March 30, 2023

Plants went into the greenhouse from the yard about the end of October, all but the key lime which we bought at Green Haven at the same time. Early on, leaves started to yellow and drop off the citrus. But a combination of daily checks with a moisture gauge and adding water when needed, slight…

Jan.20, 2022 By Richard Burke What do you do on a Chinook-blustery, melting-wet January day? Visit a couple of garden centres and come home $200 or so poorer – but much richer. Winter for a lot of gardeners is not generally a season to forget about gardens. So, after you’ve spent weeks thinking and reading…

Saving flower bulbs for next year By Richard Burke This autumn has presented an uncommon opportunity to more-methodically attend to garden clean-up and prep for next year. Here, in the third week of October and counting, the weather continues to invite us outdoors in relative comfort, to manage fallen leaves leisurely, since the trees haven’t…

June 30, 2021 By Richard Burke Over the years we’ve tried to accommodate a garden/yard and its ongoing needs with our own need to get away for a few days here and there camping.  We installed an underground sprinkler system that first had top-spraying nozzles, because a lot of lawn needed attention. But, as we…

It’s curbside business as usual at Green Haven Garden Centre, at least until the first week in May, says co-owner Karen Barbie. Word came last Thursday from the provincial landscaping group to greenhouses like Green Haven that garden centres have been classified as an essential service by the Alberta Agriculture minister. Posts this morning on…

April 9, 2020 Hilltop Garden Centre is open but would like a phone call before you go out.  Annuals are ready to take (but you’ll have to baby them yourselves until they can be planted); some perennials are there but more arrive after May 1.  They will be getting your orders ready for pick up,…

March 31, 2020 By Richard Burke On the one hand, it’s not difficult to visualize a beehive of activity in a nursery nurturing seedlings that have sprouted and are clamouring for the next step. On the other, it’s hard to imagine doing this with a staff cut to a fifth of normal. “Our plants are…

Our water feature has been installed. Now just a few tweaks and you will see running water. It’s our main attraction in, the anchor of the Society’s huge project, in concert with the City of Lethbridge. We have now begun our planting, starting with some perennials donated by Kathy and Randy Forsyth of the Lomond area.…

November 28, 2018 Richard Burke Took advantage of a gorgeous, late-November afternoon to plant 20 tulip and 50 grape hyacinth bulbs that had been waiting in the garage for some snow piles to melt. They should pop forth (or fifth) mid-to-late Spring. Also noticed a lot of green still in the yard, like on the…