Looking Towards Spring

Two Months 29 Days and 16 hours and then Spring will arrive at the urban garden. Seems like a ways off. Well Friday is New Years 2010 what happened to 2009? Time does fly. This past year some of the things which I wanted to accomplish at the urban garden did not get done but because of equipment problems and the construction project etc..

I have been busy the last two weeks in between snow storms getting an inventory list together for irrigation parts, fertilizer, herbicides, and supplies. This is based on what is on hand and what I have used in past years. By placing orders in February I will have the supplies I need in time for each task. This alone saves a lot of time and that is due to the reorganization taking place this winter. They irrigation parts that are used most for repairs nipples, heads,and nozzles are all in a kit form separated by size so now when a repair is needed they parts are right on hand and there where you are working. As the parts are used you can restock before you run out so that you will not be waiting when a repair is needed.

Seed for lawn repair will be on hand as well as starter fertilizer and peat moss so that as soon as weather brakes you can start repairs even if it is only one or two nice days you can get started early and be ahead of the game. This is especially important when you are working with a small crew and need to make each day count.

Along with the irrigation kit I have set up a pull behind garden cart with a sprayer so that weed control will be much more efficient. This cart will hook on to the lawn tractor and also hold the irrigation kit so that when needed it will only take a few minutes to hook up and be out there working. Planning is a key element in getting things done and the more you plan the better off you will be.

Now is a great time for you to start thinking about your own garden and garden projects and planning for them this spring. If you don’t have any project planned yet why not visit our resource page Free Backyard Project Plans and check out some ideas that you can build using the lists of free plans.

Education and Outreach

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Sharing knowledge and appreciation of plants with the UBC community, British Columbians and the world

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A UBC Teaching Resource

UBC Botanical Garden is a "green classroom"; it is a teaching resource used for dozens of University of British Columbia classes. Students from the UBC Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences visit the Physic Garden to understand the history and future of their discipline. The UBC Faculty of Arts uses the garden for coursework in Anthropology, Fine Arts (what better inspiration?), Geography and more.

The garden is also an invaluable teaching and learning resource for professors and students in the UBC Faculty of Land and Food Systems and the UBC Faculty of Science. In particular, the UBC Agroecology Program, UBC Landscape Architecture Program and UBC Department of Botany rely on the living collections and green space present at the garden for teaching in plant taxonomy, horticulture, bryology, landscape design, conservation biology, agroecology and biogeography.

As part of its commitment to life-long learning, UBC Botanical Garden also works with UBC Continuing Studies to offer programs to nontraditional university students. Notable among these cooperative programs is the UBC Certificate in Garden Design.

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Local Education and Outreach

Educating the British Columbian public about plants is a service for the community that UBC Botanical Garden proudly pursues.

Weekend courses and noon lectures by garden staff and associates are available throughout the year, with nominal fees to cover costs. Special evening lectures by guest speakers are occasionally held, often in association with a local plant society (2003 featured Christopher Lloyd, David Mabberley and Helen Dillon). Free noon seminars are held once every month, generally with an emphasis on scientific investigations at the Botanical Garden or the Centre for Plant Research.

Events and plant sales are opportunities for outreach and education not missed by UBC Botanical Garden. The UBC Apple Festival not only features thousands of kilograms of apples, but also gives the public a chance to learn more about apples from the BC Fruit Testers Association, local Master Gardeners and the apple growers themselves. The Native Plant Sale, held in cooperation with the Native Plant Society of British Columbia, features guided tours of the Native Garden and educational booths from local environmental and nature society groups. Other events and sales also feature learning opportunities.

Since 1981, UBC Botanical Garden has offered a telephone horticultural advice service, Hortline. For over twenty years, British Columbians have had the opportunity to talk with a UBC Botanical Garden volunteer or summer student about problems in their garden.

Visitors to UBC Botanical Garden can also learn about plants while they tour the garden. In 2002, a program of interpretative signage was launched to augment the plant labels. Since the purchase of a laser engraving machine in 2001, the number of plant labels has also been steadily increasing, helping visitors learn more about the plants in the garden.

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Global Education and Outreach

The Internet has allowed UBC Botanical Garden to expand the audience of its mission to communicate appreciation and share knowledge of plants. Due to an ever-increasing amount of questions asked of garden staff and volunteers via email, UBC Botanical Garden launched its plant and gardening discussion forums in 2002. This was done with the rationale that the questions and answers should be shared with anyone who can access the information, instead of only the initial inquirer. It has since grown rapidly into a community of plant enthusiasts from both the local area and around the globe.

Although small compared to other Internet gardening discussion forums, the UBC Botanical Garden forum is seemingly the largest of any plant-related forum that fosters communication between the public, other plant professionals and UBC Botanical Garden researchers, staff and volunteers.

Merry Christmas From The Woodland Garden

by Glenn

Christmas 2009 and I am sitting here thinking about the woodland garden. It is been a rough couple of days with the weather and I have lost a good bit of sleep because of it. Seems to me when I get overly stressed that it is important to change focus. So I thought I would spend some time thinking and reflecting on one of my favorite places the woodland garden.

Thinking about the woodland garden does bring a sense of peace but also it reminds me of balmy summer days and crisp early mornings sitting on the deck enjoying the wild life just waking up and starting to forage for the days meal.

Waking up just at dawn and taking a hot cup of coffee out on the deck sitting there at the table I have time to just relax and enjoy the moment. There is no sense of urgency or need to rush.

A great view above looking off the deck now that is a sight for soar eyes on a damp and cold Christmas morning. This is just a part of the attraction of the woodland garden the real attraction lives deep inside. It is a feeling of stability and calm that comes with being surround by nature and all her creatures and creations. It is a place to relax and dream and replenish your soul. I can not wait for spring to get back there and once again enjoy time spent surrounded by the beauty and serenity.

