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Sep 24, 2008 | 3:10 PM PST
Tags: trumpet tree , canna , seed pod , fall , grass , oats , sedum , salvia , Salvias
I just love this time of year! The air is crisp, the heat is leaving and its time to tidy up the garden and dream of another spring to come. With the hot weather cooling down, I have been enjoying some time in the garden and have managed to carve a few minutes out here and there to do some things and take some pictures.
The northern oats grass is looking lovely:
And the autumn joy sedums are bursting with color and look especially nice next to the black and blue salvia!
>
The trumpet trees are in all their glory and have such wonderful fragrance in the morning and evening! A great treat with the cool air:
The cannas have finished blooming and have the most beautiful seed pods on them:
I amv ery please with how the sweet potato vine has provided weed control in this bed:
This winter I plan to get a nice blue conifer to put in the back of this bed.
We had some great rain at the end of the summer that the purple hyacinth bean and moon vine flower really loved and they just scurried up the arbor:
It will be time to dig up the sweet potatoes soon also :) Tomorrow on his way home from work, hubby is goingt to pick up a truckload of compost that I will top dress the empty veggie beds with so that I can put in fall crops of spinach, greens and brussel sprouts. Can't wait!
And, I am reminded a lot lately that the garden in faithful and continues to go on with or without me...and i am able to enjoy it all the same :)
Sep 11, 2008 | 12:03 PM PST
Tags: Trees , grass , flowers and weeds.
Hello everyone! I am new to this, but I'm determined to make a go of it. I have lots of questions and a lot of work to do. I recently moved into a new home in northern Texas (Lubbock) and have no idea what gardening zone that is. My yard has a sprinkler systerm (yeah), but I don't have grass growing in one area of the backyard. I think the trees may be creating too much shade. So.... I cut them. I may have just killed them, but the branches were begining to tickle my toes. If I did something wrong, please let me know what, and if/how to fix it. I did plant some new grass seed in the bare area (geneticly altered/engineerd fescue grass) and it has begun to come up. WQW! We've had some rain here the past few days, and now my new grass may be drowning. My flower beds are full of weeds and Ivy. I don't think that is a good combination. I have lots of BIG pots in the yard that I can plant in, but I don't know what to plant. I have a bag of daffodils that my mother mailed me last fall, but I'm not sure they are still alive. I'm sure a lot of you are groaning by now, and have realized why my name is NoThumb. Since moving here, I have really begun to look around and want to make this place look better, but I really don't know where to start. I am a student right now (going back for my RN) and have some extra time on my hands that I can spend in the yard, but I still have two children and a new husband to take up a lot of my remaining time. When I went out and trimmed the trees and cut some of the Ivy back, we worked so hard, and it felt GREAT! There is something about starting a project and watching it come to life. I am excited about wanting to plant flowers/bulbs and see in the spring that they came to life. I hope to see that gardening isn't as scary as I've always thought it was. I know that at first I'm going to need some tough plants. I'd love to hear from all of you and get as much advise as possible.
Jul 16, 2008 | 12:14 AM PST
Tags: water , grass , arizona
So I live in a metropolis in a desert. My boyfriend and I moved into our current house in January. The former tenants had let every living thing in both front and back yards wither away. It is amazing what happens with a little TLC and water! Our backyard is now a garden oasis. The grass is green and thick. It was yellow and patchy. The mesquite tree has doubled in size and the veggie garden is going crazy.
We have been watering the back yard every night (when it's dark to prevent evaporation) for 10-20 minutes. So the water bill went up and we decided to consolidate our efforts in the backyard - where we entertain and spend most of our time - and have only been sporadically watering the front grass. Who cares about the Joneses Right?
Now we just got a letter from the City stating we must restore the front lawn or replace it with desert landscaping due to it's "Slum-like" appearance. For real? It didn't look that bad - just yellow in spots - and it's Arizona in the summer for goodness sake. We are fixing up the place one thing at a time - installing desert landscaping is on the agenda but not in the budget right now.
