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Gardening tips for seniors

2011-03-01T02:16:00.001-08:00

But what a joy it is to see the fruits of your labor! As the plants grow, it is better to weed a little at a time rather than a lot all at once. Do the same with your flower bed.

I sprinkle some PREEN around my young flowers and it really reduces the weed growth. I water with a hose because carrying a sprinkler in one hand can twist your neck out of place.

For those of you who develop bursitis in your shoulder or tendonitis in your elbow or a flare-up of arthritis in your knees or hands, we have a new laser machine in our office that is so effective to reduce pain and inflammation.

Cortisone shots are effective, but they have side effects. Laser is much more effective than ultrasound come and see for yourself.

In conclusion, you must look at your specific weaknesses, i.e. arthritis, bulged discs, and decide if you are capable of gardening. Realize that to prepare the soil, have a steady fence, plant, water, weed, and fertilize is a lot of work.

But if you do it gradually, or get a little help, it is good to get some exercise, be outdoors, and fresh vegetables or blossoming flowers is good for the mind and body.

Let me share an observation now. If you give me two senior citizens who have equal health conditions, and one who gardens and one who doesn't whom do you think is happier?

I have observed that a law of nature is to keep in motion. Don't overwork, but don't stop. It is so good to keep active, both for your body, and to keep your mind alert.

I don't know how much money you actually will save once harvest time comes, because there are many expenses to get crops to harvest.

But if you weigh all the pros and cons, you will have flowers and vegetables in your yard until your joints make it impossible to do so. Then I think it will be fun to share your "skills" with your grandchildren on how to have a healthy garden.

This is why Dr. Stacie and I love being chiropractors.

There are so many seniors who think their achy joints and back pain is due to old age. They have been told it is arthritis, to just keep taking anti-inflammatory pills.

But when they come to our office and we gently adjust their spine into place, and they exclaim, " if I knew I could feel 10 years younger, I would have been here sooner." Because with less pain, better mobility, they could work in the garden that they thought was too much for them. Just maybe, articles like this will help you to realize how wonderful gentle chiropractic care can be for you.

With the season upon us

2011-03-01T02:15:00.001-08:00

There are many benefits that we all derive from growing both flowers and vegetables in our own gardens.
I love coming home from work and seeing how beautiful the flowers in my front yard are growing. Then I go to the back yard and there is nothing like a home-grown tomato for the salads that I truly enjoy.
Yet, I've learned that everything has positive and negative attributes. Many seniors hurt their backs, necks, or knees due to gardening. So allow me to give you a little anatomical understanding of certain spinal weaknesses I've seen in seniors in my 29 years in practice.
Then we could understand the dos and don'ts of gardening.
A normal aging process in all of us is for our spine to compress due to gravity and our discs get thinner, dryer, and weaker. Remember, we have 25 discs in our spine, they are between the vertebra, and like wet sponges, they act as shock absorbers.
The spine curves backwards in our neck and lower back, yet it curves forward between our shoulders. This curve gives stability to our core, so all of our muscles will function better with a strong cover. Our goal in life is to keep the weight down to not compress the discs even further.
Another goal is to keep the discs from drying out, so I advise 2-3 capsules of Omega III vitamins daily.
In gardening specifically, with the above information, we need to help the body maintain its normal curves.
For example, if we kneel to plant, as we bend over, we force the neck to look down and the waist to bend forward.
Both activities will compress the disc, so we should take breaks often to walk around and let our discs and muscles relax so they won't be strained. In the middle of a disc is a jelly-bean size ball of jelly.
Many seniors have bulging discs or herniated discs, this means the middle ball of jelly has bulged to the side or even ruptured open and pushes against spinal nerves.
So any senior whose MRI reveals they have disc bulges or herniations, they should not garden, in my opinion. They should go to the farmer's market and by fresh vegetables. It isn't worth planting for two hours and hurting for two weeks.
Many seniors have arthritis in their knees, so they can't kneel but they bend from the waist which will compress their lumbar discs even more.
I advise to buy a stool where you could sit to plant, yet it has a bar to help you get up. Many seniors have thin skin, so they should always wear gloves to garden.
With blood thinners, they should protect their skin with long sleeves, long pants, a hat and sunscreen for their neck, face, and ears.
It is important to drink lots of fluid, preferably water or lemonade or Gatorade but not ice tea which will drain your fluids or caffeine which could raise your blood pressure like colas or coffee.
Here would be the ideal picture. You have your grandson dig up the ground and add peat moss or fertilizer, because those bags could weigh 50 pounds or buy a tiller, loosening the soil is repetitive work, and remember our explanation of discs, you don't want to be bent over too long. Most people need to install a fence to keep out rabbits or deer, decide if your grandchild should do that or if you can.
I remember as a kid, we would collect the rainwater in 50 gallon garbage cans by the rain gutter and use that "natural" water to water the plants during dry spells. i do believe rain water has less additives and chlorine than tap water.
Plant the plants gradually, make some rows, put in the seeds, cover them up, while standing up to stretch and relax your muscles.
Moderate activity is good for osteoporosis, it will keep you bones stronger and the vegetables will help you with calcium intake.

