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#Post#: 2009--------------------------------------------------
Gardening! Who does it?
DIR By: RainhaDoTexugo
Date: March 18, 2012, 2:42 pm
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We're planning out our garden, and I have nothing but plants on
the brain. It's too early to do much here, but it's been
unseasonably warm, so I've been thinking about what I can do.
We have raised flower beds in the front, and I meant to buy
tulip bulbs for them in the fall, but never got around to it. I
bought a few potted tulips the other day that I'm going to
plant, in hopes of them keeping their blooms this year and
coming back next year. I'm thinking about getting some marigold
seeds today, too. We usually do a marigold border, and I'm
hoping I can be lazy and just plant seeds right in the beds this
time. Worst case scenario, they don't grow and we plant
seedlings in May. I'm also going to split and plant a bulb of
garlic that sprouted in our kitchen. I know fall is better than
spring, but it's there, it's sprouted, so why not? I've never
grown garlic, but I'm really looking forward to having access to
garlic scapes :)
I'll post more detail on our big veggie bed when I have it. We
need to build it before we can plant it :P
#Post#: 2015--------------------------------------------------
Re: Gardening! Who does it?
DIR By: LdyJedi
Date: March 18, 2012, 4:09 pm
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I just planted seeds in a starter "bed" inside yesterday. I
haven't gardened in ages, and can't wait to see what happens
this year.
#Post#: 2018--------------------------------------------------
Re: Gardening! Who does it?
DIR By: G-Lady
Date: March 18, 2012, 5:12 pm
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We were planning on doing tomatoes, peas, green beans and
potatoes this year, but it's getting a little late in our
growing season to get those started and we're not sure that
we're going to renew our lease at the end of summer. So the bed
will still be a compost pile this year. (For our area, we
should have started around Valentine's Day - otherwise it's too
hot for plants that aren't well established)
There's a rogue sunflower growing in there, and an onion too. I
may toss in more sunflower seeds. I also have a bag of native
wildflower seeds for my area, but I've been meaning to put them
in the front garden.
#Post#: 2029--------------------------------------------------
Re: Gardening! Who does it?
DIR By: RainhaDoTexugo
Date: March 18, 2012, 9:26 pm
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LdyJedi, what did you plant?
I started a seed bed dealie today. I started regular peas,
sugar snap peas, and marigolds. The marigolds in the starter
kit are for the veggie bed, which hasn't been built yet. I'll
plant the front bed marigolds right in the bed and see what
happens. I also bought some more tulips for the front yard.
The grocery store had onion sets, so I bought some to plant in
with the garlic. Both garlic and onions are more experimental
than anything, this year, since I'm going to just tuck them in
where I can. I'm eager to get something growing! I also
harvested some chives today. That's how crazy our weather is,
we actually already have edible produce, in Chicago, in March.
We have plans to build two big veggie beds in the backyard.
They'll hold the peas, a cherry tomato or two, maybe plum
tomatoes, various peppers (definitely bell and jalapeno, not
sure what else), and pickling cucumbers. We're considering
corn, lettuce, and potatoes, but some of that may wait til next
year. I'll do more garlic in the beds come fall. Alex is going
to put a window box under the garage window for herbs, because I
don't like to plant them straight in the ground. I'll probably
pop a few strawberry plants in, too. We tried to grow them for
years at the apartment, but the critters always got to them
before we did.
Someone is apparently giving us a raspberry (or was it
blackberry?) cutting, but I have no idea where that's going to
go.
Unless I end up super energetic this summer, I'll be doing a
flower bed in the back yard next summer. I want peonies for
sure, and I haven't really decided what else. I'd prefer for it
to be rather low maintenance. We got married in our backyard,
in front of an arbor with a bench that Alex built, so I'm
thinking I'll put down just enough paving stones to keep the
arbor stable, and plant the flower bed around it, with a low
brick border. I should be able to get the arbor positioned just
about where it was for the wedding, and after the plants have a
few years to get established, I'm hoping it will be a wonderful
little place to sit. I'm going to grow something up the sides
of the arbor, but I haven't decided what.
