in late summer

Thimbleberry (Rubus parviflorus)  is a dense shrub to 3 meters that tends to spread thickly. It grows quickly in waste areas, especially after a fire. It has large white flowers in early spring which become blood-red soft berries. These berries are incredibly delicious, but very soft. This makes them difficult to transport, so enjoy them where you find them. The leaves double as toilet paper or tissues in emergencies!

Thimbleberry

Red Elderberry (Sambucus Racemosa) This is one shrub that should be planted more often. I really don’t understand its lack of popularity especially considering it has huge sprays of creamy white spring blossoms, a reasonable height, a non-aggressive root system, and edible red berries that are loved by wildlife. I know it is a bit scraggly, but so are Butterfly Bushes and they are commonly planted. There have been recent introductions into gardening centers of the Sambucus Nigra cultivars, namely ‘Black Lace’ and ‘Black Beauty’. Our own native shrub is much more desirable in my opinion. I have planted two ‘Black Beauty’ shrubs and found them to be nice but extremely popular with aphids. Not so with the natives! The blossoms attract many nectar seeking insects and hummingbirds and the berries are eaten by over 50 species of birds. The berries need to be cooked for human consumption, but I have heard they are delicious in pies and jams or battered and fried. I have also heard that pouring boiling water over the berries and then letting them steep makes a refreshing tea. If the berries are not cooked, they may cause an upset stomach as they are slightly toxic when raw. I have also heard that the leaves and stems are poisonous (at least to humans) so refrain from eating them. These plants grow to be small airy “trees” about 4 meters tall and prefer part shade but with some sun to ripen the berries.  They like moisture and can withstand occasional flooding if you have a low-lying shady area in your yard.

Red Elderberry

I have already written about Gaultheria shallon (Salal) in my Native Plant Page but I want to include it here because it is the ultimate low-maintenance shrub with delicious and nutritious edible purple-black berries. A word of caution - when I say low-maintenance, I mean that is only the case if you plant in a contained area. This shrub likes to spread. If you plant a couple of bushes in your border with little tender companions, you will find that it is not low-maintence. So please be warned. This bushy plant is a native evergreen sprawling shrub that belongs to the Ericaceae (or Heath) family. It grows 0.5 to 2 meters and prefers part-shade although it can tolerate sunnier sites. It has small pinky-white flowers in May and June that become deep purple berries (really sepals) late in the summer. These berries are quite tasty and high in antioxidants. The First Nations people used them extensively fresh or dried as a winter food source in their stews and meat cakes. The leaves are very tough, leathery, and thick; the young tender spring leaves, however, are supposed to be edible. Cuttings from Salal make a great addition to your indoor flower arrangements and are lovely added to a Christmas wreath, perhaps with Western Red Cedar boughs and holly sprigs.

Salal Berries

A Japanese Maple is a great addition to your woodland garden. Although not native to North America, the many cultivars of Acer Palmatum and Acer Japonicum are actually related to our native Acer Circinatum (Vine Maple) and  also closely connected to Acer Shirasawanum. All of these trees and shrubs have beautiful foliage and incredible fall colors. They also have striking winter silhouettes. They thrive in our Northwest temperate climate where they receive moisture in the summer and no temperature extremes. There are literally over a thousand cultivars varying in height from under just a few meters at maturity to over 10 meters. Japanese maples require no pruning except to eliminate inward facing branches and dead wood. The Japanese, however, have perfected the art of pruning to create magnificent sculptured specimens. If you decide to prune, try to hold off until late summer or early fall when the sap has stopped running. In a woodland setting, it is preferable not to fertilize. Mulch thinly with fall leaves or barkmulch and the tree will receive all the nutrients it needs. The roots are shallow and non invasive so they are great trees to plant near patios and driveways and the smaller specimens can even be included in your foundation plantings. They are also very tidy trees with no litter except fall leaves to rake up. Even these leaves look great left on the ground creating a pool of golden or crimson color for most of the fall season. Trees can be single or multi-trunked specimens, but remember that heavy branches that split off near the base can break off as they get larger, creating disfigurement. Make sure you prune the tree to shape in the early formative years before this happens. All the shrubs and trees have small somewhat insignificant flowers that will produce winged samaras in the late summer. The flowers and samaras are attractive to numerous forms of wildlife.

Japanese Maple in Autumn

I have to say that I had a difficult time controlling myself when buying maple trees for my yard and I fell in love with numerous of these beautiful little treasures. I have planted the following:

Acer Palmatum ”Osakazuki”   This tree is lovely in all seasons. It has strong bones, large palmate spring green leaves, lovely dangling pink spring flowers, wildlife friendly winged samaras and incredibly stunning red fall color. The sister maple to “Osakazuki’ is ‘Ichigyoo ji’ which is very similar but has yellow-orange fall coloring and produces a beautiful complementary picture if planted nearby. Other Japanese maples that would look great if planted in the same yard would be ‘Omurayama’, ‘Hogyoku’, or ‘Sango kaku’ also called Coral Bark Maple.