Timely gardening tips for where you live

2011-03-01T02:14:00.001-08:00

Central/Midwest
The seed catalogues have arrived and the snow is piled high. It's time to dream about spring. Think about diversifying your garden this year by ordering some of the hundreds of wonderful heirloom vegetable varieties. Note the date when stored and canned vegetable crops are completely consumed and plan accordingly. In late January get your seed-starting equipment ready and start hardy greens and cold tolerant flowers like pansies and primulas. Improve your seed germination with a heat source such as an electric heating mat. Nearly every type of garden plant germinates faster and better with a week or two of 80 to 90 degree soil temperatures. Indoor house plants and window gardens typically need less water and fertilizer this time of year since growth slows down with shorter winter days. Outside, shovel snow onto perennials to help protect them from harsh winter conditions.
North Central and Rockies
If snuggling in with seed catalogs fails to satisfy on dark winter days, try growing fresh herbs or greens indoors. Success will depend on providing enough light-a south-facing window is usually not enough. Instead, use florescent lights and keep the tubes as close to the plants as possible. An inexpensive timer is handy to turn on the lights for 12 to 16 hours a day. Start a few extra-early tomatoes and peppers in January, picking varieties that can be container-grown so they can be brought inside or protected during chilly spring nights. (See Page 52 for more seed-- starting tips.)
Pacific Northwest
Start seeds now for hardy vegetable transplants for a late winter garden. Outside, protect winter crops of lettuce, greens and hardy coles with floating row covers or a cloche system. Keep harvesting and thinning the root vegetables and notice how sweet and flavorful they are this time of year, with sugars and nutrients concentrated in the roots. Be alert to a break in January weather and plant your early peas, selecting enation virus-resistant varieties. Celebrate the start of a new year with a generous clipping of flowering quince or other early spring flowering shrubs for forcing. if it's been cold and dry let the branches soak in slightly warm water for an hour. Soon bouquets of colorful swelling buds announce spring is just around the corner.
Southwest
Snow and hard frost challenge gardeners located above 4,000 feet, but most Southwest areas below 3,000 feet are great winter garden territory. Vegetables to plant now include broccoli, root crops, greens, onions and onion sets, rhubarb roots, lettuce, peas, fava beans, potatoes, garlic and shallots. Winter is the prime time to transplant bare-root fruit trees and establish hardy perennial plantings. Native perennial bunchgrasses are beautiful and drought resistant for drier parts of California and the Southwest. Incorporating these grasses, native wildflowers and other drought-- adapted perennial plants into your landscape will preserve scarce water resources and make yard work much easier. In the low desert, gardeners can start thinking about starting eggplants, peppers and tomatoes indoors. Hot pepper fans may want to try the orange manzano or rocoto pepper from South America-a new variety especially adapted to the region. It's an ornamental plant with dark green, fuzzy leaves, blue flowers and orange, thick-fleshed, juicy-hot, apple-shaped fruit.

