Don’t worry about it - chop up the root ball and put it in the new compost heap for recycling.
We took a big step this year and had half the front lawn removed. In it’s place is a big planting area surrounded by a gravel path. This is where the best sun is and where the veggies are going in this year: cherry tomatoes, peppers, onions, garlic and more. Also, some beautiful peonies are going in this year.
It’s much too early to start gardening here, but I’m loving the talking about gardening. I have a bunch more beds to dig this summer, one bed to finish putting a border around, one bed to plant and border, and all the usual spring clean-up and planting to do. I guess I could get started on my clean-up - I usually wait just a smidge too long, once the sprouts are coming up already.
The sunniest spot in my back yard is right in the middle, so I think I’ll put a veggie garden in there. Potatoes, peas, carrots, lettuce, tomatoes, maybe some herbs that flourish here - that’s about it.
ETA: You and me both, ChefGuy. 
I’ve got to dig the bed for more peonies this summer - I’m planning to plant them around a little patio.
You’re very welcome. Next thing you know, you’ll have the basil fever like we do and have a half-dozen different types for different recipes.
It looks like the pipe is purely an anchor for hoop supports so they can use row covers or bird netting.
My parents usually do theirs when the plants are about a hand-width high.
Handy! I could have used that last year when the birds picked at my tomatoes. Last year’s hurricane took down my towering mulberry and the neighbor’s equally gigantic birch. Now the cardinal and the robin are gone. Makes me feel a little selfish not wanting to share with them now that they aren’t here any more.
Neat trick I learned for dividing hostas – use a bulb planter. Punch out a hole with the bulb planter where you want the transplant, pop out a chunk of the hosta with the bulb planter, and slip it into the hole. Easy peasy lemon squeezy. You can use it for any plants that spread by roots and don’t develop dead spots in the middle.
Oh, hey - Dopers from hot/dry areas (I’m in DFW) … what are your favorite must-plant things? Veggies, flowers, etc … what takes the heat and dryness? I’m taking suggestions.
Garzanias do well in hot and dry. They did not do so well in the more temperate mid-Atlantic. I’ve still got seeds. PM if you’d like.
Woo Hoo! The gardening thread!
It has been ridiculously warm in the Midwest, so I’m fighting the urge to get started now. However, I have tomato seeds in newspaper pots, and two have sprouted.
If anyone missed it, the USDA came out with a new plant hardiness zone map. I’m 5b/6a.
And then, it rained. A lot. Been a good Spring for asparagus, radishes, rhubarb. Seeds are doing well. Can’t complain. You?
I’m about three weeks from planting anything, but my perennials are coming up nicely. My new lilac in the front yard has some nice little bloom buds on it - I’m dying to see what its flowers look like.
Got my first lettuce out of the ground today. Woo-hoo! Have been eating radishes and onions from the backyard for a couple weeks now. Not near summer production levels so I’m still getting some store-bought because we eat more of that stuff than we’re currently producing but I foresee a day coming soon where the basic vegees will be from our garden and not the store.
Second radish crop and the replacement brussel sprouts are up.
I thought the late spring frost and snow had killed off the bok choy and spared the chard, but now that the plants are maturing I think I had it backward and what survived is the bok choy and the first chard planting died off, because gosh darn these plants look like baby bok choy (I didn’t buy baby bok choy seeds, but for some reason my bok choy have never grown tall).
I’m still cleaning out the winter-surviving kale, which is waist tall now. I’ve decided I’m not that fond of kale and I have lots of other greens, so I don’t plan to grow it this year. A co-worker asked for my spare greens (already!) and I cautioned her they were winter-overs and probably tough. She said no problem, I take it her plans involve a slow cooker at some point. So I gave her a grocery bag of kale, along with some radish greens and some of the other stuff when I did my most recent sprout thinning.
In place of so much greens I’m growing more carrots and onions, trying some new things like kohlrabi and brussel sprouts, and I’m still planning to put in lots of table beans. Still haven’t figured out how I’m going to put up trellises for the climbing beans since I can no longer use the chain-link fence along the property line for that.
I’m having to reconsider some of my plans from last year. I’m working a job and a half now (full time cobbler, part time lawn service) so my time for garden things is sharply limited. I want to be able to manage the project well, and get a decent return on my time and effort.
The tropical/subtropical bed is over halfway planted now and the tubs of Brugmansias and Hibiscus are outdoors, so obviously I’m betting we’ve seen the last of frost. It’ll be a real pain if there’s a late frost threat and I have to run around covering things and dragging heavy pots back into the basement.
