Articles by Ena Clewes
Ena Clewes is a Master Gardener and a graduate of the University of Edinburgh in Scotland. She studied Horticulture and dabbled in Psychology, being unsure of which path she really wanted to follow. The language of plants being more to her liking than the deep recesses of the mind, she studied to become the best gardener, she could be.
Over time, becoming more and more upset at the destruction of our environment, she decided to implement safe and chemical-free ways of achieving the same results in her garden as she would from commercial products.
She lives in Saskatchewan, the "frozen north" to some, and gets great pleasure in trying to grow plants that are semi-hardy in her area, when most of the gardening books say that they will not grow there. Sometimes they are right!
Ena gardens in the English style. Gertrude Jekyll, who wrote Color in the Flower Garden (1908?), gave her inspiration to be a better gardener than perhaps she could have been.
Organic gardening is very simple and does not require a college degree. It is safe for wildlife, which she can attest to with her two very healthy Golden Retrievers and three "Heinz variety" cats!
Ena has written many articles about organic gardening for local newspapers and magazines, and also for online magazines. She speaks at gardening clubs and holds classes in her own garden to teach her organic methods to others who wish to apply them in their own gardens.
Good garden tools mean the difference between lovingly maintaining your garden and grumbling from blisters and a sore back.
Garden Tool Buying Guide
Pick a tool that fits you. In the store, check the weight, length and grip. If you don't get the right tool, you can end up with blisters . Some new pruners come with rotating handles - they make pruning
easier on the ...
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Photo by Randy Son of RobertVines are climbing or trailing plants that must have support to grow vertically. They may be annual or perennial, evergreen or deciduous, herbaceous or woody. Vines can fit into the tiniest spaces , provided their roots are firmly planted in the soil, and grow vertically and/or horizontally with great flexibility.
Clinging Vines
Clinging vines can attach themselves almost anywhere by ...
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Besides knowing whether a plant is sun or shade-loving, it is helpful to know the range in which plants thrive in order to decide whether you can successfully grow it in your garden.
There are many places that you can find the temperature zones for Canada and the United States. These countries are divided into 11 regions based on the lowest average temperature, starting from zone 1 (sub arctic) to zone 11 (subtropical).
Cold is ...
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Choosing what flowers to put where can be a fun and exciting part of gardening. That said, it can also be one of the most frustrating experiences you'll ever have. With a huge selection of seeds, plants, and bulbs available, how do you decide what's best for you?
Research is the best way to figure out what you want and if it'll work in your garden. There are a ton of ...
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After moving into a new home in a new or established neighborhood, many gardeners are disappointed to discover their flowering plants struggling for survival due to poor soil. The soil may be full of clay or stones, too acidic, compacted, or lacking in organic matter. Some home-owners may resort to simply adding fertilizer. Don't do this!
With a little knowledge and a bit of determination you can use soil amendments ...
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Unlike vegetable crops, which share many of the same pests, fruit plants are affected by a wide variety of insects and diseases. Because fruit are borne on so many types of plants, they have a wide range of cultural requirements as well. However, regardless of the crop you are growing, there are basic steps you can take to help to control insects and diseases.
Full Sun is a must for nearly ...
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To grow great-looking, healthy blooms, take a look at your garden soil. Flowers grown in poor soil make for sad plants. Always have a little pile of composted manure in some outer corner. This is very convenient when you may be planting just a few plants at a time. A pile of manure is priceless when it comes to soil improvement. Use an inch of this black gold as ...
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In order to have a good display of bulbs in your garden, you first have to make sure that the bulbs you are going to rely on for that display are healthy.
Buy only dormant bulbs that show little if any, root development and no top growth other than a pale fat bud. (Lilies, however, are never really dormant; their bulbs often have fleshy roots attached.)
Look for bulbs that have their ...
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The fun of container gardening is sometimes in the variety of containers that are available, from simple stone or well-weathered terra cotta, to the most elaborate urns from generations ago.
There are so many plants that are available for container gardening, such as 'The Fairy' a petite rose well suited for container gardening. This rose bears pale pink blooms from late spring until frost. The Stachys (lambs ears) will appeal to ...
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Nature was the first organic gardener, slowly scraping up a thin blanket of rock particles over much of the barren planet, then feeding it with the bodies of tiny, spore-bearing plants and gradually cloaking it in green.
By the mid to late 19th century, chemists decided that they could help gardeners and farmers with new inorganic fertilizers and alike manna from heaven. This seemed to be the answer to the ...
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