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[Gardening], the activity of tending and cultivating a garden, especially as a pastime.

24

Posts

  • MayabirdMayabird Pecking at the keyboardRegistered User regular
    I’m in zone 6, Columbus

    The front yard is mostly full shade to part shade, though that NE corner gets a good amount of sun

    Pretty sure the soil in these beds is neutral- those hydrangeas are the lacecap type that change color based on soil pH and I get white blooms

    But I do have access to as much pine straw as needed for acid-lovers from 3 fuck-off sized pine trees on the other side of the driveway

    I’m looking for space-fillers, so woody/evergreen plants are my preference- this is going to be shrubs most likely.

    Then azaleas are a go! Azaleas like acid so mulching with pine needles will make them happy and they are perfectly happy with shade. Most should be cold hardy to your zone (just check before buying) and then it's just a matter of picking out what colors you like and where.

    Three other possible recommendations:
    1) Buckeye. Several different species, some staying shrubs and the Ohio buckeye Aesculus glabra eventually becoming a tree. Neato flowers and leaves:

    aesculus-glabra-050807-1.jpg

    and people consider the nuts to be lucky, but they are toxic so maybe not the best choice if there are small children, pets, or other beings around that would immediately try to eat them.

    2) Arrowwood viburnum in one of the more sunny spots. Later flowers, attractive fruits that draw in birds, not excessively picky.

    3) Common ninebark. Nice flowers and it gets its name from its constantly peeling bark, which can provide some winter interest too:
    SCB_IMG2296.JPG

    ninebark.jpg

  • StraygatsbyStraygatsby Registered User regular
    Ugh, I so want to do all this! We have a great side yard that is totally overgrown but gets good sunlight. It's already got a terraced stairway down the slope, and I know I could dig out a good 10x30 set of planters if I put my summer into it.

    Our big problem is deer. We've got a cluster of them in the neighborhood. Probably about 10-15 who just have the run of the joint and eat just about anything they can find. Do people just put some kind of fencing up around their garden? All the natural "remedies" seem to be semi-effective, and I also don't want to impinge on the deer's transit through our yard or otherwise impact them.

  • DisruptedCapitalistDisruptedCapitalist I swear! Registered User regular
    I'm so lousy at pest management. I sprouted a bunch of sunflowers indoors over the past month. This Sunday seemed like the best time to plant them outside so I found a sunny spot in the corner of my lot and planted them. I go out this morning to check on them and they're completely devoured. Only a few stalks remain with no leaves.

    I thought sunflowers were relatively resistant to pests???

    "Simple, real stupidity beats artificial intelligence every time." -Mustrum Ridcully in Terry Pratchett's Hogfather p. 142 (HarperPrism 1996)
  • EncEnc A Fool with Compassion Pronouns: He, Him, HisRegistered User regular
    I'm so lousy at pest management. I sprouted a bunch of sunflowers indoors over the past month. This Sunday seemed like the best time to plant them outside so I found a sunny spot in the corner of my lot and planted them. I go out this morning to check on them and they're completely devoured. Only a few stalks remain with no leaves.

    I thought sunflowers were relatively resistant to pests???

    Grey squirrels, man. They do this.

  • DisruptedCapitalistDisruptedCapitalist I swear! Registered User regular
    Oh snap, of course! I got those fuckers all over the place around here.

    "Simple, real stupidity beats artificial intelligence every time." -Mustrum Ridcully in Terry Pratchett's Hogfather p. 142 (HarperPrism 1996)
  • JansonJanson Registered User regular
    Hi!

    I got into gardening last year, after we bought a house and I realized that if I didn't step up and maintain the yard, no one else was going to and it would quickly grow out of hand.

    At first I was just going to perform maintenance, because the yard looked alright as it was, then the next thing I knew I was tearing up the barberries (too thorny), the non-native/invasive plants, and now the yard looks kind of shitty, actually, because it’s a big work in process! But I’m much happier with it.

