Some notes from last season, before I start thinking about this one’.
Changes to the Garden Areas
Let’s see. I added a whisky barrel planter to the front of the house last year, planted with herbs and flowers and a cherry tomato. I also enlarged the garden area along the back and side fence, adding perhaps 30 square feet. Planted cherry tomatoes along the porch steps…fun to nibble on as you entered of exited the house.
Things that Worked Well
- As usual I got decent production from my tomato plants and the nasties stayed away long enough for me to make lots of sauce.
- Chard produced, as always.
- The mammoth sunflowers I planted out front did great.
- The annual flowers–especially iris, day lilies, black eyed susan, clematis, primroses–were all happy.
- Herbs, with the exception of cilantro that bolted too early, all did well, especially those in front of the house. I put in some mint which I’ll have to keep an eye on.
- Had my first successful bean crop in three or four years. (w00t!)
- The ornamental grass I transplanted from Russ’s garden the year before did very well.
Things that Worked Not So Well
- Last year I planted carrots and radishes for the first time. While the radishes did sort of OK and the carrots less so, I don’t think it was worth devoting the garden space to. Carrots are cheap enough to by and no one was interested in eating the radishes.
- While I grew some large zucchini, the plants take up so much space and my garden is so small that I really need to shoot for higher producing varieties.Also rot became an issue at some point.
- Lettuce production was poor last year.
- My pepper seeds mostly failed so I bought six packs in June but something ate them in short order. Not a good year for peppers.
- As happens every year, the snails made a feast of marigold seedlings.
- My slicing cukes along the porch produced poorly and ended early.
- A timing issue every season…my cilantro matured and then bolted far in advance of any ripe tomatoes.
- Weeds in the flower beds…grass, crab grass, and this vining thing I need to identify…were very invasive. The sedum in particular is inundated with grass.
- Every year I try sticking in the odd vegetable plant wherever there’s a hole in the flower bed. Seems like a reasonable idea but it rarely produces anything noteworthy, especially as my flower beds are so shady.
Knights who Say Ni Report
Shrubberies did well last year. An azalea out front which had done poorly in past seasons made a nice comeback. The Rose of Sharon gets out of control every year and is a pain to keep trimmed. Same too of the rhododendron. The forsythia as always was a tangled mess…I just can’t figure out the right way to trim it.
Lawn Pests
The lawn in the front of the house takes a pounding from the kids. I think I’ll just need to accept that dirt will be its natural state for the foreseeable future. The invasion of that vining weed into the grass on Cindy’s side of the house was a real pain though and I didn’t do much to stop it.
Other Stuff
- I moved some black eyed susans to the front of the house.
- A panel on the back fence fell apart and needs fixing still.