Garden thread

[Andalublue]

There doesn't seem to be anywhere appropriate to begin a thread about gardening, so I though this might be as good a place as any.

I have just started getting to grips with my little plot right next to my home. It was a mess of Ground Zero proportions until about 6 weeks ago. I've not much work at present so have been spending a few hours a day clearing weeds, rotavating and laying borders and paths. With the arrival of spring just around the corner my thoughts are now turning to planting.

I'm an almost complete ignoramous in the garden so any advice or observations welcome.

I'm going to try to post monthly photos to show progress. Here are the first two.

February 16th, 2012

March 1st, 2012


If anyone is undertaking the same kind of project, here's a place to share photos, ideas, experience and questions.

 

[Pinkie]

It looks as if your plot is in full sun, and I don't know what zone you are in. I don't know if you want flowers or vegetables.

I have a tiny plot myself, in almost full shade, *sighs*. I am VERY familiar with northern shade flowers and plants....but to my knowledge, no vegetables will grow here in shade.

This is a link to photos of my garden from last year......

https://picasaweb.google.com/114387679396716579858/CGarden2011

BTW, it looks as if you about killed yourself to get the ground ready. You should be so proud of yourself!!

 

[Gardener]

You rang?

.

 

[Pinkie]

You rang?

.

Always a pleasure, dear.

 

[MaggieD]

Wow, Andalu, it looks like you live in the midst of some beautiful country. I love that cement wall...what a perfect place for climbing roses, or cukes, peas...whatever. Lots of work, but if one likes gardening, it's a labor of love.

I use planter boxes on my deck rail -- I have a dozen or so of them. I fill 'em up with herbs and summer-long flowerers. I'd be overwhelmed with the amount of space you have; but the deck rail thingie works great. The garden hose is right there -- I fill the deck up with floor planters...hibiscus, angelica, geraniums, etc., etc. It looks loverly and it's manageable.

I wish you good luck with your plot. Keep sharing pictures! Mine will be several months off still, but I'll post some too.

Why don't we have a gardening forum?

 

[Gardener]

Always a pleasure, dear.

ooooooooooh!

I noticed on your pics that you like daylilies. It's what I do.

Here are a few I've hybridized.

 

[sharon]

How absolutely fabulous.. Contact a local farmer or chicken rancher and see if you can buy a truckload of manure.. Spread it and let it lie fallow for a month or so...

You are going to have so much joy, fresh air and exercise from this project..

Bon appetit..

There doesn't seem to be anywhere appropriate to begin a thread about gardening, so I though this might be as good a place as any.

I have just started getting to grips with my little plot right next to my home. It was a mess of Ground Zero proportions until about 6 weeks ago. I've not much work at present so have been spending a few hours a day clearing weeds, rotavating and laying borders and paths. With the arrival of spring just around the corner my thoughts are now turning to planting.

I'm an almost complete ignoramous in the garden so any advice or observations welcome.

I'm going to try to post monthly photos to show progress. Here are the first two.

February 16th, 2012
View attachment 67123318
March 1st, 2012
View attachment 67123317

If anyone is undertaking the same kind of project, here's a place to share photos, ideas, experience and questions.

 

[Medusa]

Wow, Andalu, it looks like you live in the midst of some beautiful country. I love that cement wall...what a perfect place for climbing roses, or cukes, peas...whatever. Lots of work, but if one likes gardening, it's a labor of love.

I use planter boxes on my deck rail -- I have a dozen or so of them. I fill 'em up with herbs and summer-long flowerers. I'd be overwhelmed with the amount of space you have; but the deck rail thingie works great. The garden hose is right there -- I fill the deck up with floor planters...hibiscus, angelica, geraniums, etc., etc. It looks loverly and it's manageable.

I wish you good luck with your plot. Keep sharing pictures! Mine will be several months off still, but I'll post some too.

Why don't we have a gardening forum?

yes i am waiting for you to post your garden,maggie

 

[ecofarm]

I like organic, biointensive, biodiverse, multicanopy, food production landscaping. The earth is my canvas.

 

[Andalublue]

It looks as if your plot is in full sun, and I don't know what zone you are in. I don't know if you want flowers or vegetables.

I have a tiny plot myself, in almost full shade, *sighs*. I am VERY familiar with northern shade flowers and plants....but to my knowledge, no vegetables will grow here in shade.

