A quick sweep and clearing of last years debris found the Hostas coming out the ground, two Hyacinths hiding behind dormant Hydrangea bushes and the dried remains of the chocking Morning Glory vine, the Bleeding Heart plants startin’ a’plantin’, this delicate little thing that I have no idea what it is (if anyone does, I’d be most obliged), Asiatic lily plants already a few inches high and at least 50 snails. Not exaggerating about the snails.
When I walked out the front door this morning I was shocked to find most of my crocuses gone. I wanted to blame the neighbor’s new dog who has no qualms about walking onto my flowers-- our front lawns are not separated in any way. But after the handful over handfuls of snails I threw in the garbage, I’m going to have to give the cute little guy a pass.
My backyard is a hazard to walk in, the ground is so uneven. Did the bad winter do that to it? I mean, it was never a level, green beauty but now I’m afraid ankles will be broken. The Home Depot near me rents a push/tow lawn roller that can be filled with sand or water. Does anyone have experience with these things? Does it work on badly uneven ground? Is it worth $20 bucks a day to rent?
Yeah, I know, I get ridiculous, but gardening is magic - you sprinkle this funny looking dust or lumpy bits on the ground and a few weeks later flowers and food happens!
My Key Lime tree (well, “tree” might be an exaggeration… its a foot tall) is forming blossoms. Yesssss! My Calamondin threw some new leaves (its too young to flower, yet). Mint is doing good, just put it in a bigger pot. I think I fucked up the dill somehow. I never grew dill from seed before, apparently it doesn’t like being transplanted.
Some advice needed: we planted kale and broccoli seedlings about a month ago, and something has chomped on the pretty hard recently.Two thirds of the leaves gone, and all the new shoots. I think it was possums. I have put some netting up over the vegie patch, but I’m wondering whether it is better to replant, or whether this lot will recover. They should have much better root development than a new batch of seedlings. A complication is that it is autumn now in Aussieland, and all growth will be slow.
Came back from a trip last night, and all my tulips are solidly up in the front yard, and a bunch of other stuff! I can’t tell what, though, because I can’t remember what I planted were - lilies and such, because we are kind of limited in the yard by lack of sunlight.
Also, my cipollini onions are sprouting like mad in the kitchen window, and a couple of the Charentais melons have sprouted. And when I started the tomatoes and basil and peppers and broccoli, I put them in the dining room window on a plastic-covered wire greenhouse shelf in hopes of deterring the cats. The shelf cover zips all the way down to the floor, plus the shelf is sitting in a plastic tub so I don’t get water all over the floor when watering the plants. I was kind of worried they would shred the cover, though.
Well, the first night, I heard loud noises in the living room - Boris, my larger, more muscular kitty, had crawled under the plastic cover and somehow climbed up to the top shelf and knocked the seedling pots all over the place, and then gotten tangled up in the wire shelving (which wasn’t really affixed to the brackets) and started freaking out. You know what I wanted to do at 2 a.m.? Recue my panicking cat, and then scoop mud filled with my precious heirloom veggie seeds off the wooden floor with my bare hands. So I scooped the seedy mud back into the pots and crossed my fingers.
So yay! That stuff is sprouting too, but I have no idea what is what because it all got mixed up. It’s going to be a very random-looking veggie garden when I transplant everything outside.
I’ve already planted some tomatoes, zucchini, basil, strawberries and bell peppers. I want to grow a choko vine or two, but I can’t get my chokos to sprout! I’ve googled it, talked to other choko growers and watched youtube videos and I’m doing everything right. Even trying both ways (in the dark and on a sunny window sill) and nothing!
I have tons of seedlings waiting to go in the ground but it’s just too wet to plant. Lettuce green peppers cucumbers and tomatoes all look really good this year. Kale an cauliflower is coming along well too. Korn melons pumpkins and potatoes will just have to wait a few more weeks.
This may be a subject that has been beaten to death in these annual threads. If so, I apologize profusely.
I have space for 4 or 5 tomato plants. The small plot faces southeast and gets full sun probably 75% of the day during the summer. Tomato plants get attached to netting strung between supports at each end. I have a computer controlled drip system for watering.
Last summer was the first use of this space and results were poor. Well, awful actually. Not sure what I did wrong, but would like to at least attempt to do better this year.
