In the News

— John Valleau (jv@valleybrook.com), editor.

• SPRING CLEANUP TIPS Spring cleanup is a task you either love or hate, depending on your own personal gardening style. And the weather is a huge factor. Some of you have long since finished this job, and many of you have experienced a late spring that sort of condenses cleanup even more into a really brief window. Recent big dumps of snow in British Columbia and Alberta have probably chased some of you back indoors for another week! Don't fear... one thing I notice is that in cold-season regions spring happens quickly, and the lilacs in Edmonton flower at almost the same time as they do for us here in Niagara. By June we're all enjoying true summer weather and flowers. If you're a new or newish gardener, spring cleanup can seem not only overwhelming but also baffling. What do you cut back, and just how, exactly? One of our "How To" articles will come to the rescue: check out #7 Spring Cleaning in the Perennial Garden. This gets into a good deal of detail about different growth patterns and how specific perennials should be cut back to the ground, cut back only partly or not cut back at all in some cases. If you are indeed feeling overwhelmed with garden cleanup, here are some tricks I have learned over the years. cut back the messy stuff first, especially ornamental grasses and large, bushy perennials such as Baptisia or Hibiscus. Clear away this debris before you attempt to rake the lawn or adjacent paths. No sense in having to rake twice! in borders, clean up first around spring-flowering bulbs, early shrubs such as Forsythia and early perennials like Helleborus. They will look so much better without the clutter of dead stems around them. Move on later to other parts of the garden where the perennials are still dormant. clear dead leaves and debris away from paths, patios, sidewalks and driveways. Sort of like vacuuming the living room, it somehow tricks the eye into thinking the garden is cleaner than it truly is, and it gives you immediate satisfaction for minimal energy! Hope these tricks can help to reduce your spring cleanup stress!

• ROCK STARS: the 2008 Collection We have the coolest mascot ever and maybe the heaviest as well. Cliff is a giant Easter Island head, and you can see him featured on our Rock Stars® website. This is our new and exclusive collection of tough, cute and outstanding performers for your rock gardens and containers. Many of these are small in stature, huddling down among the rocks for protection from harsh drying winds, scorching sun, bitter winter cold, short summers and hungry mountain goats! Our 2008 collection will soon be appearing at select retail garden centres from British Columbia to Ontario and in parts of the USA. Please accept our personal invitation to view the ROCK STARS® website and see why we're so excited about them.

• When to DIVIDE Miscanthus & other GRASSES A really mature clump of Miscanthus (known by many names, including Zebra grass, Porcupine Grass, Maiden Grass) has extremely thick and woody roots and dividing it is not going to be an easy task. You may well end up using an axe to chop the roots into big chunks, or a pick to dig around and undercut the rootball and help to pry it from the ground. A saw may be useful to split the rootball first into two then into quarters or smaller pieces. So long as each chunk has roots and eyes for new top growth, most of the pieces should settle back in and grow. A mature clump can easily give 20 or more divisions. The best timing is spring division, for ALL of the tall fall flowering ornamental grasses — including others such as Saccharum, Panicum, and Pennisetum. You can divide them when dormant or you can wait a bit until the first signs of growth. If it's just a matter of wanting more plants, you might find it's easier to sneak divisions from around the outside of the clump where the roots are not quite as woody, and to leave the mother plant in place. Sometimes mature clumps of grasses develop a dead zone in the middle, which we call the "doughnut effect". At that point the plant could be divided but I've heard of another approach to consider: use a long, narrow spade to scoop out the centre of the clump that is bare and dead. Refresh this with new topsoil, then sneak a few wedges from around the outside of the clump to replant in the middle. By flowering time in the autumn the clump should once again be full and beautiful. It's worth a try and much easier on the back! NOTE: In Zone 6 or colder we highly recommend spring division as the best timing for ALL ornamental grass selections. This gives them a good long season to get established before winter.