New gardeners almanac

2011-03-01T02:13:00.002-08:00

New England & Maritime Canada

Snow is flying and gardeningchores are reduced to watering the window pots of parsley, sage and Thai hot peppers brought in from the garden. It's time to enjoy last season's harvest and start planning for the next. A personalized planting chart will help you know when to start seeds for your garden and how many plants you will need. Rule a large sheet of paper with columns for each vegetable you plant, and mark rows for each month. For each crop, mark the dates you start seed, transplant and harvest in the appropriate columns and rows. Note the size of your planting and if the amount harvested met your family's needs. With a few years of fine-tuning for extra-early crops, main crops and fall plantings, you will have a seasonal task calendar exactly suited to your individual site and tastes. (See the chart on Page 57 for more tipson garden planting times.)

Mid-Atlantic

December is the time to garden on paper. Pay attention to what problems you experienced last year and try to plan a rotation with these in mind. To discourage scab on your spring potatoes, plant them where your late corn grew. Early root crops are a good choice to follow winter squash since that area will tend to be low in annual weed seeds. Go through your stored winter vegetables every week or two, culling out the bad ones. Save seed for planting next year from your best open-- pollinated winter squash as you eat them. In mid-January, start bulb onions from seed indoors or in a greenhouse. Take advantage of the first warm spells to sow some cold-tolerant lettuce and Chinese greens outdoors.

Southern Interior

Here in the South, where setting out plants at Easter is a rule of (green) thumb, midwinter is prime indoor sowing time for those seeds that take a bit longer to get started. Begonias take 14 to 16 weeks to mature, so seeds started on New Year's Eve will be blooming in your hanging baskets and window boxes by mid-spring. 'Dragon Wing' begonia is a spectacular new pink hybrid to try, with enormous plants that drink up our southern heat and humidity. Start geraniums, lisianthus, aquilegias, pansies and vincas before the end of January. Pick a sunny, dry day to prepare vegetable beds for spring crops. Except for the Piedmont and other cooler areas, January is time to begin planting cabbage, carrots, lettuce and hardy greens, radish and turnips. So when those tempting catalogs appear in the mailbox, do more than just dream about spring planting-start sowing!

Gulf Coast

Keep an eye out for freezing temperatures. Cut back tropical plants and winterize your tender plantings with layers of mulch. (Keep a cover handy for when freezes are predicted.) Don't fertilize warm-season turf-grasses now: They have entered dormancy and any forced growth is vulnerable to freezing. Prune ornamental evergreens and plant pansies and other cool-season bedding plants. Tulips and hyacinths that have been chilled for six weeks should be ready to plant by late December. Prepare vegetable beds for spring planting before late winter rains make soil too wet to work. December is time to plant onion transplants, hardy greens and root crops, and start seed for cabbage-family transplants. Later in January, start planting potatoes and lettuce, and sow seed for tomato, pepper and eggplant spring-garden transplants.

GARDENING TOP TIPS

2011-03-01T02:13:00.000-08:00

WHERE IS ThE bEST SPOT TO lOcATE my PlANTS? PRIMROSES bring a splash of colour to any garden but be careful when deciding where to plant. Use in shaded areas to brighten. Make sure that they are not placed too deeply in the soil, set them at the level already in the pot. This avoids getting the leaves too wet and prevents rot from taking place.
whAT cAN I DO wITh flOwERS? WhEn primroses have finished flowering in containers, the plants can be lifted out and planted in the garden to flower again. The plants don't live long. Protect from slugs as they often like the shaded areas associated with primroses.

