Gardening

[newboots]

@diymom if you don't mind a drive to Arlington, I have a TON of hostas of different types I'd be happy to split and give you.

And if anyone wants plain green hostas, or daylilies and wants to come to Holyoke, bring your shovel! ;-)

 

[Mary Tee]

I also use Irish spring for the deer. I used to just grate it on a box grater, but last summer I cut some bars into quarters and hung them on the deck railing to keep the deer from eating some plants in pots, and it worked really well, so this year I took some old wire hangers, cut and bent them and hung the 1/4 bars and stuck them in the ground. We will see if that works...my sister in law in Maine just buys the Irish spring body wash, dilutes it and puts it in a spray bottle and sprays the plants the deer seem to like best. That's been working well for her for quite a few years now.

 

[diymom]

if you don't mind a drive to Arlington, I have a TON of hostas of different types I'd be happy to split

Yes please!!! It can be the start of a Diva garden!

 

[diymom]

And if anyone wants plain green hostas, or daylilies and wants to come to Holyoke, bring your shovel!

Holyoke, huh? If the offer still stands in the fall, DD will be starting at Smith in September, so I will be out that way.

 

[Kimmyt]

Tomatoes are in! And recovering nicely from a bit of sunburn they got. Used some spinach in a delicious spinach-chickpea curry. I might get 1-2 more harvests out of it before it gets too hot. And my lettuce is taking off! I have 1 row of beans already sprouted and just succession planted another, and my second round of cucumbers (first was frost killed) have sprouted too.

I like this time of year, when things start to grow but before the oppressive heat and sun of the summer bake away my desire to tend the garden.

Babies!

 

[bounceswoosh]

Tomatoes are in! And recovering nicely from a bit of sunburn they got. Used some spinach in a delicious spinach-chickpea curry. I might get 1-2 more harvests out of it before it gets too hot. And my lettuce is taking off! I have 1 row of beans already sprouted and just succession planted another, and my second round of cucumbers (first was frost killed) have sprouted too.

I like this time of year, when things start to grow but before the oppressive heat and sun of the summer bake away my desire to tend the garden.

Babies!

I planted the unique strain of cherry tomato plant that my friend cultivates. They're like tiny cherokee purples.

Not sure where the cucumber seeds went, so I'll give them another week or so to appear. And I want to try my hand at some cantelopes ... but I think it's still too soon.

I pulled up the chard that was bolting. My lettuce is doing well, too, but I'm wondering if I should have gotten more. I feel like one salad for two people will decimate them.

 

[Kimmyt]

I pulled up the chard that was bolting. My lettuce is doing well, too, but I'm wondering if I should have gotten more. I feel like one salad for two people will decimate them.

Lettuce is one thing that I plant lots of and could probably stand to plant more of. You just need so much for a decent salad!! I have 8 head lettuces as well as a thick row of mesclun greens. Plus I can throw leaves of arugula, spinach or baby chard (and later baby kale) in to add bulk to the salad. If you have a semi shady spot you can plant some more lettuce? Or maybe under some bigger plants so that they provide shelter from the sun for them as the days get hotter. I also think there are some more heat tolerant types out there, Romaine may be one of them? I bought a packet of Romaine seeds for this reason. Plus it makes a really yummy salad.

 

[bounceswoosh]

Lettuce is one thing that I plant lots of and could probably stand to plant more of. You just need so much for a decent salad!! I have 8 head lettuces as well as a thick row of mesclun greens. Plus I can throw leaves of arugula, spinach or baby chard (and later baby kale) in to add bulk to the salad. If you have a semi shady spot you can plant some more lettuce? Or maybe under some bigger plants so that they provide shelter from the sun for them as the days get hotter. I also think there are some more heat tolerant types out there, Romaine may be one of them? I bought a packet of Romaine seeds for this reason. Plus it makes a really yummy salad.

Yeah, I just got four plants. Silly me. I don't really have a semi shady spot unless I start planting in the front yard! Our back yard is a furnace.

 

[vickie]

When I bought this house, there were some strawberry plants in a shady spot in the back yard. I divided them and moved them to better locations. I got maybe 3 berries at a time over the course of the summer. I thought they were "ever-bearing" plants, which I renamed as "never-bearing".

Last fall I needed some short plants to put in an area in the front ... in the space between the sidewalk and street, called the "hellstrip". I decided to use the never-bearing plants as groundcover. The plants have taken over the spots very nicely, thickened, put out gazoodles of runners.

And bloomed like something you see in a gardening ad.

From this area ... about 36 square feet ... I am now picking about a quart of strawberries a day.

 

[bounceswoosh]

When I bought this house, there were some strawberry plants in a shady spot in the back yard. I divided them and moved them to better locations. I got maybe 3 berries at a time over the course of the summer. I thought they were "ever-bearing" plants, which I renamed as "never-bearing".

Last fall I needed some short plants to put in an area in the front ... in the space between the sidewalk and street, called the "hellstrip". I decided to use the never-bearing plants as groundcover. The plants have taken over the spots very nicely, thickened, put out gazoodles of runners.