    Things I have done in my yard so far:

    - assembled and filled a 4’ x 8’ raised bed, sowed radishes and carrots; have tomato plants ready to be planted soon
    - have a half barrel with garlic growing that I planted last fall
    - planted two blueberry bushes in a sunny bed last fall; they’re flowering nicely now! I have to nip the flowers off soon so berries don’t grow this year
    - bee’s friend that I planted last year has returned all around the base of the blueberry bushes :)
    - yesterday I also found three strawberry plants at the grocery store to plant around the base of the blueberries!
    - I have a variety of mints (chocolate mint, lemon balm, catmint and catnip) that grow in a bed together
    - I have a shady side yard. On the sunnier side I created a new bed and planted three osoberries and scattered a bunch of wildflower and poppy seeds - these have just begun to sprout and there are a LOT of seedlings, so hopefully they grow in nice and full! There’s also a fig tree I planted last year that’s slooowly growing.
    - On the shadier side I have coral bells, salal berries, wild ginger, kinnikinnick and bleeding hearts. The bleeding hearts returned from last year. The Salal berries are going to take a few years to fully grow in - same with the osoberries - so right now everything looks a little bare!

    The front yard is mostly non-edible. One side I have only performed maintenance; there’s a fir tree, a maple tree, a hydrangea and a camellia and an unidentified bush. There’s lamb’s ears, too. I removed a rhododendron that was being choked by the camellia last year.

    The bed near the front door had three large barberry bushes, two pathetic azaleas and heather. I removed everything except the heather (which I’ll remove this year). I replaced it with a nine-bark, a huckleberry, a lingonberry, and lots of salvias and lavender and larkspur and fuchsia. The hummingbirds and bees loved the front yard last year and I hope they love it this year, too!

    I re-potted a bunch of sunflower and zinnia seedlings last weekend, I hope they continue to grow well!

    I’m thinking of getting another half barrel to plant snow peas in.

    Having done all the above... my yard still needs a lot of work. Also the lawn is atrocious. At least bees like dandelions?!

  • Captain InertiaCaptain Inertia Registered User regular
    edited April 2020
    Mayabird wrote: »
    I’m in zone 6, Columbus

    The front yard is mostly full shade to part shade, though that NE corner gets a good amount of sun

    Pretty sure the soil in these beds is neutral- those hydrangeas are the lacecap type that change color based on soil pH and I get white blooms

    But I do have access to as much pine straw as needed for acid-lovers from 3 fuck-off sized pine trees on the other side of the driveway

    I’m looking for space-fillers, so woody/evergreen plants are my preference- this is going to be shrubs most likely.

    Then azaleas are a go! Azaleas like acid so mulching with pine needles will make them happy and they are perfectly happy with shade. Most should be cold hardy to your zone (just check before buying) and then it's just a matter of picking out what colors you like and where.

    Three other possible recommendations:
    1) Buckeye. Several different species, some staying shrubs and the Ohio buckeye Aesculus glabra eventually becoming a tree. Neato flowers and leaves:

    aesculus-glabra-050807-1.jpg

    and people consider the nuts to be lucky, but they are toxic so maybe not the best choice if there are small children, pets, or other beings around that would immediately try to eat them.

    2) Arrowwood viburnum in one of the more sunny spots. Later flowers, attractive fruits that draw in birds, not excessively picky.

    3) Common ninebark. Nice flowers and it gets its name from its constantly peeling bark, which can provide some winter interest too:
    SCB_IMG2296.JPG

    ninebark.jpg



    Thanks for the recs! I think I’ll do all but the buckeye (I have a bottlebrush buckeye patch in the back and I like to try new plants before I repeat, ha)

    I’ll post pics when I get ‘em in the ground

    Captain Inertia on
  • SoggybiscuitSoggybiscuit Tandem Electrostatic Accelerator Registered User regular
    And now the vegetable garden area has been tilled. It rained a whole bunch this past weekend so it was a PITA to do it, and I'll need to till it at least once more maybe twice.

