SM's gardener's guild

[Christy]

:goofy

I am determined to have a decent looking yard and landscaping this year! I want to plant vegetables, too.

Andy's decided that a very active mobile smart enough to open the screen door baby and a deep fish pond makes for a bad combination :lookaroun so we are filling in the pond (the fish have all been released into the Scioto River :lookaroun ) and making it a bedding area. Mallory and Grammy took a trip to the garden center and it set their wheels turning that we must have a garden that is an ode to the Polynesian :rotfl Since we live in mid-Ohio, those tropical plants may not like it so much :goofy I am going to see if we can leave them out in the summer and use them as houseplants in the winter :shrug I've already purchased one Tiki-god statue :rotfl

As for the vegetables, I think I'll stick with containers, probably. Mostly tomatoes, and some herbs, and I guess green beans would be ok in there. Maybe a cucumber plant in one? My SIL gave me quite a few big containers she didn't want to drag with her to AZ when they moved last winter, so I am going to put them to use. :)

[tigsmom]

:goofy

I am determined to have a decent looking yard and landscaping this year! I want to plant vegetables, too.

Andy's decided that a very active mobile smart enough to open the screen door baby and a deep fish pond makes for a bad combination :lookaroun so we are filling in the pond (the fish have all been released into the Scioto River :lookaroun ) and making it a bedding area. Mallory and Grammy took a trip to the garden center and it set their wheels turning that we must have a garden that is an ode to the Polynesian :rotfl Since we live in mid-Ohio, those tropical plants may not like it so much :goofy I am going to see if we can leave them out in the summer and use them as houseplants in the winter :shrug I've already purchased one Tiki-god statue :rotfl

As for the vegetables, I think I'll stick with containers, probably. Mostly tomatoes, and some herbs, and I guess green beans would be ok in there. Maybe a cucumber plant in one? My SIL gave me quite a few big containers she didn't want to drag with her to AZ when they moved last winter, so I am going to put them to use. :)


Container gardening is a great way to start! This year I have one with salad fixings (mixed lettuces, scallions, etc) and I will be making an herb garden in the other planter box on the porch just like last year (rosemary, thyme, parsley, basil and maybe a few new ones). Green beans are very easy to grow in a container & Blue Lake bush beans would be a great choice. You can put tomatoes & peppers together since they are of the same family. You will need a trellis for cucumbers though and thats easy enough with 2 bamboo poles and some heavy twine (or buy a ready made net). Make sure you use a good potting soil with compost (I use Miracle Grow as it has feed in there as well) and make sure there are drainage holes or use some rocks in the bottom to avoid soggy roots.

If you sink the tropical plants in the ground in their containers then you can pull them up and move them when it gets cold.

[Christy]

What about plants we could plant between the rocks around the pond turned planting bed? :lol I would bet we're in similar zones, is there anything super hardy that would grow in the rocks... besides weeds I mean :goofy

[tigsmom]

Depends on what you would like. Portulaca looks nice with greens and small flowers. I'm partial to hen & chicks also and have mixed both successfully. You could also try vinca, mostly greens with tiny flowers.

Try for a mix of annuals and perennials in the garden so you don't have to completely redo every year. Some greens like hosta (comes in many hues) and maybe some tiger lilies? They both will spread and fill in and you only need to buy once. I would invest in a good spray to keep the animals away as well because deer love hosta and the bunnies and little creatures love them as well as the day lily greens, mine always look like they've had a hair cut early each spring. :lol

[Christy]

Thank you both of you! :)

[pinkrose]

I have window boxes that I put out on my patio. I like to plant herbs in them. Just did one of them today. My other one ended up broken somehow. I'll have to go get another one. This year, I plan to bring it in and keep it going through the winter. I have alwlays been too lazy to do so in the past. I also would like to plant some squash, cucumbers, and bell peppers. We did bell peppers last year. Never did get one. The bugs always got them first. :mad
We also did tomatoes in a couple of those Topsy Turvery (sp?) things. Those things are great!

[Christy]

Oh they do work? Good! I was thinking about trying it :thumbs (the topsy turvy :lol )

[pinkrose]

Oh they do work? Good! I was thinking about trying it :thumbs (the topsy turvy :lol ) They do! We had a good number of tomatoes last year. We haven't bought any this year yet. I hope to though. If only I could figure out a way to keep the birds away from them. They get to them before we do.

Home Depot has "BOGO" on herbs and veggie planets, as well as seeds. I bought some herb and veggie seeds, and several veggie plants. I have some in pots, but will need to put the squash and zucchini in the ground. I'm not so sure the romaine will be ok in the pots, but we'll see. I also am trying broccoli, cucumbers, and jalapeno peppers this year. We'll see how it all goes. If it goes well, maybe next year I'll do a larger (in the ground) garden.

[pinkrose]

Awww... so cute though! I love deer. :love

Oh, I also got some artichoke seeds.

[tigsmom]

Oh, we do too - as long they are eating the back yard, and not the Day Lillys, Daffodils, etc in the front yard. I've told you about the one that will come about 15 feet to the deck, and I can bring her out of the woods into the open of the back yard by ruffling a pack of saltine crackers, right?


