Weekly Garden Thread - June 12-18, 2021

June 12, 2021 | Diana in Wisconsin/Greeneyes

[Diana in Wisconsin]

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.

If you have specific question about a plant/problem you are having, please remember to state the Growing Zone where you are located.

This thread is a non-political respite. No matter what, you won’t be flamed, and the only dumb question is the one that isn’t asked.

It is impossible to hijack the Weekly Gardening Thread. Planting, Harvest to Table Recipes, Preserving, Good Living - there is no telling where it will go - and that is part of the fun and interest. Jump in and join us! Send a Private Message to Diana in Wisconsin if you'd like to be added to our New & Improved Ping List.

NOTE: This is a once a week Ping List. We do post to the thread during the week. Links to related articles and discussions which might be of interest to Gardeners are welcomed any time!

[jdsteel]

😁

[Diana in Wisconsin]

Of the three Tarragons (French, Russian & Mexican) I like the flavor of the French, the best.

I’ve always bought plants because I understand it’s very hard to start from seed. The new plants are propagated from cuttings of older plants. I usually have great luck with cuttings of Rosemary (my favorite herb!) and Momswithhope showed me a nifty way to keep Basil going in water in a window at the end of our growing season.

Chervil is something I’ve never tried. I grow Rosemary in pots (so I can later bring them inside) and Basil and Dill in the Kitchen Garden.

Pinging a few ‘ herb experts’ for you.

And is it pronounced ‘Erb’ or ‘Herb?’ I can’t stand how Martha Stewart always calls them ‘HERB’ s! ;)

[Diana in Wisconsin]

Boy, that amazes me that sand works for you. We have clay soil, too - I live in an area that is called ‘The Driftless’ because the glaciers completely missed us. So, we have clay, rocks and nothing but hills. Sometimes, when I drive around, it’s like visiting the terraced gardens of Vietnam! Farmers are very into stopping the erosion of our soil. We have some awesome ‘ancient dirt’ down below us in the pasture, though. Beau hauls that up for the raised beds. Nothing better!

Everything I’ve learned is that sand and clay make cement. What’s the magic ratio you use? I’m not going to do it, no need with my raised beds, and despite weeds, my lawn is in good enough shape.

Just curious.

[JesusIsLord]

... you get CEMENT .......... Sand is definitely out.

I think I'll take these steps come Fall grass reseeding time:

1- Late Summer - apply weed killer over grass; 2- Early Fall, perform low grass-cut; 3- Extreme aeration; 4- When the applied weed killer allows, reseed; 5- Top-dress with compost; 6- Reseed again following compost; 7- Keep soil moist/watered until new grass is established.

The one thing I might add is laying down a layer of peat over the compost and final reseed. This should enhance holding moisture. Would this be redundant? I.e., the compost top-dressing may be enough to hold moisture.

Thanks to all for your suggestions!

[FamiliarFace]

French tarragon is the best, with Mexican in second. Russian tarragon just doesn’t have much flavor in my mind, so not worth the effort.

This year I’m going to try two different pots of French tarragon. One I will leave outside for the winter, and one I will bring inside to see if I can keep any at all to continue growing for use during the winter months. I understand the outside one will die back and become dormant in the winter, but I’ve never left it outside. I have never successfully overwintered tarragon indoors but I usually get through January with it.

This past season I used this method for chives and had decent chives all winter long. The pot that I left outdoors is very strong right now though. I suppose I should divide it, probably should already have done that but with so many projects going on, I haven’t done that yet.

If anyone has grown chervil before, I definitely would like some advice. I know nothing but did secure a 3” pot from one of the garden centers here a couple of weeks ago.

Most everything I plant for sun is in containers because I have only a small amount of full sun areas, and gardens aren’t allowed in my HOA (which I hate but I love the house we live in so had to agree to their rules). Having potted plants keeps them from coming after me because I can move them around.

[FamiliarFace]

Thanks. I missed a day of working on planting because of the “photo shoot”, but I sure enjoy learning about the birdies.

[Diana in Wisconsin]

Still having very warm days ahead with no rain in sight. Humidity is down, though, so that's tolerable, at least. Great weather for house painting (on the home stretch) and I don't mind getting up early to water, which is what's happening around here, this morning. Puppy 'Shasta' has been walked and I am on cup #3 of coffee. :)

The front section, with all of the high, scary work, on the house is finished. Mick just has to do the porch walls and the small west side of the house. He's coming down Monday afternoon for a few days. Yay! Getting closer to finished on my 'Painted Lady.' The porch flooring is being replaced and we're getting metal railings all around and down the steps. Can't wait! It was time for an upgrade after 35 years. Mick is on the scaffolding, Beau is supervising from below. Mick is a professional painter by trade.

I think she needs one of those 'Barn Quilts' between the two large windows on the front, or to break up the huge expanse of nothing on the right side.

[Diana in Wisconsin]

[MomwithHope]

I LOVE seeing pictures of your garden. Reminds me so much of my father’s garden in south Chicago. He used every inch of dirt he could, even planted zucchini outside the fence as our house was on an alleyway. He figured no one would want to steal them and he was right.

[MomwithHope]

Basil - I’ve got 2 nice bunches growing in the garden but when a small branch broke off I rooted it on the windowsill and will stick it in the ground soon. Waste not want not - or “I’m Polish”.