This is a link to photos of my garden from last year......

https://picasaweb.google.com/114387679396716579858/CGarden2011

BTW, it looks as if you about killed yourself to get the ground ready. You should be so proud of yourself!!

That info would have been sensible to pass on, wouldn't it?

Yes, the garden is in full sun for most of the day as it's south-east facing. There's a bit of shade in the parts closest to the house in the afternoon and in the shade of the fig tree at the far end.

The climate here is basically Mediterranean, but tempered by the fact that we are at 1,250m (4,100ft). We have damp, cool winters and hot, very dry summers. The parts of the area that are not irrigated are basically semi-arid. We can and do get occasional winter snow and below-freezing temperatures but those days are very limited. This year the cold spell lasted no more than 10 days.

I'm hoping to create a mixed flower/veg garden with the border on the right of the picture bursting with colour and texture and the wider sections used for growing soft fruit for my patisserie work. The small, squared beds are for herbs and the trees are cherry, pear and caqui (persimmon).

You're right, I did put a lot of hours into preparing the soil with some new top-soil in the flower bed, a lot of de-stoning and getting rotted mule manure into the fruit-veg area. I'm hoping it's going to be worth the effort.

I took a look at your photos and was VERY impressed. I'd kill to be able to post photos like that of my garden.

Thanks for the comments.

 

[Andalublue]

You rang?

.

Oooh! Yes, please. I hope you're not too pricey.

 

[Enola]

GREAT thread!!! I'm eager to see many gardens from many people here! Even if it's mini ones if they live in condos and such.

 

[Andalublue]

Wow, Andalu, it looks like you live in the midst of some beautiful country. I love that cement wall...what a perfect place for climbing roses, or cukes, peas...whatever. Lots of work, but if one likes gardening, it's a labor of love.

It's really giving me a lot of pleasure at the moment. Yes, the area is beautiful and the setting, if I can get some real colour ond interest into it, the garden could be paradise. The wall is definitely getting climbers. I already have a climbing rose and plan clematis, jasmine and, fingers crossed, bougainvillea.

I use planter boxes on my deck rail -- I have a dozen or so of them. I fill 'em up with herbs and summer-long flowerers. I'd be overwhelmed with the amount of space you have; but the deck rail thingie works great. The garden hose is right there -- I fill the deck up with floor planters...hibiscus, angelica, geraniums, etc., etc. It looks loverly and it's manageable.

I do love a flower-festooned balcony. I had one at my apartment in London and really loved sitting on it for breakfast surrounded by pelargoniums and the like.

I wish you good luck with your plot. Keep sharing pictures! Mine will be several months off still, but I'll post some too.

Great! I'll keep posting, and I'd love to see what other people are doing.

Why don't we have a gardening forum?

I think we just missed that last update, but let's see if this thread works and maybe in the next one we can get one going. I'm certainly hoping for input from eco and Gardener. Ah, they beat me to it.

 

[Andalublue]

ooooooooooh!

I noticed on your pics that you like daylilies. It's what I do.

Here are a few I've hybridized.

View attachment 67123325

View attachment 67123326

View attachment 67123327

Gorgeous blooms! I've never heard of daylilies before. Do they have another name? I've certainly never seen such amazing colour combinations in lilies before. Are they easy to grow? What do they need?

 

[Andalublue]

How absolutely fabulous.. Contact a local farmer or chicken rancher and see if you can buy a truckload of manure.. Spread it and let it lie fallow for a month or so...

You are going to have so much joy, fresh air and exercise from this project..

Bon appetit..

Thanks Sharon. I've already worked quite a lot of rotted mule manure into the main beds and peat-based substrate into the flowerbeds. This week I'm going into planting mode as the weather has turned quite warm and pretty much all risk of frost has passed. Major nursery visit happening Tuesday.

 

[Andalublue]

I like organic, biointensive, biodiverse, multicanopy, food production landscaping. The earth is my canvas.

Photos or gtfo! :2razz:

 

[Andalublue]

GREAT thread!!! I'm eager to see many gardens from many people here! Even if it's mini ones if they live in condos and such.

How about some of your own?

 

[Dickieboy]

Might I suggest some Cole plants like broccoli and brussel sprouts. They can withstand cold weather and frost and also will produce steadily once mature. Collards, kale, turnip and rape can be selectively harvested (few leaves at at time) for quite some time. Cabbage and cauliflower are less desireable as once matured they do not produce but one 'head' they also take up a lot of room.