I may have purchased poor varieties (I had four plants of four different varieties but do not remember which ones). I may have over-watered, under-watered. Fertilized regularly with stuff labeled for tomatoes. I did only modest pruning. May have not planted deep enough. Maybe too deep. In short, I am stumped and humbled.
Hence this query: What is your secret to bountiful, large, juicy, flavorful tomatoes?
We just moved into a new house and didn’t have the time to do build the garden we want, so we’re just planting the front garden plot and containers. In the front we’ve got about six nasturtiums (they’re really pretty, grow really fast without much help, and taste really good), two rosemary bushes, and two thymes. In the back container garden, we planted three types of peppers- scotch bonnets, poblanos, and some sort of “apache” pepper. We usually plant tomatoes, but we’ve become very good friends with our new neighbors and they said they usually have a bumper crop of tomatoes, so we’re planning on doing some trading.
I’m not a tomato expert, so consider this general advice for growing any plant under the circumstances you describe.
First, if you aren’t very experienced opt for varieties bred to be hardy - you may not have the very most luscious results, but you’ll have a better chance of success in general and you’ll gain experience to do better the following year.
Second, this computerized watering system - is it a timer or does it sense soil moisture? You want to water based on soil conditions, not a time table. If you were using a moisture sensor it might need to be better positioned.
Third, it’s possible that in the hottest part of summer your plants are getting too hot - position a thermometer among the plants and if the temperature is too hot then set up some sort of sunshade, which can be a translucent cloth (like they use at garden centers) to provide a little shade during the very hottest part of the day.
Just finally uncovered eveything today. Peonies are maybe 3" little sprouts, the lilies are 5" of bright greenery. The wall of lily of the valley are just poking through the ground. We had major warmth last week in the hinterlands of Minneapolis, and now we’re back in the cold, so not much outdoor planting going on yet.
We’ve tried container gardening before and were not successful. This year we’re going to affix beds to the fence along the patio - they will get great sun and will be bunny free. Still haven’t figured out the logistics.
And I am going to dig out some of the lily of the valley and put in some hollyhocks. I love hollyhocks, am SO over lily of the valley. Anyone near me want a bunch of lily of the valley? Free!
My biggest problem is that I have grand dreams, and the inability to make them come to fruition. For two years now, I’ve planned on planting in the front of the house, and never followed though - partially due to my own issues, partly due to others. I can see what I want, but I don’t have the money and the skills to get it done.
Broomstick, it is a timed watering system. May have to look into a moisture sensor and also pay attention to temperature. Recommendations on good varieties?
Weedy, good questions. Plants grew like crazy but had very few flowers and as a consequence, very few tomatoes. What fruit I did get, did not ripen very well. By the time they were ripe enough to pick, there was often some bird peck damage. Later in the season, the leaves tended to curl as if there were aphids but no bugs were found. Leaves did not turn yellow nor did they wilt. Maybe I allowed too much plant growth?
Sorry, nothing for that, I’m just aware of some of the differences between the two systems.
Did you use fertilizer of any sort? Some promote leaf growth while others promote “fruiting”, which is what you want for vegetables that are greens or lettuce.
Our early peonies are up to about a foot and a half, but all three plants have buds, as do the rose bushes. The Asian pear flowers have dropped off and tiny fruit has taken their place. More and more strawberry flowers every day and a few green berries. The dogwood tree is in full bloom and starting to wane. The wife got everything mulched and composted, so now we’re waiting a bit before putting tomatoes and other veggies in the ground.
I can’t figure out what the problem is with our azalea bush. It has never bloomed well, despite all these buds on it. I know they like acidic soil (which we’ve provided), but while the plant is healthy, it just doesn’t flower. I think I’ll prune off all those buds this fall and see what happens next spring.
My wife is interested in getting our yard certified as “backyard habitat”, which would mean planting a lot of native plants. Problem is, native plants are pretty boring, and we would have to dedicate a significant portion of the yard to them. On the plus side, they attract local honey bees.
Your azalea: what fertilizer are you using? Could be that the NPK ratio is off - too much nitrogen encourages leggy leafy growth, not enough potassium prevents flowering. Is it getting enough sun? Do you have lots of squirrels? They like azalea buds