Gorgeous dark pink Osakazuki spring flowers

Acer Palmatum ”Hogyoku”   This green-leaved plant is so sturdy and healthy looking all year and in the fall it turns a bright pumpkin color. The leaves are thicker than most Japanese Maples and it is a quick grower and takes well to pruning.  It looks great with the setting sun behind it in the late afternoon.

Hogyoku

Acer Palmatum ”Omurayama”    I will confess to stroking the leaves of this tree when I pass by. It has a delicate weeping form that looks like a baby Weeping Willow. It has yellow-green spring leaves and beautiful golden fall color. The leaves are deeply dissected and very silky. It will grow to a small tree about 2 to 3 meters high in 10 years and the weeping branches will form a beautiful flowing curtain around it. Because of this, make sure you give it room to spread.

Omurayama leaves in the fall

Acer Palmatum ”Bloodgood”   This small tree may be common but for a very good reason. It is a beautiful deep crimson all year and then turns bright red in the fall. Stunning! I have also planted an Acer Palmatum “Emperor 1″ which is very similar but perhaps a bit darker red and the leaves come out a week or two later than “Bloodgood” so it is a good choice if you live in a late frost region. I also personally believe it is a faster grower with a more open habit. These look really nice with a white blossomed shrub or perennial planted underneath. I have a couple of white rhododendrons and a “Krinkled White” peony beneath one of my trees. Another white blossomed shrub that would look pretty nearby is the Spiraea Nipponica ’Snowmound’. I also have the small weeping Acer Palmatum Dissectum “Crimson Queen” on a small hillock with ferns and a rhododendron beside it. It has finely cut deep red leaves that will not burn in sun. It grows slowly to about 1 to 2 meters in 10 years.

Bloodgood foliage with ‘Krinkled White” peony underneath

Acer Palmatum ”Samurai” also called “Aka Shigitatsu sawa”   I record all my Japanese Maples in a folder on my computer because you can see that not all these names are easy to remember. I planted this tree in the sun and it really looked sad and washed out. I moved it into total shade where it took off like a bullet. It has lovely delicate veined spring leaves and bright red fall foliage that looks a lot like the Osakazuki but perhaps more glowing. I have an Ilex Verticillata near it and the yellow fall leaves of the deciduous holly look gorgeous next to the Samurai redness. Sometimes 2 different subjects can complement each other better than each as individuals (like pumpkin pie and whipped cream).

Samurai

Acer Shirasawanum ”Palmatifolium” also called “Full Moon Maple”  can take full sun unlike the Golden Full Moon Maple or Aureum, although the leaves can shrivel a bit in a heat wave. It is a lovely airy tree that casts dappled shade and has golden fall colors.

Acer Shirasawanum Palmatifolium spring foliage

Acer Japonicum ”Acontifolium” also called “Dancing Peacock” or “Maiku Jaku”. Another name for this cultivar is Full Moon Maple, just to confuse you since the Acer Shirasawanum above is also called the same. The Japanese must like that name. This is an unusual maple that looks somewhat tropical but fits into a woodland garden when surrounded by large trees. It has huge leaves that turn incredible multiple colors in the fall. They are very deeply cut and quite thick. I have noticed that the squirrels particularly like the samaras on this tree, perhaps more than all the other cultivars. These samaras are always eaten first. I love to watch the squirrel antics as they try climbing out onto the tiniest twig to reach their treasure.

Acer Japonicum Aconitifolium

Here are the incredible fall leaves:

Dancing Peacock fall color

And last, but not least, and not a Japanese Maple at all, is my treasured native Acer circinatum also called “Vine Maple”. I have heard people call this lovely little tree “coarse”!! How could they? It has soft flat leaves that are very “strokeable” should you feel inclined. They also will turn beautiful shades of yellow in the fall if planted in shade or bright red if planted in the sun. They never grow too big and are loved by wildlife. They also have exquisite pink spring flowers loved by hummingbirds.

Acer Circinatum summer leaves

Acer circinatum flowers emerging with the unfurling spring leaves

I hope I have whet your appetite for obtaining a Japanese Maple for your woodland garden. If you want to further research the numerous cultivars, you must get (or borrow from the local library) J.D. Vertree’s book “Japanese Maples”. This is THE best reference book available for this subject. Here is a picture of the front cover:

J.D.Vertree’s ‘Japanese Maples’

This is a wonderful book to read in the middle of winter as you sit in a cozy chair with a steaming cup of tea in your hand looking out at your snow covered yard. Heaven! A couple of websites you might like to visit are www.japanesemaples.com and www.pacificcoastmaples.com. If you search the internet there are other wonderful informative sites that you can research these plants and buy them as well. Happy planting!

