Boulton

The Tale of Robin Wood takes a surprising turn as the young fledgling develops a strong sense of self and some decently splayed tail feathers. It’s been a whole week, and this bird ain’t shy for nothin’.

It started with the soccer ball escaping down the hill towards the wood pile. Or maybe it began with the neighbour calling to complain about that precarious branch. Or perhaps it was when the arborists arrived and sawed off the offending limb.

In my last column, I wrote about ridding your yard of earwigs, and as a last straw, I mentioned using DE and Boric Acid. I feel that these two items deserve more than a mention. DE, as it is colloquially known, is called diatomaceous earth.

Dealing with earwigs can, at best, be unpleasant. At its worst, it can be a nightmare of science-fiction proportions. While they aren’t brain-eaters, entering through the “ear,” they are still unpleasant and a challenge to control.

So you’re lost in the woods. While that totally sucks, all is not “lost.” Right at your very feet are all kinds of edibles that could sustain you for a good while before you need to panic or resort to Lord of the Flies-type behaviour.

My brother asked me how he could give his very wide, very depressed gravel ditch at the front of his country home a more aesthetic appeal. After some thought, it occurred to me that a rain garden might be just the thing.

I’m a mulcher. Like my grandmother and mother before me, mulching runs deep in my veins. These ladies taught me a thing or two about the thriftiness of mulching well.

We asked and they told! The Master Gardeners of Sudbury sent us their most useful advice on everything from Lily Beetles (who love Asiatic Lilies, not daylilies) to goutweed. I am critical of a plant’s performance mid-season.

Remember last week when I wrote about asking the Masters of the Garden any type of question? There are other ways to go about securing answers, if reaching out to someone isn’t your cuppa.

I’ve been out “in the field,” as they say, doing a heap of landscaping all over the city. It’s been something. Every time I’m out, I learn something new.