Most lettuces will germinate in and tolerate low temperatures but growth is slowed somewhat. These also can be selectively harvested on demand once mature for quite some time. They do tend to go bitter and bolt when it gets hot. Onions/scallions would also qualify similarly.

Peppers (2-3 plants) and tomatoes (2-3 plants)could be considered once sustained warm temperatures are realized.

Okra is an alternative also and some grow it in flower planters around pools/decks. It is a rather large plant with beautiful flowers. Only 2-3 will typically produce contineously way more okra than you can stand to eat.

These suggestions are based on your limited space. They should produce sufficiently to justify their attention. Typical row crops like corn, beans, peas, ect. will require much more space to recognize the benefits each provided.

 

[Andalublue]

Might I suggest some Cole plants like broccoli and brussel sprouts. They can withstand cold weather and frost and also will produce steadily once mature. Collards, kale, turnip and rape can be selectively harvested (few leaves at at time) for quite some time. Cabbage and cauliflower are less desireable as once matured they do not produce but one 'head' they also take up a lot of room.

Yes, definitely. I love chard and broccoli, hate Brussels. What are Collards? I don't think we get those here. What can one use rape for? Isn't it just for oil?

Most lettuces will germinate in and tolerate low temperatures but growth is slowed somewhat. These also can be selectively harvested on demand once mature for quite some time. They do tend to go bitter and bolt when it gets hot. Onions/scallions would also qualify similarly.

I will plant some lettuce and some cogollos (little gems). I have already got garlic and scallions in.

Peppers (2-3 plants) and tomatoes (2-3 plants)could be considered once sustained warm temperatures are realized.

Yes, these are a no-brainer here. Everyone has peppers and toms and they do so well. I also want to get some chillies in too.

Okra is an alternative also and some grow it in flower planters around pools/decks. It is a rather large plant with beautiful flowers. Only 2-3 will typically produce contineously way more okra than you can stand to eat.

I'm not a big fan of okra.

These suggestions are based on your limited space. They should produce sufficiently to justify their attention. Typical row crops like corn, beans, peas, ect. will require much more space to recognize the benefits each provided.

I do have access to a lot more land but I don't want to sprint before I can toddle. Maybe next year.

Thanks for the great suggestions. TBH I wasn't expecting anywhere near as much great feedback on this thread as I've had already. Great job guys!

 

[Enola]

How about some of your own?

I'll see what I can do today with my camera. It's still cold here so blooms are not going crazy yet. But the warmer it gets, the better my yard will look.

I'll go now and see what I can find that will be picturable, lol.

 

[Dickieboy]

Collards (i'll post photos soon) and rape are like chard and kale. The leaves are used to braise/stew 'greens'. They are very popular 'southern fare'. Each have their own flavor characteristics. Collards tend to be sweet, Rape/chard greens/kale are less sweet but flavorful, turnip greens are somewhat bitter, mustard greens even more bitter.

Okra is definately an aquired taste.

If you can aquire an additional plot about the same as your photos I would suggest yellow squash, zuccinni etal summer squashes if you like. These plants are pretty large and require a bit more space but once producing will 'put out' for 6-8 weeks consistently.

I expect this thread to be a popular as the 'what..dinner' one.

 

[Enola]

 

[Enola]

This is on the wall by the front door. Pics I posted are the back yard. Hubby is peeling rubber off copper wire (he scraps).Not much flowering going on yet, though. It gets nicer later on this spring.

 

[Enola]

And..about 3 blocks away is this:

 

[Andalublue]

Collards (i'll post photos soon) and rape are like chard and kale. The leaves are used to braise/stew 'greens'. They are very popular 'southern fare'. Each have their own flavor characteristics. Collards tend to be sweet, Rape/chard greens/kale are less sweet but flavorful, turnip greens are somewhat bitter, mustard greens even more bitter.

Okra is definately an aquired taste.

If you can aquire an additional plot about the same as your photos I would suggest yellow squash, zuccinni etal summer squashes if you like. These plants are pretty large and require a bit more space but once producing will 'put out' for 6-8 weeks consistently.

I expect this thread to be a popular as the 'what..dinner' one.

Great advice and info. Thanks. I have planted some dwarf squash seeds and some toad-skin melons. If we have water they grow well apparently. I think this year is going to be a learning experience. I learned a lot from my mum when I was in England but gardening here is a totally different art. The climate's different, the soil's different, the available plants and seeds are different and the drainage is different. It's quite an adventure ahead.