Fleurette's garden
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On July 22 and July 23, 2009
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Ideas and Recommendations for a Drought Tolerant Garden After a month of record breaking rainfall, Fleurette Huneault generously gave tours of her “Dry Garden” to OBGS members. As she said, it was a great summer to see how a “Dry Garden” reacts to over- watering! Many of you read the article on this garden: “No to H2O, Dryness is a virtue in a waterless garden” written by Barbara Sibbald, which first appeared in “Ottawa Magazine”, The Interiors Edition, February 2006, and which was reprinted in the last OBGS Newsletter. Fleurette volunteered with the Master Gardeners for several years and she has a wealth of information to share. I wrote down a few “good to know facts” and “great plants”- useful ideas I would like to incorporate in my garden: • Blue oat grass, Helictotrichon sempervirens, should be cutback in the spring, and divided every three years• The best lavender for our climate is Lavandula Hidcote, and it should be cut right back to 4” in spring • Black cedar mulch is perfect for ferns • A 4” mulch of pine needles is excellent- especially for plants that like acidic soil. • Dolomitic lime can be added to improve the pH level of the soil, but don’t let the lime touch the plants • Joe-Pye weed, Eupatorium fistulosum can grow to be 8’ tall!! • Blue clematis, Clematis integrifolia blooms for months • Yellow ligularia- Ligularia stenocephala- ‘The Rocket’, next to hostas are spectacular • Astilbe ‘chinensis’ is a more drought tolerant type of astilbe, and comes in different colours • White Liatris or gayfeather is more elegant than the pink • Boric Acid in a solution with sugar kills ants. Boric Acid ant traps are now commercially available and very effective Beth Stikeman |
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My sincere thanks to Fleurette for allowing me to use her image on our website, and for giving me permission to use the photos of her garden on both our website and newsletter. Who would have thought that so many plants could grow beautifully without being watered?
Angela Snowdon |
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| All images are copyright of Angela Snowdon |