Merry Christmas To All

From the Woodland Garden

New Feature Added To This Site

I am pleased to announce a new feature I have added to this site. FREE BACKYARD PROJECT PLANS . This is a group of links to free plans for many outdoors projects for your yard and garden. Currently there are free plans for garden arbors, cold frames, garden benches, garden bridges, greenhouse plans, pergola plans, and raised bed plans. We are collecting more all the time and would like to add new plans each week.

My hope is that this is a valuable resource for you and that you will be able to use this new resource to help you enjoy your gardens and yards more. If you have any suggestion I would love to hear from you so that I can added them to the site.

It is amazing how much is available in the way of information and I want to share it in an easy to access way. Please do contact me if you have any ideas.

Thanks for visiting and do not forget to bookmark this site.

End Of The Year Review

Review is an annual tradition with me. I always try to sit down towards the end of the year and look back at the previous years highs and lows. I also start to think about goals for the upcoming year. I find that this is a very good way to keep myself on track and to see how far I have come and what I have learned in the past year. Some of it is about my career, some of it is about my passions, and some of it is my personal development.

I believe that the best way to measure yourself is to stop and see what direction you are heading and how you are following your plan. It is always interesting to see what you have learned and sometimes it is disappointing to find that you have not reached your goals. Sometimes it is a reassessment of your goals. Things that may have seemed important may have become less important as new pursuits have taken there place.

In any event I think it is important to decided what you want to do in the next year and set short term goals to help you reach your long term goal. Sort of like mapping out a trip. It is easy to get lost if you do not have a road map to help you along the way. By setting up so short term goals you can help keep youself on track.

This may not be for everyone but I find that it is very rewarding to see that I have accomplished what I set out to do at the beginning of the year and helps to motivate me to try more the next year.

I also like to start planning for next years gardens and project so that I have plenty of time to get them all worked out before the rush of a new season begins. Cold winter days were meant to peruse the nursery catalogs.

Winter Solstice 2009

The winter solstice 2009 occurs at December 21, 2009 at 12:47 PM CST marking the official start of winter in the northern hemisphere. This is the day which will have the shortest hours of sunlight. After this date the nights will gradually begin to grow shorter and the days longer. Don’t get to excited yet. We are only talking a minute or so.

It is important to remember that there is a lot of cold and nasty weather ahead. I always feel better when the solstice has occurred though even though it may just be psychological the thought of the days growing longer give me hope that spring will be here soon.

Here at the urban garden it is time for me to start on my garden calendar for next season. While it is not possible to predict by the day what I will be doing it is more like setting up a time line. Between January 1st and February 15th we will be working on shop organization and equipment repair. This is important and makes it so much easier during the season when you an find exactly what you need. Also by making sure that equipment is ready and working properly you can get started earlier in the spring as days allow you to get out and work.

From Mid February to Mid March time will be spent ordering supplies such as herbicide, fertilizer, and mulch. Also during this time irrigation and shop supplies will be ordered based on list that we made during the winter organization. This is also a great time saver when it comes to getting an early start in the spring. Fertilizer application and herbicide application especially pre-emergent are scheduled for end of March first two weeks of April. Turf repair and over seeding end of April to beginning of May. Knowing when the work is scheduled for allows me to set a time two three weeks ahead of time to place orders for the supplies such as seeds and peat moss. This is a very time and space conserving practice. When you are ready to start the supplies are on hand and you are not waiting for deliveries.

These methods are very helpful for the home gardener as well if you take your lawn mower and yard equipment in in the winter for tuneup and repairs then in the spring while everybody else is waiting for two weeks for their mower yours is ready to go. If you have an idea of the projects you want to tackle in spring you can watch for pre season sales and save money by purchasing materials and supplies before you need them when the stores have the best prices.

A Week Before Christmas At The Urban Garden

As Christmas approaches it seems as if everything is put on hold so that last minute gifts can be bought or party details can be taken care of. My self I am thinking about getting things organized for spring. I can’t help it it is just a part of me that goes back to what I was taught when I first started in groundskeeping. I think the less stress the better and organization leads to less stress. Planning is a key part of this.

Currently we are reorganizing the shop area. I started by cleaning out all the old parts and attachments for equipment we no longer have. this has freed up some shelf space. Next I have set up areas that like items are being put into so that related items can be put together until final organization takes place. All the irrigation items in one area, all the trowels,hand pruners, and clippers in another. This way all the wayward tools and parts that were not returned properly will get back to the area where eventually you will be able to just go and pickup what you need with out searching. This of course is all well and good but the final part will be to make sure that at end of day things get returned at the end of the day. If this is not implemented then all the work will be for not.

My hope is by Mid January to have this work complete but I know that even with the best of intentions that I will be lucky to be through by March. There are always diversions along the way. The day before yesterday when I came in a car had been parked in the lot and had a transmission leak that caused a big puddle of fluid in the parking space. The car did make it out of the lot trailing transmission fluid all the way till it got almost to the end of the Emergency Room Drive where it finally gave out and dropped all the rest of the transmission fluid on the ground. Of course this needed to be cleaned up right away as transmission fluid is extremely slippery and hazardous to walk on. So 250 lbs of oil dry latter it was safe to walk and drive on. This is just one of the many sidecars that take place during the course of the week in a large institution. We are always doing something non gardening related yesterday it was filling pot holes in the parking lot and today who knows! It is not possible to have precise plans of what you are going to do each day but you just hope for the best.

When I was younger I looked forwards to Christmas with a lot of anticipation and excitement now I think of it more as a day off and hope it don’t snow. I do enjoy seeing the grand kids open their presents and some time spent with family to catch up on things but the gift giving and receiving I can do without. Either you like me or your don’t but don’t feel obligated to buy me something or obligate me to buy you something. If you want to show me how much you care then just sit and talk with me for a bit and tell me what is happening in your life. Then humor me and listen to me as I drone on about myself. I know half the stores in America would close and millions would be out of work with out the Christmas Buying Season. I just have to wonder if this is what Christmas really is all about. Some how I think the gifts the three kings brought to that little baby lying in a manger over 2000 years ago has some how gotten all convoluted and many people now stress themselves out trying to BUY just the right thing to show how much they really care. I think you can not measure what some one feels about you by what they buy you but it what they give you that is more important.

