What Are Some Tips for Successful Gardening?

In summary, we put in a huge garden and had a green thumb from the get-go. We still have a garden, although it's a little smaller now. We mainly grow vegetables, fruits, and flowers. I've been a pretty avid gardener at times but not for eating, just for looking.
  • #1,646
lisab said:
It's going to be a veggie garden. Not the traditional kind, with straight rows, but non-traditional.
My fingers are raw and sore, despite using gloves!

Nice job on your garden setup! From the camera angle, it looks like a terraced hillscape.
Your choice of vegetables should grow well terraced liked that (akin to raised beds).
 
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  • #1,647
lisab said:
Am I missing anything? (Turbo, I know you'll say peppers...don't know that this area is hot enough!)
Peppers are wonderful, and the plants are compact and productive. I live in central Maine, and have pretty good luck with chilies and bell peppers. When frost was approaching last fall, I cleaned out the chilies, and ended up giving away two large coolers full of jalapenos, Hungarian wax chilies, cayenne, etc - probably 20-30 gallons of them. If I can grow bumper crops of chilies, it's likely that about anywhere in the continental US can do so. Chilies love sun and heat, and the sheltered nature of your garden area ought to get the temperatures up there nicely.
 
  • #1,648
Looks nice Lisa, but reference Turbo's sun, wasn't your garden on the northside? So perhaps think of shady veggies as well.
 
  • #1,649
Woo-hoo, making progress...


6gvcm1.jpg
 
  • #1,650
Nice looking Lisa
 
  • #1,651
So, I finished digging all of the good top soil out of the pathways - no need to have such valuable soil in a path that is going to be covered with cedar chips. Then I watered the beds to compact the dirt a bit, and the mud ran into the cracks between the bricks and set, sort of like mortar.

In this pic, the inspector comes out to survey my work - she was not very impressed.

2mmy7ls.jpg
 
  • #1,652
It's coming along very well, lisa. I've decided that any landscaping at my new house beyond planting free bulbs into existing beds around the house is going to have to wait until next year. Wanna visit next year? :biggrin: o:)
 
  • #1,653
lisab said:
In this pic, the inspector comes out to survey my work - she was not very impressed.
She appears to be deciding which new kitty box to try out first! :biggrin:
 
  • #1,654
My taxes pay for the gardening and up keep of the city's countless cherry blossom trees. The number of these trees in the city is matched only by the multitudes of cherry blossoms in Washington DC.

These ones are on campus at the U of BC.

http://vancouver.ca/parks/parks/vandusen/website/cherryTrees/images/h_cherryBlossom.jpg
 
  • #1,655
Nice work Lisab... !

Are your plots covering up some gigantic NW sasquatch foot prints?
 
  • #1,656
Ouabache said:
She appears to be deciding which new kitty box to try out first! :biggrin:
When I was a youngster, our cats used to frequent the garden for that purpose.


Last Monday, we apparently had sleet. I was indoors, so I thought we had had rain. By Saturday, we had a record high, and Sunday was close. Fortunately it's cooled off a little, at least during the night.

I planted some kale and worked on the berry patches. The strawberries were removed, and I dug up the entire plot and mixed in new composted cow manure and top soil. We'll return the strawberries and add new ones to the patch. The rhubard I thought I had lost came back, and I bought some new plants.

The raspberries, blackberries and blueberries have budded and the leaves have started to open. New blackberry and raspberry canes have emerges and are growing rapidly. I've had to removed some raspberry plants from the strawberry patch.

I started some Swiss chard and various peppers including habaneros and pepperoncinis from seed, and I have some cayenne seedling to plant once we're sure we won't get an overnight frost.
 
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  • #1,657
Yesterday, I planted a cold-hardy climbing rose bush near the mast of our TV antenna, so it would have a handy trellis. I dug a large hole, lined it with composted manure, then back-filled the hole with the rest of the manure - 40# in all. I dug up a patch of bee-balm that had been spreading, but was languishing (stunted) in sandy soil, and my wife transplanted those plants in an area in front of the patio that I rototilled on Saturday. She also planted a variety of bulbs, and set a bunch of pansies in that bed. It's nice to get back to playing in the dirt.
 