    But it is done (partly).

    cfnszcb1jeyf.jpeg

    Steam - Synthetic Violence | XBOX Live - Cannonfuse | PSN - CastleBravo | Twitch - SoggybiscuitPA
  • AldoAldo Hippo Hooray Registered User regular
    So hi, I just have a balcony and decided to put in more effort last year. It's on the south on the fourth floor, so we get a lot of sun, a lot of wind and hardly any shade. It is pretty much Mediterranean up there. We decided to go for sturdy plants that would like that kind of climate, with the star of the show in the first pic, an olive tree. 12nb088gmw7b.jpg

    I have most plants on this side of the balcony, with the lavender and going strong in their 3rd year. I have replanted them, pruned them and added chalk to the soil and they're doing great now. I hope they can get flowers this year, because they smell amazing. This year I also planted two rosemary shrubs, they thrive in the same circumstances as lavender, so they should be doing just as well I hope.

    The planters that go over the railing are filled with an assortment of plants native to rocksides. they were sold to us as capable to survive in the full sun. Most of them are fine, one of them is kind of hanging in there. The planter furthest away is filled with geraniums, I have seen them on balconies all over Austria, so I figured they would do great in my micro-climate, but I was still worried. Then the other day I was chilling on a playground with my kid when I noticed geraniums just growing between the cracks of the pavement. Now I am super confident that they'll do great here.

    There's also a buxus shrub there, that's a rescue. I noticed it sticking out of a trash bin and decided to take it with me and see if I could treat it right. It was actually in good condition, it just had a lot of roots sticking out of the pot it was dumped in, but it was pruned recently and looked great. I just put it in a new pot with more soil and watered it a lot. It has new leaves now!
    zw1kexcpk7rk.jpg

    One thing that annoyed my partner to no end, but I was very excited about is this rain barrel. It's only 100L and is connected to a roof surface of about 100m2, so it fills up quickly. It's just so satisfying to use free water for the plants. It's also nice to use rain water on my indoor plants, it's better for some plants (despite the water we get here is filtered through dunes, so it's pretty low on chalk anyway).

    nqkglbvhvk8f.jpg

  • SoggybiscuitSoggybiscuit Tandem Electrostatic Accelerator Registered User regular
    edited May 2020
    xp6j2x49xyt1.png

    Well, I need to get my tomato plants in the ground but Mother Nature seems to hate everyone this year. 3 frosts over the next 4 days. I had already put some in the ground on Saturday but go caught off guard and lost about 6 plants from the looks of it.

    If its not cold and wet its warm and wet. This weather sucks.

    On a more positive note, when I cut back my seedlings I started most of the ones I removed in some wet rockwool. I now have double the number of tomato plants I had.

    EDIT: If you live in the NE US expect a massive freeze the next few nights.

    Soggybiscuit on
    Steam - Synthetic Violence | XBOX Live - Cannonfuse | PSN - CastleBravo | Twitch - SoggybiscuitPA
  • SoggybiscuitSoggybiscuit Tandem Electrostatic Accelerator Registered User regular
    Finally was able to get some plants out.

    Food garden is now mostly complete.

    ocv55bffzpdt.jpg

    I did make a single mistake... I started planting corn and didn't stop until I had 3 half rows filled. When I was talking to my wife, we came to the realization that I had planted something around 90 corn plants in the ground. Whoops. Sweet corn for days.

    Steam - Synthetic Violence | XBOX Live - Cannonfuse | PSN - CastleBravo | Twitch - SoggybiscuitPA
  • Captain InertiaCaptain Inertia Registered User regular
    I need 70 beers after this
    1y0j6cyyti2g.jpeg
    2cj85bb9u1o3.jpeg

    Tomorrow I turn this mossy hell area into a new flower bed
    82t29vw0czb2.jpeg

  • Captain InertiaCaptain Inertia Registered User regular
    edited May 2020
    dcos37ovtkic.jpeg

    yep0n82q7oju.jpeg

    q8egv3iw47zv.jpeg


    The first skirmish of Operation: Delawnify was a success

    Have to till in some soil amendment then going to plant:
    •Boxwood hedge along the walk
    •Chinese Dogwood as the main accent (maybe a small Japanese maple as well)
    •Another azalea to balance the big one that’s already there
    •Hostas lining the bed along the lawn
    •Fill in with ferns and astilbe for extra texture and color, maybe some impatiens as well

