The 2024 Gardening Thread

[Kris107]

Very pretty! I love peonies!

 

[vansX2]

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. 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 solved my weed problem by mixing the soil with copious amounts of commercial vermiculite. My garden is matted in most areas with black garden cloth. I also have redwood mulch and straw scattered around the garden. If any weeds survive, it's a easy pull and their out.

 

[MoochNNoodles]

I solved my weed problem by mixing the soil with copious amounts of commercial vermiculite. My garden is matted in most areas with black garden cloth. I also have redwood mulch and straw scattered around the garden. If any weeds survive, it's a easy pull and their out.

Do you have crab grass? That seems to be the most persistent of the weeds we get. We have the black weed block under rocks around our front landscaping and its gotten so weedy that DD tried weeding a section as DHs fathers day gift.

 

[nurseangel]

My garden is moving on nicely without any involvement from me. It's just a little patch of tomatoes. The only plant that doesn't look so the Patio variety. Maybe it was just meant for a container? I feel really bad for it. I need to get some plant food and see one of if DH's friend's will help out. (DH will be wearing a cast for the summer.)

 

[Winchester]

nurseangel Is your DH OK?

Our beans and peas are not doing well. It's simply too hot. Rick did bring down a handful of peas the other day and I shelled them, cooked them, and tossed them into a salad. The corn, OTOH, is chest high and looks good. Our Yukon Gold potato plants are huge, my beet patch looks good, the tomatoes are doing well, as are the peppers. The peppers had a problem when we first planted them, with curling leaves. It wasn't due to lack of water. Rick sprayed them and they are coming around. But we won't buy peppers from that nursery anymore.

 

[NY cat man]

nurseangel Is your DH OK?

Our beans and peas are not doing well. It's simply too hot. Rick did bring down a handful of peas the other day and I shelled them, cooked them, and tossed them into a salad. The corn, OTOH, is chest high and looks good. Our Yukon Gold potato plants are huge, my beet patch looks good, the tomatoes are doing well, as are the peppers. The peppers had a problem when we first planted them, with curling leaves. It wasn't due to lack of water. Rick sprayed them and they are coming around. But we won't buy peppers from that nursery anymore.

There was a local nursery that we would get plants from, and they were always good, sturdy plants at reasonable prices. Unfortunately, when the lockdowns rolled around, they never reopened, and I hate buying from big box garden centers or chains. There is, however, another nursery that carries good plants, but they are pricier than the previous place, but not exorbitantly so.

 

[susanm9006]

Rasberries are absolutely loving this wet weather. The plants are loaded with blossoms and taller than I ever remember them being. So so many mosquitos though.

 

[IzzysfureverMom]

There was a local nursery that we would get plants from, and they were always good, sturdy plants at reasonable prices. Unfortunately, when the lockdowns rolled around, they never reopened, and I hate buying from big box garden centers or chains. There is, however, another nursery that carries good plants, but they are pricier than the previous place, but not exorbitantly so.

Plant prices have gone up dramatically, so I try to grow as much from seeds as possible. Not possible for everyone to do or for everything. For some things we have better results when starting from seeds than buying plants.

 

[IzzysfureverMom]

nurseangel Is your DH OK?

Our beans and peas are not doing well. It's simply too hot. Rick did bring down a handful of peas the other day and I shelled them, cooked them, and tossed them into a salad. The corn, OTOH, is chest high and looks good. Our Yukon Gold potato plants are huge, my beet patch looks good, the tomatoes are doing well, as are the peppers. The peppers had a problem when we first planted them, with curling leaves. It wasn't due to lack of water. Rick sprayed them and they are coming around. But we won't buy peppers from that nursery anymore.

We grow sugar snap peas they were done three weeks ago here, just way to hot. We got a pretty good amount though. Our golden and red beets have done well, but with temps in being 100 and feeling like 107 who knows how long that will last.

 

[NY cat man]

I just got a pleasant surprise. I had to dump some stuff on the compost pile, and on the way back to the house, saw a Monarch butterfly land on one of the milkweed plants. Mind you, this is the first Monarch I've seen in something like two years, at least in our gardens.

