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Gardening, anyone?

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Comments

  • brooksidevt
    brooksidevt Member Posts: 1,432

    Well, the snow finally receded enough so I could get at most of the phlox and daylily stalks that "nobody" bothered to cut down in the fall. I could see baby shoots peeking up, some of them from weeds. Naturally. As for those stalks, as the snow between them and the compost heap is still pretty deep, I just piled them on the ground. I declare myself exempt from further cleanup for the time being, as all my rakes and tarps and so forth are in the barn, in front of which there remains a small mountain of snow, determinately freezing the doors shut. Whew!

  • TwoHobbies
    TwoHobbies Member Posts: 1,532

    Brookside I got out and did the same today. Pulled the dried alyssum, the sedum flowers I left all winter, some grass that had crept into the beds, pulled down the dried clematis. I could have done more, but I need to go purchase some gardening gloves. Beautiful day although only 60, but our grass turned completely green this week and the daffodils are blooming today. I had lavender planted in planters last year, and since this variety does not seem to come back after winter, I put them in the garage. Today I put them on the deck and we'll see how it does. I'm so excited for spring!


  • Gina4h
    Gina4h Member Posts: 51

    I love that image of removing cancer with each weed I pull out. I'm going to try it as soon as I'm well enough to get out in my garden and once the snow has gone. my living room is currently a greenhouse full of flowers and vegetable seedlings even if I'm not well enough to plant them outdoors having growing things around still makes me feel better

  • jazzygirl
    jazzygirl Member Posts: 11,969

    Gina- removing cancer with every weed you pull out. I am going to borrow that!

  • TwoHobbies
    TwoHobbies Member Posts: 1,532

    Maybe I won't mind weeding as much!

  • jazzygirl
    jazzygirl Member Posts: 11,969

    Yay Teka! Good to see some earth there and no snow! Spring has sprung in north country!


  • DayLily15
    DayLily15 Member Posts: 34

    i wish there was a like button for all the spring photos. Thanks Girls

  • ananda8
    ananda8 Member Posts: 1,418

    image


    This is my garden covered in straw.  I'm going to keep a thick layer down all year to keep the moisture in the soil and I hope, keep the weeds down. I'll post pictures as the season progresses.

     I keep a bird bath in the garden and I have no trouble with birds eating my black berries.  The take an occasional nibble and that's it.  I put red pepper flakes in my bird feeder (in another area). Perhaps the vitamin C in the red pepper helps keep them from eating the berries.

  • jazzygirl
    jazzygirl Member Posts: 11,969

    Ananda- that is one beautiful garden space. I can't wait to see it all filled up and also to see what is growing on that trellis!

  • ananda8
    ananda8 Member Posts: 1,418

    It was a grape vine but grapes don't do well in our area.  After several years of trying to have grow well, it's going to come out.  I'm not sure but I think I'll plant sunflowers on either side of the gate.  No matter how messy the garden, it always looks great with sunflowers.  The birds love the flowers and I have very little problem with insects.

  • jazzygirl
    jazzygirl Member Posts: 11,969

    Ananda- I love sunflowers. I don't have a good yard for them, but you certainly do!

  • ananda8
    ananda8 Member Posts: 1,418
    I have a lot of space, 2
    1/2 acres, but the ground is filled with rocks.  There are big rocks, medium rocks, little rocks, hence the raised bed.  I am thinking about planting sunflowers at various areas on the property but my husband already mows for 3 hours because of the trees I planted.  I don't have the heart to have him mow around a sunflower bed, so I will just put them in the garden.
  • jazzygirl
    jazzygirl Member Posts: 11,969

    It has gotten cold here the end of the week, and I have been doing some covering of the gardens and pots. It is in the mid 20s here this morning Went outside to check things with the budding trees and things greening up in the ground and no evidence of a hard freeze (yet).

    They always tell us we have to get past the third week of April here in the valley to be beyond freeze potential! No snow, but we heard some may be coming to the mountains.


  • jazzygirl
    jazzygirl Member Posts: 11,969

    Teka- much longer frost date than we have in central NM! I think northern NM, especially further up into the mountains is like that here! My friend who lives on the other side of the mountains here said it is mid May for her......

  • TwoHobbies
    TwoHobbies Member Posts: 1,532

    First lawn mowing for me and picked some dpring flowers while I was out. image

  • ananda8
    ananda8 Member Posts: 1,418

    TwoHobbies, Beautiful flowers.  Here is a picture of a tree called a Red Bud blooming in my back yard.

    image


     

  • jazzygirl
    jazzygirl Member Posts: 11,969

    Pretty flowers! I love red buds!

    It got really cold here this week (no snow in NM, but Rockies got nailed big time). Rumors of snow up north here tonight. My yard is a mess from the winds and some pansies and other things beat up and must be replaced. This weather should be moving on through this weekend. Bring back spring please!

