Notes From The Potting Shed #12& The Gorgeous Cooperative Housing Gardens In Saskatoon
- themarigoldgc
- Jul 14, 2024
- 7 min read
Updated: Jul 15, 2024
I went on a quick and very impromptu trip to Saskatoon last week. While there, we stayed at a fantastic cooperative housing condominium. I can't begin to tell you how inspired I was by many of the principals of the cohouse, but most of all... their gardens.
The Gorgeous Gardens at the Cooperative Housing
The cohouse is only 12 years old, went from bare land to condo with amazing thriving garden beds in such a short time span. It just goes to show what is possible.
I was talking with one of the founding residents who mentioned that they had to get city planning approval for each of the trees and layout of the gardens before planting anything. There were very strict rules about what trees could be planted. I am going to assume it was to avoid problematic trees whose roots would interfere with water systems, grow too large, nuisance trees, and the like. I must admit, I paid little attention to the trees, but loads to the shrubs and flowers. However, one needs trees to provide shade, shelter, and create a calming backbone to the rest of the landscape, to make them shine and stand out.
I garnered so many ideas from this visit. My pollinator strips and front gardens, still in the planning stages, were going to be very simple. Was to be a blend of annual and perennial flowers that would bloom from spring through till frost. However, now it will be oh, so very much more than that. I am going to pack it full to the brim with colour, texture, varying heights, and scents.
The condo takes up pretty much a city block. Along the street, they have planted up the boulevard with flowers and edibles. This section at the corner was awe inspiring. The flowers are humming with bees, so many colours, and more flowers coming all the time.
The tall light purple stalks are hyssop. A great alternative to lavender here on the prairies, as it is super hardy and the bees, butterflies, and hummers really love it. Lavender would require a very special sheltered pocket of space to overwinter here. Not saying that it is not possible to grow, I have seen a couple, but let's just say that for most of us it would be grown as an annual.
The same bed from another angle.
Further down in that same boulevard bed are these poppies and sunflowers.
This bed is in front of the building, on one side of the entrance.
Each bed is it's own moment.
The entire yard was full of bees and pollinators, busily gathering from all the flowers and flowering shrubs, like this golden spirea. I tend not to be a big fan of spirea, but after seeing how much the bees loved them at the condo, I decided that a few will be going into my pollinator strips.
This lovely John Davis climbing rose was the main feature in the pond garden while I was there. I am sure that something else will take it's place of honour as the blooms fade, with the plantings designed to bloom at varied times throughout the summer.
Seeing how lovely their rose was, made me super happy as I planted a John Davis rose by the potting shed in spring. I also have a John Cabot climbing rose, but it is still in a pot until we get the side yard beds redone. Hopefully the landscaper comes next week!
The pond is in the center of the courtyard with seating and patio area on one side, the raised beds and potager on the other.
The pond has quite a few fish in it, at least 8 large... goldfish? Koi? I tried to count them but am not sure I got them all. They take the fish in to the underground heated garage for the winter. One of the residents in the cohousing is the fish caretaker.
The residents will just pull up a stool and pull some weeds when they have a minute. There are two main gardeners, but everyone (who likes to garden) pitches in to care for the gardens. Some do more, some do less. This aspect of the cohousing would really work for me. They have Wednesday Weed and Wine evenings, which I thought was super fun. How I would enjoy having a weeding buddy to chat with. Time would go so much faster.
Wide raised beds were built, instead of a fence, to create a courtyard and give privacy from the sidewalk and street. The lovely boulevard gardens are just on the other side of the beds.
The raised bed 'fence' varies in height along the street. There is an arbour with a metal gate in the middle of it for ease of entry to the sidewalk and to care for the boulevard gardens.
I could go on and on, there were so many fun little pockets to see in the yard, hidden seating areas, water barrels in a row, clematis plants everywhere, but I will just show you this last picture.
This is on their 2nd floor patio. It faces southeast so is sheltered from the winds, was created to be a bit of a calm pocket where folks could gather to enjoy the sunshine. We had one of our suppers here on this deck, a lovely bbq with our friends.
The sheltered pocket turns out to be a very hot area, really gathers the sunshine. They had to come up with ways to lessen the heat inside the building, with all the large glass windows along the hallways. On some levels they added tinted film and curtains. On this patio level, they decided to grow climbers, indeterminate tomatoes, and tall sunflowers in totes to create shade. They have put mesh netting for the vines to grow up on. Very ingenious and provides food at the same time.
I was very smitten with many aspects of the cohousing concept. They have a common kitchen and dining room that one can book for events and family gatherings. This is where we often sat in mornings and evenings to read, have breakfast, or evening cup of tea. There are bedrooms where one can put up guests (this is where we stayed), a laundry room with 3 washers and 3 dryers, plus drying racks and the whole kit and caboodle. Even shared cars that any resident can use! They all have their own condo unit, of course, and share the responsibility of caring for the community areas. I realise that there would be difficulties, as well, it is not all sunshine and roses. All decisions have to be made together. That is a whole lot of people to get along with. More pros than cons though? Oh, and all ages welcome.
Notes From The Potting Shed
What to do this week...
Take rose cuttings! This is on my list of things to do this weekend. Will grow them on and then put pot and all in a hole in the greenhouse for the winter. See how to do it with a step by step video with Alan Titchmarsh. If you miss this early summer timing, there is another video on how to take fall cuttings.
Many people posting pictures of ladybug larvae and pupae on the gardening sites, asking what on earth these gross bugs are and wanting to know how best to kill them. Some have already killed them before even checking to see what they were. Gardens are not sterile and bugs are not all bad. I have seen tons of ladybug babies and braconid wasps out in the yard this past week, as have the other gardeners, obviously, as there have been so many post. They are out there, you guys! They will eat all those bad bugs for you! Please, please do not use any sprays, not on anything. Not even ones that are touted as 'organic'. If it kills one bug, it kills them all. Give these guys time to do their job.
Raspberries are all full of berries coming on. Water them more often when they are making berries. Plus any other fruiting shrubs, as well. I usually water my raspberries and saskatoons once a week, or even once every 2nd week, but while they are fruiting, they get a good soak every 2nd or 3rd day so that I get juicy, plump, tasty raspberries.
Feed your pots and baskets with some slow release fertiliser and continue using the water soluble fertilisers twice a month for happy, thriving baskets.
If your peppers have stalled out, are not flowering, fruiting, or maybe they look a bit peaky, give them a one time only feed with a high nitrogen fertiliser. Just the once to get them going. That is all it takes. Within 2 weeks, you will see a big change. I like to use Garden Pro Evergreen & Citrus fertiliser. It is a 30-10-10. Other than that, peppers tend to thrive on neglect. Water only once or twice a week but when you do, water really, really well. Feed potted peppers once a month with epsom salt (a handful on top off the soil) or with a tomato or vegetable fertiliser every week or two. Or do both.
To prevent blossom end rot (BER) on your tomatoes and peppers, cut back on your watering. Overwatering is the biggest culprit when it comes to BER. Even in a heat wave. Trust the process. You planted them deep, they are making deep roots, just as you wanted them to do. The topsoil is dry but underneath is damp. You can also water with Cal Mag or Acti-Sol to feed your tomatoes calcium.
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Many thanks to the good people of Wolf Willow Cooperative Housing.
What a wonderful week we had, and so enjoyed meeting you all.
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