Posted on 06/10/2016 4:16:42 PM PDT by greeneyes
The Weekly Gardening Thread is a weekly gathering of folks that love soil, seeds and plants of all kinds. From complete newbies that are looking to start that first potted plant, to gardeners with some acreage, to Master Gardener level and beyond, we would love to hear from you. This thread is non-political, although you will find that most here are conservative folks.
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I live in a mix between suburban and rural, and closer to rural than suburban. The backyard is heavily wooded, and we have a small creek in the back, too. Since I’m new to the area, and know very little about trees in general, I could hardly begin to tell you what all the different types there are. I know that we have maple, hickory, ash (will die soon), elm, sycamore, cherry, and probably more. My flower garden areas that are currently doing well have dappled light to some sun. Different parts of the bed get sun between 3-6 hours of sun. The areas that I have trouble with get 1-3 hours of sun, and that’s dappled at best. Hostas manage to grow, and periwinkle is part of the ground cover. There is one spot that has some sunlight, and we found that “Naked Lady” lilies are growing there. The soil is clay for the most part. When I go to plant something in this one heavily shaded area, I try to amend the soil with an organic garden soil and some compost. I haven’t had a soil test done, but that’s a good idea. In addition to my plant interest, we have a good bit of wildlife. I need things that are deer and rabbit resistant if possible. In one of my flower gardens, the deer ate off hydrangea blossoms and some of the phlox. :(
Very pretty! I still have no idea how to post photos that I’ve taken on to FR.
OK...I will check that out too! Thank you! :-)
I found these wonderful containers that sit up on the railing of my deck. They are like big tubs that have holes in the bottom and do not tip.
They take a whole large bag of dirt each.
Of course! How better to “get away from it all”?
After several weeks of having the project hang around my neck like a millstone, I finally bit the bullet yesterday & got my 2nd new (this year) raised bed filled with dirt. I had 7 bags of Leaf Gro (1.5 cu feet each) so that left me 22.71 cubic feet of dirt to dig and haul. In other words, about 45 (5 gallon) buckets worth. I have a little cart I can pull with the lawn tractor and it took 7 loads in that. The wheels are old & if I overload the cart, the wheels start to get a little flat. The cart ‘dumps’ & I put a tarp in it so that made unloading a lot easier. Since I’m not a “spring chicken” any more, I took breaks between loads to go the dump & get some other chores done so I wouldn’t get overheated - it was hot in the sun. This weekend is supposed to be mid to upper nineties which is why the push was on to get the bed filled yesterday.
The other bed was filled/finished May 20 and the two tomato plants, 2 eggplants & 5 basil plants are all doing very well. I have never had luck with eggplants - the flea beetles always ate them up. This year, both plants (a Black Beauty & an Ichiban) are gorgeous. I’ve only sprayed them once with Sevin early on. The tomatoes are a Mr. Stripey (first time for growing this one) and a Better Boy. I have 4 determinates in my two old beds so I want a total of 4 indeterminates in the new beds.
Today, I’ll have the fun of picking the last two indeterminate tomatoes & see what else strikes my fancy - maybe some more eggplants ... no jalapeno peppers yet, so that’s a possibility. The peas that I planted in late April are going bonkers - I’ve already frozen 4 packages & will likely pull the plants & pick the rest to freeze over the weekend. The plants are so big & unruly, they are pulling down the old gate that I had them growing on. For the first time growing peas, I’m happy with the results. I learned a few things - next year will make different arrangements for where I plant them & the support I use. The two new beds will be helpful in that regard.
A herd of deer (4 - 3 does & a little 4 point buck) showed up in the field while I was mowing Wednesday. It’s unusual to see them in mid-afternoon. As long as the mower kept moving, they were not alarmed. They’ve got their beautiful shiny summer coats & I really enjoyed watching them for about 15 minutes until they went back in the woods. Of course, they haven’t munched on my garden yet so seeing them didn’t engender any thoughts of ill will (unlike last year when they munched the tops out of two tomato plants & all but ruined them). The weather has been beautiful since a ‘cold’ front came in Monday evening with low humidity, highs in the low 80’s & cool nights in the 50’s. It’s been good weather for outside projects & I’m glad to have the major ones done as the summer heat/humidity move in.
We’ve been picking beans, digging for potatoes, cuckes, greens, Swiss Chard and the corn is forming. Life is good.
“My wish list this summer is one of the electric cloner machine thingies.”
Now you’ve got me wondering just what kind of cloner thingy you’re refering to. Would you post a link to one? It sounds interesting!
Since you have been blessed with so many trees, in the fall gather as many leaves as you can, as well as your neighbors for free compost and surface mulch.
Frequently , you will find neighbors who bag their leaves rather than just pile them curbside for the highway dept. to pick them up.
The only leaves I would avoid are the sycamore as they tend to be large, leathery and are difficult to break down for compost, unless you run a lawn mower over them several times.
We were broiling hot for almost two weeks - no rain, so we waited to put stuff in. Except for my little row of snow peas which were doing well enough.
Then the weather broke, we put in some plants, then the weather broke MORE. Dropped below 50 degrees and rained for three days. Most of the new plants were overwhelmed. My snow peas were fine, until the ground hogs got them. They finished them off last night.
We are going to set traps today. I don’t know if we are going to bother much more this year with plants as it is mid-April and we have a short season to begin with. They even ate my echinacea plant. Nobody ever ate that before. *sigh*
The ONLY way to keep ground hogs and rabbits out is to lift all the sod around the outer edge of the fence, lay chicken wire - with the upper 50% attached to the bottom of the fence, then lay the sod back over the wire. They get frustrated because the don’t know how far away they have to begin to dig in order to tunnel. But these ground hogs are chewing right through the fencing and even the chicken-wire. We can’t have flowers in the yard because the deer and the ground hogs eat them. Out new lilac bushes? Eaten. My Rose of Sharon? Partially eaten - but I got the trunk wrapped in 36 in chicken-wire in the nick of time.