You've got her trained well! :lol I can see deer up the road when I'm driving, open the window and tell them to come on down to eat and they show up a few minutes later

I have a spray that keeps the deer away from the plants that my SIL gave me, I'll get the name of it later for you.

[tigsmom]

That's funny!

But not as well as you do. I still can't hand feed her.

I've been at it longer than you have :lol

The spray to try is called Liquid Fence. Spray it on at night because it stinks a bit, but otherwise just follow the directions and it should cut back on the animal nibbling of plants.

[pinkrose]

I wish we had deer that come up in our yard. :love

[Christy]

No deer here, just our cats :lol Not OUR cats, but the neighborhood cats. And some rabbits, who I really am not crazy about :lookaroun

[pinkrose]

We have snakes. bleh

[Doug11]

squirrels here. i think the little stinkers dug up my day lilly bulbs. :mad:

squirrels, an occasional bunny and the occasional armadillo. We do have deer in the general area and I've seen deer in our neighborhood, but never in my back yard.

[tigsmom]

Squirrels will dig up and eat any plant bulb. The Liquid Fence will guard against them as well as the bunnies and deer.

[pinkrose]

Well, some of my squash plants have blooms on them, so I'm guessing that means squash will be starting soon. One of my romaine plants looks to be forming a head of romaine. Nothing else seems to be doing much yet. I need to transplant my cucumber and artichoke plants today (from starter pots inside to outside pots). Hopefully, if I do end up with some of the plants producing something, I'll get to it before the bugs do. So far, bugs have taken every strawberry that forms on Ashley's strawberry plants.

[Doug11]

Thank goodness this thread isn't about Farmtown. :lookaroun

Good luck with your plants, everyone. I am excited to have kept two hibiscus trees alive through the winter and am trying to make them thrive over the summer. They are a little more yellow in the leaves than I'd like for them to be.

And tomatoes - I want to grow some tomatoes! :)

[Christy]

My tomatoes and jalapeno are really taking off! That's all I'm dealing with this summer I think :goofy I'll rely on the farmer's market for the rest of it :lol

[pinkrose]

This is the first year I haven't done tomatoes. I do have a jalapeno plant and I'm not sure it's doing so well. Christy, do you have yours in partial shade or full sun?

Doug, that's us with our Bradford Pear. We lost on last year and our other one isn't looking so hot. Just lovely. If that one dies, we won't have any trees left :( Oh wait, we do have a itty bitty Dogwood that Oddie just planted in the front and the two small maples he planted in the back. They are all too small to count as trees right now. :(

[Christy]

I've got it in full sun, although I admit I never looked at what I should be doing, just assumed it should be out there :goofy

Waiting on some guys to haul away the apple tree, then I am going to get to work on "The Hill" :lol Mostly clearing out still, but I may do a small section at a time and add plants back in. I want to get a magnolia tree out there, they are my favorite :love

[pinkrose]

I've got it in full sun, although I admit I never looked at what I should be doing, just assumed it should be out there :goofy

Waiting on some guys to haul away the apple tree, then I am going to get to work on "The Hill" :lol Mostly clearing out still, but I may do a small section at a time and add plants back in. I want to get a magnolia tree out there, they are my favorite :love

Mine full sun too. It's trucking along, I guess it will eventually do something. lol

I love magnolia tree's also. Oddie doesn't want to put one in the yard because of the mess they make :(

[Christy]

Can't be any worse than those stinking apples :goofy :lol

I am planning on lots of hostas and ferns back there, for as simple as they are, they are some of my favorite plants :love We had a bunch of ferns at our house in Detroit, and seeing the little fiddleheads popping up in the springtime was :circles :yahoo because that meant winter was almost done! :lol

[tigsmom]

Can't be any worse than those stinking apples :goofy :lol

I am planning on lots of hostas and ferns back there, for as simple as they are, they are some of my favorite plants :love We had a bunch of ferns at our house in Detroit, and seeing the little fiddleheads popping up in the springtime was :circles :yahoo because that meant winter was almost done! :lol


I have hosta and ferns along the north side of the house since they love the shade. I started my herb planter last week, so far I have basil, rosemary & Thyme. I still need some parsley and maybe a few others. The other planter I did a salad mix, but it went directly to seed. :mad

[Christy]

I think it will be shady enough for them back there, they won't get any sun til maybe 3 in the afternoon? I'll have to check, next time the sun decides to visit us. Doesn't look like it will for this entire week! :goofy

[pinkrose]

Oh, I'm determined to get my Magnolia tree. Who cares what he says. :lol

We have several crape myrtles. Oddie loves those and is still mad at Disney for cutting the ones down that were in front of the castle. :lol

The herbs that I started from seeds are still small and my cilantro is not coming up very well. Only a couple of sprigs. :dunno My basil, sage, and rosemary are doing great. I bought them as small plants. Since transplanting the ones I started inside, the artichoke and cucumber are hopefully going to take off. Still hoping I get at least one head of romaine. Everything but 10 squash plants are in pots/window boxes. The 10 squash are in the ground.

Poor Ashley, she gets so excited when a strawberry starts to get ripe. Then a bug will get it before she does.

[Christy]

3 hours work in the backyard :faint but it looks sooooooooo much better. Can't wait to get it all finished! I need some trees, but those I will be looking for sales :)