 

[rubysmama]

I just got a pleasant surprise. I had to dump some stuff on the compost pile, and on the way back to the house, saw a Monarch butterfly land on one of the milkweed plants. Mind you, this is the first Monarch I've seen in something like two years, at least in our gardens.

That's excellent news! I hope they find my Milkweed this year, as I also didn't see any at all last year, and the year before my Milkweed was too small to interest them. .

 

[NY cat man]

That's excellent news! I hope they find my Milkweed this year, as I also didn't see any at all last year, and the year before my Milkweed was too small to interest them. .

This is the third year for our milkweed. We started with only four individual plants, but since then, each plant has put up multiple stalks. Added to that, there is another plant several feet away, and even another plant, about ten inches tall, started in one of the front gardens, 20 or so yards from the original patch. I guess one of the seed pods popped before I could get it. I have my work cut out for me to keep the stuff under control. And here Michele got mad at me because I cut the stalks back last fall- she thought that I'd killed them. HA!

 

[rubysmama]

This is the third year for our milkweed. We started with only four individual plants, but since then, each plant has put up multiple stalks. Added to that, there is another plant several feet away, and even another plant, about ten inches tall, started in one of the front gardens, 20 or so yards from the original patch. I guess one of the seed pods popped before I could get it. I have my work cut out for me to keep the stuff under control. And here Michele got mad at me because I cut the stalks back last fall- she thought that I'd killed them. HA!

Third year for my Milkweed too. Mine hasn't spread though. Your seeds, however, have done a great job spreading and starting new plants!

 

[NY cat man]

The other blueberry bush, the Sunshine Blue, has berries that are starting to ripen, but they are a ways off yet. Where the Patriot has marble-sized fruit, this one is roughly pea-sized, but the bush has a whole lot more of them........if I can keep the critters away.

 

[vansX2]

The other blueberry bush, the Sunshine Blue, has berries that are starting to ripen, but they are a ways off yet. Where the Patriot has marble-sized fruit, this one is roughly pea-sized, but the bush has a whole lot more of them........if I can keep the critters away.

Critters indeed are a problem. My flower bed had been attacked by deer. Particularly my Milkweed bush and one Hybrid Lily. My backyard garden is protected with netting on 4 side at 3+ feet high.

 

[NY cat man]

Critters indeed are a problem. My flower bed had been attacked by deer. Particularly my Milkweed bush and one Hybrid Lily. My backyard garden is protected with netting on 4 side at 3+ feet high.

Our backyard is surrounded by a six-foot privacy fence, so deer aren't an issue. Rabbits, raccoons, possums, squirrels, and birds are another matter.

 

[rubysmama]

This is a pic from a few weeks ago.

Orange geums, yellow "Little Leo" leopards bane, purple allium just starting, yellow/orange azalea still in pot, pink azalea.

 

[IzzysfureverMom]

This is a pic from a few weeks ago.

Orange geums, yellow "Little Leo" leopards bane, purple allium just starting, yellow/orange azalea still in pot, pink azalea.

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Lovely! I love Azaleas. I have five, but my favorites of mine are three Encore Azaleas. They are pretty big now one is bright pink like yours, another is a vibrant orange the last is white with a little light pink. They rebloom in the fall so I like that

 

[NY cat man]

I need some ideas. This will be the last year for the delphiniums, as each year it seems that just as they reach full bloom, we get a rainstorm that breaks the stems. I have tried tying them up, but the flower clusters get so heavy that the stalks can't support them, and while they are pretty, they're not worth the aggravation any more. The part of the garden where they are located gets only partial sun, and is about thirty inches front to back. I love that deep blue color, but am undecided as to what to put in as a replacement. We are in zone 6A here, if that helps.

 

[rubysmama]

The part of the garden where they are located gets only partial sun, and is about thirty inches front to back. I love that deep blue color, but am undecided as to what to put in as a replacement. We are in zone 6A here, if that helps.

Maybe some Astilbes. No blue, but various shades of pink, as well as white.

For blue, if you have acidic soil, maybe a dwarf hydrangea.
14 Dwarf Hydrangeas that Stay Small Without Pruning - Garden Design