The 2024 Gardening Thread

MoochNNoodles

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My determination to weed for 20 minutes turned into an hour. What a mess!! This is why gardeners stress about traveling in the summer. 😩 I knew stuff had sprouted; but i didn’t have time to deal with it 2 weeks ago. I’m about 2/3 done. I may have pulled flowers with the weeds in the middle bed; or they never sprouted. :dunno: I snapped these mid way through. The first bed wasn’t as bad and that’s basically done. The middle was where i started and you can see how rediculous it was. I’m definitely putting something down in the fall to kill off EVERYTHING. And planning better for next summer. Right now the sprinkler is running to hopefully soothe any roots that got disturbed.

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IzzysfureverMom

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My determination to weed for 20 minutes turned into an hour. What a mess!! This is why gardeners stress about traveling in the summer. 😩 I knew stuff had sprouted; but i didn’t have time to deal with it 2 weeks ago. I’m about 2/3 done. I may have pulled flowers with the weeds in the middle bed; or they never sprouted. :dunno: I snapped these mid way through. The first bed wasn’t as bad and that’s basically done. The middle was where i started and you can see how rediculous it was. I’m definitely putting something down in the fall to kill off EVERYTHING. And planning better for next summer. Right now the sprinkler is running to hopefully soothe any roots that got disturbed.

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I've been there! Ya try to keep up with it, but stuff crops up that prevents that sometimes. Gardening can be very relaxing but also irritating.😡
 

MoochNNoodles

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I was considering paying my son to do it!! I need him to mow around the garden so i can get out my cushy kneeling pads. Our friend who watched Mooch decided to mow the lawn for DH; but didn’t do around the garden. That was a super nice thing to come home to!

I left small stuff there. I figured i needed the bigger stuff under control first.
 

IzzysfureverMom

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You made great in roads! ♥ Sometimes everything that can go wrong will go wrong. We have been running back and forth with a family member with very serious illness. We got home at one point I started getting the watering done my husband went to mow the lawn and of course the mower picked this time for the belt to break! 🤐 Unfortunately that is life, makes you appreciate the good things though.
 

MoochNNoodles

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MoochNNoodles MoochNNoodles I think I see sunflowers, zinnias, cosmos and marigolds? Any idea what those weeds were? Certainly prolific and dense!
I planted sunflowers and several types of cosmos and zinnia. I’ll have to go get a closeup of those weeds and see if my iphone will detect what kind it is. Earlier this spring my husband dug a root out of that garden that was longer than he is tall. I thought he was carrying a rope! :cringe:
 

MoochNNoodles

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MoochNNoodles MoochNNoodles I think I see sunflowers, zinnias, cosmos and marigolds? Any idea what those weeds were? Certainly prolific and dense!
My phone identified them as Amaranth. I believe pigweed is a common name for it too. I can’t believe how many there were!! I got the rest weeded except for small ones. I need to be able to kneel down. Right now my legs are protesting. :lol:

I went out and got a 25’ spiral hose to use for my patio plants and birdbath. Its too short. :cringe: I may have to reach the farthest stuff…creatively. :rolleyes2: Or just fill the watering can with it.
 

NY cat man

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When I want to spot water things like potatoes, tomatoes, or the as-not-yet-fully-established blueberry bushes, I fill an empty litter bucket and a quart container to apply where needed. For everything else, the hose does the job. Of course, I had to install a frostproof outlet on the side of the house closest to the gardens to do all that, but it saves a lot of steps.
 

NY cat man

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In general i like hand watering with the hose so I can apply water where I need it. But I’m enjoying just turning the sprinkler on for the raised beds too.

I spotted a little friend while watering the lilacs.
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I seldom see them until late July around here. One year, I even bought egg cases and spread them through the gardens, but still nothing before late summer.
 

NY cat man

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I was looking out the back window and saw a bird fly down near the Patriot blueberry bush. As I watched, the robin hopped right up to it and plucked a nearly ripe berry, and had I not chased it off, probably would have kept at it. And here I was wondering why the berries never seemed to ripen. I put up some poultry fencing around it until I can rig up something better. You would think that with all the bugs around, the birds would have enough to keep themselves busy.
 

IzzysfureverMom

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I was looking out the back window and saw a bird fly down near the Patriot blueberry bush. As I watched, the robin hopped right up to it and plucked a nearly ripe berry, and had I not chased it off, probably would have kept at it. And here I was wondering why the berries never seemed to ripen. I put up some poultry fencing around it until I can rig up something better. You would think that with all the bugs around, the birds would have enough to keep themselves busy.
Nope between the deer and the birds they destroyed our blueberries bushes, fencing and or netting seem to be a must
 

MoochNNoodles

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I have netted my raised gardens because the starlings were pulling out my sprouts! I had just planted marigolds from a tray and woke up the next day to find the entire little plug gone. Thankfully it's not as bad since the house next door was torn down (where they were living). But I did have to keep it up for a few years. This year I haven't noticed them stealing any but I do have areas where either things didn't sprout or something got it. It's been hot so other than starting the sprinkler I'm watching everything from the house. :lol:
 

NY cat man

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I have netted my raised gardens because the starlings were pulling out my sprouts! I had just planted marigolds from a tray and woke up the next day to find the entire little plug gone. Thankfully it's not as bad since the house next door was torn down (where they were living). But I did have to keep it up for a few years. This year I haven't noticed them stealing any but I do have areas where either things didn't sprout or something got it. It's been hot so other than starting the sprinkler I'm watching everything from the house. :lol:
I noticed that my beet sprouts were disappearing, and the birds were showing an inordinate interest in those raised beds, as were the squirrels. RepelsAll took care of the squirrels- no more digging in the beds- but not the birds. The good news is the blueberries are now ripening since they are free from the predations of the local bird population, and the surviving beets are too large to be of interest.
 

NY cat man

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The early summer flowers are now blooming, I spotted several baby tomatoes forming, and have started picking the first of the green beans. Oh, and I actually got to pick a few blueberries today. The bushes seem to be establishing themselves, and are putting out new growth.
But first, some flowers:
Wizard of Ahs Veronica
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Daybreak Coreopsis
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Michele's Must See lilies
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The milkweed has a visitor
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Another of Michele's lilies, the name of which I don't know
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And the Butterfly weed is blooming, but no butterflies yet.
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More to come. You've been warned.
 

rubysmama

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Just wanted to share my peonies! They're only a few years old, so I'm hoping they get bigger and bigger!
Oh... really pretty colour.

Here's mine. It's 14 years old now. This year it bloomed just as the heat wave hit, so the flowers didn't last very long. At least they didn't get rain soaked and have the weight break the stems like has happened before. You can't see it in the pic, but in addition to a peony ring, I have bamboo stakes and twine helping to hold them up.

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