let's talk dirt...
decides2dream
Posts: 14,977
in the garden! 
since we seemed to turn justam's avatar thread into a gardening thread, let's move the convo here and discuss anything and everything desired about gardening, plants, flowers....what you love, tips and tricks....whatever!
living in zone 7, not quite temperate enough here to start digging in the dirt, yet. my daffodils and muscari are bursting to bloom - i've given up on tulips b/c the squirrels just love them TOO much and i end up with beheaded tulips that are far more befitting the adams family garden. :P
anxiously awaiting may 15th when i can plant up all my flower boxes, pots, hanging baskets....put some extra shots of color in the garden....and start our veggie garden! LOVE the fresh produce we get bureid in at the end of the summer....and most especially all the yummy things hubby makes with the bounty!
for a good tip:
in containers and the like:
for really large containers, i add crushed soda cans at the bottom to take up space, use less soil and keep em lighter. also, i swear by hydromats - which i purchase the gardener's supply catalog - that 'hold on' to extra water so you water less, and your plants don't dry out and stay healthy!
since we seemed to turn justam's avatar thread into a gardening thread, let's move the convo here and discuss anything and everything desired about gardening, plants, flowers....what you love, tips and tricks....whatever!
living in zone 7, not quite temperate enough here to start digging in the dirt, yet. my daffodils and muscari are bursting to bloom - i've given up on tulips b/c the squirrels just love them TOO much and i end up with beheaded tulips that are far more befitting the adams family garden. :P
anxiously awaiting may 15th when i can plant up all my flower boxes, pots, hanging baskets....put some extra shots of color in the garden....and start our veggie garden! LOVE the fresh produce we get bureid in at the end of the summer....and most especially all the yummy things hubby makes with the bounty!
for a good tip:
in containers and the like:
for really large containers, i add crushed soda cans at the bottom to take up space, use less soil and keep em lighter. also, i swear by hydromats - which i purchase the gardener's supply catalog - that 'hold on' to extra water so you water less, and your plants don't dry out and stay healthy!
Stay with me...
Let's just breathe...
I am myself like you somehow
Let's just breathe...
I am myself like you somehow
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come August i have more than i know what to do with.
leaf compost is my secret weapon to ensure huge plants and fruits.
i love spring.
I've got onions started in my window and I'm going to start some lettuce soon.
I moved into a nice country house with a totally bare yard...about half an acre. So I'm starting from scratch.
I love english cottage gardens (since that's what my mom had) so thats my goal. (I think I'm zone 5...I should probably know that.
YAY SPRING!!
quarter - i KNOW! come august i am hauling cucumbers and zucchini to work and passing em out like candy. it'd ridiculous. and i eat a TON of cucumbers, hubby makes this awesome thai cucumber salad that i adore, so i practically live on it for lunch daily during the summer, and STILL have too many cucumbers. tomatoes never get given away......can never have too many for fresh salsa and my hubby's fantastic sauce. freeze it up and lasts half the year. leaf mulch is awesome. we do the same as well. also given that we have about 10 trees on our plot, lots of other deciduous trees about...the earthworms LOVE our garden.
cinngirl - congrats! what fun! and what expense! :P hahaha. i've spent a small fortune on our yard/garden and don't have nearly as much property as you. we have quite a good sized yard by middle-class long island standards b/c space, and home prices are a premium! ENJOY! and share all your accomplishments!
Let's just breathe...
I am myself like you somehow
what do you do to keep the birds off your strawberries? i've given up on all berry growing, sadly, b/c i LOVE berries and eat a TON....but i find *just* when anything is near ripe...the birds swipe em. :( i've tried netting, but it's such a pain in the ass....
Let's just breathe...
I am myself like you somehow
i've never seen the commerical but i've seen em in my gardening catalogs. i think it's a cool idea. cut down on disease/bugs, and probably easier to harvest. altho i do wonder how big a plant you can get b/c you are limiting it's root growth. our tomatoes grow like weeds. visually, i think it's hideous tho. :P hahahaha. i asked hubby about it, he's not interested...just wants to grow em the old-fashioned way. but i would be curious to know how well it does.
Let's just breathe...
I am myself like you somehow
yeah I had the same problem..I put this wire fencing around it and it seemed to help.
We moved into a new house in november, so we are playing the wait and see game with some of the little flower gardens that are around the front walk and the back yard. We really have no idea what is planted, so we thought we'd let whatever comes up this spring grow and go from there.
I do want to plant a small garden though with some tomatoes, zucchini and peppers.... yummy...
was like a picture
of a sunny day
“We can complain because rose bushes have thorns, or rejoice because thorn bushes have roses.”
― Abraham Lincoln
most definitely WAIT, right through early autumn to see what treasures - if any - await you! our garden required a LOT of work/overhaul.....but there were a lot of good perrenials that we let stay put, or simply divided/moved....and then sure, knew what and where needed work, etc. it's just like the inside of your home; give it time to examine natural light, how you use each room, it's functionality, what you find you wish was where, etc. how EXCITING for you - enjoy!!!
as to the veggie garden - if you KNOW some part of the garden is vacant, or right within the lawn....can cut out a plot for a garden. again, watch your yard carefully to see exactly what spot gets THE most direct sun, for the longest portion of the day = ideal spot for your veggie garden.
LG - wire caging is a good idea....but sure, it's so ugly. :P haha. was hoping for some miracle tip!
Let's just breathe...
