Garden: What did you do in your garden today?

[Altair]

So far I've been watering by hand, but I'm not sure how much is a good idea, since we do get a decent amount of rain here even in the summer.

Oh right--Seattle. You're probably good then. I watered by hand for years--couldn't go anywhere over the summer except a day trip unless I lined up someone to water while I was away, otherwise I'd come home to a dead garden. Then about 3 years ago I got drip irrigation. Changed. My. Life.

I find the key for container gardening is good drainage at the bottom--as much as the lower third of the pot/planter devoted to drainage material, with a porous material between that and the soil. Then it doesn't matter how much you water; you almost can't overwater container plants with good drainage.

I use styrofoam packing peanuts as the drainage material, since weight is an issue on the roof. (Great way to recycle those non-biodegradable buggers.) But on a patio, you could use rocks and pebbles. But I'm guessing you know all this already.

And by planting stuff like salal (that's a new one on me), native to the Pacific Northwest, you'll have far less to worry about.

[Noctua]

Oh right--Seattle. You're probably good then. I watered by hand for years--couldn't go anywhere over the summer except a day trip unless I lined up someone to water while I was away, otherwise I'd come home to a dead garden. Then about 3 years ago I got drip irrigation. Changed. My. Life.

I find the key for container gardening is good drainage at the bottom--as much as the lower third of the pot/planter devoted to drainage material, with a porous material between that and the soil. Then it doesn't matter how much you water; you almost can't overwater container plants with good drainage.

I use styrofoam packing peanuts as the drainage material, since weight is an issue on the roof. (Great way to recycle those non-biodegradable buggers.) But on a patio, you could use rocks and pebbles. But I'm guessing you know all this already.

And by planting stuff like salal (that's a new one on me), native to the Pacific Northwest, you'll have far less to worry about.

Now that I'm feeling better, and my semester is almost over, I've had a lot more time to dedicate to getting my garden into shape. Unfortunately I think I missed my window for a lot of the spring veggies, since we're forecast to get into the low 90's by the end of the week (typical Virginia) but I did at least try to seed some lettuces in the shade so hopefully I can get at least a week or two of baby greens before they bolt.

Mostly I've just been weeding like crazy, and planting the few things I'd cold stratified that actually sprouted- meadowsweet, lungwort, and lunaria primarily. I also got a bunch of cardboard boxes to lay down for weed block so I'll be putting those down in the places I weeded. Pro tip- Michaels stores, when they get their truck shipments, always gets a hundred plus boxes they call "repacks"- they're big cardboard boxes that fold together with tabs instead of being glued or taped shut. They're perfect for garden use because there's no uncompostable bits, and far as I know most Michaels stores don't recycle cardboard (at least mine doesn't) so by getting them for the garden I'm doubly helping the environment.

My goals for this week are big- I have to replace the boards around one of my raised vegetable beds, and turn my compost for the year. I've lost so much strength being sick that I'm probably not going to be capable of doing both of those in the same day, in fact I may not even be able to get both my compost heaps turned on the same day. But eventually, one way or the other, I hope to get it done.

[Altair]

Now that I'm feeling better, and my semester is almost over, I've had a lot more time to dedicate to getting my garden into shape. Unfortunately I think I missed my window for a lot of the spring veggies, since we're forecast to get into the low 90's by the end of the week (typical Virginia) but I did at least try to seed some lettuces in the shade so hopefully I can get at least a week or two of baby greens before they bolt.

Mostly I've just been weeding like crazy, and planting the few things I'd cold stratified that actually sprouted- meadowsweet, lungwort, and lunaria primarily. I also got a bunch of cardboard boxes to lay down for weed block so I'll be putting those down in the places I weeded. Pro tip- Michaels stores, when they get their truck shipments, always gets a hundred plus boxes they call "repacks"- they're big cardboard boxes that fold together with tabs instead of being glued or taped shut. They're perfect for garden use because there's no uncompostable bits, and far as I know most Michaels stores don't recycle cardboard (at least mine doesn't) so by getting them for the garden I'm doubly helping the environment.

