Bees Above Are Buzzing

Numerous studies in many parts of the world are showing a dramatic fall in insect numbers. They’re essential for agriculture, and essential in a garden where fruiting plants are grown, including our beloved tomatoes. Habitat loss, monoculture farming, and the widespread use of insecticides are among the reasons for this decline.

For a long time, many home gardens were unwelcoming to pollinators. We had monoculture lawns, heavily mulched and tidy flower beds, and until the pesticide act in 2008, there was regular spritzing and spraying of everything in sight, indiscriminately wiping out beneficent insects. This didn’t end pesticide use, only the formulas changed to comply with the law. Shelves are still filled with sprays and powders to rid gardens of pests, and beneficial insects can be killed just as effectively as before.

One of these important insects that specifically needs our help is the humble bee. Not including the honey bee, a non-native species, there are over 800 distinct types throughout the country, 400 of which can be found in Ontario.

But if it's honey you want, we rely on the honey bee. Did you know that a good part of your honey may have come from insect poop. Yes, you heard that right, and I apologise if you’re drizzling honey on your cereal right now. A study of the DNA in honey carried out by Noah Wilson-Rich, an entomologist who founded The Best Bees Company, revealed that fact and other valuable information. The study sampled urban hives in major cities across the US and the preliminary results are surprising.

We naturally assume that honey bees are busy collecting nectar and pollen from flowers, and we know they do because we watch them doing it. It’s a biased perception, however, as it’s easy to see the plants that bees are visiting in our gardens. We’ve not been paying attention to what they do at higher altitudes, and that’s one of the major discoveries that was made when the DNA in honey was studied.

The main sources of sugar in the honey tested did not come from wildflowers, but from trees, and not only from the blossoms; it also came from the excretions of sapsucking insects, particularly aphids, those pesky critters that drive gardeners wild when they find them munching away on plants.

What goes in one end of a hungry aphid is the sap that the plant depends on to grow and flourish. Too many aphids and the plant can die. It’s what comes out of the other end of the aphid that attracts the bees. It’s a sweet, sticky substance called honeydew. Besides nectar from flowers, honeybees are slurping up honeydew, and there’s often plenty of it. We might see only a few aphids on plants in our gardens; up in the treetops there can be tremendous numbers — easy picking for bees, and there’s even more food available when a tree is in bloom, far more than in a garden below.

Whether from nectar or from honeydew, the study determined that 75% of the sugar collected by honeybees came from trees and not from wildflowers, especially in an urban setting. Although more native wildflowers than ever are being introduced into urban gardens to benefit pollinators, there’s often a far wider range than is present in a natural, rural area. In Boston, where interest in urban beekeeping has grown dramatically, the honey sampled contained the DNA of 411 plant species. Because of this larger diversity of plants, the hives there appeared to be healthier and more productive than rural ones.

Another discovery made by the researchers was regarding the types of trees and flowers the honeybees preferred. Surprisingly, the flowers and trees favoured by them are not necessarily native ones. Honey bees don’t seem to care where lunch comes from. Even though coniferous trees are predominant in Seattle, the bees there favoured non-native linden and cypress trees.

Preferences varied from city to city because of the popularity of particular plants in a specific region. For instance, in New York, where even luxury hotels keep rooftop hives, the top three plants were locust and linden trees, and the flowers of sedum. In Portland, Oregon, known as the city of roses, no surprise that roses were in the top three along with begonias and sweet chestnut trees.

In San Francisco, where non-native eucalyptus trees have become an invasive species, there’s currently a debate going on whether to fell them or give them protection. The honeybees are not fussy. They’re such generalists, they don’t care that the trees are from Australia. They love them. Making up their top three favourites there are pine trees and rosemary.

Next time you hear buzzing in your garden, remember to look up, way up.

Vegetable Garden

 

Survivor, the reality TV show, was so hugely popular that I'm surprised more people don't try it for real, that is, surviving on food grown in their own backyard. The concept might not seem as exciting, dramatic, or gripping as the TV show, although all the essential elements will be there — battles with nature, competition with wildlife, and even, perhaps, intense rivalry between friends and neighbours.

Okay, maybe growing vegetables doesn't sound quite so thrilling as browsing a salad bar, but if you've forgotten the taste of, or never even tasted, a perfect tomato or freshly popped peas, you'll be in for a treat. We're talking fresh! A shrink-wrapped lettuce shipped into the country crammed in the back of a truck can't compare with one from your own garden that traveled direct from veggie patch to table in mere minutes. Why, I've been known to take my sandwich down into the garden to add the lettuce right then and there. I know, I know, wash it first. I hear it all the time, but at least it hasn't been handled by countless strangers. Now that's fresh.