Well enough of that sidecar. It is time to head for the Urban Garden and to get started on the days plan. Hopefully today will will be able to get a lot done in the organization project. But then again we will see what the day holds.

Wrapping UpThe Fall Season

The Fall is very quickly wrapping here at the urban garden. We have completed the landscaping projects last week and now we are starting to look ahead to get the snow equipment in order and starting with the holiday decorations. It is another transition time as we prepare for the next season.

There are some more discoveries or observations that I have made this year. The largest I believe is that with 420 trees now approaching their 3rd fall here at the urban garden the number of leaves to be cleaned has quickly grown to a huge project. We are spending 3 hours of the day in leaf removal and have been on it for 2 weeks now and hopefully will only have a couple more weeks to go. When the trees were installed during the parking lot renovations a couple of years ago I think that administration was looking at the cost to meet the city ordinances but maybe not paying attention to the future maintenance cost these trees would entail. That is not an uncommon oversight. Some of the younger suburban communities over the last ten to twenty years have come to this realization. Many villages and towns have required the planting of parkway trees as condition of developing land into housing developments. Now forestry budgets and personnel have had to expand to keep up with the trimming of the trees the massive leaf clean up in the fall and storm damage.This is not to say that improving the quality of life for a town’s residences is not important it is just a fact that along with the quality of life there comes a price. In this case increased public works budgets.

Anyways back to the urban garden. It is important to get the leaves up as they clog the sewers. harbor insects and disease to the surrounding landscape, as well as making for slippery walking when they are wet. Speaking of wet this has been the 9th wettest October on record here at they urban garden with only 2 days of sunshine in the whole month. So hopefully we will get into a dryer period for the next week or two so that we can get the rest of the landscape cleaned up and get a good start on the holiday decorations.

The Wall Part 2

In part one of this article I wrote about putting up a garden wall in this case a planter. Before I continue I would like to expand a bit on the processes involved and some of the problems.

First off the wall block used was from a big block home improvement store. The cost was about half or more of what you would pay going with a name brand material. This made the wall material very low cost. I must caution though that with this low cost there does come a price. The material offered by the premium companies are all high quality and made with more cement than what is being offered by the big box.As well the premium blocks are all quality inspected to be sure they are consistent and meet standards. The blocks were not all of consistent size some were as much as an inch or more off in size from the big box. This is were the money savings on the material may translate into a heavy cost in labor. In order to get the wall to be level many times a block that was to high had to be removed and reserved for the bottom course where it could be leveled then on other occasions a shim had to be inserted under blocks that were a bit low on the upper course. This is very time consuming and labor intensive. The wall took a lot longer because of this. Not to mention that 1/4″ or an 1/8″ can make you crazy when trying to level a 2nd course when the bottom course is completely level.Patience is the key.

Also in order to cut blocks you will need to use a brick saw it is really the only way to get a good clean cut and though the rental and cost of blade wear is expensive it is really worth it if you are looking for a nice clean fit.

STEP 3
Once your trench is dug it is time to put in our base. Add the gravel two or three inches at a time and tamp it well to compact. The base has got to be compacted well so doing it in layers or lifts as we call it helps make it tighter. Once you have the gravel level and the right height you can start laying your block. A thin layer of leveling sand helps as you can set the base course and get it completely level.

As you go a long you may find that the existing grade drops off and would leave the base exposed above grade. This is a very common problem and one that is easily fixed. When you get to that point you will need to dig your trench deeper and place a block in at the height of the base you were using. In the case of this wall we added a lower course below the first course as the grade dropped off so the height below your level line went from 19″ to 24 ” deep. !9″ was the bottom of the trench but you added a block below so you had to dig 5″ deeper to accommodate the block which allow you to continue to set your bottom course level and the new lower brick or all intents and purposes became the top of your base from that point on.

Look at the 3rd brick from the left to see an example.

STEP 4
Once you have the wall built and all courses are level it is time to finish tje wall with a cap stone.
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The only tricky part is where you go around curves but patience when you are cutting will help you get the right angle just take your time and then attach the cap stone with block wall adhesive.

All Completed

Landscape Of New Addition Under Way

The landscape material arrived late yesterday for the new addition to the building. Normally it would not be too much of a problem, but we are scheduling around the arrival of the technology equipment so we had to hurry and get the base landscape in place before the rigging crew arrived this morning to do the install. We got the tree and the shrubs in on the west side of the building before going home yesterday so we should be out of the way today for the equipment install.

The irrigation was partially destroyed in one section by the construction and also the area had changed substantially as well so the irrigation contractor was out to work on this yesterday also. We needed to move a couple of heads as well as install a couple of new lines. One of the lines the construction company had broken and repaired was all clogged up so that required cleaning as well. All And All not toobad and on schedule for the end of the week completion.

The Wall Part 1

Installing a garden wall is a task that many gardeners would like to take on . In this case the wall is actually a planter around a new construction home. The overall length is 120 feet and is comprised of wall blocks that were purchased from a big box home improvement store. The article will take you through construction from start to finish so get your shovels out and lets get started.

STEP 1

The first step is to string a line along the wall area and then pull it tight and attach a line level to get your height in this case we wanted to go 2 blocks high so we took the height of the wall block 5 inches and multiplied by two which gave us 10 inches. We then added the height of the cap stone which would go on top 3 inches so the total wall height was 13 inches. Now that we knew the height of the wall we pulled the string tight and measured up 13 inches from the existing grade and leveled the string along the whole length of the wall. We now have one more calculation and that is the wall base. We added a 6 inch base for the wall to sit on so we dug a trench the whole length of the wall and measuring down 19 inches from the sting to the bottom of the trench. This would give us a 6 inch base plus 13 inches of finished wall total 19 inches.

