by Donna Balzer | Apr 17, 2018 | Food, GARDENING, Greenhouse, Trees & Shrubs
This spring we are expanding into the “back 40” as my dad used to call the back pasture on the farm. This is an area we recently had to fence because we joined the lot behind us with our main house lot. In doing that we had to clear out the branches and brambles and big stumps that were in the way. And so we were left with a field. A new planting opportunity. This post looks at edible shrubs and will be of special interest to green-thumb gardeners or farmers on a budget.
by Donna Balzer | Mar 7, 2018 | Bugs & Buggers, Flowers & Alpines, Food, Gadgets, Greenhouse, Soil, Trees & Shrubs
I was asked to mentor youth as part of the Goodseeds program earlier this winter and I wondered what two students and I would do together for a week once my shed was clean and shears sharpened. It was snowy outdoors so we couldn’t attack my unlimited weeding. I had to get more creative….
by Donna | Jan 28, 2017 | PLANTS & DESIGN, Trees & Shrubs
“I find this inch and a half big indentation in the trunk of the tree. It brings tears to your eyes.”Arborist Kevin Lee
INTERVIEW – ALL ABOUT TREES
Donna Balzer : Tell me about this tree disaster you keep seeing in Calgary?
by Donna | Jan 26, 2017 | GARDENING, Soil, Trees & Shrubs
What kind of nutrients do falling leaves really have? Are they just drained out empty shells of their former selves? Answers vary.
Some older studies show commercially collected fallen leaves in urban centers contained nasty elements such as lead and cadmium because the tree leaves were swept up by machine along with portions of lead-contaminated soil.
by Donna Balzer | Sep 26, 2016 | Landscaping Tips, PLANTS & DESIGN, Trees & Shrubs
It’s the most common problem Jean-Mathieu Daoust sees on trees. An an ISA certified arborist and owner of Tree Frog Tree Care in Calgary ( http://treefrogtreecare.com/.) Daoust sees a lot of tree trouble. Here he tells me about a problem most gardener’s wouldn’t even think about :
by Donna Balzer | Aug 26, 2016 | Bugs & Buggers, GARDENING, Landscaping Tips, PLANTS & DESIGN, Trees & Shrubs
This is the first year that my birch has looked bad and [it has] birch leafminer – haven’t seen that on my tree for years which tells me how stressed it is. Several branches are dead – mainly on the NW side- which took the brunt from a major hailstorm- we were lucky in Airdrie as far as the snowstorm… not too much branch damage but Calgary was devastated.