My goals for this week are big- I have to replace the boards around one of my raised vegetable beds, and turn my compost for the year. I've lost so much strength being sick that I'm probably not going to be capable of doing both of those in the same day, in fact I may not even be able to get both my compost heaps turned on the same day. But eventually, one way or the other, I hope to get it done.

Repotted my herbs, finally--rosemary, basil, and parsley (the last strictly as larval host plant for swallowtail butterflies; I was able to actually watch a female Black Swallowtail in the act of laying eggs on the parsley last summer).

The bad news: My "grandmother" tree, a crabapple, seems to be in extreme distress, and I fear she won't make it. (Yeah, I'm pretty sure crabapples are nongendered--or both gendered--but to me, she's the crone of my three trees, being the eldest both in age and in seniority, as the first plant I ever got for my garden.) She's had issues for a while now, but never like this.

My only consolation is that if she doesn't make it, I know what I want to replace her with: a Dwarf Chinkapin Oak (Quercus prinoides). I garden mostly with natives, and to add a native oak--one that from what I've read seems suitable for a container--would be a huge boost to the micro-"Catskills" wildlife refuge I'm trying to create upstairs.

[Altair]

Repotted my herbs, finally--rosemary, basil, and parsley (the last strictly as larval host plant for swallowtail butterflies; I was able to actually watch a female Black Swallowtail in the act of laying eggs on the parsley last summer).

The bad news: My "grandmother" tree, a crabapple, seems to be in extreme distress, and I fear she won't make it. (Yeah, I'm pretty sure crabapples are nongendered--or both gendered--but to me, she's the crone of my three trees, being the eldest both in age and in seniority, as the first plant I ever got for my garden.) She's had issues for a while now, but never like this.

My only consolation is that if she doesn't make it, I know what I want to replace her with: a Dwarf Chinkapin Oak (Quercus prinoides). I garden mostly with natives, and to add a native oak--one that from what I've read seems suitable for a container--would be a huge boost to the micro-"Catskills" wildlife refuge I'm trying to create upstairs.

I limited birding to 2 hours this morning, so that I could garden from 9 AM until 7 PM, plus I had a helper (a former neighbor who loves to garden and is way better at it than I am!). We got TONS done--

--Finally planted plants (coral honeysuckle) in the new arbor

--Planted ferns, cardinal flower, and butterfly weed, just arrived by mail order

--Savagely cut back the Virginia creeper. I love it dearly for how lush it makes the garden look, but it will take that love and strangle you with it, spreading to every nook and cranny, unless periodically dealt with severely.

--Divided the switchgrass. This involved hauling 5 bags (3 yesterday, 2 today) each of 2 cubic feet of soil up 5 flights of stairs. I'm damn well skipping the gym today.

--Got the drip irrigation system 90% of the way back to fully functioning. I left this to my helper, cuz the bag hauling wiped me out and he's half my age and only hauled 1 bag, and besides, he installed the irrigation system in the first place, so who better to fix it? So I sipped a cocktail while he labored. Gods bless the young.

This week my new tree, the dwarf oak, arrived. As expected, it's little more than a twig, a Charlie Brown Xmas Special of a tree that's in desperate need of the magic of cartoon hands waving around it to make it look majestic. We'll see how Querky (from Quercus, the genus of oaks) does.

Literally the moment I took it out of the box it shipped in and placed it on the roof, the sky went from sunny to dark and a wicked thunderstorm struck the NYC area. It completely paralyzed mass transit.

So I've given the tree an epithet. S/he's Querky Stormbringer.

[Larix]

I limited birding to 2 hours this morning, so that I could garden from 9 AM until 7 PM, plus I had a helper (a former neighbor who loves to garden and is way better at it than I am!). We got TONS done--

--Finally planted plants (coral honeysuckle) in the new arbor

--Planted ferns, cardinal flower, and butterfly weed, just arrived by mail order

--Savagely cut back the Virginia creeper. I love it dearly for how lush it makes the garden look, but it will take that love and strangle you with it, spreading to every nook and cranny, unless periodically dealt with severely.

