How does YOUR garden grow?

[Stephen]

Planted my parents' garden yesterday. It's a good deal... I do all the hard work at the beginning, moving dirt and sowing the seeds. My mom does the weeding, my dad "waters" (they have in-ground sprinklers) and we share the bounty.

This year, I planted radishes, carrots, scallions, romaine, beets, butterstick squash, and snap peas. Got the wrong beans, picked up pole instead of bush, so I'm gonna replace those. Then, my mom's decided to convert the flowerbed on the other side of the yard to a pickling cucumber nest, so I'll be clearing that out next weekend and planting some seeds, and mostly seedlings. Then we have one more small spot in the corner with a dozen plants, half tomatos, half green peppers. I'll get those as seedlings also.

A lot of work, but there's nothing quite like picking a green pepper and eating it fresh!

-Stephen

 

[SilentCal]

My father is the green thumb. He has a rather large garden 45 feet by 30 and plants tomatoes, cabbage, beans, cucumbers, green peppers, beets and carrots. I'd say about half of his garden is tomatoes and he cans a great deal of them for the winter. He has been pestering me to start my own garden even "volunteering" to come over and start it up. He must be getting sick of my little veggie raids.

 

[MtnMagic]

I've fruit, perennial flowers and vegtable gardens. Years ago I decided to start organic gardens. I purchased truck loads of cow manure, tilled in more peat moss than I can remember, throw in a little lime every year and started planting varied vegetables.

Now I have raised beds and compost all organic material in "double dug rows." That is to add the organic matter between the raised rows and it composts by the following year. Ash is always added. Some call the soil "brown gold."
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You can never add too much peat moss!

 

[Greg]

I've actually decreased the size of my vegetable garden. It's now a small 8' x 12'. Two reasons for this - needed some extra yard space for the swingset we're building soon, and I also had trouble keeping up with the garden when it was 16' x 12'. I just didn't have the time to keep it properly weeded and we seemed to be overwhlemed with squash and zucchini. In addition to those, this year I'll do some midsize and grape tomatoes, as well as some herbs - basil, oregano, parsley. I may do some beans, but that'll be about it. I've also been concentrating on the perennial flower beds amd lawn this year.

 

[smitty77]

My father-in-law used to maintain a large 30x30 garden but has started scaling back because we just couldn't eat all of the veggies or give them away. He's cut it in half and is planting some fruit trees in the vacant portion. I'm not much of a gardener myself which is fine because the only suitable location for a veggie garden is my front yard, and that's not gonna happen.

I've spent the last few weekends landscaping around the new house. It sure is nice starting with a clean slate. Nothing is in your way and you can set things up the way you want to. So far we've installed a patio, a garden pond (roughly 8'x10'x2' deep), a few planters, some small flowers beds, and a shed which is probably going to be moved to the back of the lot. Last night I fertilized the new lawn a second time and spread more seed on a few bald patches. It sure is coming in nice! The guy across the street said it wasn't fair that the new guy in the neighborhood has the nicest lawn. 8) My goal is to have the turf looking like the 18th fairway at Pebble Beach by late June. Fore!

 

[ChileMass]

I'm bummin - my old peach tree looks like it finally is giving up. It's a standard-size specimen, probably 20' tall and the same across the crown, but last year was the first year it refused to produce blooms or fruit, and this year it looks worse. In past years, I had so many peaches we couldn't pick them fast enough, and we had peach jelly way into winter. But this year it's only about 1/3 leafed out with very few blooms. I will probably replace it, and maybe add a couple apple trees as well.

It seems a lot of my perennials took a real beating this winter (azaleas, rhodies, lavender, thyme, and many more) - did anyone else have an exceptional amount of winter kill this year? On the other hand, my raspberries seem to be bigger than ever........

 

[MtnMagic]

Yes, I lost a lot of perennials to the point that a whole section is bare and will need to be replaced.

You are all lucky not to grow perennials here with a climate between zone 2 - 3.

 

[skican]

I lost 2 azaleas to the winter cold. I was thinking that it was that severe cold stretch without snow covering the plants. I have some blooms on top, but the trees are dead underneath. Really sad because they were in terrible shape 7 years ago when I moved in. We have been nursing them back to health and last year our efforts paid off. I also lost some of my perennials too, but not many.