STEP 2

For curves you can take a garden hose to get the shape you want. The tighter the curve the smaller the blocks you will need. You can still measure off the straight .string line to get the right depth with out having to run a string line for the curve .

Dig out the trench measuring down from your string line as you go to maintain the right depth. In this case the wall block is 8″ wide so the trench should be 12″ wide to allow for a little leeway on each side of the block. Once this is completed we can move on to step 3.

Community Shuttle to UBC Botanical Garden

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Courtesy of the UBC TREK Program Centre:

TransLink's Community Shuttles are minibuses that fit well into communities, providing more service, connecting neighbourhoods and linking with the regional transit network.

"There are 3 community shuttle routes at UBC. C19 goes from Alma and Broadway along NW Marine to UBC. C20 covers destinations and residences on the west side of campus including Totem Park, the Botanical Gardens, Nitobe Gardens, the Museum of Anthropology and the Chan Centre. C22 serves residents on the east side of campus, e.g. Hampton Place and Fairview/Acadia."

To get to UBC Botanical Garden via public transit, take a bus to UBC and then board the C20, which stops outside of the Student Recreation Centre on Student Union Boulevard next to the diesel bus loop. The C20 runs throughout the day until midnight with service commencing at 7:15 am during weekdays and at 9:15 am and 10:15 am on Saturday and Sunday, respectively. Note that the bus runs every 20 minutes during most of the day so be sure to check the schedule.

BOOOTIFUL BOTANY HAUNTED HALLOWE'EN EVENT 2009

DESCRIPTION: This exciting event will begin with a self-guided trick-or-treat scavenger hunt, where children and their families work together to find a number of spooky plants in the Garden. At each stop they'll learn unusual facts about plants, while receiving Hallowe'en treats. Participants can then enjoy Hallowe'en crafts and games, and an on-site Hallowe'en exhibit by the Beaty Biodiversity Museum.

Don't forget to wear your costume!

Please Note: This event will occur rain or shine. Dogs are not permitted in UBC Botanical Garden. Garden admission for participants is by donation during the event. Please contact 604-827-4536 for more information. Pre-registration is not required and all aspects of the event are on a first-come, first-served basis. There is limited parking on-site. Additional parking may be available on Old Marine Drive or via metered parking along East Mall, in the Thunderbird Parkade and at Thunderbird Stadium.

The C20 transit shuttle runs from the campus bus-loop to the Garden, while the 41 and 49 buses stop along 16th Avenue, one block south of the Garden. For more details about transit options, including information about cycling routes, please visit Translink.

UBC Botanical Garden is a non-profit organization committed to the environment and local communities. Donations are graciously accepted so that we may continue to offer this type of programming.

Thank you to our event sponsors:

• UBC Campus and Community Planning


• UBC Botanical Garden and Centre for Plant Research


• Forstbauer Farm


• Local Autoplan Brokers

For more information please visit the following links:

• Campus Map Link


• Translink Link


• Hallowe'en Poster PDF

Update On Landscape Projects For October

Next Tuesday the plants will arrive for the new building addition. The mulch is on order and weather permitting the landscape should be completed by the end of next week.

The other project going on right now is the parking lot fence upgrade in the E lot.The fence contractor has ordered the fencing and the landscaper has the plants being shipped in so with luck work will begin next week as well. The only thing holding us up is the real estate company that is selling the townhomes next to the hospital has 3 large signs that unfortunately are right in the path of the fence line and landscape border.I have been in touch with them and they are in the process of moving them.

As an aside when this lot was sold we had a historical marker on the corner of the lot commemorating the Great Chicago Fire that we had moved and stored so that once development was done we could replace it. Now that we have reacquired the parking lot we will place the marker back where it had been moved from.

New Landscape This week

Well this week we will be installing the new landscape around the building addition. The scheduling will be kind of tight as we will need to coordinate around the contractors just finishing up. The mulch arrived late Friday afternoon and is down at the yard. Tuesday morning we will be receiving the plant material. We will need to get the west side of the building done on Tuesday because Monday evening a semi will be arriving with the linear accelerator equipment that is scheduled for installation on Wednesday and they will be staging on the west side and bring everything in so we will need to be completed by Tuesday afternoon and out of the way. The rigging crew plans to start at 7 AM on Wednesday morning.

While we are busy planting the irrigation contractor will also be there installing a new zone for around the building addition and blowing out three of the other systems and winterizing them. We will need to leave the main system on until the first or second week in November so the new plantings and the sod can get well established.

The rest of the building should be done by Thursday afternoon. It is not a huge landscape job but there will be a couple hundred perennials going in as well as a couple dozen shrubs. The pictures will go up this week as we are working on the project.

Also this week the fence for the E Parking lot and the landscape border should be starting so all in all a real rush to finish up the fall here at the urban garden.

Tree Trimming At The Urban Garden

As part of the Parking Lot Upgrade Project we decided to get the twelve Honey Locust Trees trimmed. It had been quit a few years and they were in need. Lots of dead wood and crossing branches made this a hazard waiting to happen during high winds or a storm.

As you can see there was a lot of low hanging branches and the trees are very large. Not only were the trees in a bad condition as far as their appearance it is also not good for the health of the tree.

After this tree was trimmed it made a dramatic difference in it. You can now see through the canopy and there is far less potential for storm damage.

Another big consideration was that all of these trees had grown up into the electrical lines which power the street lights . This was even more reason to have them trimmed but also added to the danger while doing the work.

You can see the electric wires just to the right of the orange pole in this picture above. This is very difficult to prune.

Working around these wires is a slow process and again very dangerous this type of work should only be attempted by well trained professionals.

Tree trimming is not for the feint of heart. You need to climb high into these trees to trim them and there really is not a whole lot of support once you get up there. Add to that the fact that you have a live chain saw strapped to your side and you can appreciate what it takes to trim trees for a living.

When the work was completed the trees were all much better looking and will have a chance to grow better next season. Compare this photo with the one at the beginning of this post and I am sure you will agree.

