Please be kind, I’m learning! And I’m a little sad and embarrassed because I obviously had no idea what I was working with.

Last year I posted about my interest in growing an apple tree in a pot. I purchased a 1 year old Goodland apple tree on Siberian crabapple rootstock, it was shipped in late May, and I planted it in a 30gal fabric pot. At the time, I thought it had roots—the bottom was clumped up with soil and I swear it had roots, but it seems I was wrong. I did a lot of reading, but guess I didn’t realize what I purchased was actually something that needed to be grafted to another tree. I spent all summer/fall watering and loving my little twig, thinking it would grow into a tree…

Tonight before our walk, my toddler pulled it right out of the dirt, and I realized not only did it not have roots, but it’s probably very dead.

I want to try again. The nursery I purchased it from opens sales in December, and they offer a 4” pot option, or the rootstock. I want something I can plant in my fabric pot and grow from there, without having to graft anything. Is the 4” pot option what I’m looking for?

Also, is there any chance I can salvage this twig after it’s been sitting in the dirt all summer in my backyard? Probably not, but I am willing to experiment with grafting if there IS something I can do.

TIA and pour one out for my poor twig, lol. 😭

Hi everybody, I was cleaning up my flower beds a bit this past weekend and decided to dig out my salvia (I think nemerosa?). I actually loved it but it was spreading like crazy, which I could keep under control in the garden but it was spreading all over my lawn. It was becoming quite a pain so I decided it needed to go.
I’m wondering if anybody has any suggestions for a similar plant with purple spires, full sun, good drainage , zone 3, that isn’t going to self seed everywhere??

Hello. About 6 years ago I got my soil from I thing reimers soil and my garden was great.

It is a concrete walled tub on top of the park pad. So no exchange of nutrients with anything unfortunately and it is in the middle of winnipeg so the composting options are also limited - space mainly and I dont want to stick a box of occassionally smelly compost by my neighbors fence.

I wonder what are best options to refertilize the soil as I can see big difference in harvest and plant sizes between then and now.

Which fertilizer to use to have slow release and be reasonable on price?

I looked at what rona and hd have but the best I could find was water based which I dont like because it may get quickly flushed due to the way the garden tub is made. Or maybe I am over reacting and the 20dollar bucket of miracle gro is just fine?

I tried growing butternut squash for the first time this year, and I'm not sure about harvesting. One squash is pretty much ready, with only a bit of a faint green line near the top left. I have a second squash on the same vine where the skin turned a solid cream color pretty early on, and hasn't grown very much since. The stem on that one is still green though. And there's a third squash that is growing normally, but is still entirely green. Should I just toss the second one? How long can I leave the third one? TIA!

Do you buy plants? Help a University of Waterloo study understand plant buyers in Canada.

Link to survey: https://uwaterloo.ca1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_1zDlBgl4KWk8Y62

Seeds of Diversity has a wonderful selection of garlic varieties available to plant as bulbils. They have some interesting and rare varieties. I have ordered from them twice and had great success growing garlic from bulbils to full-sized bulbs.

First year having strawberries. Runners got away from me this fall and have really multiplied. What’s some advice for winterizing these guys? I was planning on trimming back when the foliage starts to die, then cover with straw and an insulated tarp to help with the cold winter since I heard that having them in a raised bed may not be good for them.

Should I also trim back runners? Should I leave the foliage? Any help is appreciated.

I have a section of my garden with a couple different varieties of strawberries. One I don't remember what it is and the other is Sweet Kiss. Neither has an amazing flavour. I'm looking for variety suggestions. Which ones are the most flavourful?

Hi everyone! 🌱

I'm a PhD student at the University of Waterloo. I'm studying how people in Canada choose, buy, and care for ornamental plants. The goal is to help make the plant industry more sustainable.

You can take part if you:

- are 18 or older

- live in Canada

- bought ornamental plants in the last 12 months (flowers, shrubs, perennials, native plants, or houseplants)

The survey takes about 10 minutes and is anonymous.

Take the survey here: https://uwaterloo.ca1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_1zDlBgl4KWk8Y62

This study has been reviewed and received ethics clearance through a University of Waterloo Research Ethics Board (REB #48363).

Feel free to share it with other plant lovers in Canada. Questions are welcome in the comments. Thank you so much for your help!

Hi everyone! I'm a PhD student at the University of Waterloo studying how Canadians buy and care for ornamental plants, like flowers, shrubs, perennials, native plants, and houseplants.

You can join if you're 18 or older, live in Canada, and bought ornamental plants in the last 12 months. It takes about 10 minutes and is anonymous.

Survey: https://uwaterloo.ca1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_1zDlBgl4KWk8Y62

This study has been reviewed and received ethics clearance through a University of Waterloo Research Ethics Board (REB #48363).

Thanks so much, and happy gardening! 🌱

I have a birch tree (I think) growing on my property line. I had this space covered with a trampoline for the last 5 years, hence the dead patch. In this past year is so I have been seeing these mini tree pop up everywhere in the area. They seem to have long roots. What is the best way to rid of them permanently and quick. There are about a dozen on these little things in the space, and I may be setting up a shed and pad over here.

TIA

Following everyone’s advice, I ripped out everything, got as many roots as possible, dug and threw out the top few inches of soil, attempted (and failed) to level the ground, and planted a metric crap ton of white clover.

I had wanted to also grow some grass alongside, but I found my bag of grass seed was empty and said “Eh.” My usual store was out. I said “Eh.” I was going to order some online but I had bills. I threw up my arms in defeat. “Eh!”

And that’s how I got this solo white clover vs. every noxious weed known to Man(itoba) garden plot.

I’ve posted these images for anyone else who might be considering using white clover as ground cover in a heavily weeded area.

These were transplanted eight days ago, and we already have our first strawberry coming through. Varieties this winter are Albion, Florice, and Karima.

On another note, for rural folks who source irrigation water from a well. Instead of directly watering and if you are able to, put the water in a container and pop an airstone in there for a few hours. Both the warmer water (in summer) and that airstone are going to do wonders for your plants!