Gardening

[Kimmyt]

I know some of you ladies are really into gardening, and have some beautiful yards. I, myself, have a bit of a black thumb, but for a space of about a month or two every year I attempt to plant things. The urge never lasts long. Either I have a short attention span, or everything dies, or both.

Anyway, so now it's that time of year for me and I'm attempting to clean up the yard and make it a little more liveable. I want to put a small native flowering tree in my front yard, maybe a common dogwood, because we could use more trees in my neighborhood, and maybe if I have someone put in the tree (I have neither the time or inclination to do that myself) I'll have them put a border in off my back deck so I can put some plants in. I'm also thinking of an easy-to-care-for flowerbox or two on my back deck where there's lots of sun for a few herbs.

Herbs are the one thing I can't ever seem to kill (and I use)!

Are any others out there struggling with gardening, or attempting to just keep their land nice-looking? Tips for a new homeowner? I live a really busy life with all my hobbies, so it's hard to fit in taking care of the house and yard, these things tend to get dropped by the wayside, but maybe I'll be able to fit in a bit more of this this year (I say that ever year!!)

K.

[Trekhawk]

I know some of you ladies are really into gardening, and have some beautiful yards. I, myself, have a bit of a black thumb, but for a space of about a month or two every year I attempt to plant things. The urge never lasts long. Either I have a short attention span, or everything dies, or both.

Anyway, so now it's that time of year for me and I'm attempting to clean up the yard and make it a little more liveable. I want to put a small native flowering tree in my front yard, maybe a common dogwood, because we could use more trees in my neighborhood, and maybe if I have someone put in the tree (I have neither the time or inclination to do that myself) I'll have them put a border in off my back deck so I can put some plants in. I'm also thinking of an easy-to-care-for flowerbox or two on my back deck where there's lots of sun for a few herbs.

Herbs are the one thing I can't ever seem to kill (and I use)!

Are any others out there struggling with gardening, or attempting to just keep their land nice-looking? Tips for a new homeowner? I live a really busy life with all my hobbies, so it's hard to fit in taking care of the house and yard, these things tend to get dropped by the wayside, but maybe I'll be able to fit in a bit more of this this year (I say that ever year!!)

K.

I love gardening but I know what you mean about trying to find the time to fit everything in. What works for me is doing a little whenever I have a spare bit of time rather than making it a whole weekend job. I might dead head plants or pull weeds for half an hour before I put dinner on (now with daylight saving its a little easier to do this). I do have a bad habit of being sucked into my garden. I got out to get the mail from the box and end up pulling weeds or spreading mulch. My husband laughs when I say Im just going outside for a few minutes, it always ends up being much longer.

Good luck and happy gardening

[short cut sally]

You might want to look into perennials instead of annuals if you want to be in the garden less. I have 2 perennial beds and 1 annual bed. The only thing I have to do to the perennial bed is pull some weeds to get ready for the mulch. The annual bed is just pulling weeds to get ready to plant flowers and con't to pull weeds as I don't put mulch on this bed. I might this year though. Annuals give you continuous flowers where some of the perennials bloom certain times then they are done.

[Kimmyt]

So I decided to hold off on planting things in the ground right now, since last I tried to dig in certain spots of my 'landscaped' garden, the ground was a combination of claylike soil and large rocks. Whoever did the landscaping the first time sure didn't do a thorough job, and planting things in that soil and doing the whole soil replacement thing would just take too damn much time. Luckily my azalea bush is currently thriving and the other bushes and trees are looking healthy. I planted several container gardens a few days ago, and they are actually still alive! I would love to put in perennials, but can't seem to make a choice about 1) which color scheme I want to settle on and 2) which are the easiest to care for.

I think I have decided on getting a tree put in, and my herbs are just waaaaiiiiting to be put into their container on my kitchen deck.

Now to find the time to do it....

K.

[yellow]

So I decided to hold off on planting things in the ground right now, since last I tried to dig in certain spots of my 'landscaped' garden, the ground was a combination of claylike soil and large rocks.

