The Garden/Landscaping Thread

[ljs]

Well searching 11 pages, and found 2 sorta related, but not really threads on gardening. Anyway, thought as spring comes around, and I know that there are others on here who garden we can share tips/ideas and brag about our gardens/flowers.

I just bought a few Tomato starters, and seeds for the rest. Not doing a big garden this year, I'll have corn, romaine, spring lettuce, zucchini, cucumbers, cauliflower, sweet onions, Red/yellow/orange/green peppers and some spices (cilantro, basil, oregano and parsley).

In years past I've also had carrots, potato, egg plant, pumpkin, watermelon and strawberries...I might add the strawberries though.

I started the veggies in a starter pots, so in about 2 weeks I'll plant those starters outside.

I used a mix of Miracle grow garden mix and regular planting soil, plus a good mix of my compost. With the high elevation and short summer season, I'm not sure how this years "crop" will be, but excited as always!

[cbeals]

I'm at college now, but usually when im home i get a small garden going. I LOVE to garden!! I usually do tomatoes, cucumbers, sometimes eggplant, peppers, random things. Now that i'm up at school though i just have a few pots going. I have two tomato plants, a brocolli, and a cucumber plant, and just found some wild onions that i planted in another pot.

The cucumber, brocolli, and tomato were started from seed and the wild onion were obviously found and replanted. I just used miracle grow potting soil on all of them and they are doing great except for the cucumber. It has buds and small cucumbers started, but the plant is starting to turn a little yellow for some reason? I just bought fertilizer the other day but havent had a chance to use it yet. Maybe i'll get some pics up soon.

[Capt. Kaos]

this may insult some of you that may venture in here but I'm curious....

my daughter seen a infomercial for ~> http://www.cleanairgardening.com/totuupdotofl.html

she now wants to try and grow using this method. I have read alittle on it and have decided if wew are going to try it's going to be the ghetto route of plastic buckets with holes cut in the bottom.

Anyone have any experience with this form of growing?

She wants to try tomatoes, pickling cucumbers, green/red/yellow peppers and maybe some strawberries. May also to dual pot and grow some fresh herbs on top.

[GrapeApe]

she now wants to try and grow using this method. I have read alittle on it and have decided if wew are going to try it's going to be the ghetto route of plastic buckets with holes cut in the bottom.

My neighbors swear by the method. They used hanging baskets instead of the paint bucket. I guess it dresses it up. I just moved here so I may try it this summer since I don't have time to start a traditional garden this summer.

Eventually I want to make a couple of raised beds for a veggie garden, but who knows when I'll find time.

[China]

this may insult some of you that may venture in here but I'm curious....

my daughter seen a infomercial for ~> http://www.cleanairgardening.com/totuupdotofl.html

I saw the same infomercial and was curious about it as well. The one possibility about it that intrigued me is that I could hang the plants out of reach of critters that steal my tomatoes every year.

[#98QBKiller]

My g/f and I are growing a garden for the first time. We got starters for: a few breeds of tomatoes, jalapenos, squash, strawberries, okra, Brussels sprouts, and I put a potato in the ground that was starting to sprout.

We had trouble with our dog messing with it so we had to put up some cheap garden fencing around it.

We also just added some Miracle Grow to it and now we're just playing the waiting game.

[Kilmer17]

Ive been hanging tomatoes for a few years and it works fine. I also still grow them on the ground (cherries/plums).

You dont need a fancy infomercial buy though.

Buy a few 5 gallon paint buckets, cut holes in the bottom and stick the plants through (hold in place with coffee filters if they are too small). Fill with soil, then hang them up and water. I grow herbs on the top of them as well.

Ive got squash, all kinds of peppers, limas and peas to go along with the maters.

Plus the pineapple and fruit trees.

[PleaseBlitz]

I just planted my annual pepper garden last weekend. I have 2 big planters full of habenaro's, jalepeno's, and other assorted goodness.

This past weekend, a bird built a nest on the table next to them and laid 2 eggs. I have dubbed her Horbert. Her nest sucks.

[ljs]

I've heard the "hanging gardens' work well, but I've never tried them.

I have my tomatos in pots this year, never tried that before. I've heard they grow better in pots.

I'm going to put my zuchini and cucumbers in half barrel I just decided. We'll see what happens.

[Capt. Kaos]

Thanks for the input. With the words from here and what I have read online I think we are going to give it a go..... I'll keep everyone posted.

[CandaceM23]

I just rototilled a spot on Sunday. I'm making my first veggie garden. I am DREADING going and getting all of the grass out of the plot. I don't want to stand out there with a rake and pick it all out, but I'm guessing that's the best way ????

[Slacky McSlackAss]

We got our plants starting to grow, they will be planted in a few weeks most likely. Peppers, Tomatoes, Cucumbers, Okra, and Squash.

[ljs]

I just rototilled a spot on Sunday. I'm making my first veggie garden. I am DREADING going and getting all of the grass out of the plot. I don't want to stand out there with a rake and pick it all out, but I'm guessing that's the best way ????

I did this 2 years ago to expand my garden. I used the flatest shovel I had, and you...oh wait, you already rototilled the grass???

ok, do you have a rake that looks like?

I find it's the best one to get the large chunks of stuff out of the dirt, but don't rake too hard, or you'll get a lot of dirt w/ it.

otherwise, yeah, you'll have to pick it out by hand.

