Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
You're welcome, Ani. One of the links suggests container gardening. Maybe you could put a barrel on a platform with wheels?
I wish I had a place to do that, but everything will have to be semi-planted in the dirt (on a slight slope). I wish I had a tiller, cause I have been thinking about just digging up that one strip on the side of our house and making it into an entire garden. The only reason I don't is b/c it will look really weird in the winter and both my neighbors would get a direct line view b/c of the way our lots are sited in reference to each other. I am working on some different ideas, including putting some fencing up - or some sort of privacy fence section - and letting things grow up that fence . . . and then doing the garden on the other side. This would be an engineering feat as we don't have much space on that side (long narrow lot). But I measured it off this past weekend and am messing around with solutions. I would have to put up some kind of fence (chicken wire, maybe?) to keep the critters out and that would NOT go over w/ the neighbors. However, I could take the fencing down in the winter (working on that, too).
The whole thing w/ the fences is - to do a privacy fence means to block what little light I get on that side . . . so it is quite the puzzle to figure out if there is a way to have a garden in that spot.
Unfortunately, my BBQ deck receives very little sunlight at all b/c of the way shadows are thrown from the house and trees, or I would definitely put a whiskey barrel on that deck. Wheels would work fine over there.
I haven't given up figuring this out! THe best place for a garden here is right at the front of the house, at the street, lol. I could probably get away with some tomatoes out there, but doggies come by and . . . well . . . you know. Just not very appetizing to think about growing veggies up there . . .
Location: The place where the road & the sky collide
23,813 posts, read 34,657,307 times
Reputation: 10256
Quote:
Originally Posted by lumbollo
Human urine. Delivery mechanism is up to you.
+3 Thank you!
I was just getting ready to do a search.
Ani, I have a suggestion for the delivery system, but will DM it. Somehow, I don't think that Sunny wants the complaints of my making that type of suggestion.
I recommend Better Boy as a good general purpose tomato. The plants produce a lot of fruit, it doesn't get the wilt, and it is good for eating fresh, canning and cooking.
How do you condition the soil? Last year I plainted some Better Boys and did not have much success? I'm thinking of putting in raised beds this year with alot of mulch.
Location: The place where the road & the sky collide
23,813 posts, read 34,657,307 times
Reputation: 10256
Quote:
Originally Posted by MEOW NC
How do you condition the soil? Last year I plainted some Better Boys and did not have much success? I'm thinking of putting in raised beds this year with alot of mulch.
There are various ways to ammend clay. I prefer compost.
Last year I dumped compost on the area & a neighbor tilled it in. I used shredded paper for mulch, which rots & also helps.
I grew 3 kinds of tomatoes last year. Beefsteak, German Queen, & Beefmaster. The Beefsteak & German Queen were between 5 & 6 feet tall, & like shrubs. They got too heavy for the tomato cages & the cages had to be staked up. The Beefmaster didn't do nearly as well, so I intend to try something else this year, instead of Beefmaster.
It getting about time to prune Crepe Myrtles this done after the last frost.
Do not over prune them and do not prune them like a regular bush.
A proper prune Crepe Myrtle will bloom more
When it comes to pruning crape myrtles, it would be better to leave them alone than to prune them improperly.
Over pruning - People chop back crape myrtles below the knuckles each and every year.
Location: The place where the road & the sky collide
23,813 posts, read 34,657,307 times
Reputation: 10256
Quote:
Originally Posted by SunnyKayak
It getting about time to prune Crepe Myrtles this done after the last frost.
Do not over prune them and do not prune them like a regular bush.
A proper prune Crepe Myrtle will bloom more
When it comes to pruning crape myrtles, it would be better to leave them alone than to prune them improperly.
Over pruning - People chop back crape myrtles below the knuckles each and every year.
There are various ways to ammend clay. I prefer compost.
Last year I dumped compost on the area & a neighbor tilled it in. I used shredded paper for mulch, which rots & also helps.
I grew 3 kinds of tomatoes last year. Beefsteak, German Queen, & Beefmaster. The Beefsteak & German Queen were between 5 & 6 feet tall, & like shrubs. They got too heavy for the tomato cages & the cages had to be staked up. The Beefmaster didn't do nearly as well, so I intend to try something else this year, instead of Beefmaster.
Thanks I appreciate your advice. What are your thoughts on raised beds?
Location: The place where the road & the sky collide
23,813 posts, read 34,657,307 times
Reputation: 10256
Quote:
Originally Posted by MEOW NC
Thanks I appreciate your advice. What are your thoughts on raised beds?
Frankly, I know a lot of people who just love raised beds. I can't be bothered. I've been gardening in Piedmont clay since I was a teenager & once you get the feel for it, you will have just as much success in the clay as a raised bed.
In my last property I created a border garden by double digging. My current property is a double lot 70 X 248, so I can have a much bigger garden. That's too much digging, so I'm opting to go the tiller route.
Last year I tilled in compost & this year the garden will be enlarged & more compost will be tilled in. Next year I'll go with top soil & compost combined.
I'm running a bit late this year, but better than last year. Next year I should be on time.
I started with raised bed gardening having gotten the idea from the book Square Ft. Gardening. It was a bit of work to set it up, but I ended up with 6 beds that I grew vegetables in for several years. The two things that made it difficult was that in our climate, the beds would dry out real fast as vegetables, for the most part, consume a lot of water. The other is they were more work to maintain from a soil quality perspective as I can use a tiller on the garden that I replaced them with. I had to do it all by hand with the beds.
I decided a few years back that I wanted more room so I collapsed the beds I built and incorporated them in a bigger space for vegetable gardening that I divided off from the rest of the yard with paving squares and a steel border. It was also a bit of work, but a much superior arrangement.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Crepe Myrtles
