So new- so lost

[qnorse]

After living in terrible apartments all my adult life, I have finally settled into a home with a yard. Yay! I am greatly looking forward to moving from killing houseplants to what I am calling, "practice homesteading". Problem number 1

Comments

[wobblerlorri]

I'm pretty sure all those are weed type you don't want 'em plants, and it won't hurt to kill them off. The vine thing might be greenbriar, which is really really hard to kill -- you'll either have to dig it out or use a brush killer to get it.

How shady is shady? Have you noticed how much light your yard gets in the spring and summer? Bush beans, field peas, and several bush fruits don't mind shade -- blackberries, strawberries, and raspberries spring (heh) to mind. Some of my best harvests of beans and field peas have come from the shadier parts of my garden.

If you have good sun in the late winter/early spring, you can do cool season vegetables -- lettuces and garden peas.

Or you can turn your front yard into a shade garden -- hostas, ferns, hydrangeas, azaleas, some bamboo, gunnera all love shade, and bermudagrass does well in the shade.

[qnorse]

Shady as in- sun does not touch most of my yard. I am surrounded by trees on my neighbors properties. I get a few spots that get indirect sun for maybe 6 hours a day if it's not cloudy. I've only been here a week so I can't say how much that changes with the season, but I'm in the south so we don't get a lot of climate change at all. What I really wanted to plant were tomatoes but blueberries would be great. I was under the impression those did better in the north and I am in Florida (I should have mentioned that). Beans and peas would be fantastic. Thanks so much for the advice. It's too bad those other things are weeds, but I like the vines so I think I'll keep those anyway.

[rhodielady_47]

They developed blueberries that can grow quite well in Florida.
I strongly suggest that you look for websites that discuss gardening in Florida and read them. You'll learn a lot.
There's a website called Gardenweb that you need to begin reading. They have a forum just for gardening in Florida:
http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/flgard/
BTW: If you can get your neighbors' permission, A bit of tree branch pruning could increase the light reaching the ground in at least some of your yard.
Your BIG problem is going to be gardening amongst all those tree roots--I think you need to start learning about gardening in raised beds. Youtube has a lot of gardening video's that should be of help to you as well.
I hope this helps.
:)

[qnorse]

Thanks for the link! I don't know why I never thought to google specifically for Florida. I've bookmarked it for later. You arent kidding about the roots. This is the definition of back breaking labor, but on the other hand it's way more satisfying than jogging. At some point someone had tried to do raised gardens here because I found evidence of such after raking and pulling away about 5 layers of rot.

[iheartoothecae]

I'm not sure what the ivy *is*, but it's not poison ivy. :)

https://www.dot.ny.gov/dangerous-plants/poison-ivy

[qnorse]

Thanks for the warning, you were not alone in thinking it was poison ivy- that was my mother-in-laws first thought as well. Considering the state of the outside of the house, it seems as if some plant covered the whole outside like a little wooded cottage and if that vine is invasive it must have been the culprit. Now I'm definitely not getting rid of it. What a perfect disguise from the ugly block look.

[quarkwiz]

a) No, that's not poison ivy; no worries. (Poison ivy and I are ancient enemies. I KEEL IT on sight.)
b) If you're in full shade, you're going to have to be selective. Not a lot's gonna grow on your plot, foodwise. But if you want to keep the weeds at bay and not use ugly chemicals, I recommend using a weed-stop fabric anyplace you aren't trying to grow something. Home Despot and Lowes sell it by the roll.

[qnorse]

haha I am lucky enough never to have run into it but have a terrible allergy to mosquitoes and am being bombarded! Though i have read beebalm repels them wonderfully, and is very shade tolerant so I hope to grow A LOT of it. I actually uncovered a weed-stop fabric under a bunch of layers of dead leaves the other day. I didn't know what it was at first and the guy that lived here before us was apparently a total crazy so of course my first thought was, "I bet there is a body under here..."

[ersatz_read]

Offhand I'd say none of them look like keepers. The two top photos do indeed look like the same plant (but not poison ivy). But I'm in Wisconsin, so anything I say might not apply to Florida. If you're willing to keep them and watch them for a while, maybe they'll bloom and then be easier to identify. If they're growing in odd places (or everywhere randomly), then they're probably weeds/volunteers

[live_momma]

Is that bottom plant at all prickly or thorny? If so, it might be a bramble like raspberry. Google "raspberry leaves" and see what you think.

[qnorse]

I took your advice and compared the plant to some google pictures and I am 90% sure you are right about it being raspberry! I'm really excited, despite the fact I never eat them. If the plant produces any I guess I'm going to start. Or at the very least give them to the neighbors.

[live_momma]

If it is raspberry, watch out! They'll try to take over the world your yard, and they're thorny, which makes them hard to rein in once they've started to spread. I have a patch in my yard, and I'm not a raspberry fan (too many seeds!), so I'm facing that dilemma right now.