Well - whatever. I'm enjoying my beautiful GREEN back yard. We had a rain this week and monsoons are on their way so the front grass will just have to deal. The roses in front look great BTW - I water those ;)
Jun 13, 2008 | 9:41 PM PST
Tags: starting out , trees , grass , 2008
My Dh, Dd and I recently moved into our first house. It has a tiny front and backyard that we are all very excited about! We had some landscapers come in to clear out some trash and dead plants and grass for us, and they laid down new sod in the front and a tiny bit in the back. We have a nice big tree in the front and a few smaller trees in the back. I am really new to gardening and plant identification, so forgive me for not naming these trees. :-) We have a couple of nice bushes in the front and back also. I have a space for a tiny garden in the back.
Yesterday Dh and I started digging up the soil (lots of clay and rocks). We also bought some good compost soil from the local nursery. The dirt that was already there was really hard to break through. Today we finished it and mixed it all up with the compost soil. I tried to pick out as any rocks as possible.
Today we planted six cherry tomato seedlings, one zucchini squash seedling, six parsley seedlings, and six basil seedlings. We'll see how many are still alive in a couple of weeks! I'm really hoping that we get some food out of this! The process is fun too though. :-)
And so the adventure begins...
Apr 24, 2008 | 3:43 PM PST
Tags: astilbe , hardy begonia , veggie , datura , grass , black berry , peach
Mom and I took a little day trip today to a fabulous nursery that is a bit of a drive north of our town. We typically go there once every spring. On my list for sure was a hardy begonia. I used to have one of these, but I had planted it with the Vinca Major and the Vinca won the fight last year. I was planning on moving it this spring, but the poor little guy didn't make it, so I needed a new one. To my delight, they had one. SO, i got it and also picked up 3 Astilbe Color Flash Limes (Astilbe xarendsii hybrid). This same plant is usually priced $13.99 at our local nursery, but at the one today they were only $5.75 so I could afford to get 3 of them. Hooray! They are said to get 15-20 inches high with lime green foliage that changes color throughout the season and purplish/pinkish blooms. I planted all my new goodies in front of the azaleas to the right of all the new hosta starts. The shade bed is coming together!
I also picked up some little moon flower vine seedlings. I put some of these seeds in the ground, but they don't always germinate, so I picked up some to guarantee that I get some of this wonderful vine this year. They got planted by the arbor in the back. Once everything was in the ground...I got to watering.
The veggies are looking great! Most exciting is the tomato bed:
An
d, the corn has germinated VERY well:
p>Once the watering was done, I took some time to capture the happenings in the garden as of now...
The blackberries are blooming and we are looking forward to the berries to come:
The peach tree that bloomed in early spring now has little fruits on it! I am surprised b/c I just planted it last year:
The allium blubs are starting to do something:
In the front yard, where I spotted lots of little seedlings in the spring and wasn't sure what they were...well, they are thousands of datura babies!
The feather grass is just beautiful with all its new growth:
The double knockouts are just ready to burst:
And finally, the autumn ferns have some wonderful new fronds and look beautiful as I sit on the front porch:
Apr 3, 2008 | 8:50 AM PST
Tags: garden art , creek , gunnerra , gunnera , redbud , dogwood , compost , autumn fern , ajuga , grass , lawn , mow , weed eat , weed
I spent yesterday afternoon tootling about in the front yard. I mowed our "lawn" , which is really more a patch of weeds than anything. After its mowed, it actually looks pretty decent. My dreams of fescue were squelched by the drought last year....maybe this fall i can do that. Once the mowing was done, I pulled some weeds, cut back some vinca, hacked down the curry plant (it had gotten very raggedy and woody, will be interesting to see if it comes back), and I also watered the autumn ferns. It looks as though the layer of compost applied to the top of that bed last summer is really coming through for us...I have never had so many new fronds appearing at once on these ferns. It looks so pretty! Here is a view of the front yard as seen from my front porch today:
As you can see, my girl and my hubby are enjoying the freshly mowed weeds :)
The redbud looks so amazing right now as well! Also, the ajuga is blooming and is adding a nice shot of color:
The dogwood is almost in all of its glory. It is in the same bed that got the compost dressing and i do think it is helping the dogwood also, in seasons past, the dogwood has suffered from one of its common fungal diseases that causes the blossoms to fall off before they fully open. It looks like we might not have that prob this year :)
On a recent shopping trip with my mom, I picked up this cool garden art windchime and I have been enjoying it as I sit on my front porch:
Its very overcast today and a bit cool and breezy, so I am not sure if I will venture out in the garden later or not. I have been thinking more about creek planting lately and trying to decide what to plant on the opposite bank...I still have yet to have the moment of brilliant inspiration. I do need to get back there with the weedeater so that all my hard work spent cleaning everything out doesn't go to waste....it will if I don't stay on top of things back there. I am anxiously awaiting the emerging of the great gunnerra that went in the ground a few weeks ago...i check for growth every day :)
I did hear an ad on the radio that our local home depot has 5 dollar coreopsis and hostas, so i may venture down there this afternoon. Tomorrow the forecast is thunder storms, so I better do what I have to do today :)
Feb 4, 2008 | 3:11 PM PST
Tags: raking , weeds , grass , fertilizer , Swiss Chard , cabbage , garden snails , thyme , golden beet , kohlrabi , peas , radish , romaine
Every year when we have our first big day of outdoor work, I always come away feeling satisfied and of course sore. LOL Thats just part of it. A pair of good sore hands and knowing that you did a good job on the projects you worked on. Todays weather was especially beautiful. Temps got up to 78F with a nice breeze that was sometimes a little gusty. Just a very beautiful day. So outside I went, and outside I stayed, until my stomach insisted that it MUST be fed. I got quite a bit done....so here it is.
I loosed and raked the soil in the second raised bed, removing any weeds and grass along the way. There weren't many weed though. I mixed in fertilizer as well. I planted peas, parsley, kohlrabi, radish, parsnip and romaine lettuce. It may sound like alot, but the way I planted it should work out great.
I transplanted two small Swiss Chard plants that overwintered. They are the Neon Lights variety...so pretty! I put them into the first bed that I had planted peas in last week. I also transplanted a small thyme plant into the same bed, next to another one. Maybe they will make a nice clump of thyme this summer. In that first bed I also finished out the remaining space with some golden beet seed. I would like to try some of those fresh, and roasted. Yummy! Some of the greens that I planted last week are up and I think that the peas are going to be quick to follow.
Baby arugula
Swiss Chard, Neon Lights
The remaining cabbages were picked and cleaned of their holy outer leaves. There were alot of garden snails hangin' around that area. I will have to remember that for this fall.
The flower bed that is near the chickens was in desperate need of attention. I raked(which is what caused the sore hands), pulled out and transplanted, added new plants and bulbs, planted seed, and so on and so on. I think the changes will be great.
This is a clump of baby Shasta Daisies that my girls planted last summer.
Narcissus/Paperwhite buds are coming up.
This oregano has overwintered and stayed green. Its spreading and going up and over the edges of the pot.
These are the Angel Trumpet stumps that were left after I trimmed them back. Now they are starting to sprout from the base. It looks like it will be alot fuller this year.
Dec 14, 2007 | 6:25 AM PST
Tags: fall , cleanup , rake , leaves , blooms , spring , grass , color , front , yard , back
Its been a while since I have spent a good chunk of productive time in the garden. And, yesterday...I did just that. In the morning, my girl and I made Christmas cookies and when she went down for her nap, I headed out to the garden. I did some clean up; such as raking and pruning. I also had some fun with my new camera. The weather here has been very wacky! The highs for the last week have been around 80, so we are having a false spring....things are blooming and buds are appearing. Its quite strange, because there are still many signs of fall in the garden. The Laurapedelum is in full bloom:
And yet, the grasses are showing all their fall color:
After a couple hours of clean up (It didn't need as much work as I thought, I guess all the hard work in the summer really payed off) This is what the yard looks like:
Front yard:
Side view of front yard:
Back Yard Views:
Sep 11, 2007 | 9:34 AM PST
Tags: Romaine Lettuce , Bloomsdale Spinach , Bibb Lettuce , Neon Lights Swiss Chard , Fall Veggies , Grass , Fire Ants , Early Girl Tomato , Cabbage , Pacman Broccoli , Crispy Frills Lettuce , Collard Greens
I must write this down before I forget what exactly I planted. Yesterday I finished cleaning up the 2nd and 3rd beds in the garden. The one that had the sweet potatoes in it this summer was an easy one. I just evened out the soil and took out a few small weeds. Fertilizer was then sprinkled over the whole bed and mixed into the top few inches. I watered the bed lightly and waited a few hrs before planting. Then I made shallow furrows across the bed. I planted the whole bed with greens. A couple of rows of each, Parris Island Romaine Lettuce, Bloomsdale Long-standing Spinach, Bibb Lettuce and Neon Lights Swiss Chard. I did leave some of the small sweet potato vines that were around the edge of the bed. I don't think they will have time to get large enough to bother the greens and the vines are pretty but still small.
