If the horseradish comes back after all that, it has earned its place in the garden. I'll still pull it though. I think I'm going to grow it in barrels from now on.
Anyway, that was all a few years of growth that was left to run wild. Anything that comes up this year, we dig up before it spreads. @_@
It was 70 degrees here today! And the nights are supposed to be above freezing for a while, so I went out to my garden to clean it up a bit and took my first round of baby plants out to the hoop house.
I am ridiculously excited about having a more structured and organized garden this year. THIS IS WHAT WE HAVE BEEN TRAINING FOR!!!
Now starts the quest to figure out what all is planted in our yard. I'd have no hope of identifying them without leaves/flowers, so now that stuff is starting to pop out, I keep creeping around the yard. I may call out for some help this season.
So far, I spy forsythia, what I think is Japanese pieris, english ivy (ugh), tons of boxwoods, a small rose of some sort, a volunteer holly (thanks, birds!) and decorative grasses which are probably going to get the axe soon to clear way for an herb garden. It has been like Christmas morning all week!
I planted garlic in the fall, and now it is growing! Almost all of the cloves have green things poking out of the ground above them now. OMG this is The. Coolest. Thing.
I planted some bush beans today. I'm excited for those. The adventure continues in the yard, I've yet to identify most of the bushes/trees, but I have a tulip in the front yard and mystery irises growing under the fence. How they got there is a mystery to me. Later in the year I'm planning on gathering these errant tulips and irises and relocating them to a more convenient location. Other interesting news, I think I've spotted some strawberries popping up in the back garden. I'm going to be so psyched if there is a solid berry patch back there.
It's not going to get to flower. When the scape gets tall enough to complete one full curl, the whole stalk will get cut off and turned into yummy things. Like pesto! Garlic scapes are basically the entire reason I planted the garlic.
In the box (clockwise from top left): Basil, two rosemary plants, serrano peppers, and lemon thyme. Top pot: Black cherry tomatoes Bottom pot: Hot Bananna Peppers
Dang, what zone do you have up there? (Just looked it up, 5b, May?!) I'm hardening off my tomatoes this week for planting, and I'm running late (last frost Apr 6). Annoyingly, my strawberry seedlings were upturned (under suspicious circumstances) and I had to do an emergency transplant, but I think they'll be ok.
Yeah, 5b. Average last frost is May 5-ish, but tomatoes can be stunted by temps lower than about 45 (F). I'll move them out to the big hoop house after this weekend, but I'll have to watch the night0time temp forecast so I can cover them or bring them home if it's gonna get too cold.
Squirrels LOVE THE SHIT out of strawberry plant roots for some reason. They turned up all my potted babies last year twice.
Any guesses? The flower reminds me of small rhododendron. Maybe an azalea with tiny leaves? (Sorry if this is silly, I'm not good with my limited knowledge of decorative plants!)
An Azalea is just a type of Rhododendron. I'd say that's the correct ID. Looks pretty happy!
They like dappled shade and acidic soils, so try not to make any drastic alterations that would put it in full sun or bring up the soil pH. The leaves will get bigger over the course of the season; they flower in the spring before they have fully leafed out.
Aphids! All of the aphids have suddenly made themselves known. Good lord I don't think I've ever seen such an infestation. Not quite sure what to do. I started clipping off the damaged bits on one bush that had black aphids only to discover the bush next to it houses thousands and thousands of green ones. These are non-edible plants, but they are right next to the spot I was thinking about using for an asparagus bed, so I don't want to cover the place with chemicals. I keep seeing recommendations to just spray them down with water, but seriously aren't they just going to climb back up the plant?
Ladybugs? The gardening places around me have little buckets of ~1500 for $10. I'm assuming you'd be more successful since you don't have fire ants to eat the ladybugs.
I'm going to give soapy water in a spray bottle a try before I go buy beneficials. I was reading recently that the ladybugs for sale are usually wild captured and transported for sale causing a concern about introducing paracites and disease to the local beneficial insects. I wonder if the preying mantis eggs I've seen for sale have the same issue?
Mantises will eat beneficials and even small birds as well as bad bugs, so watch out with those.
Soapy water will help, but one of the best things you can do to get rid of aphids is hit the infested parts of the plants with a blast of water as hard as the plant can take. (Aphids are delicate creatures.) THEN you can do your soapy water spray on the ones that are left, but remember to get under the leaves. And you have to do it every week because there are eggs that you will miss that will hatch.
You can also use garlic tea as a repellant and insecticide.
Or you can just do what I did to my plants over the winter and kill everything. I do not recommend this because it kind of defeats the purpose of aphid control.
Or you can just do what I did to my plants over the winter and kill everything. I do not recommend this because it kind of defeats the purpose of aphid control.
I've heard marigolds repel aphids, but I can't confirm it.
You know. I've heard that Marigolds repel all kinds of pests. Now I also wonder how true that is. If that was true, wouldn't farms just plant them everywhere instead of using insecticide?
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Though that was a pretty epic bit of hole-digging.
Anyway, that was all a few years of growth that was left to run wild. Anything that comes up this year, we dig up before it spreads. @_@
I want dis.
I am ridiculously excited about having a more structured and organized garden this year. THIS IS WHAT WE HAVE BEEN TRAINING FOR!!!
@Chrisislost , I never thought of buying a house as a landscaping mystery, but that sounds like fun.
Top pot: Black cherry tomatoes Bottom pot: Hot Bananna Peppers
Squirrels LOVE THE SHIT out of strawberry plant roots for some reason. They turned up all my potted babies last year twice.
They like dappled shade and acidic soils, so try not to make any drastic alterations that would put it in full sun or bring up the soil pH. The leaves will get bigger over the course of the season; they flower in the spring before they have fully leafed out.
Soapy water will help, but one of the best things you can do to get rid of aphids is hit the infested parts of the plants with a blast of water as hard as the plant can take. (Aphids are delicate creatures.) THEN you can do your soapy water spray on the ones that are left, but remember to get under the leaves. And you have to do it every week because there are eggs that you will miss that will hatch.
You can also use garlic tea as a repellant and insecticide.
Or you can just do what I did to my plants over the winter and kill everything. I do not recommend this because it kind of defeats the purpose of aphid control.