Canada's guru of gardening is in a meditative state of mind.
Success in the garden comes down to getting on your knees and paying attention, says Ed Lawrence, the silver-haired dynamo who held his first plant when he was a seven-year-old growing up in downtown Toronto.
Lawrence went on to Humber College, launching a stellar career and gathering a loyal army of gardening fans. Then there was a career as chief horticultural specialist and head gardener for the six official residences in Ottawa, including overseeing the grounds and greenhouses for six consecutive governors general, from Jules Leger in the '70s to Adrienne Clarkson in 2005.
Lawrence is the expert behind the popular gardening segment of CBC Radio One's Ontario Today, fielding calls from distraught gardeners searching for ways to out offensive grubs from their lawn or encourage reluctant hyacinths to bloom in a backyard water garden.
There was retirement in 2005, a book in 2006 -- Gardening Grief and Glory, Ed Lawrence Answers Your Gardening Questions ($26, gardeningwithed.com) -- and his wife's battle with ovarian cancer. Her death in 2007 unravelled this genial man, who almost gave up the radio show.
He sold his Almonte, Ont. home so Kate's children -- his stepchildren -- could move on, and has found solace for the past 18 months with longtime friends at Hawkwood, an organic farm.
"They took me in, and now I am helping them. We planted daffodils last year and they are blooming," he says in a telephone interview from the farm.
Lawrence has been on the phone most of the morning with colleagues from Landscape Ontario, organizing three information sessions set up by the City of Ottawa to help residents in the south end of the city deal with a ban on outdoor watering while a water main is being replaced.
Now, the guru of Canadian gardening offers his five seeds of advice for your ideal garden.
Spend time
"You have to get down on your knees and get close to things," says Lawrence, who refers back to an old Irish saying: "The most effective thing in the garden is the gardener's footprint." The first step is to pick up any garbage left behind by the winter or spring winds. "It doesn't matter if it's your garbage or not. Pick it up. Your garden and your community will look better."
Power of order
Once the litter is picked up, it's time to put order into your property. "A little order goes a long way," says Lawrence. "Take time after cutting the grass and do some smart edges. It will make a huge difference."
Inviting walkways
Not everyone has the space or budget to design a wide winding pathway leading to the front door, but you can create the illusion with smart planting. Make a narrow walkway look wider and more inviting by edging and creating beds on either side. If the walk is three feet wide, create a three-foot-wide bed on either side, Lawrence suggests. The final impression will be nine feet of welcome.
Outdoor rooms
By now, the property and front walk is looking pretty good, but before expanding or creating more garden beds, take a step back and look at this makeover as if you are designing a series of outdoor rooms and ask yourself some questions: How much space do you have? How are we going to use the space?
Define the spaces and use the spaces, Lawrence says. And don't worry about what the neighbours will think. This is your garden.
Sit down and dream
You have picked up stray bits, edged the lawn, planted and now it's time to relax and enjoy the space. "You are going to notice a lot of things and daydream about the next project," Lawrence says. "It could be to create a bocce court. The key is to exercise your muscles and your brain muscle. Gardening allows you time to think, relaxing after the work allows you to dream."
-- Postmedia News