The next bed took a little more work. It still had a little of that nasty grass that spreads by runners, that had to be removed. I dug a small furrow around the entire bed and put that soil up into it. The whole bed is raised about 6in. There were fire ants at one end of the bed so I had to be careful. I did end the day with plenty of mosquito and ant bites, hazards of the hobby I guess. After the bed was ready I fertilized, watered and waited just like the other one. In this bed I planted the Early Girl Tomato, Cabbage, Pacman Broccoli and Crispy Frills Lettuce (which is one of my very favorite lettuce types). I also planted a little bit of Collard Greens seed around the end of the bed where the tomato is, the greens will last longer into the winter than the tomato plant. It might seem silly to be planting a tomato plant this time of year....but, its a quick ripening tomato and I am hoping to get a few red and plenty of green. It will be a good excuse to try RKaynes recipe for fried green tomatoes.
I didn't take pictures of the beds yet. I think I will wait until the greens sprout, then take pics of both beds and add the pics to this entry.
Aug 26, 2007 | 1:15 AM PST
Tag: grass
It is way to late to help the farmers much, but I am sure all the plants were glad to get a sip of water! The trees have been under a lot of stress and are losing leaves early this year already :(
From the looks of it, much of my grass is dead and will have to be reseeded this fall. Doenst the farmers almanac say to seed around Labor day or close to it and right before a rain? We have an acre and cannot do the proper thing by digging the old out and putting new in.. will just have to trho some seed out and hope the birds dont eat it all!! LOL
Aug 12, 2007 | 12:15 PM PST
Tags: drought , grass
This dry weather is nuts!
I only water my smal gardens between 7AM to
10AM, yet they still are pretty thristy.
My lawn, that I do not waste water on looks
like flat hay. But there is a pretty, dark green,
spreading plant; I will include photos in my album
"My unknown plants", if you know what it is
please tell me.
If it gets any more dry here, I will have to do
xeriscaping.
Aug 12, 2007 | 6:16 AM PST
Tags: August , garden , grass , seven sisters
Well, it's August already. Almost time to go back to work. Haven't done anything in the garden this year. It's been so blasted hot and humid, you can't stand being outside for long. Haven't had any rain that amounts to much. The grass looks like a hay field. Have been watering the tomatoes and peppers every day to keep them alive. Even the little stick things growing in the grass have quit growing. Just waiting for Fall to come along. Have some major plans for my garden this year. Most of my flowers need to be moved. Some need to be replaced and need to add some new ones. Have been getting catalogs from all over to get some ideas of what I want to add to the garden.
My Seven Sisters rose bush, it was looking like it died this spring. Trimmed it up and put some new mulch around it. It has grown like crazy. Haven't even watered it. Just what rain we have had is all the water it has been getting. And it is still growing. pretty hardy if you ask me!!
Well, that's it for now. I'll pop back in and add some more later.
Aug 1, 2007 | 2:28 PM PST
Tags: creek , bargains , ostrich fern , lamium , grass , euoymus , winter creeper , ground cover
Another trip to the nursery this time of year proved to yield many more bargains! This time, I got some goodies for by the creek :)
I got 2 Ostrich Ferns, 1 Cinnamon Fern, 3 Euonymus Purple Winter Creepers, 1 Lamium, and 1 mystery grass. All this for $19. WOO HOO!!!!!!!
