Wednesdsay October 6, 1999 THE OAKVILLE BEAVER C3 October m onth of change in your garden JOHN SIMKINS In Your Carden October is the change month when this year's garden ends and the next begins. The perennial garden is cleaned up, and weeds removed and plants cut back to the ground. If the weeds are very thick and cannot be completely cleared out around the plants, dig up the plants and put them on a tarpaulin on the lawn. Dig over the area and remove weeds and debris and sieve the soil if necessary to get rid of small pieces of weed roots. Replant the perennials and water them. This may be done with a small area at a time. The plants may be divided if they are too large for their areas. Use back to back forks to pry the roots apart, sav ing the roots that will be destroyed by cutting or chopping them. The extra _______________ pieces may be dug into the vegetable garden or a spare space or potted up for the Horticultural Society spring sale, church sale, or your own garage sale. The debris may be composted which is a popular subject in the fall more for garden writers than for gardeners! Composting is done by layering leaves, green waste and soil and mixing it. Fertilizer may be sprinkled in to help speed the breakdown. This may be done in a compost bin or compost pile. The compost material must be turned over about every week or when the temperature reaches 140 °F to bring new material into the reacting area and keep the reac tion going for a few weeks. As the heat builds up, it is dissipated from the top and sides. The critical mass required to obtain, say a temperature of 140°F, is about 64 cubic feet (4'x4'x4'). Ideally, the pile or heap should be built in a week to this size and the best time is when the leaf fall makes sufficient material available. A small compost bin is useful at other times for the small amount of leaves, kitchen waste, weeds and other debris obtained during the spring and summer. This will gradually break down over a period of about a year with the lower level finishing first. Compost bins have an opening on the side at ground level to remove composted material as it is formed. During the summer grass clippings are a green source but do not break down on their own because they pack down, exclude air and rot-making a pun gent odour. It is best to use a mulcher lawn mower and leave the clippings on the lawn. They will break down to soluble components and go into the lawn roots. If you are catching clippings, store a few piles of leaves to mix with the grass when adding it to the compost bin. Composting is a win-win activity. The environment is assisted by the reduced number of waste dumps, the garden has good organic material to help the texture of the soil pro duce better plants and its fertility saves money not used for fertilizer. Organic gardening books will provide explicit instructions in building and running composting units and using compost. W ild F lo w e r G ard en in g Another section of gardening seldom seen in Oakville is wild flower gardening. We have wild flowers in containers and in eight-inch deep beds on the roof garden at the hospi tal. We plant them each spring. Marigolds, zinnias and cos mos are the main components. Last week, driving home on Robinson Street from Cruickshanks Nursery at Navy, I turned north on Allen. On the right was a beautiful wild flower garden alongside the comer house. The colourful plants make a nice carpet. I think we should try some in school yards. In some schools, bulbs are planted in the fall and sunflowers in the spring. In the same bed, wild with the sunflowers would make fine bedding plants flowering under the sunflowers. (S e e 'M a n y ' p a g e C 4) H O M E S E R V I C E S W O O D N ' FLO O R • In s ta lla tio n s • R ep a irs • S an d in g • R e fin ish in g • S ta in in g K A Z 3 3 8 - 1 8 8 1 S E L L Y O U R O W N H O M E 0 ° o Real E sta te Comm ission LOW CONSULTING FEE INCLUDES: • L o rn ' For Sole* Sian • Open Hom e S ig n > Unlim ited Consultation • CLS-Computer listing Services • Feature Sheets • Free Home Inspection • F r e e le g a l Advise • Member Credit Bureou a L M a p le L e a l o n o s o i H >nte MarVeling C onsultant' Inc. 0 "Ta* 0%TO«.» P l a n o/rfe. W e e k Basement-entry home Handsome stonework, bal conies and decorative planters give this basement-entry home an impressive exterior that would fit into any neighbour hood. Inside the foyer, views from above and a feature stairway immediately set a distinctive tone. Adjacent to the foyer and through the large laundry room, the unfinished basement area offers ample space for future expansion. 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