GARDEN PARTY — Cont’d from page 11
Friesen highly recommends booking a consultation with a designer or landscaper who can draw up a plan, even if you’re going to do a lot of the work yourself. The local garden centre is a great place to seek advice, or visit the Manitoba Nursery Landscape Association’s website (mbnla.com) for a list of certified pros. You might want to consider hiring experts to tackle building projects like decks, gazebos and patios. But when it comes to lawn and garden care, you don’t need any special skills — go ahead and get your hands dirty. Soil work and planting are therapeutic and uncomplicated if you consider this one rule of green thumbing:
ONE THIRD OF YOUR YARD SHOULD BE ANNUALS, ONE THIRD SHOULD BE PERENNIALS AND ONE THIRD SHOULD BE SHRUBS.
“One third of your yard should be annuals, one third should be perennials and one third should be shrubs,” says Friesen. “The annuals give you that bright colour throughout the summer and you can change it each year. The perennials give you your season of blooms, so you can have action happening in spring and fall. And then the shrubs are a good background.” Beyond that, anything goes when it comes to gardening. Friesen says there’s nothing worse than a yard consisting solely of grass or gravel. These days we have a lot more time to stop and smell the roses, so why not plant more of them? Flowers displayed in pots or beds near the front door serve as a colourful welcome mat for your home, and they attract bees, butterflies and other many-legged friends.
Cont’d on page 14
12 Parade of Homes SPRING 2021
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