    I will have some pretty things to show you soon!

  • flaviarose
    flaviarose Member Posts: 249

    My vegetable garden

    image

  • flaviarose
    flaviarose Member Posts: 249

    A handful of spring


    image

  • ananda8
    ananda8 Member Posts: 1,418

    Flaviarose,

    What a beautiful picture of your garden.  That is much bigger than I could handle.  I'm looking forward to more pictures as the season progresses.

  • jazzygirl
    jazzygirl Member Posts: 11,969

    Flavia- I am originally from the east coast and know Western Mass well. Are you in the Berkshires? I had huge spectacular vegetable gardens when I lived back east.

    Here is a photo of my front rock garden that is starting to get some spring character. I put in some new things last year I have been pleased to see come back and adding things that I can that are not too risky. It has been cooler this week and down to freezing, but no hard freeze here. Mountains got snow last night. Our last gasp of winter (we hope). Usually by April, we are done with any snow (although it has snowed into May and it snowed in Santa Fe last year when I was there for Memorial Day weekend!)

    Got my drip system leak fixed and a tune up so things are ready for the watering cycles this spring, summer and fall. I have the tree coming to prune my big ash on Tuesday. Then the rest is up to me to do some work to finish clearing out the back yard border gardens and do some more plantings in a few areas. The back yard is a mess from all the wind this week.

    Hope everyone else is enjoying the start to spring!

    image


  • flaviarose
    flaviarose Member Posts: 249

    Yes, I'm in the Berkshires. We tend to have a lot of rain, so I rarely have to water. The garden is very big - 35 ft. X 100 ft. It isn't as much work as it looks. I put in permanent pathways, so I have beds, but not raised ones, so I actually have only about 50% of that under cultivation - the rest is black woven polypropylene pathways. This is my 37th year having a garden here, so the soil has been amended all of these years and is very fertile. My garden is my happy place :-)


  • flaviarose
    flaviarose Member Posts: 249

    I also grow flowers in about 5 different beds. Here is a photo from a couple of years back:

    image

  • jazzygirl
    jazzygirl Member Posts: 11,969

    Flaviarose- that picture of your flowers is outstanding. I love the Berkshires.

    I too am happy when I am in my gardens. I spent some time in them this morning and it made for a good day.

  • Monis
    Monis Member Posts: 309

    Flaviarose, what an absolutely wonderful gardening area you have, and beautiful countryside all around.

    We dug the tractor out of the barn today and finally got the front and back fields mowed. So much grass..... This photo was taken last year of our vegetable garden. We have a total of 16 raised beds now - Took almost five years to get to this point. So far our fence has kept the deer out.

    image

  • jazzygirl
    jazzygirl Member Posts: 11,969

    Monis- I remember when you were with us on the Hermits thread and shared the pic of your garden last year. I cannot wait to see that lovely space get going!

  • TwoHobbies
    TwoHobbies Member Posts: 1,532

    Wow I see a lot of big gardens here! I have only had a small vegetable garden that we turned into a strawberry patch last year. I have planted cucumbers and peppers and tomatoes among my flower beds in the past. I would like to clear the sunny flower bed completely out and make it all vegetable, but my problem will be getting what's in there out. There are a lot of the old fashion orange daylillies in there and they are so hard to completely rid of. But if I can get my front and side beds in order (the ones the neighbors see), I'm going to start on that next.

    Do deer eat sedums? Something ate the center out of my sedums that are just starting to come back. We have plenty of deer in the area but usually not in the yard.

    Beautiful flowers flaviarose. And Jazzy I love your picture of your flower bed. Puttering in my yard also makes me happy. I can almost always turn around my mood by getting out in the yard.

  • jazzygirl
    jazzygirl Member Posts: 11,969

    Two hobbies- I have seddums but no deer right where I live (up in the mountains here though). I wonder if it could be a deer though? Or maybe rabbits?

    I stopped at Home Depot today as I needed more mulch for the garden. EVERYBODY was out today, as we are getting past our frost risk here. People buying trees, lots of plants etc. I got a few additional petunias and some dracena spikes for the potted plants. I am going to put a few of those in the gardens shortly. I will have more pics soon!

    I have a very small yard with a front yard rock garden and backyard border gardens. Plenty of goodies here though. The garden is where our hearts are, whether the garden is big or small!

  • brooksidevt
    brooksidevt Member Posts: 1,432

    If your sedum has been there for a number of years, it's possible there might not have been any culprit--some perennials tend to spread outward, and their centers kind of die off, leaving a donut shaped plant. Purists (I'm not one) divide the plant when this happens. Actually, purists do it before it happens,


  • wren44
    wren44 Member Posts: 7,922

    Teka, I've never heard of that, but you can see where it got the name. Are there blueberries that are resistant? We keep trying to grow them here with limited success. We get a couple of years production and then they die.