  • #1,658
Update on my orchids.

Purple is about to reach its peak bloom. This is going to be spectacular and could be the best ever since I had this plant for the past 4 years.

img4844.jpg


Notice that, as I've said earlier, the flowering stalk actually split into two, and each one of them are blooming separately. If you look in the picture, there's another stalk to the left of the picture in which most of the buds are yet to open.

I expect that it will be another 3 weeks before all of them are fully open, and then there should be another month or so where I will be able to enjoy the full bloom. I've been giving it some weak amount of orchid fertilizer once a week when I water it. I'm keeping the same pattern, and the same location in the house, trying not to disrupt it during the blooming period.

Zz.
 
  • #1,659
ZapperZ said:
Update on my orchids.

Purple is about to reach its peak bloom. This is going to be spectacular and could be the best ever since I had this plant for the past 4 years.

Notice that, as I've said earlier, the flowering stalk actually split into two, and each one of them are blooming separately. If you look in the picture, there's another stalk to the left of the picture in which most of the buds are yet to open.

I expect that it will be another 3 weeks before all of them are fully open, and then there should be another month or so where I will be able to enjoy the full bloom. I've been giving it some weak amount of orchid fertilizer once a week when I water it. I'm keeping the same pattern, and the same location in the house, trying not to disrupt it during the blooming period.

Zz.
That is quite a spectacular plant! Very appropriate for Evo's birthday. :approve:

Are those clips shaped like dragonflies?
 
  • #1,660
Astronuc said:
Are those clips shaped like dragonflies?

Yup! You are way too observant!

:)

Zz.
 
  • #1,661
ZapperZ said:
Yup! You are way too observant!

:)

Zz.
Well, I think dragonflies are very cool, so those clips stand out. :biggrin:
 
  • #1,662
Today, I started working on the wood-pile and continued getting last winter's wood under cover for the next heating season. My wife went up the road with a bone and some fat from this morning's Porterhouse steak breakfast, as a treat for a neighbor's dog. She came back about an hour later and said that I had to bring my tractor to their place. My first load back was a bunch of forsythia bushes. My second load was an entire bucketful of hostas. Before we had gotten those in the ground, the neighbor wandered up with grand-children in tow hauling a landscape wagon full of lovage and chives that they had divided. Now we've got those in the ground, too. Wow!

I'll try to catch up with the wood-pile tomorrow. Now that I have a decent tractor and can gather stones, I expect to have some attractive raised-bed gardens built before the summer is out. It'll be a few years before I've gotten most of the landscaping done even to the basic level that I envision, but I have time.
 
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  • #1,663
Got the paths in today...2 1/2 cubic yards of cedar chips.


28ri4jc.jpg
 
  • #1,664
lisab said:
Got the paths in today...2 1/2 cubic yards of cedar chips.


28ri4jc.jpg

Beautiful!
 
  • #1,665
What do the stones cost that are used for the beds?
 
  • #1,666
This year I have decided to an all-turbo pepper garden in part of my patio. I bought several varieties, none hot though. I have mexibell http://www.bonnieplants.com/tabid/420/p/943/Default.aspx

New Mexico Big Jim, Poblano, TAM jalapenos, Cubanelle, Fajita Bell http://www.bonnieplants.com/tabid/420/p/934/Default.aspx

I am going to be adding to the variety in the next few days.
 
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  • #1,667
ZapperZ said:
Update on my orchids.

Purple is about to reach its peak bloom. This is going to be spectacular and could be the best ever since I had this plant for the past 4 years.

img4844.jpg
Zz.
Zz, that is gorgeous! I was at the plant store today and they had a large variety of spectacular orchids, and I thought of you. I am planning to go back tomorrow and buy several, I didn't have the time to do it today.
 
  • #1,668
Ivan Seeking said:
What do the stones cost that are used for the beds?

