What did you do in your garden today?

Hinotori

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I remember helping my parents bury railroad ties around the garden as a kid. It did help keep the crabgrass out for a while. Then the stuff started growing under them. It's been 38 years now and even in their dry climate, the ties are almost gone. Parents can't bend now so gave up finally in the last few years.
 

flowerbug

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The whole situation started because the then wife okayed removing garden soil to use as fill when we were having the patio built. The county road crew was cleaning ditches and had a dump truck full of dirt a few weeks later. Quick win solution, right? Lol

oh my! :(

it only took me about 15-20 minutes to check the grassy area and remove any new sprouts/leaves that i could find (without glasses so i may have missed some). it was good to me to find out that there were no new large stringy vines found winding through the grass, just wispy things coming up from below so i'm hoping by the end of next summer i'll have it knocked way back. after that it's all spot weeding and making sure no new spots get going well enough to drop seeds.
 

Mini Horses

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Yesterday I was at work and the store had some garden things on 90% off clearance! So I bought last 4 rolls of the ground cover stuff. Hey at 50 cents each, felt ok! 3x45' each. I can lay over some fresh till and mulch on top. Even just to walk on! Anything will help this Spring. It was almost free. 😁 I'll check different stores I'm in today, in case they have any.
 

Mini Horses

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For some, the LAST zucs would be great! 😁 we all know about leaving these over achievers on someone's porch...:lol:

YES to all comments about the landscape cloth! But, it's great erosion control on ditchbanks! :lol: :lol: :lol:

Its also good in bottom of containers to keep dirt in and let water flow through. Careful use is good.
 
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tortoise

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I ordered tomato seed from a research program to improve market tomato flavor without dealing with heirloom tomato problems. The research going into the project is remarkable. The varieties are available to home gardeners for $10 donation to the program. They are hybrid, but so interesting I had to try. I'm also looking for the top-rated heirloom tomato seed. Found it through Burpee's but looking for another vendor. Also picked out strawberry variety for flavor rating - they're too tender to be sold at a market but they're the real deal for flavor, apparently - and found a vendor. I'm not sure I can keep dormant strawberry crowns alive until spring, but they are almost half price ight now from a regional vendor.
 

flowerbug

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i don't use peat moss any more. i found out that i was much better off if i could grow things myself or import local materials (wood chips and/or leaves that people were discarding, or chunks of bark from people who were cutting wood and chopping it for burning or...).

when mixed into a garden i think peat moss was ok, but on the whole replacing it with worms and worm compost and learning how to do that works much better. i don't waste any kind of organic material here if i can possibly help it. i don't do traditional worm composting with only composting worms so every time i add worms from the worm farm to a garden i'm adding a mix of worm species. some will not survive but the native worms that i include in the mix of species does add those back to the garden soil and they will gradually colonise previously very dead areas of gardens. i've had garden spaces that were covered in weed barrier fabric that used to be perennial garden where i could not find a single worm in them when turning them and i could eventually get them restocked with worms again and then keep improving the soil conditions and my worm counts. it can take a few years to see results but it does work. :) (adding some worm refuge type spaces is a part of this too).
 

Trying2keepitReal

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I did add some straw and leaves this year. Maybe I will skip the post moss and look for some worms. I am not sure about growing them, though I am sure DD7 would love that.

My seeds should be here Monday, ground is still semi warm so that is good. Today I will be taking down the last of the fence and turning the last plot.

I love my garden but am ready for a break. ;)
 
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