Laurelle Oldford – April’s WVGC Speaker
Topic: “Containers and Small Spaces”
Laurelle Oldford-Down is a Certified Landscape Designer and Horticulturalist. Growing food in one’s garden became more popular in 2017 -18 but many gardeners are held back by the fear of making a mistake.
Herbs are a good ‘gateway’ to growing vegetables although with the latter there can often be failures due to the weather and other growing conditions.
It is sometimes a challenge to include fruit in a small garden. Espaliering along a wall helps, as do dwarf varieties.
Improving soil health before planting is important as is adding compost. If growing in a container, use the biggest one available.
There can be pollinator challenges which are helped by obtaining a multi-variety grafted apple or even bringing a flowing branch from a different apple tree to place near the one is one’s own garden. It is important to grow flowers for pollinators as well.
Invasive Pests
The best way to deal with invasive pests is to wash them off with a jet of water, summer pruning also helps. If there is a problem with a fruit tree becoming too large pruning immediately after harvest helps as it slows the growth in the following spring. Plums should only be pruned in August and it can also be helpful for Japanese Maples.
If plums become infected with black knot, then the same variety should never be planted in the same place.
Easy fruit tree varieties
Laurelle discussed plant varieties for local planting.
- Apples: top picks are Liberty, Poppy’s wonder, Goldgeib or Akane. UBC apple festival is a good resource.
- Pears: good ones are Hosui, Shinseiki, Comice or Sierra.
- Plums: recommended are Greengage, Brooks, Red heart, or Beauty.
- Cherries a compact Stella is recommended or grow Sow cherries or Bush cherries.
- Persimmons are a good tree for a small space.
- Olives are a marginal tree in the lower mainland but are growing on Salt Spring.
- Cornus mas (Dogwood) is a lovely small tree, important for pollinators and the fruit makes good jelly.
- Blueberries do well in containers and many are self pollinating.
- Elderberries are also good in pots, but the uncooked berries are poisonous.
- Red and black currants are beautiful and hardy, can take poor soil and also be container grown.
- Goumi (not to be confused with Goji) berries are great in jams and cordials. The small flowers are very attractive to pollinators and hummingbirds love them.
- Raspberries always do well and the variety ‘Raspberry shortcake’ is good in containers. They do however take up quite a bit of space and can ‘wander’ when the new shoots emerge.
- Saskatoon berry does not need great soil and is a bird favourite.
- Lingonberry is an evergreen shrub but is it difficult to get the berries before the birds.
Laurelle closed her talk by inviting questions and there were many of these as members were
very engaged with her topic. She had also brought a variety of plants for sale which were also
popular with members.
Written by Lois Woolley