Eek...not cheap. $1.69 each, but over half of them were recycled from a previous project.

They're available from http://www.mutualmaterials.com/homeowner_projectideas.asp?pt_id=32&pc_id=19&pi_id=25" right where we are, Ivan...they're made in Oregon, Washington, and BC. But I bet there are similar products everywhere.
 
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  • #1,670
lisab said:
Got the paths in today...2 1/2 cubic yards of cedar chips.


28ri4jc.jpg
Lisab, that's gorgeous! You should meet up with my firnd bitjumper. He lives outside of Portland and has done something similar with his new house. His last house was on the cover of Better Homes and Gardens.
 

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  • #1,671
Evo said:
Lisab, that's gorgeous! You should meet up with my firnd bitjumper. He lives outside of Portland and has done something similar with his new house. His last house was on the cover of Better Homes and Gardens.

WOW :!) ! No way I'm even close to his league. Bitjumper really knows what he's doing...you can definitely sense that it was made by a human, but it follows so perfectly a natural landscape. Absolutely fantastic!
 
  • #1,672
lisab said:
WOW :!) ! No way I'm even close to his league. Bitjumper really knows what he's doing...you can definitely sense that it was made by a human, but it follows so perfectly a natural landscape. Absolutely fantastic!
Eh, that was his old house. I just LOVE what you are doing to your place! That's something that speaks to my heart and soul!

He's doing something similar to his new place and he's near you, so the climate is the same.

I believe he has the progression on-line, you two could exchange hints.
 
  • #1,673
lisab said:
Eek...not cheap. $1.69 each, but over half of them were recycled from a previous project.

They're available from a local company right where we are, Ivan...they're made in Oregon, Washington, and BC. But I bet there are similar products everywhere.

Haha, I've done work for them before. Nothing like a day in a brick factory to torch a hard drive! :cry:

I do like those. We need something to formalize the boundary for the driveway, but we would need a bunch.
 
  • #1,674
I love what every is doing. From the blooming beauty that Zz has, to lisas landscaping. I started seeds early indoors this year, they are outdoors hardening off right now. I'll plant by Mothers day.
 
  • #1,675
Evo said:
This year I have decided to an all-turbo pepper garden in part of my patio. I bought several varieties, none hot though. I have mexibell http://www.bonnieplants.com/tabid/420/p/943/Default.aspx

New Mexico Big Jim, Poblano, TAM jalapenos, Cubanelle, Fajita Bell http://www.bonnieplants.com/tabid/420/p/934/Default.aspx

I am going to be adding to the variety in the next few days.
Hungarian wax chilies are fantastic producers and the peppers are a tad milder than jalapenos. They are fantastic in stir-fry dishes, in flavor, odor, and color. (hint, hint)
 
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  • #1,676
No one is going to believe me. I wouldn't believe me. But I swear to God that I did not touch this thing!

When I went outside this morning, I noticed some mushrooms in the grass. Then I noticed something VERY ODD about one that was standing off to the side and staring directly into my back door.

I got closer and AAARRRGGGHH!

This is it, unretouched, I only folded a blade of grass down so you could see it clearly.

WHAT DOES IT MEAN?

mushroomscary.jpg
 
  • #1,677
Evo said:
No one is going to believe me. I wouldn't believe me. But I swear to God that I did not touch this thing!

When I went outside this morning, I noticed some mushrooms in the grass. Then I noticed something VERY ODD about one that was standing off to the side and staring directly into my back door.

I got closer and AAARRRGGGHH!

This is it, unretouched, I only folded a blade of grass down so you could see it clearly.

WHAT DOES IT MEAN?
You had a visit from Edvard Munch or his ghost or one of his descendents? :rolleyes:

Perhaps something nibbled on it.

You could ask Red Rum perhaps.
 
  • #1,678
Another view.

mushroomscary2.jpg
 
  • #1,679
Evo said:
WHAT DOES IT MEAN?

They are after you?
 
  • #1,680
It means "don't eat wild mushrooms!"
 

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