#Post#: 2053--------------------------------------------------
Re: Gardening! Who does it?
DIR By: hardia
Date: March 19, 2012, 8:52 am
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I have never been much of a gardener, but we bought a house at
the end of last summer that has a lovely little garden already
planted (mostly perennials, including some beautiful roses!)
that I want to maintain, so I guess I have to learn. I'd also
like to plant some herbs this summer, probably in pots on the
back deck. Any suggestions for what I need to get started?
#Post#: 2062--------------------------------------------------
Re: Gardening! Who does it?
DIR By: Nerdling
Date: March 19, 2012, 10:40 am
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I really need to get the front border of the house planted this
year. I just haven't started because with our rocky soil it is
really going to be easier to simply excavate entirely, lay down
that weed and grass preventing material, top off with topsoil,
and go from there. I already have all the seeds and bulbs to
have a mixture of herbs and flowers, along with a sheet planning
it all out (I think they're all perennials, even); now I just
need to find the time and energy to get it done.
#Post#: 2065--------------------------------------------------
Re: Gardening! Who does it?
DIR By: MonkeyPants
Date: March 19, 2012, 10:55 am
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I have only been in my current house for a little less than a
year. I got a late start last year and my landscaping was not up
to where I wanted it to be. I will be able to do more to it this
year.
I have only had a garden one time, and it was a PIA. But, that
is because we had to haul water out in buckets due to its
location.
#Post#: 2068--------------------------------------------------
Re: Gardening! Who does it?
DIR By: RainhaDoTexugo
Date: March 19, 2012, 11:14 am
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Hardia, what herbs do you want to grow? Some are picker than
others. We usually grow basil, rosemary, and chives. There's
usually an impulse herb or two, as well. Basil needs a little
more water in the heat, but all three are low maintenance.
I always do herbs in pots. Many of them spread like weeds if
you plant them in the ground, and I don't want a garden
overtaken by mint. It's also nice if you decide to take your
herbs inside for the winter. We use bigger pots, maybe 12"
across, but you could probably keep them smaller. Chives are
perennials, and need pretty much zero maintenance, unless it's
HOT and dry. They're also expensive at the grocery store and
nowhere near as good dried. Unless you just don't like them, I
can't think of a reason not to grow them.
Rosemary is a little pickier, but still pretty damn easy. It's
an annual, but can survive mild winters. Ours even made it in
Chicago this year. Basil needs to be watered more, and some
varieties can be finicky, but it's still not hard. I had bad
luck with oregano, but I don't use it often enough to have tried
twice, so it may have been a fluke.
The general herb rule of thumb is to cut off any flowers you
see, so it keeps producing. My husband says the whole stalk on
chive flowers tastes bad, but I haven't tested that myself. I
try to keep the basil trimmed, but I often don't bother with
chives. The flowers are pretty, and even without maintenance to
make it grow better, I don't think I've ever not had enough
chives.
#Post#: 2074--------------------------------------------------
Re: Gardening! Who does it?
DIR By: G-Lady
Date: March 19, 2012, 12:31 pm
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Parsley's also really easy. I had one plant survive winter a
couple of years back (I'm in Zone 9 though). If I'd tried, it
could have survived last summer's drought. We only had 1
rosemary shrub survive this summer.
I should at least start herbs back up in containers again. It
would look pretty and be yummy.
#Post#: 2076--------------------------------------------------
Re: Gardening! Who does it?
DIR By: hardia
Date: March 19, 2012, 12:40 pm
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I would want basil and rosemary, definitely -- those are the two
I use the most, along with dill (can you grow dill?). I would
enjoy having fresh mint for drinks and desserts and stuff, too,
especially in the summer. Chives are always useful, too. I'm
in Eastern Ontario, so it's definitely either got to be pots I
can bring in for the winter, or stuff that is hardy (or that I
can replant every spring, I'm not fussy).
Every spring for years I've said we were going to plant some
herbs, but this spring we're actually going to do it, dammit!
Like I say, we bought this house back in August so this is my
first spring with a yard and a garden and a big back deck, and I
want to make the most of it.
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