Is anyone else seeing a plague of ticks this year? I’ve had several bites already. I’m half tempted to try the same tick preventative we use on our Labrador.
Both outside Amorphophallus konjac have sprouted!
What, thissilly old thing? 
I’ve increased my square foot garden from 4x10 to 4x24, so lots of space to play with! I’ve got most of it planted–tomatoes, broccoli, brussels sprouts, sugar snaps, green beans (bush and pole), chard, collards. The carrots failed for some reason–maybe those were last year’s seeds, or the late frost we had. Also put in a few herbs, including mint and lemon balm which I know will take over the lawn, but what the hell–it’s all weeds anyway, so now it’ll smell nice when I mow.
My flower bed is mostly perennials, and every year I roll the limestone borders out about a foot and increase the size of the footprint. It’s in the 3rd summer now, and I’ve started having to remove plants in order to keep it from being overcrowded. This year I’ve already taken out an enormous bunch of irises, and still have another one to remove after the nearby lilies have bloomed. (Also need to space those lilies out a bit.)
All the grapes but one survived the frost, as well as the blueberries and the wisteria. It was a little doubtful there for a while, though. Maybe this year I’ll actually have berries to eat!
What do you do with the perennials you dig out? Do you give them away? (Hint, hint. ;))
I posted a gardening questionthat got moved over to GQ, but I’ll cross-post it here: what’s the best way to root cuttings from woody perennial shrubs? I’d like to propagate some of the flowering quince and rosemary in my MIL’s yard, and the flowering lantana and flowering sage from my own, in case hints and instructions are species-specific.
Why, yes, I am re-landscaping a bare-bones yard from scratch and need tons more plants to fill it out. Why do you ask? 
My success story: I’ve never gotten so many sweet peas before! Wheee! Musta been the long cool “spring” (which was really late winter by the calendar) that gave them a head start. They’re difficult to grow in Texas - you have to get the timing just right, which involves serious clairvoyancy given our unpredictable weather patterns - and I know these will wilt and disappear the moment it gets hot (over 90) for just a day or two. Totally worth it for the scent.
Growing beans for the first time this year, if the slugs and pillbugs don’t eat every damn seedling first. The pintos seem more robust than the black beans - a pity, because while I like pintos I luuuuurve blacks. One pinto is barely a foot and a half tall and already has pods. Slow down, dude, you have all summer!
Our cucumber is growing through the fence into our neighbor’s yard, and I told her she could have the cuke that was developing on her side. The look on her face made my evening. Hmm … I should start one or two more cuke plants, methinks. makes mental note The Other Shoe goes through pickles the way parents of newborn triplets go through diapers or something.
Squee! The kohlrabi are starting to look like kohlrabi and not just anonymous tufts of green leaves!
It’s very strange - I’m clearly going to have to have an actual harvest this week, as the spinach and bok choy are mature but are more than we’ll eat in a short time frame. Guess I’m getting more efficient.
Also found some wintering-over chard and beets that I might pull this week, too.
Got the first full salad of our lettuce. Yay!
I really should get my butt in gear and clear that spot in the kitchen so I can get that upright freezer I’ve been wanting. If things go as planned I’ll need it by fall.
Still have to figure out trellises for the beans, and where I’m going to put the corn and sunflowers for the birds. I’ve been able to resume my lawn-mowing side business so I now have oodles of free mulch in the form of grass clippings, which is helping keep the weeds down.
Debating whether or not to get a couple of peppers (including a jalapeno for the parrots), and if I should try squash again this year. Also debating cucumbers - I’ll need a heavier trellis for that than for beans. I’d like to get the summer crops planted by June 1. That’s corn, sunflowers, squash, cukes, beans, and I probably should have started the basil and parsley before now but I’d like to get them in soon. Still on the fence for turnips and beets but I’ll probably plant those, too.
This is so inspiring! Everything I’ve ever put in the ground has met an untimely death. I have half-barrels full of coleus and just planted a mixture of zinnia seeds in others. And pots of roses on the deck, and hanging baskets. I must say, right now the yard has never looked better, before the heat, mosquitoes, and f’ing japanese beetles move in. We have droves of bees! Last year only a handful. I hope once the beesbalm flower we’ll still have lots. Once we had that big insect, forget the name, that looks like a hummingbird, hope the little guy comes by again.
Ah. A hummingbird moth, or sphinx moth, that’s it!