--Divided the switchgrass. This involved hauling 5 bags (3 yesterday, 2 today) each of 2 cubic feet of soil up 5 flights of stairs. I'm damn well skipping the gym today.

--Got the drip irrigation system 90% of the way back to fully functioning. I left this to my helper, cuz the bag hauling wiped me out and he's half my age and only hauled 1 bag, and besides, he installed the irrigation system in the first place, so who better to fix it? So I sipped a cocktail while he labored. Gods bless the young.

This week my new tree, the dwarf oak, arrived. As expected, it's little more than a twig, a Charlie Brown Xmas Special of a tree that's in desperate need of the magic of cartoon hands waving around it to make it look majestic. We'll see how Querky (from Quercus, the genus of oaks) does.

Literally the moment I took it out of the box it shipped in and placed it on the roof, the sky went from sunny to dark and a wicked thunderstorm struck the NYC area. It completely paralyzed mass transit.

So I've given the tree an epithet. S/he's Querky Stormbringer.

I have put a new pole into my garten - for my clematis to climb on it in spring next year.

[Owl]

I have put a new pole into my garten - for my clematis to climb on it in spring next year.

I planted my garlic last weekend. Everything has been put to bed for the winter.


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[Altair]

The bad news: My "grandmother" tree, a crabapple, seems to be in extreme distress, and I fear she won't make it. (Yeah, I'm pretty sure crabapples are nongendered--or both gendered--but to me, she's the crone of my three trees, being the eldest both in age and in seniority, as the first plant I ever got for my garden.) She's had issues for a while now, but never like this.

Granny Mal, my crabapple, is no more. After watching her struggle, two-thirds dead, for a year, I finally ended her prolonged decline and chopped her down.

The new tree taking her place is a sour gum aka black gum aka tupelo (Nyssa sylvatica). Nyssa is a beauty, a perfectly healthy tree I inherited when the roof gardeners down the block got rid of her to make room for something newfangled. It will be a challenge keeping her size down, but the container she'll be living in should help. Today's task is to prepare her soil mix.

And I also now have Querky, that dwarf oak I wanted. We'll see how he does as a container tree.

[PerditaPickle]

Sorry to hear about Granny Mal.  My husband, the former forestry student, would approve of your name, Querky, for your dwarf oak!

[Jenett]

I bought plants and put them in containers! (Specifically Earthboxes, which work great for my chronic health stuff, because I need a day or two to get things set up, and then after that it's predictable watering and sort of predictable and slightly fungible harvesting.)

Two varieties of tomatoes (Big Boy and Genuwine)

And then six herbs in the other box. The back row is Lavender (Phenomenal variety), Hyssop, Rosemary (Tuscan Blue variety), and the front is Dill (Fernleaf), Peppermint, and Basil (Dolce Fresca variety)

I am excited to see what happens, and am currently contemplating best methods of foiling squirrels given the space.

[Altair]

...and put them in containers!

Ditto. The big planter arrived today, so Nyssa the sour gum/black gum/tupelo tree (Nyssa sylvatica) finally got her roots into soil.



That's my new young dwarf chinkapin oak tree (Quercus prinoides), looking straight out of A Charlie Brown Christmas, beside her.

[Larix]

Ditto. The big planter arrived today, so Nyssa the sour gum/black gum/tupelo tree (Nyssa sylvatica) finally got her roots into soil.



That's my new young dwarf chinkapin oak tree (Quercus prinoides), looking straight out of A Charlie Brown Christmas, beside her.

Today I planted a CAMPSIS near a larch tree on my meadow.

[Altair]

Today I planted a CAMPSIS near a larch tree on my meadow.

"Campsis" as in Campsis radicans--trumpet creeper?

[Larix]

"Campsis" as in Campsis radicans--trumpet creeper?

Today I tried to plant a beautiful Clematis.
But it was too cold and raining - so  I thought otherwise.