let's talk dirt...

my daffodils have started to bloom!

Sagittarius Crux wrote:

How cool....I wondered if there was a thread like this here and KABLAM here it is!

I will have to post some pics of my vegie patch. I made it deeper this year so it has lots of layers of good stuff in it for my plants. Mr K and I have planted strawberries, cos lettuce, lots of mixed fancy lettuce, chives, spring onions, bok choy, pak choy, broccoli, zuccini, roma tomatoes, cherry tomotoes, basil, oregano, carrots, parsley and a heaps of other stuff I can't remember at the moment. And we made our own worm farm out of mainly recycled materials. So we have lots of happy, healthy worms too and soon we should get some lovely worm wee fertiliser to boost our vegie patch!

ooooooooooo...someone new posting!
yay!
awesome pics!



pjaddicted - i especially LOVE the fern walk up to the door. you know we both share a passion for ferns. :geek:



soooooooo...got the garden all DONE this weekend!
well ok, nothing is ever really *done*...but my seasonal plantings are in. annuals, few new perennials, veggies and herbs. all hanging baskets, window boxes, containers and pots...all set! i plan on top dressing a few beds with some fresh pine nuggets, otherwise, all planting and mulching.....DONE! now if it would only be a bit warmer and sunny instead of all this rain might actually get to enjoy it.

also, very proud of myself, getting better and better at guesstimating, and more importantly - sticking to, a garden budget. granted, we are rather generous with our annual garden budget, but i usually break the bank in any case. :oops: so quite pleased that i estimated our costs within $10....and stuck to it! beyond the garden plants and mulches tho - we did have to spend a small fortune in metal fencing for ALL our garden beds b/c mr. igby just wreaks havoc in the beds, crushing plants. also one of our neighbors has TWO pitbulls, and when they are outside igby thinks he's a bad-ass and barks like a lunatic, jumps on the fence that divides our property, etc. not cool - recipe for disaster. so, the garden bed fencing protects him from reaching the wood fence and does cut down a wee bit on the barking, and most importantly...saves my plants. igby and chloe nearly trampled to death my daylily spot - one of the very few good spots that came with the house and thus we kept - but i am happy to say it came back and then some this year - sooooo happy!

one other good thing, about 3 years ago i was working at smith & hawken, which is akin to a crackwhore working for a crackpimp but none the less...got a LOT of awesome stuff while i worked there. one of the last things i bought was this gorgeous - now discontinued - metal arbor. we intended to put it out front where we presently have a weather cedar arbor, but never got around to it. good thing! it has worked it's way into the back yard, and it makes an awesome *entrance* to the garden, and also, again, keeps the dogs away from the wood fence and possible pitbull injury. it looks fantastic, and i planted honeysuckle to grow up the sides.

i have yet to take any pics...but i WILL! and i will definitely try and post!
(and yes i realize, i said that last year....and never did get around to posting my last summer garden pics. oops. i'll do better this year, i will. )

sooooooooo...things i planted:

annuals - usual mix of impatiens, new guinea impatiens and double impatiens. all for shots of color in containers, hanging baskets and windowboxes...along with some lime sweet potato vine in the windowboxes. i forgot the yellow marigolds in the veggie beds!

perennials - 3 honeysuckle vines and 3 pink hydrangeas.
2 buttercup english ivies (to replace some death on a couple of topiaries)

herbs -
2 varieties basil
3 cilantro
1 oregano
1 mint - in addition to what came back from last year
1 rosemary
1 italian parsley
(lemon balm and lavender all came back, along with strawberries - yay!)

veggies -
6 roma tomatoes
2 cucumbers
1 zucchini
2 varieties eggplant
1 sweet frying pepper
1 jalapeno
1 habanero
1 mariachi pepper
1 thai hot pepper
1 sweet pea
(mr. dream will start the yellow squash from seed)


think that's it!
if it's nice saturday i shall lay some mulch and hopefully snap some pics....and maybe, just maybe...i'll get em uploaded before the end of summer )

wow - what a cutie! ^^^



sounds like you have a far more ambitious garden than i do - thus why it's easier for me to be done!
we had an utterly gorgeous weekend, so i was able to fully enjoy the fruits of my labor, i spent the entire weekend out in the garden. spent some time in the hammock, then some on the porch swing, then some more time in the adirondack chairs....yea....was a good weekend. we trimmed most of our shrubs and i top-dressed most of the garden beds with fresh mulch. that was the extent of 'work' over the weekend. i didn't take any photos yet, maybe next weekend!

Claireack wrote:

Quick question;

I've had a Buddleia in a pot for about 5 years and I transferred it to a bigger pot yesterday and I'm completely paranoid it's going to die now :( . Put fresh soil in etc. Anyone have any ideas how I can make sure it's carries on being ok?

it should be just fine!
make sure it has proper drainage, and continue to care for it as you have been these past 5 years, and also same light location, and it should thrive.