April, 2010
In This Issue:
Mark's Choice Product of the Month
Where is Mark this Month
Mark's Choice Spring Contest
TBG Appoints New Executive Director
Watching My Garden Grow
Vancouver Olympics Bouquets
Cancer Society's Garden Tour
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The Grass is Ris!
Oh my goodness, it is early April and I am breathless already. Before I get into 'stuff to do in the garden' this month, let me say thank you to all of you who came to Canada Blooms at the Direct Energy Centre during March break. It was fabulous.
 The gardens: best that we have seen in years.
The venue: Exhibition Place/Direct Energy Centre was a BIG improvement over our 12 year stint at the Metro Convention Centre.
Marketplace: sellers and buyers agreed that this was the best yet – ever!
Floral Hall: unbelievable.
This is based on feedback from countless people that I met and talked to while at the festival. Attendance broke recent records. If you happened to miss it, please make plans to join us next year at the same place during March break. Go to www.canadablooms.com for more info any time.
What about you?
It is April – the month of renewal.
Easter falls early in the month, appropriately, and thoughts turn to cleaning up, what to plant and where to plant it and new garden projects. Let me help you get organized with all of this.
Spray.
There is that dirty word that does not deserve its reputation.
Spraying pest or weed control is not necessarily a bad thing (said the organic gardener) it is WHAT you spray that determines whether it is bad or not.
That said, it is time to control the insects and diseases on your fruit trees, roses, flowering shrubs and berry bushes.
When? You can spray this all natural combination of dormant oil and lime sulphur during that stretch of time when night temperatures remain above freezing and before the buds break open on the plants. There is generally a 2 to 3 week window for doing this, depending on how fast spring decides to show up.
Why? There where fungus spores floating through the atmosphere last fall that settled very nicely on your deciduous plants. Many of these spores will ‘wake up’ with the rising temperatures and multiply in #’s that you will not believe… unless you have smothered them with Dormant Spray.
Countless insects laid eggs in the crotches (no jokes please) of the same plants last fall which will hatch and grow into munching little good-for-nothing caterpillars and beetles that will eat lots of your favourite plants’ leaves and flowers.
They will also mature in to adults that lay more eggs and you know the rest of the story.
Green Earth Dormant Spray is important for anyone that wants to keep their day job or take a vacation from the garden this summer. It is the ultimate time saver.
Your Lawn Needs Attention.
 Rake your lawn lightly with a fan rake (check out the new ‘Mark’s Choice Worlds’ Best Fan Rake’ at Home Hardware. It is unbelievable! And I am really excited about it).
Fertilize your lawn with CIL Golfgreen. Why? Because it contains the most sophisticated form of slow release nitrogen on the market, it contains 28% nitrogen in the first place (the element that lawns crave most this time of year) and it is made in Canada. Pay a penny or two more and get the best results possible and apply fertilizer less often – Golfgreen lasts up to 10 weeks.
Aerate your lawn if you have a solid clay base under the root zone of the grass plants. If you are growing your lawn on 12 to 15 cm of topsoil or otherwise reasonable quality soil, no worries. Skip this step.
Cut your lawn at least 7 to 8 cm high (2 ½ or 3 inches) but you won’t likely have to do that until I am in touch with the May newsletter.
Perennial Dig and Divide.
Many perennials lend themselves to digging up and dividing in April. Hostas, monarda, day lilies among others are ready for division after about 4 or 5 years of growing in the same place. Move the divisions around your yard or give to friends. Do not divide your peonies until mid September.
Garden Centres.
Retail garden centres are very exciting places to be this time of year. Many new plants are arriving from other parts of the country (B.C. and Ontario) and from points beyond ( Kentucky, Oregon, Washington State, The Netherlands, and United Kingdom etc.) Check out the selection of this prime quality plant material while it is fresh and while it is in good supply. The selection will not be the same come mid June, I can guarantee it.
Mark Cullen Approved at Home Hardware!
This spring I am proud to announce the addition of 3 new ‘Mark Cullen Approved’ Home Hardware Garden Centres to the MCA family.
These retailers have met high standards of product selection, plant maintenance, and staff training and have made exceptional commitments to the Lawn and Garden category at their stores. Please look them up at the following locations:
Sussex Home Hardware Building Centre
41 Moffett Avenue
Sussex, New Brunswick
506-432-6655
Stratford Home Hardware Building Centre
14 Kinlock Road
Stratford, Prince Edward Island
902-569-8000
Invermere Home Hardware Building Centre
9980 Arrow Road
Invermere, British Columbia
250-342-6908
These new members of the group are in addition to the 4 original members of Mark Cullen Approved Garden Centres:
Handyman Home Hardware
130 Conception Bay Highway, Suite 201
Conception Bay South, Newfoundland
709-834-8621
Home Hardware Building Centre Lloydminster
2802 50 th Avenue
Lloydminster, Alberta
780-875-7762
Perth Home Hardware Building Centre
115 Drummond Street West
Perth, Ontario
613-267-4501
Windsor Home Hardware
Fort Edward Mall
50 Empire Lane
Windsor, Nova Scotia
902-798-3222
Speaking of Mark’s Choice at Home Hardware: we have several new products to tell you about this spring, one of which is the very exciting ‘ Worlds’ best rake’. It is wonderful.
This rake will ‘throw’ leaves, grass clippings and winter debris up to 5 meters or 22 feet. I know, I torture tested this one for a season in my own garden (as I do all Mark’s Choice products before we introduce them) and I am so impressed.
It is super flexible – returning to its original position every time.
It is light weight – easy to use and easy on the shoulders.
It is fun. Fun raking? Yes – try it and you will see.
The new Mark’s Choice ‘Worlds’ Best Rake’ is available only at Home Hardware and is worth every penny. Yes – there are cheaper rakes out there. There is cheaper ‘everything’ out there – this one is worth a premium.
When you use it for a while, you will know.
Goodbye Yahoo!, Hello www.markcullen.com
I have been writing a weekly blog for Yahoo! Canada for 3 years and enjoyed every minute of it. It has been wonderful getting to know their audience and seeing the comments left on the #2 search engine in the world. Alas, we are parting company effective April 21.
They tell me that they are looking for content that appeals to teens and 20’s that is ‘gossipy’ – yes, they actually said that. And that all of their content will originate from California.
I will be the first to admit that ‘gossipy’ is not on my mind when I craft my weekly blog – information that you can use, reflections on my personal experience, tales passed on from other Canadians and having fun – THIS is what I have on my mind.
So beginning April 28 th you will find my new blog at the newly re-designed www.markcullen.com
I really hope that you will check it out and listen to my weekly podcast while you are there. And above all, I hope that you find my work here useful and even a bit entertaining.
If you are looking for me in the early spring sunshine, I am out raking the lawn.
Keep your knees dirty,
Mark
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A Master Gardeners, for eight years Satterthwaite was Editor-in-Chief of Canadian Gardening magazine, which won multiple newsstand and editorial awards under her leadership. 
They wanted to find a compact organizer that would enable them to improve and monitor their gardens. After looking in stores and researching on-line they were unable to find any product like this on the market. 
Did you know... All of the bouquets were made by 'Just Beginning Flowers', a non-profit company in Surrey, British Columbia that employs women who are just out of prison, abused, fighting addiction, or with special needs and teaches them how to be florists.
Spend the day touring lovely gardens of the Gordon Woods area of Mississauga while enjoying the varied sounds of talented young musicians. Tickets are $20 on the day of the Garden tour or $15 in advance. All proceeds will be donated to the Canadian Cancer Society.