For some people, a garden is only a garden if it consists of a lawn surrounded by a few trees, some flowering shrubs and some common perennials or annuals in either a formal or curved border. In fact, this view of the garden is extremely popular and can look very beautiful. A gorgeous lush dark green carpet of grass surrounded with curved borders full of little flowering trees, some pretty shrubs and roses, spring bulbs, popular perennials, and interspersed with ground hugging plants is actually very idyllic. The only problem, however, is the reality of the upkeep. Who is going to fertilize at least twice a year, weed continually, edge the borders, and mow that lush lawn every week? It is also very difficult to keep a lawn looking pristine without chemicals. You have to ask yourself, “Is this really worth the effort?”. I know of people who have left their homes to move into an apartment because they didn’t want to maintain their yard in their older years. I find this very sad. If you love your home and enjoy your yard, you do not need to leave it because of yard work. You need to apply some thought to making your yard virtually maintenance free. The very first step in this process is to get rid of that grass, which is where this blog comes in.

grass=work and no wildlife

“How do I get rid of an enormous rectangle of grass?”‘ you ask. Well….if you are married, you might want to progress slowly so you don’t shock your spouse. My husband rarely ever mowed, and when he did, there were a lot of grumpy facial expressions and some grumbling about soggy soil, weeds, the lawnmower, and lumpy uneven ground. When, however, I would ever mention removing half of it, he was very hesitant to say the least. I managed, first, to talk him into a large garden bed in the front yard from the curb to a Japanese ‘Bloodgood’ that was about a third of the way from the street to the house. In this bed, I planted three ‘Rosebud’ azaleas,  many swordferns, two small yakushimanum rhododendrons, two red flowering currents, a ‘Krinkled White’ peony, some Siberian iris,  a dwarf Fothergilla, three dwarf Balsam Firs, and a few daylilies. At the time, my neighbour was having drainage problems and had some massive rocks she needed to get rid of, so I took a few off her hands to place in the bed. For some reason, ferns love to grow next to boulders, and they look right at home there. ‘Good Grief!’, you might say. “Weren’t all those plants pretty pricey?’. Well, if you get lots of small plants, they will surprise you by growing quite rapidly. The space did look a little sparse to begin with, but you can add a lot of interest with rocks and ferns that do not cost much. Once this bed was in place, my husband was a pushover for any other lawn killing projects. Just this one bed saved us (me really) many hours of work each summer.

Before explaining some easy techniques for killing the lawn, you need to take quite a while to consider your design BEFORE you start. Look at gardening books in the library, explore gardens online and consider a subscription to a favorite gardening magazine. You can cut out pictures from the magazines if you have purchased them, and make a cherished scrapbook of designs and plants you are attracted to. The easiest way to begin is to expand existing beds or to create island beds; if you are brave, you can then cover the remaining lawn with weed matting and mulch, low groundcovers, gravel, wide paths, or a patio. Use a garden hose or a long rope to plan the curves and think about the design at least overnight to be sure. Now the lawn killing techniques:

First is called solarization. In this method, you will cover the freshly mowed and wetted  grass with a clear plastic tarp for 4 to 6 weeks and the sun will heat up the top 15 cm of  soil underneath  to about 60 degrees Celsius. This method is most effective in an area that  receives about 6 hours of sun per day and when you do not want to add soil to the site. I have never used this method, personally, as I am too impatient and I always have brought in topsoil so a method I will be discussing later was a better option. I do remember one summer, however, when my children were younger. They were given a Slip and Slide as a gift that we set up on our gently sloping backyard. Here is a picture of one so you can visualize it:

Slip and Slide for killing grass

I watched the kids have a blast all afternoon in the sun running up the lawn and then sliding down. They never wavered in their delight. My thought was, ‘Wow! This is great exercise!’. Eventually some neighbour kids came and joined in the fun. Later in the afternoon, I rolled it up and was shocked to see dead grass underneath. I thought perhaps it would spring back by the next day, but we had a large brown rectangle of dead grass all summer that year. I learnt to move the slide about every hour to ensure the rest of the lawn survived. But from this experience, I can personally say that solarizing the soil will work eventually. If you are impatient, maybe get a Slip and Slide and have the neighbourhood children and their parents over for a lawn killing day!

The next method is manually digging up the turf. You can place the turf in a pile somewhere to naturally compost. You have the option of re-using the soil on the same site when it has fully composted, but I am pretty sure you don’t want to wait that long before preparing your new garden. If you are impatient, you can bring in new soil to cover the area where the turf was removed. I will mention that this is an extremely good workout for your upper body and is only recommended for ‘buff’ individuals.

My preferred method for lawn removal is to smother the site with newspaper (to a thickness of about 10 sheets) or cardboard, then cover this with new soil. You are immediately ready to plant shallow-rooted young plants. You can easily find large quantities of newspaper at your local paper delivery center or cardboard at the recycling area of your local shopping center. No cost! When you are laying the newspaper down, regularly spray with water from the garden hose to keep it in place if breezy. The paper will naturally decompose and you will have instant gratification with your new garden.

The last option is to spray with chemicals, but as this goes against everything I believe in, I won’t elaborate. If you are visiting my website, then I am assuming this option is not of interest to you either.

After you have covered your new garden bed with soil and planted your new garden, you will want to mulch with about 5 cm of organic mulch, such as shredded barkmulch, bark nuggets, or small or shredded leaves. This will ensure the soil does not dry out easily, helps keep weeds at bay until the plants mature, and prevents soil erosion. It will also add nutrients to the soil.

I hope this has helped you in your efforts to create a more maintenance-free and environmentally-friendly yard and I wish you many happy years of garden enjoyment.