A Rewilding the Garden session

Six weeks before the frost sets in (traditionally, Canadian Thanksgiving is the first-frost date, but it actually comes later), gardeners can often get an early start on the next year’s garden and crops. The six-week mark is perfect for doing transplants because roots are not likely to experience drought or heat stress. It gives them a chance to establish themselves before the coming winter.

I decided it was time for an event that I then publicized on EventBrite and Facebook: a fall-oriented gardening session to prepare a garden for next year and plant native species. This hands-on event for the avid or casual gardener was to be a collaborative learning opportunity about native and cultivated plants for biodiverse wildlife gardens. Attendees were also welcome to bring plants from their garden, for swapping with other gardeners.

So, Saturday morning, I got up early to make it up to Pepinière Jasmin – where you can always find some native/indigenous plants even at the end of the planting season. One of the native plant suppliers was Aiglon Indigo.

I got the following plants: 

Pulmonaria saccharata “Mrs. Moon” common name: Bethlehem Sage. I had one of these in a planter; it needs to be in the ground or else the freeze will kill it.

Trichophorum alpinum – Alpine bulrush, a sedge grass, for a small cement planter for the bright and sometimes-dry front of the house. It will never grow to this height in the planter as the roots are too shallow. However, I’m starting it in the planter anyway, and then finding a place for it.

Tiarella cordifolia – Foam Flower takes full shade and does not grow too high, and will spread 1-2 feet. I got two to fill a corner in my back yard, where precious else will grow, as tree roots interfere.

Aralia racemosa – American Spikenard. I got this is for a lark, as the plant is teeny tiny right now, and in dormancy. But it could end up towering 5 feet, and if it likes my backyard, it will also spread five feet. If it thrives, I have a second location to transplant it to.

Mitchella repens – Partridge berry. I have such high hopes for this tiny little vine. I bought 8 of them, and as they like acid soil, they’ve been planted behind my pond under the cedar, where almost everything goes to die. I’ve amended the soil with a bag of forest compost and a bag of earth.

One thing I know from previous attempts to plant ferns and other shady things: plants like to be near friends. Someone I met at a plant swap gave me six Matteaucia struthiopteris, known as Ostrich fern, Fiddlehead fern, or Shuttlecock fern. So I planted an additional two ferns in this same spot as the Partridge berry, where two existing ferns struggle, but survive. So now there are four in this spot, and the other four are along the fence in a mostly-shady spot now.

We removed an impressive amount of biomass to plant the above natives in the backyard, in the form of the highly invasive Impatiens glandulifera – Policeman’s Bonnet (Himalayan Balsam). The Policeman’s Bonnet is a gorgeous flower, and it hurt a tiny bit to take it away, because the bumblebees loved it so much. I could often see up to 5 bees at a time visiting the flowers. However, just like a bunch of volunteer squash plants had done the year before, it crowded out all the native plants I had planted. Bloodroot, Herb Robert, and several others I had planted: all gone. At least the Creeping Jenny and the hostas and a little apple tree survived the onslaught.

Last year I dug out the Virginia creeper growing against my back wall, and planted a climbing hydrangea in its place. Little did I know, but it also released the ivy, which has since taken off.

The backyard looks bare again, but with a lot of watering and top-dressing, it should have another 3 – 4 weeks of growth before going dormant for the winter. I bought a seeping hose (a good if tardy idea) to connect to my water barrel so that the perimeter of my garden should have water when I open the spigot.

Then my guest and I had a backyard barbecue, and listened to the Oliver Jones tribute choir singing over on neighbouring Workman Street. It was a good day!