    Captain Inertia on
  • Captain InertiaCaptain Inertia Registered User regular
    I’m going to put another bed in the sunny NE corner (by where the old walkers are in pic 2) later as well

  • Captain InertiaCaptain Inertia Registered User regular
    I uh

    May have messed up in the back

    khzs55e4fnxy.jpeg

    I didn’t realize that all those chartreuse hostas are this variety
    ocu9ewysqi79.jpeg

    Behind them is this variety
    fs1z0tmetulb.jpeg

    And behind those is this variety
    u784vtxd2n3o.jpeg

    Basically my backyard is the giant level of a Mario game

  • DisruptedCapitalistDisruptedCapitalist I swear! Registered User regular
    I love how those elderly folk make it look like they spent their whole lives growing monstrous hostas.

    "Simple, real stupidity beats artificial intelligence every time." -Mustrum Ridcully in Terry Pratchett's Hogfather p. 142 (HarperPrism 1996)
  • Captain InertiaCaptain Inertia Registered User regular
    That lady did, she’s the creator of like 70 varieties

  • Captain InertiaCaptain Inertia Registered User regular
    edited May 2020
    dcos37ovtkic.jpeg

    yep0n82q7oju.jpeg

    q8egv3iw47zv.jpeg


    The first skirmish of Operation: Delawnify was a success

    Have to till in some soil amendment then going to plant:
    •Boxwood hedge along the walk
    •Chinese Dogwood as the main accent (maybe a small Japanese maple as well)
    •Another azalea to balance the big one that’s already there
    •Hostas lining the bed along the lawn
    •Fill in with ferns and astilbe for extra texture and color, maybe some impatiens as well

    So all of the above is done except for a little more infilling of the bed and mulch (I’m mulching now...)

    Tilling in soil amendment (um...leafs):
    io94ye9g295y.jpeg

    Planting hostas, astilbe, and boxwood:
    it8dvywn5nsf.jpeg

    Leveling and positioning the dogwood:
    xzmd1g4osst2.jpeg

    Waiting for these fuckers to grow:
    ks4kjnnv2dcc.jpeg

    Captain Inertia on
  • DoodmannDoodmann Registered User regular
    I have upgraded my small garden plot!

    4VoMPD5l.jpg

    Whippy wrote: »
    nope nope nope nope abort abort talk about anime
    Sometimes I sell my stuff on Ebay
  • DoodmannDoodmann Registered User regular
    edited May 2020
    Anyone know what to do about this?

    imHj0rJ.jpg

    Doodmann on
    Whippy wrote: »
    nope nope nope nope abort abort talk about anime
    Sometimes I sell my stuff on Ebay
  • DoodmannDoodmann Registered User regular
    edited July 2020
    Bumping this with updates!

    L2pmRKu.jpg
    eWSzKza.jpg
    xKqixtk.jpg

    https://imgur.com/a/KWocLvF

    Also so @winky and I can swap plant pics instead of posting them on chat.

    Doodmann on
    Whippy wrote: »
    nope nope nope nope abort abort talk about anime
    Sometimes I sell my stuff on Ebay
  • WinkyWinky rRegistered User regular
    I didn't even realize this thread existed! Yes I can spam chat less now.

    Speaking of which:
    675lrdkmjk5p.jpeg
    qp2bjh6was0k.jpeg

  • WinkyWinky rRegistered User regular
    Those are some fine looking peppers there

  • SoggybiscuitSoggybiscuit Tandem Electrostatic Accelerator Registered User regular
    Winky wrote: »
    Those are some fine looking peppers there

    Indeed. Those are also some fine looking greens. What are you growing there? I've got a similar thing going on right now and I've got 16 head of delicious tasty lettuce that should start being ready sometime next week.

    Also: I hate hornworms. I've had both tobacco and tomato from what I can tell. 3 days since I noticed it and they have done some serious damage to half of my 40 some tomato plants. I've pulled at least 20, maybe 25 off and gave them the bottom of my shoe as their reward. The worst part is they eat the damn tomatoes as well. I wanted to eat those.