Heres the area before the plantings:
And After:
Right after I took this picture, I drove stakes through each plant to keep them in place if we get another heavy downpour. This way I won't loose any plants down stream. (This was an idea from the guy at the nursery. It would have never occurred to me to do that!
Unfortu
nately I can't mulch the area because it will all just get washed away. Thats why i put in the ground covers. Hopefully they will do a good job of spreading. I am also going to transplant some vinca over in the area in the fall.
Jul 9, 2007 | 7:55 AM PST
Tags: rain , temperatures , grass , mowing , Brandywine tomatoes , Sweet 100 cherry tomato , Burpee Beefsteak tomato , Rutger tomato , birds , Watermelon , Celeste Fig Tree , Fertilizer stakes , Eggplant , Black Beauty Eggplant , Compost pile , RidX , Asparagus , Jersey Knight , Purple Passion
There has been alot going on, even though it has rained a majority of the last two weeks. If it didn't rain in the morning it would later in the day. The temps have been great though, not over 85 and even had one afternoon that was down to 72 because of the storm passing through. Of course I couldn't take advantage of these nice temps too much because of the rain and soggy ground. The grass had gotten so tall it was kind of rediculous. Everytime I though I was going to be able to take out the mower.....I would go and check the radar on the comp. and there was a big green and yellow spot comin' right at me. So I just waited. Tall grass for awhile doesn't hurt anything. Just isn't that comfy to walk in, especially when wet. I haven't had to water the garden....obviously, very nice.
Some of the tomatoes have been doing great. The cherrys and the Brandywine especially. We have been harvesting beautiful tomatoes everyday off of the cherry and every couple of days off of the Brandywine. The Burpee Beefsteak has succumbed to some kind of wilt....it was supposed to be resistant! Oh well, just won't grow that kind again. I also plan to cover that area of soil with plastic so it can cook over the rest of the hot summer. Hopefully that will help keep it from spreading if it had the notion. The Rutgers would be doing great if it wasn't for the beefsteak next to them. Some of the leaves on the Rutger that is closest to where the beefsteak was have started to show signs of the wilt as well. They are so far along though I don't think it will have a drastic effect on the harvest though. I just harvested the first tomato off of the Rutger. ALL LARGE TOMATOES MUST BE HARVESTED BEFORE FULLY RIPE. The birds have decided that they are going to snack on them at breakfast if I let them ripen completely on the plants. Almost penny size holes!!! So I am just beating them to the tomatoes.
In the center area where I had the Giant Pumpkin.....The watermelon has completely taken over. There aren't even hardly any weeds popping up because the vines are so thick. I have some of the baby watermelons getting some good size on them. They seem to just jump in size overnight. I am encouraged that the melons themselves are getting bigger. Being that they were seeds saved from an unknown cultivar I had no idea what they would do. Here is a picture of one of the bigger watermelons.
The fig tree has about 40 little figs on it and has started to sprout some new growth as well. It also has some tiny red dots on some of the leaves. I need to put some more fertilizer stakes around it. I am hoping to train it as a bush and keep it about 6ft. tall. If I have to trim it after that I want to try to sprout the pieces I trim to grow more.
The eggplant have continued to do good. There are a good amount of baby eggplants on most of the plants, and I have harvested a few more. I don't know what is a GREAT crop for an eggplant but I am happy with what is there. Three of the kinds that I started from seed stay on the smaller size, like a large orange. The ones that I tasted have been delicious. Now there are some of the Black Beauty ones swelling in size, here is a picture of them. Very shiny and dark purple.