Get gardening tips at Spring Fair

2011-03-01T02:06:00.001-08:00

Inspiration and tips galore await gardeners at the Spring Fair in Puyallup this week.
The Garden Show encompasses 16,000 square feet of booths, gardens and displays, according to garden coordinator Andrea Bosley.
Here are the top five things not to miss:
1. Display gardens: Visitors can see a container garden featuring spring flowers by Vassey Nursery in Puyallup, a landscape by Clover Park Technical College and a container garden by the Washington State University Pierce County Master Gardeners.
2. Gardening celebs: Ciscoe and Marianne Binetti, whose column appears in The News Tribune, will headline the expert gardening workshops on the Garden Show Stage. On Saturday, Ciscoe will broadcast his KIRO Radio show, "Gardening with Ciscoe," live from the fair starting at 10 a.m., and answer audience questions starting at noon. On Sunday afternoon, Binetti will lead workshops on "How to Eat Your Front Yard," "Incredible Edibles" and "Container Gardening."
3. Floral displays: Commercial florists will assemble gorgeous blossoms and greenery into displays based on the theme, "Napa Valley." Wild orchids, lavender, jasmine, honeysuckle and other plants found in California's famed wine country or in the Mediterranean promise to delight the nose and eyes.
4. Information booths: Nonprofit gardening groups will dispense advice. Gardeners can learn bonsai basics at the Olympia Bonsai Club booth. Puyallup Valley Rose Society members can recommend which roses grow best in the Northwest. Visitors can see live bees at the Pierce County Beekeeper display or watch koi swim in the Puget Sound Koi Club's pool. The Northwest Giant Pumpkin Growers will share tips on nurturing your own huge pumpkin. The Pierce County Master Gardeners will be out in force, giving demonstrations on stage and at their booth on topics ranging from "Growing Fuchsias" to "Square Foot Gardening."
5. Stuff to buy. Choose from an array of garden-related wares. Vendors' merchandise will include garden flags, flower bulbs, plants, ornamental trees, gardening tools, antique wheelbarrows, gardening books, flower pots, vases, water containers and much more.

Tips and Techniques for Seniors and the Disabled

2011-03-01T02:05:00.002-08:00

Tipsand Techniques for Seniors and the Disabled
Joann Woy. 1997; 214 pp. $16.95 ($20.95 postpaid). Stackpole Books, 5067 Ritter Road, Mechanicsburg, PA 17o55, Soo/732-3669, fax 717-7960412, sales@stackpolebooks.com, www.stackpolebooks.com.
When I was recovering from a back injury, this book would have been a godsend. In fact, some of the specifics would be useful in avoiding the sore muscles and strains that accompany gardeningin general. Accessible Gardeningprovides great ideas for those who want to garden from wheelchairs, who use walkers, have trouble bending, or have reduced wrist or leg strength. To say the least, this is a very useful book with helpful sections on how to modify tools, surface paths for safety and beauty, raise plant beds to reduce stooping, and create accessible garden and garden path layouts. Many of the suggestions make gardens more intimate for any user.

Best Tip

2011-03-01T02:05:00.000-08:00

My family and I use bulk tea daily and at the end of the day I fill the teapot with water and place the diluted tea leaves around my trees and plants, which acts as mulch and is also very nourishing for the garden.
-- Barbara Hickey
To get rid of aphids, put banana peels around the affected area of your plant. It worked for my gooseberry bushes and also on the branches of an apple tree. I do not have rose bushes, but I bet it would help there, too.
This year I am preventing the occurrence by placing the banana peels early, before the aphids come around.
-- Nicole Grant
For dandelions, I pull them out and place a bit of salt in the hole. It does not eliminate the spread, but the salted dandelion will not come back.
-- Nicole Grant
I used the paving circle that always comes on sale at lumberyards and modified it to be a kind of semi circle with the centre a couple feet from the front sidewalk. Then I ringed it with a low hedge (I used Alpine Current), filled the rest of the front yard with a few perennials--hosta and lady's mantle in the shade and junipers in the sun closer to the street. Add a small bistro set and you have a functional addition to the yard that really extends the outdoor area by allowing shade or sun when the back yard is too hot or cool. And no mowing!
-- Mary Drummond
My best eco-gardening tip is not to be so worried about what your lawn looks like. Your lawn doesn't have to look like the a fairway at a golf course.
I don't water my lawn and it looks just fine for my taste. Spring rains turn it green, it has the odd yellow flower in it and yes, if we don't get any rain in the summer it will turn brown in August, but let's be serious: so does a great deal of Calgary and the surrounding area. The fact is your lawn doesn't have to look perfect, and neither does the rest of your life . . . It's not only unrealistically expensive it's also completely unsustainable environmentally.