    Also, my sweet corn is now taller that I am and I've got some ears starting to form. I hope we get some rain soon. 3 squash plants are making more than I can eat. And my watermelon plants have been growing like crazy and now I've got some baby watermelons, crimson sweet and sugar baby. I'm going to eat so much watermelon in a month.

    Steam - Synthetic Violence | XBOX Live - Cannonfuse | PSN - CastleBravo | Twitch - SoggybiscuitPA
  • DoodmannDoodmann Registered User regular
    My garden seems to be full of spiders, to the point that I'm a little worried how big a clan is in my lime tree, so I think I'm pretty good on worms/catapillers?

    I've seen a couple little green guys but not too much and I use a soap spray like twice a week.

    Whippy wrote: »
    nope nope nope nope abort abort talk about anime
    Sometimes I sell my stuff on Ebay
  • WinkyWinky rRegistered User regular
    Winky wrote: »
    Those are some fine looking peppers there

    Indeed. Those are also some fine looking greens. What are you growing there? I've got a similar thing going on right now and I've got 16 head of delicious tasty lettuce that should start being ready sometime next week.

    Also: I hate hornworms. I've had both tobacco and tomato from what I can tell. 3 days since I noticed it and they have done some serious damage to half of my 40 some tomato plants. I've pulled at least 20, maybe 25 off and gave them the bottom of my shoe as their reward. The worst part is they eat the damn tomatoes as well. I wanted to eat those.

    Also, my sweet corn is now taller that I am and I've got some ears starting to form. I hope we get some rain soon. 3 squash plants are making more than I can eat. And my watermelon plants have been growing like crazy and now I've got some baby watermelons, crimson sweet and sugar baby. I'm going to eat so much watermelon in a month.

    On the top rack I've got buttercrunch lettuce and swiss chard (saving the other two spots for spinach that keeps goddamn refusing to germinate/sprout), on the bottom rack I've got more buttercrunch, siberian dwarf kale, and broccoli. They've been growing for almost 4 weeks now and I'm very pleased with them (this is my first time doing hydroponics, as well as my first time growing pretty much anything :P).

    I wish I had outdoor space, watermelon sounds awesome!

  • SoggybiscuitSoggybiscuit Tandem Electrostatic Accelerator Registered User regular
    d3kft4xzzof9.jpg

    Here is what I'm growing inside in my grow tent currently. Four different lettuce varieties, either butterhead or looseleaf.

    I had a batch a while back but I ate it all. I even grew some dandelion greens in that batch and they were delicious as a wilted salad. They also started slow, but by the end had grown far larger than any of the other stuff in there, even the arugula.

    Here is what they looked like when I finally harvested them:

    4dqbc1bkml34.jpg

    As you can see, they were mega dandelions. I got like 3 lbs or so from that. They were delicious. Dandelion is bitter though, so you need strong flavors to compensate.

    Steam - Synthetic Violence | XBOX Live - Cannonfuse | PSN - CastleBravo | Twitch - SoggybiscuitPA
  • WinkyWinky rRegistered User regular
    n93dufn8o0bm.jpeg
    igmajm0co4od.jpeg

    No clue what's going on with the Swiss Chard, are the first true leaves supposed to die off like that or do I need a different nutrient balance, I wonder?

  • DoodmannDoodmann Registered User regular
    This was my weekend project:

    7IxZ9Yil.jpg

    Hoping the seedling jumpstart with get a stronger sprout going.

    Whippy wrote: »
    nope nope nope nope abort abort talk about anime
    Sometimes I sell my stuff on Ebay
  • AldoAldo Hippo Hooray Registered User regular
    Those first leaves are usually the big solar panels of the plant, with new leaves popping up above them as it grows larger. Maybe your plant will recover and the new small leaves will absorb enough light to compensate, but with the way they're curled up I wouldn't hold my breath.