I am myself like you somehow
nice and close up....so teeny.
blackredyellow - The last house I lived in the previous owner had planted violets, which are lovely, but spread into the grass...the neighbours grass...the neighbours garden...it was a pain in the ass. They were impossible to get rid of, so I just had to live with them. I'm beginning to wonder if those violets were a factor in my choice to move.
Here's hoping the previous owners of your house didn't plant violets.
I knew this would be a gardening thread!!
what next? a top ten best knitting patterns poll?
I can hardly wait to plant the vegetable gardens. This year we'll do potatoes, tomatoes, corn, zucchini, carrots, peppers, onions, rhubarb and maybe I'll try garlic again. I never seem to have much luck with it. I get the stalks (which smell very garlicky) but not the bulbs :x Any suggestions? :geek:
Berry-wise we'll have two types of blueberries, strawberries, blackberries, and a ton of raspberries. Hate to say it, but by the end of the season I am thoroughly sick of raspberries and blackberries. Never get tired of the blueberries though
It's been unusually cool here this Spring, but I'm hoping to get a start on the veg. garden within the next week or so.
Happy gardening everyone.
Well, um, that's been done. Ms haiku started some popular threads about knitting and quilting on the old board. :?
oooooo....I DO have some lovely knitting pattern to share!!
grow em in pots!
we grow all our peppers in pots - from bell peppers to habaneros, thai and jalapenos. just be sure to use rich potting soil, deep pots and in direct sun. pots make them easier to care for - move em around and less worry of bug infestations/disease. big thing with pots, make sure you keep them well-watered!
cinngirl - your seedlings look great!
i've never started any plants from seeds, i always go to the nursery and buy pre-started seedlings. some day perhaps i'll give it a go, but right now...especially since we don't have the space for lots and lots of plants, we use the starter seedlings.
our usual veggie garden:
6 roma tomatoes
2 cucumbers
1 zucchini
1 yellow squash
1 eggplant
6 varieties of peppers
we have 3 3'X6' rasied beds for the veggie garden, and then i have 6 large pots nearby for the peppers.
Let's just breathe...
I am myself like you somehow
ahhhh yes, our lilies of the valley are starting up too!
the daylilies are starting to poke own, soon enough the hostas will follow...and before you know it, the azalea bushes will be in full glorious bloom! spring is soooo awesome.
when we first started gardening, we planted strawberries, a blueberry bush, raspberry and blackberry.......and as i mentioned earlier, whenever we started to develop any fruit, the birds ate it all. i got at most a handful of raspberries, a few straweberries......never any blackberries or blueberries. :(
i NEVER tire of ANY berry....so send em my way!
oh and i have no tips for garlic....never tried to grow any. we really should grow even more veggies, but we altreayd set out our boundaries for all, so limited in what we can fit where, so we usuallt stick with the few we know grow well and we love. we used to grow snowpeas at our old place, i miss em! i think i may start growing more stuff in pots. we have limited area with full sun b/c overall have such a shady yard.
also grow herbs - basil, rosemary, chives, cilantro (a must for fresh salsa) chives, lemon balm and different mints.
Let's just breathe...
I am myself like you somehow
most herbs, just like fruits and veggies, prefer full/direct all-day sun. however, i have managed to grow many 'full sun' herbs in mostly eastern/morning sun...and the there are some herbs that can take part-sun, such as most mints. go to your local garden center and look at tags, and of course gardening catalogs and websites are great learning tools too. most hers are annuals - especially in your climate, but there are some that are perennial and will come back year after year...such as some mints, lavender, and on......have fun!
Let's just breathe...
I am myself like you somehow
thanks.
I started some indoor seeds a few weeks ago, but honestly they're not doing well and I will most likely end up purchasing starts. We're in zone 7 - but have had freezing as recently as two weeks ago and it hasn't been nice enough to leave the starts outside for real sun as often as I'd like - so they're all very tall & spindly (not good.)
One issue that I'm having - the very first day after we put the beds in, there were obvious signs of a cat using the fresh dirt as a litter box. :twisted: Barring standing in the bushes all night waiting for the little shit, does anyone know any tricks to keep the neighbor cats away?
cheers, dawn
I am an indoor gardener. My living room and dining room are very green
8/08 - Ed solo in DC, 6/09 Ed in B'more,
10/10 - Brad in B'more
I've experienced the cat problem myself and it's a frustrating one. We used to have lots of feral cats in our neighborhood and they used my beds as their litter box. I'd be outside digging and make a nasty discovery. Disgusting! :x There aren't as many cats now so it isn't much of a problem anymore but I'm not sure what the solution is. I've seen a few products in the organic gardening section that are supposed to keep animals away but I haven't tried them. :?
last weekend hubby and i did some major yard work. cut a LOT of dead branches out of our trees. he cleaned up the lawn, i cleaned up all the garden beds. we set up all our outdoor furniture, and you bet.....i spent a good portion of at least one day in the hammock.
YAY beautiful spring!
Let's just breathe...
I am myself like you somehow
wow you fit all that in your little garden? fantastic!
i am surprised you alredy have it all in the ground, but perhaps it gets warmer sooner by you? somehow that surprises me, but i guess our risk of frost may be higher/longer, even if overall our temps are warmer.
i've never grown lettuce, is it easy to grow? also, isn't that more of a cooler weather crop? never grown garlic or potatoes either. no interest in potatoes...but garlic would be nice! grown watermelons, but none ever grew into relly tasty fruit....and the berries......it's the birds! :evil: :twisted:
Let's just breathe...
I am myself like you somehow