Ken Wright

Gardening in the shadow of the Rockies can be very difficult. As everyone has seen in the past few weeks, the weather can be a little unpredictable, to say the least.

But for one Springbank nursery, growing a beautiful garden is as simple as sticking with nature, and requires no watering, no fertilizer, no chemicals, and no worries.

Bow Point Nursery grows only plants native to the area, a practice that owner Ken Wright says saves water, protects the environment, and ultimately is much easier than maintaining imported, container-grown plants.

“Everybody’s programmed to do high-maintenance pruning, watering, fertilizing, insect control, disease control,” Wright said. “They have to take a leap of faith. Stop watering.”

All the plants at Bow Point are field-grown, and have never been watered — in fact, watering makes them go “backwards.”

Native plants have evolved to survive and thrive through droughts, hailstorms, cold foothills nights, and unexpected frost.

Ken Wright of Bow Point Nursery in Springbank checks out a row of limber pines. The nursery only uses locally sourced seeds, growing a variety of native plants that require little, if any watering and no fertilizer. Photo by Alan Mattson

They are naturally resistant to disease, insects and weeds.

Initially, native plants from a nursery should be watered once a month for about a year until the root system is established.

Initially, the native plants may appear “thin” next to container grown plants, but within three years they are full and bushy, while buyers of imported plants might be “going back . . . for the third time.”

Gardeners can grow their own native plants from seed, Wright said, just to “mimic what nature does.”

Watch plants you like, see what conditions they thrive in, and source the seeds from healthy looking plants.

It’s essential to remove “extremely competitive” grass around a native plant, or it will take all the nutrients and water needed for them to thrive.

Some of Wright’s favourite species are dwarf birch, willows, paskapoo poplar, dogwood, lodgepole pine, and potentilla.

The Town of Cochrane requires native plants with permeable mulch, or “naturescaping” in at least 25 per cent of new residential greenspace and 100 per cent of commercial greenspace.

“Ornamentals, in this part of the country, it’s a rough venture making them successful,” said Mayor Truper McBride. “(They are) a draw on the water supply, which is already a limiting factor in Cochrane.”

Pesticide Alternatives

Here are a few tips you can use to have a “green” yard this summer without all of the chemicals:

1. Fertilize naturally. Nourish the soil with compost, manure, grass clippings and/or slow-release organic fertilizers.

2. Top-dress with compost. Nourish your soil by sprinkling finished compost over your lawn.

3. Recycle your clippings. Grass clippings are the perfect, safe fertilizer for lawns.

4. Overseed. By overseeding once every year, your lawn will be thick, healthy, and will crowd out weeds.

5. Keep lawns adequately watered but not over-watered. Two centimetres of water should be enough to water your lawn, so put a container on your grass when you water to help you measure. Water your lawn during the early morning or early evening to minimize evaporation.

6. Aerate your lawn. This allows moisture and nutrients to reach the roots of the grass. Aeration relieves compaction and cultivates the soil. Best done in the spring or fall.

7. Mow high. Experts recommend never cutting more than one-third of the height of your grass and leaving at least 3 inches of grass on your lawn.

8. Sharpen your blades. Dull blades tear and stress grass blades, increasing the potential for disease and infestation.

9. Develop strong grass roots. Cut your grass shorter in the spring and then raise the blade on your lawnmower as the summer progresses — this allows your lawn to develop strong roots.

10. De-thatch your lawn if necessary by removing the tough mixture of dead grass and roots that can build up above the soil surface with a heavy rake.

11. Pull weeds. Pick or dig out weeds at their root (easiest when soil is moist) and by hand.

12. Use alternatives. Reduce the area of grass that needs maintenance by planting flowers, plants, or herb/vegetable gardens.

—Source: Canadian Cancer Society

No related stories.

• Filed under Community | Both comments and pings are currently closed.

Comments are closed.