The Fall Season Approaches

The approach of fall is on us here at the urban garden. I like to start my fall lawn renovations by the last week of August in order to have plenty of time for new seeded lawn areas to take hold by the beginning of winter. Also I am busy with ordering bulbs for fall planting. This year we will also be doing the landscape renovation on the south parking lot. So with all that happening I am busy ordering supplies and scheduling vendors.

It may seem a bit early to be talking fall but believe me before you know it you will be wearing hoodies and sweat shirts. It is always a good idea to plan your projects ahead of time. Get all your materials and supplies on hand so that when you are ready to start you will not be delayed by late shipments or material shortages.

It never fails that something will come up just as a project is underway so be sure and plan accordingly. Giving yourself plenty of time will make sure you finish the project and your work is not rushed.

The Fall Season Approaches

The approach of fall is on us here at the urban garden. I like to start my fall lawn renovations by the last week of August in order to have plenty of time for new seeded lawn areas to take hold by the beginning of winter. Also I am busy with ordering bulbs for fall planting. This year we will also be doing the landscape renovation on the south parking lot. So with all that happening I am busy ordering supplies and scheduling vendors.

It may seem a bit early to be talking fall but believe me before you know it you will be wearing hoodies and sweat shirts. It is always a good idea to plan your projects ahead of time. Get all your materials and supplies on hand so that when you are ready to start you will not be delayed by late shipments or material shortages.

It never fails that something will come up just as a project is underway so be sure and plan accordingly. Giving yourself plenty of time will make sure you finish the project and your work is not rushed.

Tulips Daffodils And Hyacinths

Tulips Daffodils and Hyacinths are some of the stalwarts of the early spring garden. The melting snow and the early spring sunshine start to show their little heads popping up out of the ground it is a sure sign that Spring is arriving shortly and nature is about to paint the garden with some of the most wonderful colors in her pallet. The explosion of colors that spring holds is like a fireworks show to get you excited about the upcoming growing season.

Truly every garden should have a display bed of early spring flowering bulbs. Now is the time to get them in the ground. There are few more short weeks but you must plant them now in order for the bulbs to get established before the freezing weather comes.

Planting is very easy simply dig holes about 2 1/2 times the size of the bulbs then drop them in cover over. We plant thousands each fall at the urban garden so we use a small auger attached to the power drill and can plant dozens in just a few minutes . Some people like to plant in large beds of mass plantings. I prefer smaller groups. We will drill between 8 and 14 holes in an irregular shape and plant the bulbs there. It is like having dozens of bouquets of flowers each a bit different and can be a very dramatic effect. If you prefer a larger bed like arrangement mark out an area and dig out the soil to about 8″ place all the bulbs in the hole and then replace the soil. You can easily plant several hundred bulbs this way in less than a half an hour.

What ever method is your choice the main thing is you need to get started and you should get started this weekend the weather is going to be against you soon and remember to get a beautiful display in spring you need to get them in the ground this fall.

Incarvillea mairei

UBC Botanical Garden started in 1916 with 900 species. By the late 1930s, the Botanical Garden included significant collections of British Columbia natives, willows, alpines, aquatics and medicinal plants, as well as native and exotic trees in the campus arboretum. Unfortunately, much of the old collections were lost or integrated with the campus plantings. The only remnants visible today are some very fine trees in the original arboretum.

Today, the University of British Columbia Botanical Garden collections include those of the main garden, the Botanical Garden Nursery and Nitobe Memorial Garden. Nitobe Memorial Garden is an authentic Japanese tea and stroll garden, but is also a documented collection of Japanese and British Columbia native plants.

Collections policy at UBC Botanical Garden follows a number of important criteria. These include providing plants and plant materials for academic study and research (based primarily on germplasm of documented wild origin), using plants to create attractive public displays, and providing the public with new plants through partnerships with local horticulture industry.

University of British Columbia Botanical Garden houses a number of significant plant group collections, these include: Acer, Clematis, Cornus, Epimedium, hardy Eucalyptus, Hebe, Lardizabalaceae, Lindera, Magnolia, Rhododendron, Sorbus, Styracaceae, BC native flora, alpines and Chinese flora.

Some Facts About Canada's Oldest Continuously Operating University Botanical Garden

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Important Dates

1916 UBC Botanical Garden founded by John Davidson

1968 Garden established at present site

1976 UBC Friends of the Garden program initiated

1985 Garden becomes a department of the UBC Faculty of Agricultural Sciences

2002 Renamed to UBC Botanical Garden and Centre for Plant Research

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Quick Facts

Area Approximately 44 hectares (110 acres)

Main Gardens Alpine, Asian, Native, Food, Physic, Winter and Nitobe Memorial Garden (Japanese garden)

Facilities Botanical and Nitobe gardens, nursery, greenhouses, research plots (Totem Field), research laboratories

Collections Over 8000 different plants in roughly 12 000 living accessions

Latitude 49° 15' 29" N

Longitude 123° 14' 58" W

Elevation 104.42m (342.6 feet)

Tools and Equipment to Encourage Children to Garden

The best way to encourage children in the garden is to let them help and to give them their own tools to use. Expecting them to dig proper soil with a spade designed for filling a bucket at the sea side hardly helps them!

