Haliburton County Master Gardeners

Gardening in Haliburton County

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Growing Food

Pruning and Maintenance of Rose Bushes

General Care:

  • Mulch to conserve moisture and reduce weeds.
  • Water 1 inch per week from spring until after harvest.
  • Roses are heavy feeders.
  • Spring: Fertilize with a slow release, balanced fertilizer.
  • Throughout season: Feed every 4 weeks.
  • Late summer, early fall: Stop fertilizing 6 – 8 weeks before frost date in preparation for winter.
  • NOTE: Very sharp thorns. Wear gloves when handling.

Pests & Diseases:

  • Susceptible to rose borers, powdery mildew, and fungus.

Late Winter/Early Spring Pruning Steps (start of new growth):

  • Remove all remaining leaves.
  • Prune dead wood back to the base.
  • Prune out crossing branches. Ideally create an open vase-like shape to increase air circulation.
  • Remove thin and weak growth (anything thinner than a pencil).
  • Shape the remaining canes into desired shape by cutting ¼” – ½” above an outward facing bud, at an angle sloping away from the bud.
  • Dispose of any leaves and waste to prevent spread of disease.

Fall Pruning (after killing frost):

  • Prune only as needed for winter preparation.
  • Trim longer stems to keep from snapping in winter storms.
  • Trim crossed branches to prevent rubbing.
  • Remove dead/diseased branches and foliage. 

 

 

Rose Bush Pruning Diagram

 

How to Plan a Vegetable Garden

Need a primer or a refresher on how to start a veggie garden? We couldn’t have laid it out any better than Sharon Hanna whose article appears in Garden Making Magazine.

With permission we’re providing you the link to some great information that we’ve vetted to ensure that it meets with the challenging growing conditions here in the Highlands.

View Sharon Hanna’s How to Plan a Vegetable Garden HERE.

Crop Rotation

Garden Carrots

Crop Rotation is not just for Farmers

You are what you eat! In this day and age when increasing attention is paid to the quality of the food we eat, more and more people want to grow their own food. As a hallmark for sustainable farming, crop rotation minimizes problems down the road while preserving soil structure and health.

Crop rotation is not just for the farmers. It can be put to use in small plots of land as well. By rotating crops each season; we promote a natural method of pest control which helps to break disease cycles that can occur when the same crop is grown in the same spot for successive years. For example, Clubroot is a soil borne fungus that affects brassicas, and accumulates from successive growth in the same location. Mono cropping also depletes the soil of nutrients specific to that crop. In the same way our bodies can ache if we do the same thing over and over, the soil can get tired if we plant the same vegetable, year after year in the same spot.

Simply put, crop rotation requires you to avoid growing the same crop in the same spot year after year. Plant your like family vegetables in a different spot than the previous year and rotate your different crops like a cycle. It’s helpful that some vegetables will replenish lost nutrients back to the soil after a crop has been harvested. It helps to grow legumes after heavy feeders like corn or leafy vegetables. While you’re at it, add in some green manure like clover to enrich the soil. No matter what vegetables you are growing, there are many rotations to suit your needs. You decide!

Remember that any crop rotation is a work in progress, and much of the enjoyment and challenge comes from experimenting with it each year as you learn from previous years. By keeping in mind a few things, it will make it much easier to work out a suitable rotation for you.

  • Know botanical names of your vegetables and group vegetables from the same family together
  • Explore the internet as  there are a wealth of resources 
  • Keep a notebook to record observations and keep accurate records 
  • Grow green manure as it enriches the soil like essential nutrients for the body
  • Alternate deep rooted and shallow rooted crops to promote a balanced draw
  • Leafy vegetables generally use a lot of nitrogen so plant soil builders like beans prior to growing lettuce

Some basic types of groupings that may work for you include: heavy feeders (broccoli, lettuce, tomatoes, eggplant, corn, squash); light feeders (carrots, turnips, sweet potatoes, peppers, garlic, onions, chives); nitrogen fixing (soil builders – green beans, lima beans, peas, soybeans); green manures (clover, vetch, alfalfa, rye, buckwheat).

Article written by Shane Rajapakse for the MGOI newsletter and reprinted here with permission.

Editor’s Note:  More gardeners are practicing a technique called chop and drop. Essentially you cut back your weeds and grasses before they go to seed and leave them on your garden as green manure mulch.  The nutrients are available immediately to the plants and the mulch helps the soil to retain moisture, repress weeds and improve soil structure.

 

 

Goldenrod (Solidago canadensis)

Excerpt from OMAFRA Publication 505 ‘Ontario Weeds’

It is essential that Goldenrod, Solidago spp., [verge d’or, solidage], not be confused with Common ragweed. Several species of Goldenrod occur throughout Ontario in meadows, pastures, woodland, river flats and roadsides, and have very conspicuous bright yellow inflorescences during the ragweed hayfever season of late summer and autumn. Goldenrods do produce pollen but only in small quantities, and their pollen is heavy and sticky. It is not carried on the wind and the plants are pollinated by insects. Because Goldenrod pollen is not carried on the wind, it must not be blamed as the source of irritation for ragweed hay fever sufferers.

Common ragweed is the most important cause of hay fever during August and September. Although inconspicuous and not recognized by most people, the tiny male flower beads hanging on their slender stalks produce huge quantities of very light pollen. As the pollen falls from these hanging flowers, it is caught by the wind and may be carried for distances greater than 200 km (125 miles). Hay fever sufferers, therefore, may be affected by pollen from ragweed plants far away.

