What did you do in your garden today?

[Rillowen]

you learn after a while which weeds you need to keep after right away and those that you can just get after eventually.

quack grass in this heavy soil is no fun but after a few years i can clear it from an area and keep it under control as long as i have the time to scrape and work on the edge. a better edge would help a lot but i don't often have materials for that.

I only recently learned about edging, im hoping it will be a game changer for me. I have alot of Johnson grass here though, wow that stuff is tenacious, the rhizomes are so fragile they just splinter, and regrow, but the roots are sharp and can puncture through anything!

 

[Grandmas Porch]

Going to just water and weed,

 

[flowerbug]

I only recently learned about edging, im hoping it will be a game changer for me....

i don't ever recommend that black plastic stuff that is about 8inches tall, it's just not deep enough for a lot of the problem grasses/weeds like quackgrass or horsetail. 18 inches minimum. even a few layers of overlapping cardboard (use the plainest kinds you can find (no shiny stuff and remove all tape and staples)) if that is all you can find to use, it may not last longer than a few years but at least it is better than nothing. in our soil/subsoil it can be pretty tough to dig down that deep but once it's done at least i know i won't have as much troubles for a few years.

 

[akroberts]

Got my 4 new mint plants planted and also planted the marjoram.

 

[Rillowen]

i don't ever recommend that black plastic stuff that is about 8inches tall, it's just not deep enough for a lot of the problem grasses/weeds like quackgrass or horsetail. 18 inches minimum. even a few layers of overlapping cardboard (use the plainest kinds you can find (no shiny stuff and remove all tape and staples)) if that is all you can find to use, it may not last longer than a few years but at least it is better than nothing. in our soil/subsoil it can be pretty tough to dig down that deep but once it's done at least i know i won't have as much troubles for a few years.

I was only talking about cutting an edge, and scrapping it often I havnt baught the bordering stuff, its tempting but we are a No budget garden!

 

[flowerbug]

I was only talking about cutting an edge, and scrapping it often I havnt baught the bordering stuff, its tempting but we are a No budget garden!

same here, i do have to spend some money here or there on hoses and shovels but so far not too much else other than some seeds i'd like to try out. this year, so far, i've spent more money on sending seeds to others than anything else as a way of paying it forwards. i like sharing beans with other people.

biggest expense so far has been fences, and one year i did a major project to raise some part of the gardens out back and brought in sandier soil and some topsoil and compost to mix in where i could plant some tulips and hope they'd survive. some of them have and some haven't but this location is not super friendly for root crops or bulbs as it has so much clay in it. well, those that have survived have been there almost 15 years now so... good for them, i like them, Mom doesn't (i planted them for her before knowing if she really wanted them or not). oops... i can't remember the exact numbers any more but i did plant a lot of different varieties of tulips and some were not as hardy as others.

 

[frustratedearthmother]

I should finish up adding dirt to one of the raised beds today. It's supposed to be hot - heat index possibly in triple digits. Ugh. One more bed to get filled after that.

I'm removing the old collards and will need to figure out what to put there. Maybe sweet potatoes - they thrive in heat. Kinda interested in the leaves because supposedly they can act as a spinach substitute. I can't grow spinach here for some reason so this might make a good alternative.

Got some weed whacking done around the beds too. Slowly but surely making progress...