 

[Greg]

The perrenials I put in last fall - specifically daisies, black-eyed susans, and liatris all seem to be coming back. The oregano bit it, but the chives survived. Stuff that's been in for more than a year made it too.

 

[MtnMagic]

Correction update: Lancaster, NH is actually between zone 3 & 4. We've to figure it is zone 3 or less when planting. There were several times in the history of this area that crops were planted for the growing season at the end of May only to catch a late snow storm in the middle of June that wiped them out.
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Severe hardship during those years.

 

[Max]

I have numerous forms of crabgrass and weeds, many of which may not be familiar to local horticulturalists. I am mighty proud of the fact that I spend zero dollars and effort keeping my greenery looking brownery. The best thing that can be said about my lanscaping is that it's a good example of a bad example.

Let's go hiking!

Max

 

[Greg]

I put my vegetables in this weekend. A small garden this year (~8' X 12'). One grape tomato, one jet star, two zucchini, two yellow squash, two cucumbers, two green peppers, two basil, oregano, and the chives.

I loaded up one of the largest flower beds with a bunch of perennials. I forget exactly what they all were, but they're starting to sprout. Grass is in great shape but could use some weed control to knock out the limited clover. That will go down in two weeks. I can count the dandelions I've had on one hand. I use the Halt's stuff every year, but I still get a fair amount of crabgrass... :-?

We should get everyone to post pics of their landscaping if you're into that. Today I will finish staining the deck and then out comes all the furniture. This weekend we're going to tackle the swingset. I also have a bit more mulch to spread around and then it's just maintenance for the rest of the season. I also hope to the get some hiking in between beers on the deck!

 

[MtnMagic]

If you try the "Weed & Feed" generic brand at Wal Mart, 16 pounds covers 5000 sq' It is way less in price than Scotts, et al, is 28-3-3 and kills dandelions and over 200 other weeds. You'll love it.
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Weed-free lush green lawns!

 

[Greg]

Thanks Magic. I'll have to try that as I've been shelling out for the Scott's since I started the 4 step program. I only need two 5,000 square foot bags so it's not that expensive anyway, but I could see it adding up if you had a big lawn...

 

[smitty77]

I am mighty proud of the fact that I spend zero dollars and effort keeping my greenery looking brownery. The best thing that can be said about my lanscaping is that it's a good example of a bad example.

I find it funny that everyone else's landscaping in that development looks about the same, and they put a lot of work into making theirs look as bad as yous.

As for me, the front yard is almost fully grown-in and as thick and plush as my living room carpet. God bless Scotts fertilizer. The pond in the back yard is really starting to take shape, and grass is sprouting back there as well. Now I just have to finish putting a drain in on the patio. The last couple of thunderstorms flooded it, so a catch basin and a length of black pvc flex-pipe is going in. I'm with Greg. About another two days worth of work and all I have to do is mow for the rest of the season. 8)

I'd take you up on that hike Max if the #$%^@& black flies and mosquitos would calm down a little. If I wanted to donate this much blood I would have gone to the red cross.

 

[ChileMass]

Thanks Magic. I'll have to try that as I've been shelling out for the Scott's since I started the 4 step program. I only need two 5,000 square foot bags so it's not that expensive anyway, but I could see it adding up if you had a big lawn...

I find that Scott's is worth the extra dough. I tried any number of the other brands from Home Depot and WalMart and everywhere else, and Scott's 4-Step program is the only thing that has made my yard look good.

Greg - I envy you that you only need 2 of the small bags. My lawn is almost 70K sq ft, so I use 3-4 of the big bags each time (I tend to apply it kinda heavy). It's expensive, but it's worth it....

 

[skijay]

My front lawn was new last year thanks to the water company. When they did pipe construction they dug up my yard. The landscape company they hired did a poor job of seeding and using top soil. The grass they planted never came up the following season. The water company sent out a new contracted company last spring who redid the entire lawn, with a decent seed and lots of top soil. I have grass this year!

I am on the Scott program as well. I limed and then it rained. Then came the Grub-x stuff at $19 a bag. I put a weed & feed back in April and all seems well. I have been watering. I was going to do a sprinkler system but had sticker shock when I got the estimate last fall. For $60 I bought hoses, connectors, sprinklers and a timer. I just have to move it when I mow. It beats the $2500 sprinkler with multizones and electronic rain sensors!