Couple of questions and some garden pr0n
The former owner of my house decided to kill her lawn, which I applaud because it meant I didn't have to do it! However, when she did it, she also dug up all the topsoil then laid plastic and wood chips over the clay. :( I've removed that and have been slowly trying to get plants to grown back there and build the organics back up. I've let wild/native plants colonize and some of them have turned out to be really gorgeous. Another fun problem is that while the yard gets six hours of sun at high summer, the amount of sun has definitely dropped as the seasons turn. I'm sort of giving up on it being my main veggie gardening site (even if some things did surprisingly well) and moved my plant selection over to more shady and damp plants.
The circled things are mostly items I added this weekend. Also, the pond plants have started to make a break for it down the sides of the pond. I love it!
I've let the smartweed take over a lot of the open space. I love the pink flowers it gets. I am also ridiculously happy about the wintergreen because I've been wanting to get some of that for a garden for ages and I was finally able to. Love the stuff.
I need to get some more slate to finish up the path. I've been hoping to get some through freecycle, but so far have only gotten a couple of pieces. I'll probably have better luck in the spring when people are redoing things. I'll be redoing beds in the spring myself. The rounded bed on the bottom of the left side picture is falling apart. I'm also thinking of putting a bench in where part of it is so that you can sit and look at the fish. We'll see how ambitious I am. So questions: Since soon there should be a lot of dead leaves available, I would like to use those to start working organic material into the clay in the back. The best way would be to mulch with a lawn mower, but I don't own one any more. What would be another good way to crunch dried leaves up?
Second question: Wild strawberries have really gone crazy around the edges of things and in lost, damp corners and I love the look. However, the fruit is pretty bland and seedy. Are there any developed varities that would grow well in the same conditions? I'm zone 7.
And now, carnivorous plant pr0n!
Daina's Delight pitchers
Judith Hindle pitcher
Purple pitcher. Looks sort of obscene.
Not sure what this plant is. Maybe S. rubra? It was a Lowe's rescue along with the flytraps and some lance sundews which are growing as house plants.
A bit drowned at the moment, but recovering well from the terrarium torture employed by Lowes, unlike the last one I bought.
I've identified a currently unused patch of front yard that could very easily be turned into a bog garden. It's right by the downspout and would get plenty of rainwater from that. It's also in the front yard so they'd get lots of sun. I love my mini bog, but I'd also like to have places to expand to. I mean, there's so many other varities to grow!
The circled things are mostly items I added this weekend. Also, the pond plants have started to make a break for it down the sides of the pond. I love it!
I've let the smartweed take over a lot of the open space. I love the pink flowers it gets. I am also ridiculously happy about the wintergreen because I've been wanting to get some of that for a garden for ages and I was finally able to. Love the stuff.
I need to get some more slate to finish up the path. I've been hoping to get some through freecycle, but so far have only gotten a couple of pieces. I'll probably have better luck in the spring when people are redoing things. I'll be redoing beds in the spring myself. The rounded bed on the bottom of the left side picture is falling apart. I'm also thinking of putting a bench in where part of it is so that you can sit and look at the fish. We'll see how ambitious I am. So questions: Since soon there should be a lot of dead leaves available, I would like to use those to start working organic material into the clay in the back. The best way would be to mulch with a lawn mower, but I don't own one any more. What would be another good way to crunch dried leaves up?
Second question: Wild strawberries have really gone crazy around the edges of things and in lost, damp corners and I love the look. However, the fruit is pretty bland and seedy. Are there any developed varities that would grow well in the same conditions? I'm zone 7.
And now, carnivorous plant pr0n!
Daina's Delight pitchers
Judith Hindle pitcher
Purple pitcher. Looks sort of obscene.
Not sure what this plant is. Maybe S. rubra? It was a Lowe's rescue along with the flytraps and some lance sundews which are growing as house plants.
A bit drowned at the moment, but recovering well from the terrarium torture employed by Lowes, unlike the last one I bought.
I've identified a currently unused patch of front yard that could very easily be turned into a bog garden. It's right by the downspout and would get plenty of rainwater from that. It's also in the front yard so they'd get lots of sun. I love my mini bog, but I'd also like to have places to expand to. I mean, there's so many other varities to grow!