We are due to replace the under sod chicken-wire (rust and rots) and that is a miserable chore. :(
My first thought was to use 'tubebenders' system of reinforced wire cages, however that doesn't prevent the burrowing under the woven wire fence.
That system would keep away the browsers , but not the burrowers.
I think that you are right about replacing the wire fencing, and burying part of it beneath the sod to keep out the burrowers.
I have an air rifle which I use as a persuader for ground hogs and 'tree rats'(squirrels); the only other option would be a dog on sentry duty, or,
keeping plants in pots on a wagon to be brought closer to the house, or even kept overnight in the garage, and then placed in full sun during daylight.
The only other option that I can think of is to find their burrows, and drop some mothballs into their holes, or set up kill traps.
Too bad that 'Claymores' are not approved for agricultural purposes !
Nah, no neener here.
Just trying to be productive after my total slouch last year. I had like 6 tomato plants, 3 peppers, 2 squash and 2 or 3 cucumbers. And that was it.
Oh, and a few sweet potatoes.
I’m trying to have a better attitude this year. And grocery budget!
Hubby cut an aging cedar tree that had split and I’ve got about 2000sqft extra to put stuff that I didn’t have before now so I’m letting part of my regular garden plot fallow and using this new area.
The only tomatoes that I got that summer besides the 6 from my regular garden were the ones in my raised bed. I did have to fertilize them with the good mojo once a week though as the constant rain kept washing the nutrients out of the raised beds.
I want more raised beds long term but budget constraints and all that just now...so I make the best of the 2 I’ve got right now.
The reviews (complete with pics on some!) lead me to believe not EVERYONE uses this for ‘ornamental’ propagation.
Ahem.
I just want a row of blueberry plants as a hedge between us and the neighbors. Don’t care if the neighbors pick their side. Neighbors already OK’d the project and the only thing standing in the way is cost of blueberry plants. If this cloner thing works I’ll be able to do that on the cheap (cost of cloner). The line I need to plant is about 150’ so cost prohibitive any other way.
I’ve been picking wild blackberries this past 4 weeks or so; some as big as the end of your thumb.
Now they’re about spent, but there may be a few more quarts out there. I just have to look around more.
Getting real hot and muggy in the daytime here in South Alabama.
My high bush Southern blueberries are starting to be ready. I just picked a pint or so of fat, juicy berries with more to follow over the next two weeks.
My silver queen corn is just starting to tassel up. No silks yet. Most plants are still very dark green and about 5-5 & 1/2 feet tall.
Pole beans are up to 6 feet now—scarlet runners blossoming like crazy—can’t miss ‘em.
Cabbage and broccoli are about finished now. Got about 50 pounds of cabbage and two dozen broccoli heads. Now mostly side shoots.
Onions have toppled over. I let them dry a week and them pull them.
Lettuce all went to seed so tilled it out and planted cucumbers and squash.
I have lots of collards gone to seed. I have Alabama Blue, Carolina Yellow and Georgia collards. If you want some seeds send me a self-addressed stamped envelope. PM me if you’re serious.
Another possible suggestion would be to consider a cold frame structure with underground fencing to keep out burrowers, with an automatic venting system.
or even automatic irrigation/ drip system.
The vent system would close during cool temps, and open automatically in warmer temps, and would be available for many grow seasons.
It does require a certain investment of time, material, and money, but it will endure for many seasons, and you wouldn't have to repeat this same fight year after year.
You could even use the cold frame as a jump on the season for germinating seeds, as well as 'grow on' crops during the regular season.
Your garden sounds gorgeous. Especially the peas.
If you remember what variety you planted, and it was the only one, leave some vines to fully dry and save the seeds for this fall/next spring. Pea seeds are easy to save. Toss a little food grade DE in the bag/jar with them to take care of any insect issues and you’re good to go.
http://howtosaveseeds.com/seedsavingdetails.php#peas
Some insects lay their eggs inside the peapods and you don’t know you’ve been infected till you go to plant the seeds and find a bag full of pea husks and some bugs. Ask me how I know this :)
Freezing works too but you have to let them get dry enough.
Some things are very easy to save seeds from.
I’ve got both of these books and they explain all the details to a non-biology major like me:
I find it’s easier to enclose raised beds away from bambi than the regular garden. Hopefully they’ll leave you alone this year.
Was any of that cedar in the form of usable board feet to prop up the sides of a raised garden ?
Wow, you still got broccoli.
What variety did you plant?
We love broccoli but mine sort of petered out a couple months ago.
My dad’s been picking wild blackberries in SoMiss for a week or two now. Mom’s been making cobblers.
Jealous of your corn. Didn’t get my corn planted early, hopefully mineral oil will handle the earworms.
Do you remember what variety of onion you planted?
What did you do with the cabbage? We had lovely cabbage this year but I really don’t do anything beyond the fresh eating because I don’t know anything else to do with it that my family might eat.
Not really the right kind of cedar, it’s a southern one and they’re sort of ‘fragile’. It split all to pieces when he was cutting it down. I guess I’m lucky it hadn’t fallen on me at some point :P
We have given it to friends/neighbors to use as chunks in closets. Couple big pieces we’re going to put through the wood chipper and gift in pretty bags this Christmas, IF I can get motivated to drag out the sewing machine.
The best raised beds down here seem to be the cinderblock variety. I’ve had the 2 I’ve got right now since (trying to remember) ‘08 or so. Other than adding dirt to them every year along with compost they’re still A’OK.
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