The way my compost pile is set up, is just not working. Its not cooking very fast. I don't have it covered, its in the shade and I don't stir it. LOL, It will get there maybe by this fall. We cleaned out the chicken house yesterday and added all of the waste and old hay to it. I also sprinkled over the rest of a bag of "compost maker" that I had left. It doesn't seem like that stuff works very fast though. Maybe I haven't added enough of it. Yesterday at church I was talking to a farmer that said someone told him that RidX works great on a compost pile. I have no idea whats in that...don't know if it would be considered organic or not. I am going to make sure it is all piled up really good and then cover it with a black tarp that I have, maybe that will help it along as well. I don't think letting the rain just wash through it the last couple of weeks has helped either. I am hoping that by this fall it will be broken down enough to use on the perennial beds. Don't want to use it on the veggie garden because I add grass clippings from the back yard, which is where the doggies have their outhouse. ;)
The asparagus is doing better than I expected. It is still sending up shoots, very surprised about that. It also has put on seed pods on a few ferns. They are still green though. I accidently broke the tip off of a new shoot awhile back....so I had to taste it, it was very yummy. Now I can't wait until next spring. The only thing bad that has happed has been puppy damage. Before I sold 3 of them they got into one of the beds and were running around. They broke off a few of the ferns. Aggravating!!! Only one puppy left to sell!!! Thank God she is calmer now that the others are gone. I think that I need to make some kind of support frame to go around the ferns though. They are really leaning in some places. That can be a project for early winter. Next spring the ferns should be thicker too which should help as well. Here are a couple of pics. #1 is ferns on the Jersey variety and #2 is new shoot coming up on the Purple Passion variety.
Jun 23, 2007 | 2:01 PM PST
Tags: harry lauder's , compost , annuals , grass , bench , juniper , laurapedilum
I LOVE compost. I know all of us gardeners love that black gold. I am so lucky that my city offers it free. Especially since what I make on my own in my backyard isn't nearly enough for the whole garden. My husband is so kind to go get truckloads of it for me. Thats what we spent a good part of the afternoon doing. I had just finished weeding out all of the running Bermuda grass (which was an ENORMOUS and seemingly neverending project), so I wanted to topdress this bed with the compost because I have found that it is a great deterrent for the grass coming back. And, the plants love it. The funny thing is that the stuff the city has for free smells really bad...pretty much like poop. So, you can imagine what my non gardening neighbors think of me. It takes about a week for the smell to gass off and once that happens I will mulch with pinestraw. This is the bed to the left of our driveway:
THis bed is one of the works in progress. i am trying to hide the view of the neighbors yard. I have planted two Laurapedalums and a Juniper around the bench. I know with a little time and patience they will do the trick.:
I was also given a Datura seedling one year and it does a great job of reseeding and they just pop up all over the bed. I divided some of my grasses this year to put near the front to provide year round interest and to take the place of the annual bed. That is too high maintenance and i am not willing to spend the money to do the mass planting it takes to make a good show so it just ends up looking pathetic LOL
And of course I LOVE my Harry Lauder's. He was the very first thing we planted here and he has done great:
Can you tell how hot it is by the picts.....glaring sun, dry soil...It was 96 today and we haven't had a good rain in months. We are in a drought and I am only supposed to water Tues, Thurs, Sunday from midnight - 10....ARGH!
But, I am all for helping and conserving our resources, so I try not to cheat too much.
Can't wait to water tomorrow :)
Jun 22, 2007 | 7:52 AM PST
Tags: grass , compost , zucchini , leaf footed bugs , squash borers , mowing
Wed. evening I was able to get out into the garden and get 4 buckets of the bane of my garden removed...GRASS. I had to use the pitch fork to loosen the soil so I could get the runners from under the soil. When we tilled it early this spring to add the rabbit manure we didn't remove all of this grass first. Now it is all coming back from all of the little pieces that were chopped up and are now under the soil. I am lucky in the fact that my 5 yr old is a gardener to the bone like me, she loves and begs to help when I am doing things like that. I would show here were to put the pitch fork and she would get on and rock side to side to get it down in the soil. She doesn't weigh much but she is determined. Then we would pull it back to loosen the area where we wanted to work. Its nice to have someone around that enjoys gardening like I do, even the weeding. Its still satisfying to get it removed, even if it is just pulling grass. I got a good area cleared out and hope to get the rest done by the end of the weekend.
