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.
Dandelion WeedWhen I first started my present organic garden, it had been totally farmland and therefore, it was full of weeds. It had no shape. It was like a typical farmers field, bumpy ground and obnoxious weeds. At first I felt rather daunted and overwhelmed by the job of creating this nightmare into an English Cottage garden. As I have lived in England, I knew what I ...
Posted in Weed Control | No Comments »
I have discovered a handy way to use eggshells in starting my garden seeds. I use this method in my organic garden, as it gives back to the earth.
Advantages of this method include good moisture retention needed for germination, along with avoiding transplanting shock, since seeds are moved, "pot" and all.
If you would like to try this method, then follow these simple steps:
Take one egg and cut a ...
Posted in Seed Starting | 2 Comments »
Gardening in the 'Good Old Days'.
I have just been reading about gardeners in the 18th and 19th centuries, and I have been quite amazed at the similarity of the problems that gardener's face today.
Organic gardening was alive and well in those days, as I outline in my soon to be released ebook "How To Master Organic Gardening."
Although, I think,the double purpose of a garden has been ...
Posted in Garden Maintenance | No Comments »
Signs of Black Spot
I think all fledgling gardeners and those who have more experience, know the dreaded signs of "black spot". You see the black spots on your rose leaves and sometimes yellowish edges on the leaves.
How can you save your favorite rose plants?
Black spot fungus attacks only roses. Those black spots that are found on the leaves are the actual fungus itself, not dead spots, ...
Posted in Garden Pests and Diseases | 1 Comment »
Welcome to Ena's Garden where together we will uncover what works and what doesn't when creating an environmentally friendly organic garden.
To the left is my organic garden as seen from the edge of my yard.
I am a Master Gardener specializing in organic gardening and for 20 years I have been working with not only my own organic gardens but helping people with their organic gardens as well.
Here at GoOrganicGardening.com I will share with ...
Posted in Garden Maintenance | No Comments »
We are getting close to that time of year for the Amaryllis bulb to become popular
as a christmas gift.
They are such lovely elegant looking plants, that grace many a home, the Amaryllis is not really a lily, and the common-called amaryllis is not even an amaryllis, but a Hypeastrum.
No matter what the correct name is it is most loved for its spectatular blossom production and because it can be grown year after year.
Every year in ...
Posted in Bulbs | No Comments »
Fertilizer is anything added that improves the fertility of the soil. a good organic fertilizer feeds the soil rather than only feeding the plant. This is the safest way to fertilize plants .
A fertile soil has a balance of minerals and micronutrients so subtle, that I do not think that any chemical could add
them all. However it is known that manure, compost and leaf mold will.
Organic fertilizers improve the soil to allow it to hold ...
Posted in Garden Maintenance | 1 Comment »
Vines 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 one of several means. Boston ivy has ...
Posted in Garden Design | No Comments »
Dandelions in the lawn, bugs in the garden, a little spray here, a little spray there, weeds and bugs disappear, no problem.
THINK AGAIN!!
Pesticide poisoning occurs when chemicals enter the blood stream. Not all poison symptoms occur right away. Most chemicals have cumulative effects. Your liver, lungs, bone marrow, kidneys, nervous system and
skin may all be affected with pesticides.
Pesticides enter the bloodstream through absorption, inhalation or ingestion. Absorption through the skin and ...
Posted in Garden Pests and Diseases | 2 Comments »
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 papery skins (called tunics) intact. ...
Posted in Bulbs | No Comments »
