Monthly Archives: March 2016

City Purchases Arbutus Corridor from CP

On March 7, 2016 the City of Vancouver and CP Rail announced that they have come to an agreement on the Arbutus Corridor, and the City will purchase the railway route from CP for $55 million to create the “Arbutus Greenway”.  The deal represents 42 acres of open space, running about 9 kilometres from Milton Street at the south end, to 1st Avenue on the north end.

Despite the City of Vancouver buying the lands, Mayor Gregor Robertson says it will be status quo for gardens right now.  “What we are asking people to do is not encroach while the public planning process happens. There are about 350 plots along the Arbutus corridor that are legitimate. Those obviously remain. It is up to the community engagement to decide whether some more gardening space could be allocated somewhere along the corridor.” [CKNW News]

The City of Vancouver has posted further details, including the full press release and development plans for the Arbutus Greenway. If you’d like to receive updates from the City, you can subscribe here.

European Fire Ants fact sheet

European Fire Ants were discovered at VanDusen Garden a few years ago and some areas along the Arbutus corridor are already infested. These ants are aggressive and can deliver a painful sting when disturbed, though this rarely leads to allergic reaction needing medical treatment. They establish and spread colonies rapidly, and do not have obvious mounded nests, which makes them difficult to control.

European Fire Ants can be easily transferred through the movement of infested garden material. To help prevent the spread of these ants, avoid sharing soil, mulch or plants with others. As well, be sure to check newly purchased plants and soil before introducing them to your garden. 

Please take a moment to read this fact sheet produced by VanDusen Botanical Garden, Bloedel Conservatory and Vancouver Parks and Recreation which gives detailed information on how to identify and prevent further spread of European Fire Ants.

It’s Spring in the Children’s Garden!

Hurray! It’s spring in the children’s garden. The tulips we planted last fall are poking out of the soil. Yesterday we thinned the carrot patch and Talulah pronounced the small carrots delicious. The chives and kale are tasting yummy too.

Big news: Talulah, Charlotte and Amanda built a beautiful mosaic path out of found pieces of tile and brick. It was their own creation—they developed the whole project in one day without adult help. The children’s garden is a big square and so the mosaic path will allow the kids to garden and play without as much small plant squashing. So far one side of the path is veggies: kale, carrots and snap peas; the other side is flowers and herbs.the garden pathIMG_2179

Decorating is as much fun as planting seeds. Here are a few additions from yesterday. columbinesIMG_2193

This year the children will caring for a soup kitchen garden. This is a great opportunity for the kids to be involved in community service, growing food to donate to someone who really needs the vegetables. Hopefully this will be lots of fun as well. Next week we will be digging to amend the soil and then start planting food. We will hopefully have a kids work party within the next two weeks to dig and plant in the soup kitchen plot. Kids gardenchives radishes

We look forward to seeing you in the garden. Connect with Krista to join children’s garden activities. Happy planting.

March Gardening Hints {courtesy of Rosemary}

a) Winter mulches: Remove in early March and compost them.  See Guidelines For Communal Composting to figure out which composter to use.

b) Garden beds: Prepare for planting. Ideally, lime and manure would have been added to the soil back in the Fall. However, you can also do it in the Spring by working in plenty of compost/mushroom manure/sea soil (one 20kg bag will support our smaller plots), then two weeks later dig in about 1 cup of Dolomite lime. The lime comes in a big bag so it could be shared by a Section or two. Avoid adding lime to areas where you might plant potatoes or blueberries.  Do not plant anything for at least one week after adding the lime, it needs a bit of time to settle into the soil. 

c) Organic fertilizer: Ideally, add to soil a few weeks before you sow seeds or plant seedlings. Maple Community Garden is an organic gardening area, and organic fertilizer contains many micro nutrients of value for plants which release slowly without washing away as fast as chemical fertilizers.

Recipe for Homemade Organic Fertilizer

1 part Blood meal          Nitrogen (N)  

2 parts Bone meal           Phosphorus (P)

1 part Kelp meal            Potassium (K) 

The above ingredients are found at most garden centres and feed stores, and this recipe provides an N-P-K ratio of approximately 4-5-4 to 5-8-5.  Nitrogen promotes vigorous growth, phosphorus improves flowering and root system growth, and potassium assists with fruit quality, root growth and reduction of disease.

d) Planters or pots: If you are using any in your garden, remove the first 4” of old soil and add Sea Soil or Soil Energizer to top up the planters.

e) Perennials: Lift and divide perennials, plant before too much growth starts.

f) Summer flowering plants and bulbs: In garden centres now, here’s a blooming guide for common plants:

bloom guide1 bloom guide2

g) Bush & cane fruit: Blueberries and raspberries will be in the stores soon for planting. Prune existing blueberries by removing any dead and crossing branches. Cut fall raspberry canes down to the ground, as well as old canes of summer bearing plants. Now is a good time to plan supports for raspberries : )

h) Vegetables: Plan rows going from North to South for the most sun exposure. Be sure that larger plants are at the North end of the plot to prevent shading of smaller plants, and shading plants in your neighbours’ gardens.  If you are interested in practicing companion planting to enhance natural pest control and productivity, here is a simple guide:

afristarfoundation.org

afristarfoundation.org

Beginning of March: Sow kale and parsley and start successive sowings of peas, spinach, radishes, and lettuces about every 2-3 weeks. Plant veggie seedlings as they become available in garden centres. Safer’s Slug Bait is a good organic choice if you find slugs damaging new shoots and bulbs.

Mid-March: Remove spring bulb flower heads as they mature and let the leaves die down naturally.  Sow sweet pea seeds.

Later in March: Once the danger of frost has passed,

  • plant Dahlias, Canna lilies and Gladiolas;
  • plant onion sets, turnips, and greens such as bok choy;
  • set out new strawberry plants and feed established plants with diluted fish fertilizer;
  • sow seeds of annual herbs (except basil, too early to plant yet); and
  • prune established herbs such as sage and thyme that have become leggy.

Fertilize garden plants, vegetables, flowers and herbs with diluted fish fertilizer throughout the growing season.  Fertilized blueberries, which are acid lovers, with a Rhododendron or Tree& Shrub fertilizer before buds break and after flowering according to label.

Seems like gardening chores are never done : ) Try to enjoy your garden too and watch as things push through the earth on their way to another great gardening season!