Get thee a pick! Great upper body workout, too! I have one that is pointed on one side and flat bladed on the other.

shellyj is right...if you want a nice year with less maintenance, go with perennials. It takes some time and planning to get everything planted and established, but after a couple of years you mostly just get to be amazed at how beautiful it all is. I had a dogwood in my last yard. It was really very easy to care for. Another one that's easy to care for and grows like gangbusters is Corylus (hazelnut trees). Though since I have no idea where SEPA is or what it stands for, I 'm not sure you could grow Corylus.

We've been this house for 1.5+ years and are just starting to plan the yard. I wanted to see how it all "worked" first and what would pop up throughout the season. We have some new challenges that I've not dealt with before--high elevation, very low humidity and blazing hot sun in summer and very cold in winter, a giant mulberry tree in the neighbor's yard that creates a purple gooey mess for 1.5 months, no irrigation system, and *gasp* a lawn. I want to take the lawn out but DH feels the need to keep it (which I might be OK with if he was the one that actually mowed it! And we have an old-fashioned you-push-it mower, so it takes me forever to mow and clean up our small lawn). Can't do anything about the mulberry, so we'll have to figure out how to hardscape in a manner that is compatible with purple goo and then tons of leaves in the fall (I like the tree otherwise...it provides valuable shade!). We might have an irrigation system put in, but I'm currently having some personal crises about resource use and would like to try a very-xeri-scape yard.

Good luck and let us know how it goes!

[surgtech1956]

Go with perennials. Get a variety so that you have some blooming all the time. I have 90% perennials and 10% annuals. I thin out and move some of my perennials every year or so. Good luck.

[northstar]

And remember that it's a common mistake to plant perennials too close together. I always mistakenly overbuy (or over commit) perennials. They need space to spread.

Annuals, on the other hand...ram them in close. At least in Minnesota! The season is so short, we pack them tight so as to get the most pop for the most time in the summer.

[RolliePollie]

I live on 11 acres and gardening is my alternative exercise for the spring and summer months. This place has a little bit of everything...fruit trees, forest, grass, 5 acre Christmas tree farm, nice landscaping near the house, and loads of WEEDS! (By the way, this is my parents' property and it's up for sale...if anyone wants to buy it, let me know - it's too much for me to take care of all by myself and it needs to sell!). Last summer I learned all about irrigation lines and geysers in the middle of the night, mower tractor repair, and the importance of wearing long pants when you're week whacking (leg skin doesn't hold up well to that weed eater string). I really can't say I'm looking forward to all that stuff again this year.

Anyway, gotta love this time of year for planting flowers. I have a bit of an addiction to flowers. Perennials are wonderful, but I love annuals too. You get so much bang for your buck even with those little 6 packs of basics like petunias and impatiens. Some of my favorite perennials are sedum, yarrow, and hostas. Oh, and as an alternative to grass, ornamental strawberry and vinca minor grow like crazy and use less water.

One thing I discovered a few years back are soaker hoses. But you have to get the good ones...the black spongy rubber ones that let the water leak out all over the place. The green ones with little holes don't last. Anyway, just snake the soaker hoses all through your plants and let them run for several hours about once a week (more or less I guess...depending on where you live). Very easy and very effective. Since the water is coming out right on the ground, you lose less from evaporation too!

[sgtiger]

...the importance of wearing long pants when you're weed whacking (leg skin doesn't hold up well to that weed eater string).

Ooh... OW! My BGF learned that the hard way too. Took a big chunk of flesh off her leg. It looked awful! I'm sure it hurt like a beotch too.

[mhara]

We decided two years ago (when our remaining cat died) that we would develop a garden that was friendly to wild-life (birds, butterflies, hedgehogs, frogs, toads - we don't run to the large animal range of wild-life in the UK that some of you may still have in the US).