  • Easy to grow and easy to pull out
  • Available in nurseries as Solidago
  • Beautiful; good for cut flowers
  • Sun; tolerant of dry or wet conditions, Zone 3
  • Attracts butterflies and bees
  • 35-70 cm (1-2 feet) tall and 45 cm (1 ½ ft) wide
  • DOES NOT PRODUCE WIND BLOWN POLLEN OR CAUSE HAYFEVER
  • Blooms late summer and fall
  • Winter interest and seeds for birds

 

Goldenrod Vs Ragweed

Gardening in the Highlands

As many northern gardeners will agree there are challenges to gardening in the highlands. The impulse to keep trying speaks to the doggedness and persistence of the type of character who make this region their home or cottage.     

As a gardener you’ll be up against: 

  • Long, cold winters with drying winds
  • Variable summers of hot dry or cool wet weather 
  • Short growing season and cool nights
  • Blackflies and mosquitoes
  • Nutrient poor and thin soils
  • No municipal water or limited well water
  • Pests like deer, bear, beaver, and turtles
  • Fewer sources of information for northern gardeners

There are benefits of gardening in the Highlands.  There are the spectacular views and the ready-made stunning natural backdrop to one’s garden.  You’re certain to have an upper story of native trees, an understory of native shrubs and herbaceous plants, and the contrast of a glittering lake, a burbling creek or an imposing rocky outcrop.

The Highlands are part of the Algonquin dome with the contour of the land sloping from a high point downwards to the east, west and south.  The northern part of the county, often called the Algonquin Park Region is marginally cooler, dominated by coniferous forests, and poorer soils.  The central and southern parts of the county called the Haliburton Slopes benefit from areas of underlying sedimentary limestone.  Limestone contains calcium which can neutralize acid and benefit plants.  If you happen to garden in one of these areas you have a bit of an edge.  In general however Haliburton soils are acidic with a ph. of 6 or less and that’s because the subsoil is composed of ground-up granite rock of the Precambrian shield.  

For information about growing zones please click here. 

Canada’s most recent Plant Hardiness Zone map takes a wide range of climate variables into account, like minimum winter temperatures, maximum temperatures, rainfall, snow cover, wind, and elevation. In Canada, there are 10 zones, which are numbered from 0 to 9. The higher the zone number, the warmer the climate.  Haliburton County is generally considered to be zone 4.

There may also be areas of exception or ‘micro climates’.  Factors that contribute to microclimates may be nearby bodies of water, presence of concrete or stone, slopes, soil type, vegetation, or structures.  For example, plantings close to a house that are sheltered from northern winds will do well so you might experiment with a plant rated for a warmer zone, like a zone 5.  Read the plant tags when you are buying new plants to ensure they will survive year after year. 

Beware of imported plants that have the US hardiness zone information on the tags. This is not equivalent to Canadian hardiness zones. As a general rule of thumb gardeners can simply add one zone to the designated USDA zone. For example, USDA zone 4 is roughly comparable to zone 5 in Canada. Buying locally and asking questions at your local garden centre will help alleviate this confusion.

If you want to overwinter perennials outdoors in containers, it’s best to sink them into the ground.  This will protect your planter and the plants.

Components of Soil

Mineral soils consist of four major components:

1. Mineral Materials

  • sand, silt and clay are the 3 major components of the mineral fraction of soil
  • they account for 45%-50% of the total soil volume
  • sand and silt particles are derived from quartz and feldspar
  • gravel and sand can be seen with the naked eye
  • a magnifying glass is necessary to see silt particles
  • clay particles are derived from silica and aluminum oxides

2. Organic Matter

  • consists of dead and decaying plants and animals.
  • is critical for gardening success because:
  • improves the soil’s physical structure
  • holds and releases plant nutrients
  • increases the water holding capacity of the soil
  • increases beneficial organisms in the soil

3. Water and 4. Air

  • are found in the pore spaces between mineral and organic components
  • account for about 50% of total soil volume
  • are essential for the growth of plant roots and soil microbes
  • dissolve most plant nutrients

Soil porosity is a measure of the pore space volume of a given soil:

  • sandy soils have large pore spaces which promote rapid drainage of water and leaching of nutrients and organic matter
  • clay soils contain tiny pore spaces which may impede root growth and water drainage
  • increasing organic matter increases the soil’s porosity and capacity to hold water

Air is pushed out when water comes into the soil from precipitation or irrigation of groundwater. If air is unavailable to plant roots for too long, the plant suffers from lack of oxygen. Some water is used by plants, some is lost through evaporation, and some moves so deep into the soil the plant roots cannot reach it.

Soil Layers (Horizons)

Ontario soils have at least 3 distinct layers that differ in colour, texture, consistency, and structure.

1. Surface Soil

  • contains most of the organic matter and plant roots
  • provides most of the nutrients and water to plants

2. Subsoil

  • consists of small clay particles that are carried down by gravity and rainfall
  • is lower in organic matter
  • provides storage space for water and nutrients
  • helps regulate the soil temperature and air supply of plant roots

3. Parent Material

  • is made up of decomposed rock characteristic of the bedrock
  • influences the soil’s texture, fertility, acidity, and depth

Soil Structure

In each textural class there is a range in the amounts of sand, silt, and clay that can be present. Most surface soils in Ontario fall into five textural classes. Each class name indicates relative amounts of sand, silt and clay in the soil.

Soil Texture Pyramid

 

1. Silt loam

2. Loam

3. Silty clay loam

4. Sandy loam

5. Clay Loam