Children's Gardening Tools

A selection of Tools specifically designed for Children

Children's Gardening Equipment

Gardening Equipment for Children

Children's Gardening Accessories

Gardening Accessories for Children

Herbs In The Garden

The idea of fresh herbs right from the garden intrigues a lot of people especially those who enjoy cooking. There really is no other taste like sweet basil freshly picked. or the tangy taste of tarragon. The best part of all is that you can grow your own parsley, rosemary, thyme, or just about any other fresh herb without even having a yard or garden. In fact you can even raise them on a balcony. It is really easy to grow herbs.
Tarragon Parsley Rosemary And Basil Herb garden In A Container

Tarragon Parsley Rosemary And Basil Herb garden In A Container

A simple container like the one above can be put together in 15 or 20 minutes but provide you with fresh herbs the whole summer long. Below is another arrangement.
Basil Dill And Thyme Planter

Basil Dill And Thyme Planter

Not only do these containers provide you with fresh picked herbs they look nice out on a patio or deck. There are so many different ways to grow fresh vegetables fruits and herbs in your own garden. If you would like to read some more ideas use this link gardening

More and more people every year are venturing into gardening and enjoying the fruits of a little time and healthy exercise. If you would like to learn more or are seeking additional information

Gardens A Retreat From The Grind

With all the stress of daily life it is important to be able to get away for a little bit and to stabilize yourself . Gardening has become a major stress reliever for millions of people. You may not think of gardening as relaxing when you think of digging and pulling weeds but it really is. When you are gardening you are out in the fresh air and exercising. This alone will make you feel better. It is amazing how a little work can pay such benefit to your body and soul.

When you are out in the garden your mind tends to wander away from the day to day worries and you get involved in what you are doing. Your problems and cares are still there but they are put on the back burner for a little while. While you are busy working on the garden you are able to slow down and relax not be under pressure to get to the next appointment or to finish an assignment you are there to enjoy a little time away from all the rush.

You may not be doing a whole days worth of work in the garden it may only be a 15 minute get away to snip a few branches or to just loo around. But even a 15 minute break can help clear your mind and relieve some stress. The real secret is in letting your self be able to enjoy the time away from everything else.

Yesterday I was wandering around spraying weeds at the urban garden in the sidewalks and curbs. As I was passing by some of the beds I noticed some cone flowers coming up. This was not an earth shattering thing but even to this day I am amazed at how this fascinates me. You see these were volunteers and they must have come from seeds from a bed several hundred feet away. As I was investigating I found that the cone flower bed had also gotten a few new residents from the Coreopsis bed a few dozen feet away. It was like I said not earth shattering but it was a diversion that took me away from what I was doing and a little break that took me to a different thought from the weed spraying . It is just something about being in the garden that makes you spend a little time seeing things that are there but that you may pass by a dozen times without really seeing it.

As I get older it seems like I really am getting worse about my time management. I was never really great at being right on time and now I tend to still resist a ridged schedule. When I am involved in something it is a little hard for me to walk away from it until I have completion. I do have a tendency to go back to what I was doing the previous day and finish before I tackle the next group of work orders that come in. This is not maybe a flaw but maybe a way of being brought up. The bosses always walk by and if they see something like some weeds in a bed they fire off a work order. Well yes there was some weeds they saw but also a lot they did not see. They would have been satisfied if I would have pulled the 6 or 8 weeds out they saw and then thought the work was done but of course I wanted the 40 small weeds gone then I need to edge the bed and re-mulch it to make it look fresh and well tended. It is just they way I was trained that if you are going to do something then invest the time and do it right. Three weeks from now the 40 small weeds would have grown up and I would have gotten a new work order. Course the 5 minutes to pull a couple of weeds turned into an hour and a half to really clean up the bed but it felt like I had accomplished something and in the long run would not go back and redo the same work in a couple of weeks. While I am working on the bed I tend to forget about the other work orders and I am concentrating on what I am doing that is a stress reliever .

So while you may not disappear in the garden for an hour and a half even 15 minutes away from what you were doing is certainly a break from what you were doing. When you go back you will feel a bit more refreshed and relaxed. That is what can happen when you let yourself just wander for a few minutes each day.

The Fall Season Approaches

The approach of fall is on us here at the urban garden. I like to start my fall lawn renovations by the last week of August in order to have plenty of time for new seeded lawn areas to take hold by the beginning of winter. Also I am busy with ordering bulbs for fall planting. This year we will also be doing the landscape renovation on the south parking lot. So with all that happening I am busy ordering supplies and scheduling vendors.

It may seem a bit early to be talking fall but believe me before you know it you will be wearing hoodies and sweat shirts. It is always a good idea to plan your projects ahead of time. Get all your materials and supplies on hand so that when you are ready to start you will not be delayed by late shipments or material shortages.

It never fails that something will come up just as a project is underway so be sure and plan accordingly. Giving yourself plenty of time will make sure you finish the project and your work is not rushed.

Starting The Parking Lot Landscape Upgrade

Well this week we will be starting the upgrade of the parking lot where the new addition is being built. The landscaper is waiting for the city to mark utilities amd then can start demolition of the parkway. I will try and update as the work progresses. It should not take more than two weeks dependent upon the amount of time it will take for the fence company to make the wrouht iron fence panels.

In the means time we will be continuing with the tree trimming and other late summer work.

Why Hire A Landscaper If You Are A Groundskeeper?

Some people have asked me why I am hiring a landscaper if we do the groundskeeping and gardening here at the urban garden. Yes it is true that we do the groundskeeping at the urban garden but when it comes to larger projects we hire at the tasks. The type of equipment and the manpower to do some of the larger projects would be cost prohibitive to do in house. The equipment alone is very expensive if you are not using it every day . The landscaper is responsible for getting materials to and from the site and guaranteeing the plant material as well. Also the landscaper will be dealing with all of the site issues as well as scheduling.

Even though there is a big landscape or construction project going on daily work and routines need to be maintained. The trash cans need to be emptied, the grounds need to be policed, sidewalks need to be powerwashed, weeds need to be pulled and so on. Hiring the landscaping out allows us to continue are work without taking away from our routines.

Although a great deal of my time is spent enjoying working in the garden the above tasks also need to get done. There are potholes to be filled even if I would rather be pruning a shrub. This is the job of groundskeeping. You need to make sure that everything outside the building looks it’s best at all times. A very small percentage of the people passing by ever see the inside of the building but 100% of then see the outside.

Rosemary

Rosemary is a relative to the mint family and the name is derived from its Latin origin to mean “dew of the sea.” Rosemary is very common in Mediterranean cuisine and has somewhat of a bitter astringent taste to it. While that is true it compliments oily foods very nicely. A tisane can be made from the Rosemary leaves and that is also very popular when cooking.