Growing your own vegetables is easy. With a little planning and a few minutes a day you can be dining on the finest vegetables ever grown — your own. Consider starting a small vegetable plot this spring. You don't have to start big. A large planter will provide a surprising amount of produce. Begin with easily grown things like peas, beans or tomatoes before moving on to the exotic stuff.

Here are the basics for vegetable growing:

Locate your vegetable garden where it will receive plenty of sunshine — at least six hours, preferably morning sun. Typically, a veggie bed is placed at the bottom of the yard, out of the way, but it will be much handier if it's closer to the house. Unless you intend growing competition sized vegetables, a soil depth of about 200mm is a good start, but make sure the bed is raised slightly above the surrounding ground to allow for good drainag, or build an enclosed, raised bed.

Best soil for vegetable growing is light and friable, especially if you're intending to grow root crops like carrots, beets or parsnips as they don't like having to force their way down into heavy clay soil. Test your soil by squishing a moist handful into a ball. Sandy soil will crumble easily while clay will clump. Clay or sandy, you can improve your soil immensely by digging in lots of organic matter — compost, shredded leaves, or aged manure.

Timing is important when sowing seeds as soil temperature affects the germination. Seed for lettuce, peas, and spinach can all be sown quite early, as early as mid to late April, depending on how warm this spring turns out to be, but that's far too soon for warm season plants like beans, corn, or zucchini. As for the true heat lovers like melons, peppers, cucumbers, and squash, June will be soon enough as no seeds will germinate until the required minimum temperature of the soil is reached. Fortunately, instructions for planting time, sowing depth, and spacing of seed are usually on the seed packets.

The directions on the packet usually call for quite wide spacing between rows. For instance, it's often suggested peas be planted in rows of over half a metre apart. This is mainly to allow access for picking, but the rows can be closer in a home garden.

Especially important is planting depth. A seed has only just enough energy packed into it to push a limited distance to the surface: Plant too deep and nothing will come up. Many seeds are tiny, making it difficult to space them precisely, so if that's the case, plant lots and thin them out as they begin to grow. Alternatively, you can forgo growing from seed and purchase actual vegetable plants. They're available at most garden centres these days, but then you'll miss the excitement of seeing those first sprouts pop up.

After planting, avoid walking on the garden whenever possible as this will only compact the soil. I always keep a couple of boards handy to lay across the bed if I need to get in there for weeding or picking.

Once the plants are up and growing, it's a good idea to mulch between rows. Mulch can be almost any organic material such as leaves, straw, or grass clippings. Not only do mulches cut down on weeds, they help the soil retain moisture.

Moisture is essential for success, so plan on watering your vegetable garden regularly. There will be weeds to pull occasionally, too, and you may be challenged by insect pests, but with a little diligence, you, and your vegetable garden, will fight off all challengers to survive and reap the rewards. Imagine the glory of that first tomato!

Planted Picture Frames 2004

I like messing around with plants, in addition to growing them, and I have one “arrangement” that always attracts attention. I got the idea sometime in the late 1980s when I was over at a friend’s place, idly flipping through an old copy of a National Geographic magazine. I was looking at pictures in a story on the Appalachians when something caused me to look closely at an image of a rustic mountain homestead. There were plants growing on the wall. I’d no idea what they were, but that wasn’t what caught my eye. They were growing in a picture frame. That’s impressive, I thought, I must try that some day.

Fast forward a few years and after figuring out how to do it, I did get around to making the first of many hanging frames fille
d with plants. It wasn’t difficult, just a piece of plywood, preferably pressure treated, with a frame around it, then a piece of wire mesh sandwiched between it and an outer decorative frame. In this case old barnboard left over from the fence. I first made a couple of small ones, about forty by fifty centimetres (15” x 20”), and a later one about twice that size. I soon learned smaller is better as the big one was heavy, something to think about when hanging pictures.

Since it would be hanging on the wall, the plants would have to be something tough enough to survive growing in challenging conditions. I decided on sempervivum — hens and chicks as they’ll grow anywhere with little soil, and the frames would only hold an inch or so. As for soil, regular potting mix was too light and could fall out, so instead I used garden soil that I could squish into the wire mesh. I didn’t hang the frames the moment I’d planted them or the plants would have fallen out. I gave them a whole season to allow them to root securely through the wire mesh.

