Letter from the Editor: "Down the Garden Path" by Ellen Grant

"The name for the month of 'May' has been believed to derive from 'Maia', who was revered as the Roman 'Goddess of Springtime, of Growth and Increase', and the mother of 'Mercury', the winged messenger of the Gods. Yet this is disputed as before these deities featured in mythology the name 'Maius' or 'Magius', taken from the root 'Mag', meaning the 'Growing month' or 'Shooting month' was used."

In my enthusiasm to jump into gardening this spring, I gave the grass and bordering gardens a fertilizing. Now I am busy mowing my crop. I think that lawns are a very emotional part of yard work. Whether you have a seeded lawn, a sodded green patch or my mowed meadow everyone seems to equate a gardener with the type of lawn one has. With a lot of clay and shade we opted for the ‘au naturel’ lawn. We inherited an acre of what was once my grandfather’s hay meadow. It produced a crop that used to take prizes at the P.N.E. for most nutritional fodder and hay. It has rye grasses, timothy, orchard, and bent grasses as well as both red and white clover. And, yes, it also has dandelions, plantain, buttercup, ox-eyed daisy and many other wild flowering plants. I used to use a weed and feed product on it twice a year to help keep the broad-leafed weeds at bay but I have given up the weed killing properties in the last few years. My drop spreader became my enemy. It would either drop too much fertilizer on some spots and burn patches in the lawn or would spread unevenly and I would have areas that grew wildly beside areas with stunted growth. If I got too close to the beds I would kill valuable plants. I just could never be precise with the coverage. So now I use a hand broadcaster and I spread it all over. Without the weed killer I can safely cover the whole yard including those beds that are under landscaping cloth and are difficult to adequately enrich with compost. I try to use lime once a year and specially formulate spring and fall commercial fertilizers. My grandfather used cow manure mixed with straw and a little chicken poop to spread on his fields every spring to achieve his meadow. Regardless of whether you battle the birds and the torrents of rain as you wait for a newly seeded lawn to sprout, whether you struggle to water a patchwork quilt of sods during a hot spell or you mow a meadow like my grandfather and I, all lawns require care: a. water once weekly (if we have had no rain) but deeply ( at least 30 minutes) preferably early morning or after supper. Don’t be upset if your lawn browns during hot spells. It will turn green with autumn rains. Sometimes the area needs more top soil or humus to help retain the moisture. b. keep your lawn mowed (about every two weeks in April and October but every 5 to 7 days in the peak growing season May to August) It should be higher than a golf putting green but flowers and grasses should not go to seed before you get around to cutting it. You aren’t trying to bale it to feed your cows next winter. Leave the clippings on your lawn if they don’t bunch up. They help to retain the moisture and will mulch down to enrich the soil If your grass is long when you cut it, try cutting it twice, once higher than usual then once at the normal level. A good grass mowing is like a hair cut. It makes you feel better. Remember to do the trimming too. You can do it every month if you like without too much to-do. It is the single most effective chore that elevates the beauty of the garden. c. Weed you lawn regularly. There are gadgets and tools that allow you to do so without bending down and there are selective sprays that will kill only the plants whose leaves you spray but don’t leave a harmful residue on the soil. You won’t get out all the plants as the birds and wind continue to plant seeds in your grass. As long as you like it and you aren’t spreading your weed seeds on to your neighbour’s yard all is well. If all else fails and you discover that you really don’t need the ego trip of having a perfect green space, then take it all out. Put in soft gravel pathways, moss shady dales or paved patios. Lawns are not a rite of passage into the fraternity of gardeners!

I am having some fun with the pots of tulips that I planted up last fall. I layered several types of bulbs with different blooming time into planters that I placed under the eaves near the patio door so I could battle the tulip stealing squirrels. I have kept two by the door, two by a low kitchen window and three pots I have slipped into the front bed to confound friends who could swear that they sprung up overnight. I will empty the pots into a hole in the back yard to die down and perhaps bloom again next year.