Top 5 Tips for Organic Gardening

My cat, Mini, loves
stomping around in my garden!

Since the pesticide ban in Ontario, we've all had to learn how to garden organically. I have to say that there are days when I feel like Elmer Fudd - "I'll get you, you scwewy slug!" Or cat, as the case may be.

I think the trick is to not expect perfection and to plan ahead. That being said, here are my top 5 organic gardening tips.

1. Mulch - mulching keeps weeds at bay and helps to keep moisture in the ground.
2. Don't leave bare spaces - weeds always seem to find that bare patch of garden.  Plant something or mulch.
3. Location, location, location - choose a spot with suitable light, whether full sun, partial sun or shade.
4. Companion plant - different combinations of plants help each other. Companion planting can  attract beneficial insects and deter harmful pests. In fact, you can mix flowers with your vegetables!
5. Good soil - soil with lots of organic matter is best. 

Feel free to share your organic gardening tip in the comment area.

Save the Tulips for the Royal Wedding or It's Off With Their Heads!

The Telegraph reports that the tulips lining the route of the upcoming April 29, 2011 marriage of Prince William and Katherine, are wilting due to the unusually hot weather.

The plan  is to dead head the 26,000 tulips found at Queen Victoria Memorial Gardens, unless a way can be found to keep them flowering until the day of the  wedding! Horror or horrors!

If found this video on YouTube showing the Gardens in their glory and Buckingham Palace




The British Protected Ornamental Association asks, " ... if anyone can propose an alternative such as covering / shading the beds (wet paper) to help the tulips get through, I am sure that the Royal Parks would be interested.”

Tulip gardeners, send your ideas to save the tulips for the wedding!

When, oh when, will I be able to be in my garden again?

It's 3 degrees (C) today and raining. The weekend is not looking good either. Bit of  a downer as I wanted to start working in my garden.
There's so much to do. Mainly prunning overgrown bushes and "alien" trees that have taken root, before their leaves start. There is one invasive tree that's popped up everywhere. My sister-in-law thinks it's a hawthorn, as it has spiky thorns. The other ones are  Maple Tree saplings which, if not yanked out early, quickly become trees. I've got my work cut out for me!