  • GilgaronGilgaron Registered User regular
    I have some iteas (bushes) in the same bed as a tree. The two closest all of a sudden dropped half their leaves. It has been very dry and hot so I think the tree has just been hogging what water there is. Other than increasing watering for this area is there anything else I should do? I also have a fairly young maple that is looking very sad. Sad plants --> more water is about as fancy as I usually get but I am willing to try any other tricks to nurse these along until rain becomes more regular.

  • AldoAldo Hippo Hooray Registered User regular
    When are you watering them? During heat waves water evaporates a lot quicker, so make sure to only water when it is dark/getting dark.

    Another thing is to try and protect plants from just plain being blasted by the sun all day. It's maybe not even possible, but if there's a way to put them in more shade then definitely do that.

  • GilgaronGilgaron Registered User regular
    I've been focusing on waterings in early morning and evening, I suppose I should try to prioritize the evening waterings.

  • AbsoluteZeroAbsoluteZero The new film by Quentin Koopantino Registered User regular
    Anyone here in USDA hardiness zone 4 ever have any luck growing watermelons? I could use some tips.

    cs6f034fsffl.jpg
  • WinkyWinky rRegistered User regular
    I still cannot get these damn spinach to germinate. Is it just that 75 degrees is too hot? Not sure how to realistically cool them enough to get them to grow without like popping them in and out of the fridge

  • DoodmannDoodmann Registered User regular
    Winky wrote: »
    I still cannot get these damn spinach to germinate. Is it just that 75 degrees is too hot? Not sure how to realistically cool them enough to get them to grow without like popping them in and out of the fridge

    Is the inside of your house above 76 all day?
    I did the paper towel in a ziplock in a kitchen cabinet for 2-3 days and that seemed to work fine?

    Whippy wrote: »
    nope nope nope nope abort abort talk about anime
    Sometimes I sell my stuff on Ebay
  • WinkyWinky rRegistered User regular
    Doodmann wrote: »
    Winky wrote: »
    I still cannot get these damn spinach to germinate. Is it just that 75 degrees is too hot? Not sure how to realistically cool them enough to get them to grow without like popping them in and out of the fridge

    Is the inside of your house above 76 all day?
    I did the paper towel in a ziplock in a kitchen cabinet for 2-3 days and that seemed to work fine?

    Yeah, my apartment has been pretty damn hot all summer, even in the coolest parts it maybe gets to 73 at best. Could turn up the AC but it's been spotty and not keen on raising the electric bill atm.

    Hm, could try a cabinet. Actually, I put them in the fridge for a few hours and I see some change. I may just try swapping them between the fridge and a cabinet for a day or two.

  • SoggybiscuitSoggybiscuit Tandem Electrostatic Accelerator Registered User regular
    Anyone here in USDA hardiness zone 4 ever have any luck growing watermelons? I could use some tips.

    @AbsoluteZero

    They need lots of sun and water. Like minimum 8 hours full sun a day, 10 is probably better. As long as they have water they don’t seem to mind heat at all. Mine get sun from first light to roughly 4:30ish and it’s been 90F+ days here in southern Ohio for a couple weeks and if anything they seem to be growing faster.

    Steam - Synthetic Violence | XBOX Live - Cannonfuse | PSN - CastleBravo | Twitch - SoggybiscuitPA
  • tbloxhamtbloxham Registered User regular
    I've had resounding success with my first year growing sweet red onions here in California. Already removed 15 onions, totaling about 28 lbs from the garden with 10 more still growing. They're delicious and have been no trouble at all. I guess its another lesson that here on the coast I should stick to underground veggies. Great success with carrots and radishes (I pickle them), but those have always done well. I can get 20 lbs of carrots from a 10 by 2 bed any time of year around here, they just seem to really love it.

    Tomatoes have been OK this year, despite a heavy blight spreading from one plant to the others. Didn't clear the soil well enough and should have pulled the first plant which showed any susceptibility. Got enough tomatoes for three good sized batches of salsa so far, red onions have helped there, even though my peppers have failed as ever. Only like 3 padrons, and no jalapenos at all. Beets a big flop unfortunately. Green beans are doing well, some high hopes for a good crop later.

    Still, very excited about the onions. Should have been growing them for years.

    "That is cool" - Abraham Lincoln
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