Your eco-gardening tips

2011-03-01T02:04:00.003-08:00

A couple of weeks ago we asked you to submit your best eco-gardening tips for a chance to win a copy of Eco-yards (Beauty Way Creations, $29.95) by Laureen Rama. Well, there was only one lucky winner, but we got so many great tips that we thought we'd share some of them with you.
Our winner of the random draw was Pat Minor of High River. Here's her tip: Our family has decided to make a square-foot garden in our backyard because it uses much less water and seed; the fertilizer will come from our vermicomposter (that my Grade 2 son was a proponent of as his class does vermicomposting).
And some more tips, for your gardening pleasure:
I have natural herbicides going bad in my cupboard right now! Garlic cloves that I didn't eat fast enough and seem to be sprouting, might as well be sprouting in my garden. I plant these suckers around and near my vegetables. Those little buggers (Weeds) Hate Garlic-y Soil!
-- Michelle Basco
Eat your dandelions--it is spring, after all, and this is the best time to cleanse your body of all the toxic buildup from our long Calgary winter. I like to juice my dandelions or make a wonderful spring salad with the greens.
-- Andrea Hejtmanek
Composting is great for our garden. We spread out our beautiful black soil onto our garden in the spring and watch how lush and fruitful our yields are. We are able to grow our own organic veggies for the summer and . . . then we are able to keep all our hearty root vegetables in the garage for up to six months without the hefty price tag organic foods can command.
-- Andrea Hejtmanek
Plant some raspberry bushes. These are the easiest bushes to care for--we do nothing and every year we benefit from a heaping bowl of mouth-watering berries.
-- Andrea Hejtmanek
This year we have (replaced) non-medicinal plants and flowers (with) flowers that give our immunity and nerves a boost. Instead of geraniums we have planted echinacea, chrysanthemum, camomile and other medicinal flowers so that we are able to make teas from the blossoms. They look beautiful and taste even better in infusions.
-- Andrea Hejtmanek

Gardening tips for people with allergies

2011-03-01T02:04:00.001-08:00

Reconsidering what type of flowers to plant may make gardening more enjoyable for people with allergies, according to a May 1, 2003, news release from the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology. More than 35 million Americans suffer from seasonal allergic rhinitis, which is caused by airborne pollens and mold spores. Symptoms include sneezing, congestion, runny nose, and itchiness in the nose, roof of the mouth, throat, eyes, and ears. Some plants produce higher levels of pollen than others, thus producing greater allergic reactions.
Gardening guidelines from the Academy include using plants that are native to the area because they require less effort from the gardener and do not require fertilizers or pesticides and planting bright, showy flowers. These flowers have large pollen because they are pollinated by insects; therefore, the pollen seldom is airborne. Tips to help lessen the effects of allergic rhinitis include
* using antihistamines or nasal sprays before gardening outdoors;
* washing clothes and hair to remove pollen after gardening;
* gardening on days when the pollen count is low or the day is cool, cloudy, and less windy;
* using black plastic as mulch instead of straw;
* wearing gloves, goggles, and respiratory masks when gardening; and
* not touching one's face and eyes while working outdoors.

