It's become clear to me through posts and PMs that there are some gardeners here just waiting for the chance to discuss gardening!
So, I was thinking... how do you use gardening, or how does it affect you if you need a break, need some respite, need to relax, need inspiration....how do you use it as a therapy tool in caregiving?
What are your activities: Do you go out and pull weeds, read a magazine, design new beds? Look through garden catalogues? Go to garden stores?
And what interests have you added to your gardening? Visit estate or garden displays? Do you go to garden shows?
Does anyone design and plant Knot Gardens? Raised bed planters? Assistive gardens? Pollinator gardens (and have you thought of ways to help the bees and butterflies?)
Are your gardens primarily for pleasure or food, or a mix of both? Do you grow plants for medicinal purposes? Which ones, how do you harvest and process them? Any suggestions?
Do you grow plants that can be used in crafts, such as grapevines for wreaths and lavender for lavender wands? Do you make herbal products such as creams, lotions, chapstick?
What else can you share about gardening and the means in which it nurtures your soul?
sharyn - I am nursing one tomato plant in a pot too and a rhubarb which has to be transplanted.
Having pulled a few weeds earlier and done a little fertilizing one bed in the back is looking reasonable - lots of delphiniums and roses, and a few other things. My shrub roses in front didn't to well last winter and needs some serious pruning. Dd and I may tackle that later.
I have an appointment in September for a quote about work on the other bed in the back. Couldn't get one earlier. Everyone in town must be redoing their gardens!
I planted one tomato plant since it’s just my hubs and me. It is a big beef tomato. We are having unusual weather temps over 100 degrees. So far it has been 11 days, Saturday it rises over 100 again. I have about 12 tomatoes set before the heat wave. They need to be fertilized but I been waiting for the heatwave to end, I bought a natural fertilizer that is 2-1-3. I fertilized it this morning. I’m hoping this will help perp up my plant I’m concerned about the flowers not fertilizing from the heat since I’m growing it in a
pot, I want to be sure it is getting enough water and calcium so it does not develop blossom end rot. I will harvest the first tomato tomorrow.
I also planted 2 clematis plants that are compact plants for borders or in pots. They are called Little Lemons. One is starting to bloom.
happy blooming and harvesting to everyone
Of course I'm much better at planning than implementing those plans 🤣
As for my garden - I've finally accepted that it's too hot for my container peas to produce any more so I need to figure out what tho plant there next, any ideas?
My lettuce is bolting too (but I already have a zucchini growing there), luckily I actually like the taste of bitter greens so I'll have a few more meals yet!
I think the stake and ties would work. I recently also tied up an umbrella plant that is growing all over the place and it is more manageable now.
Lvnsm1826 - that's cute!
https://youtu.be/_s0LX1xdDyQ
The thing I like best about cacti and succulents is they thrive on neglect, maybe stretch out the time between watering to slow growth down.
(I've looked this plant up, people on line seem to be very comfortable lopping them off and restarting babies 😱)
I found this advice after some more reading. "If you don’t allow your plant to go into a dormancy phase every year, after a few years of uninterrupted growth they will become very weak." I've only had it two years but it's grown like a weed, doubling in height.
PS - I love succulents, I'm feeling a little jealous 😂
Any suggestions? I'm not against lopping it off but never done that to a succulent before. Thanks, AC green thumbs!
I ask b/c the squirrels are back again, having once again chewed through the wall. I did hire an animal removal contractor a few years ago, and after inspections, trapping and more, the only squirrel he caught wasn't one of the colonizers. A few years later, they're back, and they even have an obnoxious Paulonia tree growing right next to where their walnut tree freeway was.
I've never seen a tree grow so rapidly. In just one summer it grew to over 6' tall. I hacked it down, but it's back again. I did learn that it produces good wood, so this time I'll bark strip the base as well as the trunk and learn how to cure it, then make something out of it.
As to the squirrels, I'm probably also cutting down the walnut trees in another area of the yard. A massive branch broke off and fell on the lawn and the street after a storm last week, so I'm reassessing all the safe and unsafe trees, and the latter are going to have a scalping visit from my favorite tree removal service.
I think we have an Irish Spring plant growing in summer!
Sendhelp
Nov 15, 2020
GardenArtist,
White pepper, Cayenne, garlic, coffee grounds-all disliked by squirrels.
Squirrels can be one of the trickiest garden pests to deal with. They chomp on flower bulbs and other leaves, dig up your favorite plants, and otherwise love to wreck your garden. Protect it by grating some Irish Spring soap around your plants. Squirrels can't stand the smell of it and will stay away.
While I was looking up how to deter squirrels, I found this on Gophers:
Repel the gopher by placing castor oil pellets, peppermint oil, and fabric softener sheets in the burrows nearest your home.
I have 4 indoor only cats. They love to watch the birds, lizards and squirrels. There are several windows in the house set up so they can comfortably watch.
The neighbor has them, now we do too, in the most visible places, deep, big holes freshly dug.
Maybe a sinkhole will form and swallow up my car.....
I can remember my grandmother talking about chokecherry jelly Golden. They also used to gather beechnuts - I'd never have the patience needed to open those.