First it is burned and then added to a BBQ to flavor various foods. Sage, unlike many other herbs has a high nutritional value to it and is rich in iron, calcium, and vitamin B-6 and is more nutritional in its dried form rather than fresh. Rosemary should be harvested just as you are going to use it because it truly loses its flavor once dried. Gardner’s swear that if you plant some Rosemary plants in and around your garden, the Rosemary will fend off moths, beetles, and carrot flies.

Older Europeans loved Rosemary and believed that it improved memory and also used it as a symbol of remembrance and was often tossed into fresh graves before they were buried over. Traditionally it has been said that Rosemary, left untrimmed, would grow for thirty three years where it will reach the height of Christ when he was crucified. Many would also place sprigs of Rosemary underneath their pillows to ward of evil and nightmares. Often the wood that comes from the stems of the Rosemary plant was used to make musical instruments. Remember that people back then liked to utilize every piece of something as not to waste. Today, many wreaths are made from Rosemary as a symbol of remembrance.

Today, Rosemary is still used for many things besides cooking as it is in potpourris, air fresheners, shampoos, and cosmetics. There has also been scientific evidence that Rosemary works very well as a memory stimulant. Rosemary has also shown some cancer prevention properties in animals. But further Rosemary has shown a strong relationship in relaxing muscles, and to soothe stomach upset as well as menstrual cramps. The main thing to remember when using Rosemary for this purpose is that if you use too much it can actually cause a counter effect.

When made into a tea it is ingested for calming nerves and anxiety and as an antiseptic. Rosemary when used as a tea many people find to taste very good. Making the tea from Rosemary is quite simple actually, just pour boiling water over the leaves and steep for 10-15 minutes. A little sugar can be added by you should not add any cream. A few sprigs can be added to oils and vinegars to flavor the products which add a nice taste for cooking.

When used cosmetically it can lighten and tone human hair and when mixed with equal parts of shampoo it has been known to strengthen hair too. It also makes for a nice additive in hot bath water. Rosemary is still used quite commonly today however more so for cooking than anything else.

information

NSALG

The National Society of Allotment and Leisure Gardeners home page. NSALG has long been recognised as the national representative for allotment gardeners

South Western Allotments Association

The new voice of the allotment movement. Advice on all types of allotment issues. Start your own association, insurance, help if your site is under threat. On a waiting list? We can help you get a new site up and running

Scottish Allotments and Gardens Society

SAGS works for allotment sites and plot holders throughout Scotland to protect sites from developers, preserve skills in gardening and design and promote the value of allotments.

FEDAGA

The Federation of Edinburgh and District Allotments and Gardens Associations. FEDAGA is the representative body for allotments sites in Edinburgh and district. Our aim is to work towards a situation where allotments in Edinburgh are fully utilised.

Living Collections

The University of British Columbia Botanical Garden collections include those of the Main Garden, the Botanical Garden Nursery and Nitobe Memorial Garden. Nitobe Memorial Garden is an authentic Japanese tea and stroll garden, but is also a documented collection of Japanese and British Columbia native plants. Collections policy at UBC Botanical Garden follows a number of important criteria. These include providing plants and plant materials for academic study and research (based primarily on germplasm of documented wild origin), using plants to create attractive public displays, and providing the public with new plants through partnerships with local horticulture industry.

University of British Columbia Botanical Garden houses a number of significant plant group collections, these include: Acer, Clematis, Cornus, Epimedium, hardy Eucalyptus, Hebe, Lardizabalaceae, Lindera, Magnolia, Rhododendron, Sorbus, Styracaceae, BC native flora, alpines and Chinese flora.

Landscape gardening

Garden design can be a very specialist subject and landscaping can be very daunting for the beginner. What grows in shade and what in sun? How far will it spread and how quickly? All part of the garden designer's skills.

Applegate Gardens

Online garden design, layouts and designs with landscaping tutorials & plans for landscapers with a patio, planting ideas, lists, care, gardening tips, pests, from our garden design portfolio and example makeovers from applegate gardens in Bedfordshire -

Garden Elegance

Professional Garden Design company offering a quality & flexible service from consultations to completed construction. Postal Garden Design service available.

Sheila Hassock Garden Design

Garden design in London, Kent and the South East. From a border to a complete garden design. Consultation, design plans and project management.

Planters Paradise

Garden planters, indoor planters and pots in a wide range of styles, colours and finishes. Traditional and modern styles are available in metalwork, stainless steel, galvanised steel, coloured fibreglass, timber and moulded plastic.

e-gardendesign.com

e-gardendesign offers you an economical but professional online garden design service. Qualified garden designers prepare garden plans and planting plans tailored exactly to your needs. UK wide.

Samantha McKay Garden Design

Small and large garden landscape design, renovation and planting services throughout Norfolk, Cambridgeshire, East Anglia and England

The Garden Planning Company

Garden Designer Online offering affordable garden design plans and unique gardening gift packages. Small garden landscape makeovers in Bristol and Hertfordshire.

David Keegan Garden Design

Award winning garden designers and landscape consultants specialise in larger projects, roof gardens, green roofs, landscape planning applications and appeals

flowerpotman

Landscape gardener and garden designer, designing and building wildlife friendly gardens and nature ponds in Bristol, Bath and Somerset.

Your Garden

Your Garden provides garden design and landscape construction services in Merseyside and Cheshire.

Gardner's Gardens, Design & Landscaping

Garden design and landscaping based in Cambridgeshire

Allseasons Landscaping & Design

Garden Design, Landscaping, Garden Maintenance, Green Waste Removal, Plant & Vegetable Service, for new gardens or gardens in need of regeneration.

Postal garden design service

An easy to use cost effective service providing professionally drawn garden designs, planting plans, technical drawings and specifications to help you build your perfect garden.

crowe garden design

Crowe garden design provides bespoke contemporary garden design; creative, beautiful, practical and simple. It's actually quite interesting as well.