And bloomed like something you see in a gardening ad.

From this area ... about 36 square feet ... I am now picking about a quart of strawberries a day.

My strawberries are bearing some pretty pathetic fruit. I wonder if it's a nutrient issue or maybe they're old. Something about them only lasting a couple of seasons?

 

[newboots]

From this area ... about 36 square feet ... I am now picking about a quart of strawberries a day.

I think they just wanted more sun!

Don't you end up sharing them with passersby?

 

[vickie]

Don't you end up sharing them with passersby?

Not by choice!

There is a park down the street, so there are lots of walkers that go by. One did call out to me and say he'd be back when the berries were ripe.

My strawberries are bearing some pretty pathetic fruit. I wonder if it's a nutrient issue or maybe they're old. Something about them only lasting a couple of seasons?

3 seasons, if my childhood experience is still valid. My parents always had 3 patches ... 1st year, good berries but not so many ... 2nd year, good and plenty ... 3rd year, diminished quantity, but I don't recall if it was also size or quality, or both, that also declined.

 

[bounceswoosh]

3 seasons, if my childhood experience is still valid. My parents always had 3 patches ... 1st year, good berries but not so many ... 2nd year, good and plenty ... 3rd year, diminished quantity, but I don't recall if it was also size or quality, or both, that also declined.

I shall inquire with my nursery!

 

[altagirl]

I have my best crop of strawberries ever and my plants have to be well over 5 years old. No idea which type they are since its been so long - the ID tag is long gone. They lived under my raspberry bushes for several years, and then we tore out the raspberry bushes and I moved them to a pot last year, where they survived, but I only got a few berries. This year it's just filled with berries. No clue....

Anyway - I made the mistake of going to Wild Birds Unlimited again today, presumably to buy some Nyjer Seed, and $300 later I have a pretty new bird bath (it's a cute stand with a hammered copper bowl with river stones in it and a little water agitator to keep mosquitos out...) in my garden, a new glass hummingbird feeder that seems super easy to keep clean and a bunch of bird food. Go figure. I may or may not be up to 9 bird feeders in the yard now. Oops.

Also - hopefully my flower garden will fill out eventually. It's filled with perennials, but they've either been there for about 9 months or a couple weeks, so it's looking a little sparse...

 

[Jenny]

I like the bird bath a lot. And if your perennials are that young they should definitely fill in. But I'm pretty sure I've heard the third year is when they really take off . . .

BTW, the light purple columbine you have is my favorite one of them. I have that, and a darker purple.

 

[Jenny]

Hot, so hot. And humid, starting tomorrow. So naturally we spent a big part of the day mixing compost into the soil and fetching mulch to spread early tomorrow morning, before it hits 90+ and humid. So sweaty. We'll need several trailer loads, but should have time to spread one and get another before it gets too oppressive.

We still have a pretty big pile of dirt and a couple of large garbage cans of topsoil (left by the sewer guys) to find a home for. Landscaping project likely postponed until next year, so bought more annuals for the fence line. Got the Mexican Sumflowers again, and some zinnias whose color should match those nicely. I still have quite a bit of space with nothing in it, so might go and get some more, just so it's not boring back there. I suppose I could get a couple of perennials and see how they do this year, knowing that they'd need to be temporarily dug up next year.

Hmmmm.

 

[newboots]

Oh, I miss my old (big) garden! I loved growing those Mexican sunflowers. Tithonia. Really big plants with lots of orange flowers on them. People would stop and point!

 

[bounceswoosh]

I planted cantaloupes yesterday. It's certainly hot enough for them now!

And some marigolds around the tomatoes. Yellow and orange. They look very festive!

I'm pretty sure all the cucumber seeds sprouted just underneath the ledge that lines the box, so they're not at all where I wanted them. Either that or they're leftover buckwheat sprouts - those are still coming up here and there from planting them last fall (they never sprouted last fall - but I've been getting a few periodically this season!)

 

[Jenny]

Oh, I miss my old (big) garden! I loved growing those Mexican sunflowers. Tithonia. Really big plants with lots of orange flowers on them. People would stop and point!

I found them for the first time last year - usually do perennials, but since the space is in transition, I bought annuals instead. They are really pretty, aren't they?

Got up early and spread the mulch, then fetched another trailer load and did that one, too. The last one is still sitting in the trailer, waiting for lower temps. I used to work with a guy who would get 15 yards of the stuff! Don't know how he did it.

 

[Kimmyt]

Came home from a last minute weekend trip to find that my garden had grown incredibly with the heat. Of course, so did all the weeds. My neighbor watered for me while I was gone, so nothing died, but the peas are looking a bit worse for the wear and something took a huge bite out of the one large strawberry I had. Luckily its supposed to cool off a bit this week so hopefully I can have some more time to harvest peas before it gets too hot.

And don't even get me started on the dang rabbits. They have pretty much eaten all of my new perennials down to the ground. They still haven't figured out where the vegetable garden is, though. I borrowed a Hav-a-heart trap from someone but the babies are too small to set off the trigger, so I'm pretty much just feeding them a buffet of apple slices in a nice shady box.