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12-The Canadian Champion, Friday, May 16, 2003 Lifestyles runs in every second Friday issup. of The Champion. How does your garden grow?ý Is the Part1P atience key to a beautiful garden finallv over? - By STEPHANIE THIESSEN The Champion When Sophie Cheney looks out the window of her Campbellville home, her gaze is met with beau- tiful blossoms and some visitors who enjoy her garden as much as she does - a myriad of creatures from birds to chipmunks. It's spring, and for gardening enthusiasts like Ms Cheney. that means it's time to finally put in motion the visions and plans that have been culminating tor the past six months. 0f course, by the tirne May roils around, avid gardeners aren't just begin- ning- they've already been at it for quite some time. But no need to worry if you haven't yet sunk that shovel into the ground. Now k a great time to whip your garden in shape. and there's no one better to dole out belp- fuI adviee than members of tbe Milton and District Horticultural Society. First things first. Weeds. The large amount of ramn over the past few weeks make now an ideal time for remnoving the weeds, satd Ms Cheney, who's a member M, I ffil . 1 FIN II ~l L If you are concerned about your own, or someone else's use of alcohol or drugs, the Drug and Alcohol Registry of Treatment (DART) can guide you to the help you need. Call us 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. »Àft -r 1-800-565-8603 www.dart.on.ca of the hortieultural society and on the board. The ground is moist enough s0 weeds will eome out fairly easily, but not soggy, when soil ean be eompressed during weeding and deprived of neeessary nutni- ents and oxygen. "A lot of Milton bas heavy elay soil, and it's onlv <wet) times like tbis that tbey cao work the soil," said Ms Cbeney, wbo added that altbough clay soil may bc tougbcr to work witb and dries "like ceement", tl also bas rnany nutrients. Soil arnendrnent -tbe proeess of mak- ing soil rieh in nutrients - is one of the ftrst tasks to bc donc eaeb spring, Ms Cbeney said. One of the best ways to do this k 10o work someceompost and manure into the soil, she said. "The organies give moisture retention during the season," Ms Cheney said. "A lot of gardeners dig up their gardens and think that's good enough. It isn't." When tl cornes to planning wbat's going to bc donc to the garden. Ms Cbeney rec- ornrends that new gardeners not get too ambitious. "Sornetimes a new gardener will try to do (the whole garden) aIl at once. It's better to work on one area each year, rather than biting off' more than you ean ebew and getting exhausted," she said. Although new gardeners may be particu- larly excited about planting those ftrst annuals, experienced gardeners know that patience ts key to a beautiful garden. Ms Cheney said. Wait until you know for sure that it's warm enough for the plants to thrive. she said. Gardeners must eboose plants that suit their garden types. she said. That ineludes looking at the type of soul and the amount of sun the garden receives. the amount of wind, and a number of other factors. Research is important. Ms Cheney said. "If you're really new (to gardening). get adviee from a landscaper. There are good landscaping companies in the area." she said. 0f course. she said. even the rnost expe- rienccd gardeners rely on trial and error. Like ber fellow gardener, Jennifer Mirosolin, also a mernber of the horticul- tural soeiety, said come spring sbe's in ber element wben sbe's in ber Heslop road gar- den. "(Spring) means I get out of bcd every norning and l'rn bappy to do stuff. I can ftnally gel my bands into the earth. I've made the mental changes,. now I can do the physical changes."* she said. Spring is partly for danmage assessrnen. This winter inany of ber delicate trees werc damaged. she said, trorn tbe wind and ice. "My roses look stek and I have to eut tbem back. A good pnîning makes thern corne back." Ms Mirosolin said gardening is "stress busting" and mentally relaxing. Sbe said she firsî got into the hobby as a cbild with ber motber. Then came the teenage years when the hobby was dropped. Il resurfaced again when she had a house of ber own. "I realized why my mom liked il. It's your own piece of land, and you paint a picture. You can make it look how you watt," she said. "My garden is an exten- sion of my bouse." Stephanie Thiessen can be reached at 1 FMMM , 1 ý 1 7 t 'T 0 "dcýý . , ý, . ý e Photo by GRAHAM PANE Gardening lover Sophie Cheney toils away on her Campbellville property. Ensure a colourful garden year-round There's nothing worse than having a garden that explodes witb colour for a few weeks in the summer andi then stops blooming as quickly as it started. Choosing a wide variety of plants that blossom at differ- cnt times wili ensure that your garden's a show stopper frorn spring to winter. Sophie Cbeney. who's on the Milton and District Horticultural Society board, recommends the following plants for Milton and ares gardens: - Spring - Snow drops, scillas, daffodils, Christmas rose (full shade area only). candytuft, sweet woodruft, Virginia bluebelîs, vinca, Solomon's seal, creeping phlox, downy service berry, Japanese quince, forsythia and lilac (Iilac is good for areas like Campbellville witb thin soul over lime- stone) , Early summer - Peonies, iris, Japanese tree pennies, delphinium, monkshood, roses, large flowering clematis andi climbisg hydrangea - Mid summer - Day Iles, asiatic Miles, hollyhocks, roses, yarrow, coral beils, monùng glory andi nashartums - Late summer andi early fail - Phlox pannculata, fal blooming aster, autumm joy sedum, Japanese anemones, fail bloosingvarteties of dematis, mnoutain ash. service berry and Sasktoon berny (which help to atut cw1d birds) - WmIter - Japanese maple, cusiy' wihlow, cossw hazeltwis of dogwood arubs in yeflw and red, grasses, evergoem ds Sd eipods.