Garden's Polytunnel

2011-02-23T00:41:00.001-08:00

"A lot of people do find it hard doing the heavy work - the digging and bending down. So a lot of it is based on raised beds."
The garden has produced an array of salad and vegetables, and Karen is particularly proud of the lettuces which have grown.
"It's fantastic and they get used in the church kitchen," she said.
Carrots, radishes, and tomatoes are grown in the garden's polytunnel.
However, as the seasons change and the temperature falls, Karen explains how it's not always easy to maintain the garden.
"In the winter you have tidying up to do and the compost to sort out - It's not quite as glamorous as gardening in the summer."
But for Suzie and Karen, growing produce at the church is not only a great way for their students to learn and get involved with gardening - it is about creating a sense of community spirit.
Karen says: "It gets the place connected into the community and anything to do with healthy eating goes down really well in places like Aspley, as there's not a lot of posh food shops."
Suzie, director of Life, has a vision in mind for the future of the project as she hopes to head towards a social enterprise, a non-profit making company working for the community.
The aim is for the produce to be sold to the public.
"We have had a couple of ideas about edible bouquets, with things in it that look pretty like parsley," she said.
The group recently set up another base at Clifton Community Centre and Suzie hopes the group can continue with its achievements and develop an allotment there with the same success as they have had in Aspley.

Adults learn the beauty of gardening at church plot

2011-02-23T00:39:00.001-08:00

A BEAUTIFUL garden which started life as grassland behind a church has been given a new lease of life.
Suzie Wright and her scheme Learning in a Fun Environment (Life) obtained the land near Aspley Methodist Church in February 2009.
Life was set up in September 2007 for adults with learning difficulties and disabilities.
The members now help to run the garden alongside Suzie and colleague Karen Fry.
The allotment took shape in spring 2009 and with the help of Karen, who taught gardening through New College Nottingham, the group turned it into a nurtured and cultivated plot of land.
Karen, who studied botany at Newcastle University, said the whole idea was to create somewhere to grow food and flowers and get the students involved.
"We've done a lot of learning on what the different vegetables are and what sort of things we can grow," she said.
"It's quite difficult for people to understand the link between a tiny seed which grows in the ground and quite a long time later comes up as a plant - so I've been trying to connect that together."
As a number of the students have mobility problems and are in wheelchairs, it can be difficult for them to take part in practical gardening.
Karen said: "We have to have somewhere that they can reach.

Cold weather means gardening challenges; The bigger the root system the more rapid uptake of fertilizers, whether you're using synthetics or organics

2011-02-23T00:38:00.000-08:00

It has been an interesting gardening season so far. Thoughts about the low soil temperature and the miniscule plants being sold in the stores.
As a lot of gardeners are aware, this spring so far the weather has been a lot colder than normal. We have had many reports of plants, particularly hardy nursery stock in gardens, getting killed off by the frost. As we said in a column a few weeks ago, this is not a season where you can force your plants into early development. An example in our area, which is not normally particularly cold, the 1st of May's minimum night temperature was minus 2F (1 C). The ground temperature, which is the most important link in the survival of bedding plants, is in most areas way below normal for the first week of May.
It is going to take a lot more than a week of sunny days to bring these ground temperatures up. You are going to need at least three weeks, minimum. As we have said before, don't plant your corn early this year, otherwise you will be going out to put a second seeding in.
Miniscule plants for sale. I find it mind boggling that gardeners will go and buy one inch (2.5 cm) high impatiens plants being sold in a local food store and two inch (5 cm) high tomato plants in four inch (10 cm) pots.
All these miniscule plants have only just been planted up, so the likelihood of the root system penetrating the whole of the growing medium in the container is highly remote.
Yet with today's modern day bedding and vegetable plants, a large fully developed root system, even to the degree of appearing to be pot bound, is a far better thing to spend your money on than plants that have just been put into the pot and shipped out of the greenhouse a week later. The bigger the root system, whether you are planting in a container or in the ground, when the ground is warm enough, the more rapid uptake of fertilizers, whether you are using synthetics or organics.
This is the number one controlling mechanism in plant growth. If the roots cannot take up sufficient food, then the plant is going to grow very poorly and very slowly, which translates, if you are growing flowering plants, into very few flowers. And if you are growing vegetables, such as tomatoes, it means it means you might just get five pounds of fruit.
Where we know from experience, getting large plants and we are talking real large plants at three feet high (90 cm) on the 1st of June, you can get at least 25 to 35 pounds of fruit off of one container grown plant if it is properly watered and fed.
Talking about plant sizes, I came across an interesting piece of marketing in geraniums. Plants in a hyped up four-inch (10 cm) pot in a big box store were twenty five per cent more expensive and not as good quality as a four-inch (10 cm) geranium out of one of the garden centers.

