• Ask Mark
    • Search the Library
    • Mark’s Blog
    • eNewsletter / Subscribe
    • Books
    • Links
  • Home Hardware Mark’s Choice
    • New Products
    • Hand Tools
    • Cutting Tools
    • Boots and Gloves
    • Hose and Watering Accessories
    • Bird Feeders and Bird Seed
    • Container Gardening
    • Seeds and Bulbs
    • Plant Supports
    • Gardening Accessories
  • CIL Iron Plus
    • C-I-L Iron Plus Lawn Fertilizers
  • Events
    • Calendar
    • Gardening Communities
  • About Mark
    • Mark and Ben’s Bio
    • Book Mark as a Speaker
    • Mark in the Media
    • Contact Us
March 16, 2016

Garden Sickness: The Last Installment – New Gardens

 

Welcome back to this three part miniseries. We’ve introduced the concept of “garden sickness” and I’ve given you some ways to keep your well-established gardens happy while you’re away.

Now, I’m going to help you plan your new gardens with your future travelling plans in mind.

The new garden is a fresh canvas and, really, you can create almost anything you want. If you’re a frequent summer traveller, though, you will want to be mindful of the following.

  1. The Sun

Before you start on a plant-buying binge, use your drawing to mark the sun’s path across the sky. This will help you understand what locations around your house will receive what kind of sun. Morning sun is soft; afternoon sun is strong. Afternoon sun will require the use of drought-tolerant plants and ones that can handle 6+ hours of sun a day. For gardens that get morning sun only, the level of drought tolerance is not as critical.

  1. Your Soil

The soil in which your plants will grow can be extremely helpful where water conservation is concerned.

  1. Sandy soils have a hard time holding onto water. The particles are large and don’t fit together well resulting in large spaces (relatively speaking) between each particle. Water easily flows from the surface downwards and away from plant roots.
  2. Clay soils are both rich in nutrients and moisture. They can, however, become compacted and difficult to penetrate if they are allowed to dry out for an extensive period of time.
  3. Loam soils are a mixture of sand, clay, and silt (the smallest of the particle sizes we typically talk about in the gardening world). A sandy loam will have a slightly higher percentage of sand whereas a clay loam will have a slightly higher percentage of clay. Loam soils hold water well, are easy for navigate through (if you’re a root), and are easy to work with (if you’re a gardener).
  1. Plant Choices

When making plant choices, you always want to consider the first two items mentioned above: soil and sun. You can’t change these factors easily so it’s best to just work with them.

When making plant choices for a garden that can be left alone for weeks at a time, you want to look for words such as drought-tolerant or drought-resistant. You may also see plant tags with pictogram-style watering information: one, two, or three water droplets. Go for the ones and twos.

Next week I’ll get into specific plants that are good for your holiday garden to help you make some decisions come shopping time.

← Previous post
Garden Sickness Part Deux: The Well-Established Garden

Next post →
Pruning Hydrangeas

Search

Recent Posts

  • Around the Acres This Week February 2, 2021
  • Around the Acres This Week January 11, 2021
  • Around the Acres This Week December 9, 2020
  • Around the Acres this Week November 2, 2020

Mark’s Blog by Month

Ask Mark

  • eNewsletter
  • Radio/Podcast
  • Magazine article
  • Newspaper column
  • TV

Recent Tweets

Mark CullenFollow

Mark Cullen
1 Mar

The March issue of Gardening with Mark and Ben is available now. https://conta.cc/3b1Bcn2

Reply on Twitter 1366391953886240768Retweet on Twitter 13663919538862407682Like on Twitter 136639195388624076812
25 Feb

Make sure you check out Toronto's Virtual Seedy Saturday coming up this weekend, complete with a very impressive roster of events http://seedysaturday.ca/toronto/ #seedysaturday

Reply on Twitter 1365024629199433728Retweet on Twitter 13650246291994337283Like on Twitter 13650246291994337288
24 Feb

This week we're talking front yard gardening, and a review of @thatTaraNolan 's new book on the topic https://www.thestar.com/life/homes/2021/02/23/heres-how-to-grow-your-front-yard-garden.html

Reply on Twitter 1364412643856031747Retweet on Twitter 136441264385603174711Like on Twitter 136441264385603174721
20 Feb

Thanks so much, Niki. We are enjoying podcasts more and more all the time - honoured that Green File made the list. Great stuff here.

Reply on Twitter 1362954664359133185Retweet on Twitter 1362954664359133185Like on Twitter 13629546643591331857

Comments are closed.

About Mark and Ben


Mark Cullen is an expert gardener, author & broadcaster and holds the Order of Canada. His son Ben is a fourth-generation urban gardener and graduate of Guelph and Dalhousie University.
More

Find Mark On

Sponsored Links

Highway of Heroes cullensfoods Share Agriculture Foundation Harrowsmith
© Mark Cullen. Go to top ↑