I don’t leave them hanging on the wall in winter, although the plants are hardy enough. I take them down and simply store them in a sheltered spot, out of driving rain. Even when they’re on the wall, I place them away from the prevailing wind to avoid the soil eroding or the plants washing out in a storm. They do need watering occasionally, but only lightly. I have since tried using other plants. Small sedums work well, and if I had room for them indoors, I could use tender succulents. I once planted one with Scottish moss and it looked like a small piece of lawn. However, it required more care than ones filled with succulents.

I’m obviously not the first to create these living pictures. It could well be the person living in that rustic cottage in the Appalachians or even earlier by the gardener who took care of the hanging gardeners of Babylon. They aren’t difficult to make, and I have done workshops in the past for garden clubs, so they are popping up here and there. I did once see the same concept on sale at a garden show at an exorbitant price for something I knocked together with a few pieces of wood. $300? I could buy at lot of plants for that.

If you use this design to make one, please credit  --  www.davidhobson.ca

DREAMING OF A GREENHOUSE?

 A Beginner’s Guide to Greenhouses

When it’s cool outdoors, I love to walk through an old greenhouse and feel the warmth around me. Slatted wooden benches, a hard-packed dirt floor, rusty heating pipes and, of course, plants all add to the pleasure. Throw in an old chair and a cup of tea and I'm a child again, back in my uncle’s greenhouse watching his tomatoes grow. It's the all-pervading earthiness, combined with nostalgia-inducing fragrances that evoke these feelings. To me, a greenhouse is such a comfortable place to be.

Around this time of year, I begin to think, boy, it sure would be nice to have a greenhouse in my backyard. I do have a small one, but it's just something I knock together in April to hold seedlings prior to planting, little more than a glorified cold frame. So, why don't I have a real greenhouse in my back yard? I'm not sure. Just haven't got around to it, no space available, not cost effective. These are the usual excuses, but they aren't very strong ones.

Making the Commitment

I know I'll be looking closely at all the greenhouses on display at the spring garden shows. I'll also be asking all kinds of questions and carefully considering the pros and cons. After returning home, I might even venture into the garden with a tape measure to size up suitable locations. I do this every year, but somehow the commitment is lacking. Part of the problem is that it's a conundrum. If I use space in the garden for a greenhouse, where would I plant all the extra stuff that I'd be sure to grow in it? I barely have room now.

And so it goes. Maybe you aren’t trouble by indecision and are happily planning for a new greenhouse. If so, here are a few tips to keep in mind.

Basic Guidelines

Look twice at the quality, especially if you get the bug at a garden show. There are high-quality greenhouses on display at reasonable prices. The framework is usually solidly constructed of aluminum with windows of glass or polycarbonate, but I've also seen flimsy plastic frames. These look fine at first glance, but you wouldn't want to be inside one during a wind storm.

Furthermore, consider how you will be using the greenhouse. For instance, if you want to grow orchids or other exotic plants year-round in a cold climate, you will want a substantial greenhouse, so look at double or triple glass or polycarbonate panels and a heating system. If it's only to provide an early start in spring, then a lightweight model may be sufficient. As for size, I haven't met an owner yet who hasn't wished for a greenhouse that was just a little larger. At least ensure the doorway is wide enough to haul stuff in and out with ease.

It's easy to say buy the biggest, but do consider where it will be situated. Out of the way at the bottom of the yard might be the first choice, but unless you like trudging through snowbanks to visit your orchids, the closer to the house the better, provided it will receive plenty of sunlight. Additionally, having a greenhouse close to the house means it will be easier to provide heat, light (if required) and water.

I might wax nostalgic about packed dirt floors, but these really are impractical. Paving stones or gravel are far superior, or better still, install a concrete base. Either way, ensure the greenhouse is anchored to the ground. There’s no point buying one if you're going to donate it to a stranger three blocks away after the first gust of wind.

Additional Considerations

Before signing on the bottom line, think about the extras. How will you heat it? How will you cool it? How will it be ventilated? These are important factors to consider, and they need to be addressed. A greenhouse might produce wonderful, evocative fragrances, and your very own tomatoes in January might prove delicious, but if the cost of growing them is equivalent to a trip to California to pick your own, you might want to hang on to the growing space.