First to go was the lawn. We decided which areas we wanted to keep paved for outdoor relaxing/entertaining and then we re-landscaped the rest so that there would be a different type of view in front of the house and out the back. That way, whether inside or outside there was a good chance of seeing our wild visitors. It 's amazing just how territorial birds are.

The rewards have been great. And no more lawn-mowing, plus a drought-resistant garden so our water bills have gone down too. This year we're starting to redevelop down one side of the house.

Only (slight) problem at the moment are the neighbours two cats which are thrilled to have a hunting-ground right by them!

[Trek420]

Only (slight) problem at the moment are the neighbours two cats which are thrilled to have a hunting-ground right by them!

I worry about that too. I'm told that keeping the bird attractive plants, bird feeders, bird bath, bird coffee shop ... just kidding about the last one up and away from predator cover helps.

I have a teeny tiny tiny patio in my condo.

The patio is also where my dog lives when I'm at work and when she's not off walking my dog walker.

When I got the joint it was a patch of cement without a stick of green.

The problem is the small size, dual purpose (doggie) and light. To the East is the other unit and carport roof, the South is the other wall o' the condo, to the West is sliding glass door off the kitchen, and to the North and all sides some big trees.

What I'm planning to do is grow up, no not me the plants.

Two large planters now have redwood trellis and I planted clemetis (sp?). My Mom suggested those plants because they like their "feet in the shade but their heads in the sun". They will make the big boring blank wall....less blank.

These flank a 3 tiered planter stand filled with plants I so far have managed not to kill. and there's a pottery bird bath on it.

I also have a planter on a tricycle, gotta have that bike theme.

Yesterday I found another 3-tiered planter shelf at an Oakland charity run thrift store. That's probably going to go under the kitchen window.

Plan is to ring the patio with plants, add tiny table and chairs so it becomes "oh, nice place to have a cup of coffee" when I turn the joint.

[Kimmyt]

You ladies are inspiring! I have always wanted a gorgeous garden, but my mom wasn't into it and so I never inherited a green thumb. Also, I have to say, I'm lazy when it comes to that stuff. Today I've done a bit of yardwork, but just things like mowing the grass, but I pulled a bunch of weeds from an old flower bed out back in the hopes that maybe some day I will put something in.

On the upside, though, my potted herbs are doing so well that I think I'm going to have to run to the store to get some supplies so that I can use some of them tonight (I'm thinking garlic/mozzarella/basil/tomato personal thincrust pizza to trim back the basil which has made a complete turnaround from when I planted it!

I've also got a very happy looking pot in my front yard, though my azalea has dropped all her flowers I think due to the cold nights recently. All in all, this is very good, for me. I still have that patch of bare mulched garden in my front yard that needs a nice tree or shrub, but that may have to wait until next year. At least I have taken care of the weeds for now!!

K.

[mhara]

This week some of the hedge-sparrow chicks and blackbird chicks have fledged. Their first few attempts at flying are very comical. They seem astonished by what they've just done.

Some of the tiny new sparrows have found the shallow bowl of water under the Bay tree and they go bathing - sometimes two in at a time, water splashing everywhere.

And while the fluffy-feathered baby birds keep us entertained their anxious parents flit back and forth with encouraging cheeps and chirps, still feeding their newly-flown broods.

I love it.

[LBTC]

Thank you, mhara. That was a lovely post that raised my spirits on a particularly difficult work day. Now it is time for me to go get some fresh air for 20 minutes.

Hugs and butterflies,
~T~

[mhara]

Well, it was good back last February when we got frog-spawn. And it's lovely to see tadpoles getting around in our front garden pond. Seemed like Mother nature was applauding our getting that pond put in.

But the last two nights, from 10 p.m. onwards, we've been watching a couple of hedgehogs come carefully out from under the box-tree hedge and help themselves to the bird-food that the wild birds have dropped from the feeders.

They must be combining our garden with one or more of the neighbours' gardens because there can't possibly be enough hedgehog food just in our small plot. But it felt amazingly special to see them.