HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2011-05-05, Page 13THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, MAY 5, 2011. PAGE 13. Home Garden
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Beginning gardeners should focus on location
Gardening, like most any other
hobby, is one of those things that
you can choose to dabble in or spend
eight hours a day, every day on and
still not be finished.
Those with green thumbs are often
all-the-way gardening enthusiasts.
So when a timid beginner wants to
plant their first garden, how do they
do it? How do they wrap their heads
around often-unpronounceable
names of plants and flowers and
countless garden design options?
Stick to the basics to start and then
continue to expand as fast as your
comfort level will allow.
An easy place to start is location.
Where do you want your garden?
Sylvia Nonkes from Spring
Breezes in the Auburn area has
some thoughts.
“First you should find a location,”
Nonkes says. “A good place to start
could be at the entrance to your
home, that way you’re walking past
it every day and you’re seeing it all
the time.
“If you want a garden in your
backyard, think of something in an
accessible location that you can see
from the back rooms of the house.
That way you can enjoy the garden
from outside or inside.”
Nonkes says that a backyard
garden should be located in an area
that has a good vantage point from
the back of the home.
Once a location is determined, the
next step is to dig, Nonkes says.
She says this can be done by hand,
depending on how large the garden
will be. As far as size is concerned,
Nonkes suggests a modest size
to start.
She says that to ensure that
gardening is for you and that the
location is one that you’ll want to
keep for years to come, you need to
be able to give it a try, and move
everything if need be, and that can
be a big job if the garden is too large.
“Never start too big,” Nonkes
says. “You need to be free to
experiment, so don’t overcommit
yourself right away.”
If a big garden is on your agenda,
however, Nonkes says that the
services of a sod remover can always
be retained. For a simple starter
garden, she says that digging sod out
by hand should be no problem, but
for a bigger job, a sod removing
service could be the perfect helping
hand.
As far as shape is concerned,
Nonkes says that there is no right or
wrong design; it all comes down to
the gardener’s preference.
A suggestion for an easily-
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Come in and see the latest inCome in and see the latest in
Spring Breezes greenhouses
Jack & Sylvia Nonkes
83189 Scott Line, RR 1 Auburn
519-523-9456
Open daily 9 am - 8 pm
Closed Sundays
Spring Breezesgreenhouses
Free
Refreshments
and daily draws
invites you to see all the changes
we’ve made...
Join us for our
Open House
Friday, May 6
and
Saturday, May 7
Come browse our wonderful selection of
annuals, perennials,
baskets, mixed pots, veggies,
herbs and more.
to Goderich
Perennial? Annual?
When populating a new garden, after the all-important choice of location, decisions need to
be made about what to plant. Some decisions are made for a gardener based on the sun
available and soil composition, while others need to be decided from an aesthetic point of
view. (MS photo)
By Shawn Loughlin
The Citizen
Continued on page 21