by Mary Trainer, Master Gardener-in-Training with the Okanagan Master Gardeners
Sitting down to talk with seasoned and successful gardeners can be enlightening and thought-provoking. Such was the case when I met in August with Ken and Margaret Hayter, owners of Linden Gardens in Kaleden, see below for more details.
We lunched in a shady nook of their six-acre garden that’s filled with ponds, stately cottonwoods, spectacular blooms, and meandering bark mulch paths that beckon the eye at every turn.
The Hayters’ fruit-growing-turned-gardening passion goes back more than 30 years and culminated in 2002 when they started to turn their former apple orchard into a welcoming commercial enterprise that overlooks Skaha Lake.
They happily shared their advice with me on what factors contribute to successful gardening.
Advice from Ken and Margaret Hayter, owners of Linden Gardens in Kaleden, BC
All gardeners, but especially new gardeners and those starting with a ‘blank canvas,’ like the Hayters had, need good soil. To amend their ‘old-orchard soil’ from more than 100 years ago that had little organic matter, they brought in loads of compost and bark mulch, and they continue to amend it each year. Compost is free and available at sites operated by our local municipalities.
Although lawns are necessary to support the Linden Gardens business, the Hayters shy away from recommending them as part of new home landscaping. Today, the footprint of a new house is such a big piece of the lot. “Consider a nice ‘sit down’ patio shaded by a tree. Good examples are walnut and catalpa. They thrive here, grow large, shade a house well, are long-lived, low-maintenance, require limited pruning, leaf up late and drop their leaves early,” says Ken.
If your property already has trees, save and compost the leaves, or mow and place them around their plants where they act as insultation over the winter, decompose, and become part of the soil. No more leaves blowing around your yard getting stuck in a fence!
Invest in a professionally designed drip irrigation system. It waters more effectively than sprinklers or hand-watering, and when placed properly prevents evaporation and reduces the amount of water needed.
Water at night to reduce evaporation.
To encourage children to enjoy gardening, plant vegetables. Planting seeds, watching them germinate, weeding, and picking and eating the result is fun and provides a learning opportunity.
To create the ambience you want, consider the plants’ shape and size. In planning their garden, the Hayters gave serious thought to the final size of plants: what would grow to one-metre high, to three metres, and to three metres and above? “Our garden is a sculpture, and we needed to create a shape,“ says Ken. “We made sure none of the trees lined up.” “We decided it should be like in nature – flowing from forest to grass to meadow….” adds Margaret.
Plant what you like! Take care of it!
Looking to the future…
The Hayters are very concerned about the impacts of climate change, especially on our water supply. “There will be either too much, or too little – likely too little,” they say. The Hayters are part of a growing interest in advocating for the designation of “up country reservoirs” to capture more freshet. These reservoirs are unused basins of land at elevations above municipalities where snowmelt or rain water can be stored and fed to nearby creeks to augment supply.
What can gardeners with established gardens do now to prepare for less water? “Plant trees, apply a mulch of chips, and use a matrix drip irrigation system,” Ken suggests. “You will use a fraction of the water. Even in a fully restrictive state, your plants are going to live.”
Pay attention to weather forecasts. Margaret stays alert to forecasted hot temperatures, and saturates soil in advance. This creates a reservoir and when the heat strikes, the plants access the water. (Note: this works when you have good drainage.)
Linden Gardens Information
Linden Gardens and the Frog City Cafe are located a 20-minute drive south of Penticton at 351 Linden Ave, in Kaleden B.C.
They are open daily (except Tuesdays), 8 am to 4 pm, from May 1 to September 30.
Website: https://www.lindengardens.ca/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/linden.gardens.3/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lindengardenskaleden/
Phone Number: 250-497-6600
To find out when your favorite flower is in bloom at the gardens, visit Blooms & Blossoms – Linden Gardens https://www.lindengardens.ca/blooms-and-blossoms/
Images below are from the September featured Blooms & Blossoms – Linden Gardens
Images provided by Linden Gardens