[CandaceM23]

Thats the rake that I started with and ended up getting frustrated. It's going to take forever ..... Ugh.

[Grinder]

First year growing tomatoes in pots...I may add cukes or something else but I like the idea of keeping it small as a newbie veggie grower.

Shame about the tilling the grass under, you may be fighting the sprouts down the road.

If I actually like my results this year I may do an inground plot lasagna style next year which would let me avoid the whole sod removal thing.

[zoony]

well so far this is more the gardening thread than it is the landscape thread

Landscaping is a hobby of mine. We bought our house new in August of 2005... so we've been in it about 3 1/2 years, and a lot of the landscaping I've done is really starting to fill in. Still a while before it matures

However- I am proud- considering that the house was literally surrounded by a giant dirt lot when we moved in. I've done everything myself- planted 60+ trees, 100 + perrenials and bushes, 25 cubic yards of mulch, 10 pallets of stone (for rock wall), and lots and lots of fertilizer and grass seed to cover over an acre.

Anyways- I'd say in another 5 years things should really be maturing and looking the way I want them to. Here's some pictures

Area around back deck (I also built :cool: )- creeping phlox, delaware white/hershey red azalaes, patio peach, mountain boxwoods

Green Japanese Maple (still getting its leaves), barberry, gold mound spirea, and groundcover(damit forget the name of it. anyways, its getting ready to bloom)

Japanese maple which frost got in 2006, but has come back a little (it used to be 4x as big ), more phlox, purple azaleas, gold mound spirea, blue spruce (fat albert) and tiered rock wall I made

Dogwoods framing purple/red azaleas

[Grinder]

Nice!

I've got random shrubs/flowers around the property but no overall unifying plan.

I may pony up for a professional design and just do the install myself.

[zoony]

Nice!

I've got random shrubs/flowers around the property but no overall unifying plan.

I may pony up for a professional design and just do the install myself.

I used to know some guys in the Va Beach area that could help you out but not anymore.

You're in a good zone though- lots of things grow very well in Va Beach. You can even plant St. Augustine grass- which will make your yard look like a polo ground

[ljs]

Zoony= wow...that looks great. I love to landscape as well. I'm learning a new area, higher elevation and shorter warm season. It's fun though to experiment.

I forget what area you are-I'm in zone 6

[ljs]

First year growing tomatoes in pots...I may add cukes or something else but I like the idea of keeping it small as a newbie veggie grower.

Shame about the tilling the grass under, you may be fighting the sprouts down the road.

If I actually like my results this year I may do an inground plot lasagna style next year which would let me avoid the whole sod removal thing.

agree pots are great. I took grass out by cutting it like they do for sod, with a flathead shovel. then roto the dirt. That way the grass isn't ground up in the dirt.

you can also try the wide rake...I've known people who sift through the dirt, that is pretty time consuming.

[Zguy28]

I just planted my corn last weekend. I got kind of a late start, but it will be fine.

I'm doing the Three Sisters garden this year. When the corn is about 4 inches tall, you plant green beans in the same mounds and they grow up the corn stalk. You also plant squash in their own mounds in between the corn/bean mounds. The squash will shade the base with their big leaves and keep animals away with the prickly stems.

Its an old Native American thing.

[China]

Having sun helps. So does not have three large maples strangling the ground with their web of fine roots. It is very difficult to get things to grow in my front yard for those reasons. The grass in the front yard is thin and sparse and mixed in with moss. A number of years back I tried aerating, treating the soil and reseeding. The new grass looked good for about a year and then went back to how it was. The bushes that were in front to make a hedge when I moved in were feeble and small. After several years I took them out and have put in a garden. I am still experimenting to see what will grow in the shade with the dense maple root web choking them out.

Anyone have advice on how or what to grow things in these conditions? FYI, hosta will not grow there. Columbine doesn't last. Right now I've got some bleeding hearts, a couple of ferns (that aren't doing so well), liriope (which is thriving), and pulmonaria (which seems to be doing well).

[Grinder]

More liriope and pulmonaria?

Damn, ferns and hostas won't grow? Crap.

Since grass isn't cutting it (you did try the shade type right? Of course you did) I'd consider turning the worst areas into mulch beds and grow what works for you. Besides the liriope and pulmonaria maybe throw down some impatiens here and there and try a cheap azalea (shallow-root system *might* hold its own with the maples, thus a cheaper variety in case it doesn't).

Short of taking down the maples its all about experimenting...good luck!

[PleaseBlitz]

Having sun helps. So does not have three large maples strangling the ground with their web of fine roots. It is very difficult to get things to grow in my front yard for those reasons. The grass in the front yard is thin and sparse and mixed in with moss. A number of years back I tried aerating, treating the soil and reseeding. The new grass looked good for about a year and then went back to how it was. The bushes that were in front to make a hedge when I moved in were feeble and small. After several years I took them out and have put in a garden. I am still experimenting to see what will grow in the shade with the dense maple root web choking them out.

Anyone have advice on how or what to grow things in these conditions? FYI, hosta will not grow there. Columbine doesn't last. Right now I've got some bleeding hearts, a couple of ferns (that aren't doing so well), liriope (which is thriving), and pulmonaria (which seems to be doing well).

Pull out the maples? :whoknows:

[KingGibbs]

Here's a few pics of my landscaping/grass.