Plant Conservation

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Conserving plants internationally and nationally through partnerships and research

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Research and Conservation

University of British Columbia Botanical Garden and Centre for Plant Research has a dual role in conservation. First, it contributes to the knowledge underpinning biodiversity science and ecosystem conservation. Phylogenetic studies of biodiversity and studies of the variation patterns of rare and endangered taxa are part of that process. Secondly, for Plant Research contributes to conservation by maintaining ex situ living material of wild-sourced material of rare plants.

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Global and National Outlook

Although the Research has an international (particularly Asian) remit, it is also active in national conservation efforts. This national initiative is a cooperative effort among Canada's major research-oriented botanical gardens to identify, study, preserve and restore Canadian rare plants. The consortium also fosters sustainable management of Canadian plant biodiversity.

Currently, the national seed bank project will aid Canadian conservation efforts by helping to preserve the genetic diversity of Canadian plants, through storing a documented collection of plant germplasm.

Winter Damage To Date

took some Friends of the Garden (FOGs) around the garden early this morning to examine a bit of the winter damage caused by the cold and heavy snowfall of the preceding few weeks. Many thanks to the horticulturists who suggested highlights to visit. Also, a thank you to the FOG "tour volunteers" for recording notes, typing them, and seeking feedback / suggestions for future tours.

For this week, I was both the tour guide and videographer, so the video isn't as dynamic as I hope it will be in future postings. Anyway, here's the video snippet of some of the tour:

Here are a few notes (as compiled by one of the tour attendees) from this first FOGs Walk n' Learn.

Location 1: Courtyard & Fence just east of the shop plant centre -- off the main walkway

• Modest snow damage to the Arbutus which had been winter pruned and new shoot growth allowed. There is also some frost damage.
• There is vole damage throughout the beds and the sub-shrubs and perennials will require spring pruning.
• The Nandina is totally brown and will need to be cut right back and allowed to regrow.
• Holboellia vine on the fence is very robust and together with the weight of the snow has brought down the fence
• Some lost branches from the hemlock

Location 2: Moon Gate

• The load of the snow on the Sinocalycanthus pressed it down and revealed a young Schefflera alpina planted by Peter Wharton and apparently totally healthy
• Distylum racemosum has again suffered major damage due to its dense foliage and requires a lot of maintenance. This shrub is due for removal

Location 3: Food Garden

• Broccoli was removed from the Food Garden due to its very strong smell as it rotted under the snow
• Cauliflower was also rotten - unable to withstand the freezing temperatures.

Location 4: Physic Garden

• The yew hedge was almost pushed to the ground by the weight of snow, but rebounded "like a Russian gymnast"!

Location 5: Alpine Garden

• Salix matsudana 'Tortuosa' has lost several large branches and will be removed.
• Pinus thunbergii also lost large branches and will probably also be removed.
• Genista tenera was so badly damaged with frost at the centre it has to be removed and will be a great loss to the landscape at that point in the Garden.
• Araucaria angustifolia was planted last year and is still only about a meter high with little root growth - it is completely brown.
• Hebes are not looking very good but will probably survive.
• Leptospermum rupestre has lost several branches and been quite severely pruned
• Eucalyptus coccifera has seemingly responded to the cold weather using its fire response to produce many tiny branches from the main trunks (from cold winters in previous years)
• Grevillea victoriae has been damaged but will survive.

The scent of, possibly, the Azara was very pleasant and strong and the Anna's male hummingbird and his friends were very much in evidence around their favourite grevillea.

Winter Buds

Here are some photographs taken by Randal Mindell during a Friends of the Garden Walk n' Learn on Wednesday morning, January 28. I invited Randal along since he needed to become familiar with the new camera as part of his main job.

Although it was a cold morning, we had a look at the following buds: Ruscus hypoglossum, brussel sprouts, Petasites albus (just emerging from the ground!), Cladrastis kentukea, Quercus macrocarpa, Sorbus decora, Aesculus octandra, Quercus garryana, Acer pensylvanicum, Fraxinus americana 'Royal Purple', Rhus typhina and Cornus kousa.

Acer pensylvanicum: note the stalked buds, typical of the snakebark maples.

Aesculus octandra: just plain cool.

Cornus kousa: these buds are described as turbinate -- wonder why?

Fraxinus americana 'Royal Purple': in the second photograph, note how the branches flatten at the buds.

Rhus typhina:

Catkin Walk

The February 11, 2009 Walk and Learn for the Friends of the Garden was on the topic of catkins. These are some of the plants we encountered and ideas we discussed:

Food Garden

• Corylus avellana (common hazelnut or common filbert) -- long pendulous pale yellow male catkins and shorter female catkins with small red nodule on the stem above the catkin. Shed pollen in December and January in Vancouver. Protective measure ensures complete pollen distribution by gradual catkin development on each tree. Wind pollinated.

Native Garden

• Alnus rubra (red alder) -- Catkins develop on bare branches in late winter. Male catkins elongate to about 5 to 10 cm and become dull yellow as they shed pollen in March. Small female catkins are in clusters of 3 to 5 become hard and woody resembling a small conifer cone. Wind pollinated.
• Myrica californica (California wax myrtle) -- Evergreen leaves have black dots. No catkins at this date.
• Myrica gale (sweet gale) -- Deciduous leaves have yellow dots. This is an important nitrogen fixing species.
• Betula papyrifera (white birch, canoe birch) -- Male and female flowers in separate catkins 2 to 4 cm long. Flower at same time before leaves emerge.

Alpine Garden

• Salix gracilistyla 'Melanostachys' (black pussy willow) -- Deciduous. Black catkins with red anthers in early spring before leaves. Dioecious. Insect pollinated.
• Nothofagus antarctica (Antarctic beech) -- no catkins at this date.
• Garrya elliptica (or similar) (silk tassel bush) -- long gray-green male catkins

Discussion on convergent evolution: the process whereby organisms that are not closely related, evolve similar traits as a result of having to adapt to similar environments. A good example of this is the catkin and the cone.