After all of the grass is removed I will be planting where needed. I will remove all Zucc. plants as they have been too damaged by the leaf footed bugs and squash borers. I need to get a list together of all that I will be planting. I just picked up some more seeds last week that are clearanced because its summer now.
Last night I mowed the back yard. It had gotten kind of tall because of all the rain we have had lately. Its been good for the garden though, I haven't had to water the garden in quit awhile. I used the bagger on the mower and put some of the clippings in the compost, its getting pretty damp though. I spread the rest of them around in different places along fences and such where it will help to keep down weeds and or grass. I am doing much better this year with keeping the yard mowed. At least I don't have scruffy, leather faced guys coming to the door asking to mow the yard yet this year. LOL
Jun 14, 2007 | 3:55 PM PST
Tags: grass , weeding , herbicide , pole beans , zucchini , weather
We are going into the hotter part of the summer. It has been over 90 and up to 100 for the last couple of weeks. At this point in my garden most of the work that needs done is just weeding. Over the last few days I have been trying to eradicate, at least to some degree, the grass that is taking over. Even where I put down newspapers and mulch there is this nightmare type of grass that is growing by leaps and bounds. It spreads under and above ground by runners. When I try to pull it I have to be very careful or it will break inbetween the nodes where it has put down roots. I have tried just spraying vinegar on it. The grass just laughs, "I will conquer!", it says. The only solution seems to be the Chair and Pitch Fork method. I loosen the soil and meticulously remove as many root and runner pieces as possible. We have had frequent afternoon showers lately so the soil is cooperative with this method. I will continue to work on this problem, I think that if I make sure that I clean really good this fall also and don't let it get out of hand this winter that will make a big difference for the next summer growing season. Something for everyone to remember....IF YOU HAVE WEED OR GRASS THAT SPREADS BY RUNNERS OR CURRENTLY HAS SEEDS, USING A TILLER IN THAT AREA WILL ONLY MULTIPLY YOUR PROBLEMS LATER. Planing ahead would have saved me at least some of this headache. I could have sprayed with an herbicide that is stronger, right now I wouldn't because of all of the veggies growing. At least now the side affects from my heart medication have leveled off and I have more energy to get out there and tackle this problem.
The green and purple pole beans are doing great. Especially the purple, this morning I harvested a gallon size zip-lock bag full. I also got my first zucchini!
May 6, 2007 | 5:54 AM PST
Tags: grass , grass seed
My lawn people just put down Barricade Fertilizer and Crabgrass control. I have hired a company to slice seed the weak areas in my yard..
Since we have already put Barricade on the lawn, will the slice seeding be able to grow.
Apr 24, 2007 | 11:25 AM PST
Tags: tomatoes , over grown , grass , weeds , bulbs , garden fork , Early Girl , Beef Steak , Cherry Tomato , Vermicompost , Worm Castings , blackberries , spiders , Sugar Snap Peas , Till , Full Sun
So, 2 days of work.
The first day clearing half of the overgrown mess, the second day
tilling in some worm castings (vermicompost).
This is all hand done, due to lack of space & equipment, haha…I worked it with a garden fork. Weeds, grass, various bulbs that I have no
use for…some volunteer blackberries (bane of the PNW) and spiders…and here I
have some garden space. This is only
half done, but the hardest part has been done, IMHO. I planted some Tomato’s, an Early Girl,
Beefsteak and a Cherry. I plan on
putting in some Sugar Snap Peas after I build a trellis for them. Personally? I
think I should have a ‘Get Out of Hell Free’ card for doing this…it IS a rental
house, after all! Check out the pics, tell me what YOU think! This spot does get FULL sun, so at least it will produce!
Before:
After:
Tomatoes:
Apr 9, 2007 | 4:20 PM PST
Tags: yard , veggies , tulips , weed , grass , till , vermicompost , blackberries , PNW
Here is a pic of the bit o' yard I get to plant my veggies, I have already decided where to move those Tulips :D I have to weed out all that grass (and some blackberries, bane of the PNW) and till it, the I will vermicompost it.
And for some comic relief, our cats are looking forward to moving as well :D