[MomwithHope]

Nice color combo on the house. The yellow is similar to our living room/dining room/ kitchen I think it’s called golden honey. Did you ever get you porch ceiling painted that blue? Would love to see a pic. I always wanted to do a barn quilt for our barn. I think a mural would look better on the house since it is green, maybe a tall flowering vine.

[Diana in Wisconsin]

Sounds like a plan, Stan! ;)

[Diana in Wisconsin]

I'm going to wait until Mick is done painting the porch, but I have the paint purchased for the ceiling on the porch. 'Cerulean Skies.' You'll be able to see a bit of it as you walk up to the house, but I will be able to see it all the time from the kitchen, so I looked long and hard to find a color I really LOVED. I went a little darker than I was planning, but it's in the same 'tone' as the other paints, so it should work. If I hate it, I can always re-paint! The porch ceiling is wooden bead board.

[MomwithHope]

I remember the color but could not remember the name - love the color.

[Qiviut]

Oh boy - went out to the garden this morning to check on things. Since Thursday night, we’ve had 2 inches of rain. Friday was cloudy with off/on showers. Saturday maybe a light shower in the am, but mostly damp, dreary, high of 72. The sun was out this morning - yay!!

Back to the garden - I had a mild panic attack - it is out of control! The grass/weeds around & in the walkways must have grown an inch or two. That’s the “bad”. On the “good”, my marble-sized tomatoes are now the size of golf balls, maybe even a little larger! My teensy weensie cucumber (first one), is mow the size of a large pickle. The bell peppers have started blooming. All of the flowers are growing - i would say 1-2 inches. The Giant Sunflowers are really getting big. My climbing vines are job #1 - getting major “haircuts” to keep them reasonably on the trellises. Job #2, that I have just completed, was spraying the weeds/grass around the beds & in the walkways. The sun being out should help the spray work (plus I add a squirt or two of Dawn).

I can’t mow around the garden since I’ve sprayed, but the yard is ankle deep in clover (lots of honey bees - more than bumble this year, so that’s great)- will get mowed this evening or tomorrow. Fields will be tomorrow when I’m not making muddy tracks. I have some steps to our generator shed to replace - made out of rocks that are an uneven surface. During the ice storms this winter, I felt like I was going to break my neck every time I had to use them. Today is a good day to take care of that issue & replace with a flat surface - I keep some gardening stuff in there too, so good steps will be safer.

Going to be a busy day, but hey ..... the sun is out & the garden is happy :-)

[jdsteel]

Before aerating I spread around sand that is roughly equivalent to 1/8” thick….though it’s not brain surgery. Some spots are heavier and some are less. But the sand, peat moss & milorganite has made my lawn the nicest looking on the block and more resistant to dry spells.

Look at this guy about 5 minutes in….. https://youtu.be/V4MKDGbGouM

My raised garden has good soil (like yours) so I don’t use sand or peat moss there.

[MomwithHope]

I have an old hoe that was my Dad’s. It was used for so long that it got smaller and the edge is super sharp. If I use it when the weeds are tiny it works fast, just scrapes them out of the ground - like a shave job. I need to do it every couple of days but it doesn’t take long.

[Qiviut]

I have mulched the dickens out of my beds this year - put down cardboard with a thick layer of pine needles - so far so good on no weeds in my veggie beds.

As for the walkways/outer edge, my biggest issue is “wire” grass. It’s invasive & all but impossible to pull up (or hoe). The roots stay in the ground & it’s back in a flash. I do have wood chips down as mulch around the beds/walkways & most weeds, other than the wire grass, pull right up. If I can get a hot, sunny day (today was pretty good), then ACV/Epson salt/Dawn works fairly well on almost everything.

[MomwithHope]

Yeah that grass is a stinker long roots. We went through that for awhile our only solution is to just till and till and till and rake it all out.

[daniel1212]

"I LOVE seeing pictures of your garden. Reminds me so much of my father’s garden in south Chicago. He used every inch of dirt he could, even planted zucchini outside the fence as our house was on an alleyway. He figured no one would want to steal them and he was right."

Yes, real estate in densely populated cities is at a premium, and esp. facing South or West unobstructed. Thank God we are one of the minorities that have the space we do, with the LL permission. I have some butternut squash plants, but mostly grow tomatoes since they are expensive to buy, and the flavor is so much better than store-bought, and you get a lot to share (mostly cherry toms). But i am thinking about planting Swiss chard for the spring:

Chard is a spring harvest plant. In the Northern Hemisphere, chard is typically ready to harvest as early as April and lasts through May. It is one of the hardier leafy greens, with a harvest season typically lasting longer than kale, spinach, or baby greens. When daytime temperatures start regularly to attain 30 °C (86 °F), the harvest season is coming to an end.

In a 100-gram (3.5 oz) serving, raw Swiss chard provides 84 kilojoules (20 kcal) of food energy and has rich content (> 19% of the Daily Value, DV) of vitamins A, K, and C, with 122%, 1,038%, and 50%, respectively, of the DV.[3] Also having significant content in raw chard are vitamin E and the dietary minerals, magnesium, manganese, iron, and potassium.[3] Raw chard has low content of carbohydrates, protein, fat, and dietary fiber.[3] When chard is boiled, vitamin and mineral contents are reduced compared to raw chard, but still supply significant proportions of the DV (table)