Canadian Gardening Guru Ed Lawrence In Verona

Apr 09, 2014

Adele Colby, chair of the Grandmothers-by-the Lake chapter of the Stephen Lewis Foundation's Grandmother to Grandmothers Campaign, knew Canada's leading gardening expert, Ed Lawrence, from when she used to work at Rideau Hall, and she conceived the idea of asking him to speak in Verona as a fundraiser for the group.

Colby also wanted to give her 23-member group a break and her idea panned out big time. Tickets for the event quickly sold out and on April 5, 160 people packed Trinity United Church to soak up words of wisdom from their favourite gardener.

Ed Lawrence has advised gardeners for 32 years on CBC radio, and worked as the chief horticulturalist at Rideau Hall in Ottawa for successive governor generals from the 1970s until 2005. At the Verona event Lawrence began by addressing one of the commonest queries of gardeners, spring pruning. He advised using by-pass hand pruners as opposed to the anvil-styled ones, which will damage plants.

Like all effective teachers Lawrence used humour and also repetition and throughout his presentation he stressed the two basic rules of pruning: 1) cut with the blade closest to what you are keeping, and 2) cut at the node, keeping it intact so that it can heal, seal and continue to grow. He listed the five D's to direct you when pruning. Cut out the Dead, Damaged, Diseased and Dangerous, and prune for the Desirable. He reminded over-zealous pruners to never remove more than 25% of a plant. “If the dead material makes up 25% of the plant, quit pruning until the following season.” He offered up tips like taking a picture of the pre-pruned plant to give a record of its size and flowers or fruit in case you get carried away. When to prune? After flowering occurs, so that you can see what is worth keeping and what is not.

For the remainder of the presentation Lawrence answered questions that guests had written down on cards beforehand. Grandmothers group member Barb Rodgers picked the cards from a hat and read them out. Numerous topics were covered, including how to encourage more flowering on a Japanese silk lilac shrub. Lawrence advised pruning only after flowering, providing more sun by pruning nearby vegetation, avoiding moisture stress, offering proper balanced feeding of the soil, and of course, “eternal hope”.

Lawrence's recommendations for the best chemical-free food for house plants? Top dressings of musky, a fish emulsion product with no feeding from mid-October until April. When asked about his preference of planting trees by seed or with nursery stock, Lawrence said that seed is always more rewarding and local seeds will do best, but that if time is short and money is no object, purchasing preferably local tree stock will speed up the results.

The best approach to long-term lawn weeding? “Dig up areas of soils with heavy infestation, and top with a patch of new sod or re-seed with grass seed.” For seeding Lawrence recommended a fine-bladed grass called creeping red fescue mixed with 25% Dutch white clover: “That mix will tolerate very dry conditions and full sun but also shade and because of the clover you will never have to feed the lawn.” How to keep squirrels away from bulbs? Lawrence advised using blood meal since squirrels are vegetarians. However, it needs replacing after every rain. Another option is using a highly perfumed soapy detergent mixed with water since they do not like the taste or smell. Another option is chicken wire weighted down over the bulb site and cut to six inches larger. The wire can be removed after the ground freezes and put back in the fall.

Other pointers for this time of year? To avoid compacting the soil, keep off the lawn until no foot prints are left when walking over the ground. He addressed mealy bugs and scale on house plants, how to best separate dahlias, how to spruce up old Christmas cacti and peonies, and what to do with a lime tree producing too small fruit.

Regarding how to keep deer out the garden without using a 10 foot fence, Lawrence suggested a few sprays, one called plant skid, made from putrefied eggs, or a spray made with a heavily perfumed detergent. He mentioned that Leonard Lee of Lee Valley Tools hangs CDs on a line, which kept the deer out until harvest time but added that a combination of the smell and sight deterrents might work for deer. He suggested hanging one-foot lengths of triangular material spaced 10 of 15 feet apart on a line strung 4 feet off the ground. An artist friend of his had success with this method.

By the end of the day most of the gardeners present had their queries answered and Colby and her Grandmothers group raised $2800 for their African grandmother counterparts, who continue to care for and support the 30 million people in Sub-Saharan Africa (16 million of whom are children), who have been devastated by the HIV/AIDS pandemic. Since the inception of the Grandmothers to Grandmothers campaign in 2006, it has brought together 9000 Canadian grandmothers who have raised over $19 million. She stressed the fact that there is still much more work to be done. “These African grandmothers work tirelessly every single day and continue to do so and it is they alone who know exactly what needs to be done. What they need from us is the resources to do it. Why do we do what we do? Because we have to. When you see the progress that these African women have made, against all odds, it's a true inspiration.”

Colby was grateful to Ed Lawrence, who donated his time and energy to help the Grandmothers' cause. The next Grandmothers by the Lake fundraiser will be the annual plant and bake sale on May 31 at the Tiffany Gift Shoppe in Harrowsmith. For more information contact Adele Colby at 613-375-8845 or visitwww.grandmotherscampaign.org