Natural Habitat

2011-02-23T00:34:00.001-08:00

"Perfect pale flowers with an egg-yolk centre held on stems the colour of baby birds above rosettes of dark, crinkled leaves, the primula epitomises the coming of spring.
"In its natural habitat, it seeds itself around, each new plant becoming an established clump, spreading out gradually in search of nutrients among the debris of leaves and moss.
"Initially in the garden, though, it needs a helping hand.
"It is a sociable plant and always looks its best in colonies."
Her observations are detailed in Life In A Cottage Garden, a new six-part BBC Two series which started yesterday, accompanied by a tie-in book.
If you have a shady spot with a canopy of trees, rake up the leaves in autumn and make as much leaf mould as you can, she advises, which can then be used as a mulch or to enrich other parts of the garden.
Use some as a natural mulch around trees and groups of larger plants, but keep mulch away from young plant stems, as it can rot them if too much comes into contact.
"Don't just leave the fallen leaves because they may be hiding some of your tiny treasures such as erythroniums and pretty epimedium grandiflorum and versicolor.
Don't leave fallen leaves on hellebores because they grow so close to one another that any disease will spread."
Research the plants you want to incorporate in your woodland area, as some have different needs to others.
"You need to put things in places you know they would grow naturally.
"Epimedium versicolor, for instance, will grow in very dry shade and will grow in tree roots, but that wouldn't work with trilliums because they need a good root run."
Whatever your soil type in your woodland space, the ground will need to be well prepared.
Weed areas and dig well-rotted manure or compost into the ground, especially in areas of dry shade, where plants may take a bit longer to establish.
Once they are planted, water them in well and cover them with a mulch of leaf mould or compost, which will help retain the moisture. Even in small woodland corners, make space for a rustic seat where you can relax and enjoy this dappled shady spot on a hot day.
Before you know it, summer will be here and you can take shelter in your cool, quiet woodland haven.

Woodland puts a new spring into gardening expert's step

2011-02-23T00:33:00.000-08:00

IN the depths of winter, TV gardening expert Carol Klein cannot wait until the spring when she can wander through the woodland area of her Devon garden to see what gems are emerging.
"I love that feeling of intimacy and enclosure in my woodland garden," she enthused.
"I've chosen plants which typify the setting, starting off the year with snowdrops, which resist any amount of wind, yet those heavy bell flowers stay suspended on little, skinny stems which allow them to move around without coming to any harm.
"They look best in crowds. Left to their own devices they will colonise and spread."
Woodland gardens traditionally welcome plants which will thrive in shade, or at least dappled shade.
Snowdrops are followed by a succession of other bulbs, hellebores and pulmonarias, primroses, springtime trilliums and erythroniums (dog tooth violets), woodruff, wood anemones and bluebells in the shady garden.
Epimediums are among Carol's favourite woodland plants.
They will thrive even in dry, dense shade, and are grown primarily for their foliage, heart-shaped leaves borne on wiry stems and changing colour as the season progresses.
When planting epimediums among tree roots, add plenty of humus-rich material around the roots but avoid strong manure, as epimediums in their natural habitat would be fed by leaf litter.
"In March, our native primrose is at home among oak leaves and ferns," she said.
"If the primrose was a new introduction from some far-off place, gardeners would fight each other to possess it.