GardenArtist Posted September 2015
Gardening as therapy.
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My sister sent a jar for starting sprouts, mung beans, alfalfa sprouts etc. Grow them in a jar on your counter! Looking forward to doing that! She has been so nice to me lately.
A scuffle hoe won't loosen entrenched weeds, masses or roots or invasive plants such as vinca or Virginia creeper though.
Do you grow the bearded or the Siberian irises? They're both beautiful.
What else do you have in your garden?
We're expecting 50 and 60 degree weather next week so I know what I'm going to be doing.
I saw a few beautiful mountain gardens in Fine Gardening. I think there would be special challenges because of the heights, as well as a different selection of plants that can hold their own visually against a massively open sky inbetween the mountains. Can you still garden on a smaller level, perhaps container gardening on a patio?
Linda, I'm wondering if the Gardener's Supply catalogue are featuring more products as you stated because of the aging gardening community?
At one time I wanted a cold frame and of course as many gardeners dream of, a greenhouse. I'm not sure though that even those, or milk jugs, would protect against our winters. Even though we haven't had many days when the actual temperature dropped below zero, there were several days when the wind chill was down to the negative teens.
Typically I would either start spring crops inside in February, or direct seed them after the last frost, which is generally in April.
GA, you could start some winter crops like lettuce and spinach in milk jugs - winter sowing.
There would be some initial work to create the outline of the beds and the border to contain the soil, but another option for elevated beds is to create the outline with fallen or cut branches, with smaller ones interwoven horizontally in a variation of the old wattle fences. What I plan to do is plant morning glories to twine around the horizontal wattles, which will cover the entire enclosed structure. (But if the enclosed bed is very wide, leave an open space/entry so you can get inside to harvest.)
Going to daydream, maybe I will perchance fall asleep and awake in a better mood.
Have you ever read any posts on garden forums about why people garden? Since a dot com link would be deleted, I'll PM you and you can find other kindred spirits who share their love of gardening.
Or you could pick up a copy of Chicken Soup for the Gardener's Soul, fix a nice cup of tea or hot chocolate or perhaps lemonade as you're in the sunny state, sit back and indulge in therapy.
My original plans included an English Country Garden secondary to an initial formal garden. I laid out paths, lugging around 300 patio stones to form the formal borders. Everything was symmetrical. Then I let it segue into an English Country Garden as plants grew up and hugged each other to form an impenetrable mass of beautiful flowers and luscious edibles.
You can incorporate elements of an English Country Garden by choosing the right blooming plants. I love the pastel themes - white, pale pink, dusty pink, rose, lilac, violets and pale blues.
How much garden space do you have? We can design an English Country Garden for you right here! Then the only problem you'll have is getting your husband to do all the digging!
" Even if you don't have the opportunity to do gardening, there's always: PLANNING. That's a major project, so it justifies considerable attention such as spending evenings and weekends daydreaming and planning. This is a legitimate activity for any gardener, and also justifies putting aside the housework for a more important planning activity.
Garden magazines and garden catalogues, plus tea or hot chocolate (or beverage of choice!) are de rigeur for this activity."
I am always guilty, thought it was a waste of time since I could not fund my ideas.
My ideal would be a country english garden, but what I have is far from that.
I will be satisfied though. Thanks for sharing that, somehow I feel validated, with hot chocolate on my shopping list.
Even if you don't have the opportunity to do gardening, there's always: PLANNING. That's a major project, so it justifies considerable attention such as spending evenings and weekends daydreaming and planning. This is a legitimate activity for any gardener, and also justifies putting aside the housework for a more important planning activity.
Garden magazines and garden catalogues, plus tea or hot chocolate (or beverage of choice!) are de rigeur for this activity.
I stopped at Lowe's last night and of course checked out the garden magazine and seed section. There are only a few racks of seeds and one stand of bulbs, but just looking at seed packets and nice big fat elephant ear bulbs makes me want to run outside and start digging.
However, there's now snow on the ground and 4 - 6" predicted, so I guess I'll stick with the magazines and the hot chocolate for a while.
This morning I saw small prints, very close together, which I think might have been one of the cats cautiously walking from next door across my yard to better hunting grounds on the other side of my house.
There were also larger prints with the first two of each set being perhaps a few inches long, then one double print in back. The tracks were sometimes 3 - 4 feet apart. I'm guessing a rabbit in a hurry.
Then there are other mystery tracks which have already softened in the very welcome sun, so perhaps I'll never guess what other little critter came to visit this morning or last night.
and since it is before breakfast, no danger of him digging a hole to China and not being able to stop because he gets hungry and comes inside. The yard looks great, I told him so.
Oh, how I wish I had taken cuttings from my roses years ago! I lost a few David Austins that I just loved.
From now on, whatever I buy is going to be the mother plant and source for cuttings in case the mother plant doesn't make it.
Have you ever taken and rooted cuttings from evergreens? I have some arborvitae and junipers that I want to use as mother plants. Perhaps I should take cuttings when new growth appears in the spring?
Or should I plant the seeds that the evergreens produce? I like to use them for wreath decorations as well.
I think I'm going to try rose cuttings this year from a couple really old plants, for sentimental reasons.
Garden and Cwillie, the cuttings and rose slips are way beyond my skill-set. It is only $5 to buy a tiny gift rose in a tiny pot, then be amazed when it grows up.
When I am reading about the cuttings, my mind freezes over. What in the world are they talking about, I wonder.???
My grandmother was great at starting rose slips, I can't be bothered with roses, most require too much fuss for too short a bloom time. I have started a shoot of my grandmother's red climber though, I won't know if it survived the winter for a couple of months.
PS, nap time soon Sendme??