Here in NY I plant bare root trees in my nursery and size them up with only the help of mulch- no irrigation. In general, even with mulch, timely irrigation will help things size up more quickly, even after the first year, if you suffer drought, which is common. It is spring drought that is most dwarfing. This year my bare roots that I had sized up for a couple of years and then moved definitely suffered. Worst early spring drought in decades! Olpea, I've read in soil text books that mulch is not as affective as people assume at stopping evaporation, in that soil itself has a similar affect. The wind and sun only works on the top couple inches, apparently. My text books could be wrong, of course (the two I have on my shelf are 25 years old), but mulch works in many ways to retain water. It even creates it (probably not much) as it breaks down and the, uh, carbos are released from the hydrate, so to speak. I wonder if mulch doesn't also feed and increase the affect of the mychorizal fungus, augmenting that symbiosis which is known to help trees withstand drought as the hyphae increase (extend?) water access for the tree.

you are getting there ... for lack of science terms.. this is the type of plant.. that simply heaps upon itself.. as the years roll by ... never give it a haircut ... on top or sides ... when something begins to irritate you ... track the offending piece.. back into the plant.. and remove it far enough back.. so that you wont have to come back for a few years ... any spaces left will fill in ... sooner or later ... and if you are interested.. these types of plants can be rooted .. with a few tricks.. i see the sidewalk?? ... and the light.. so i presume there is a driveway to the left ... you will have to learn all about pruning.. is you want it to stay within those presumed boundaries ... finally ... looking at your pic ... at 9 oclock... i see what looks like at least ..with no scale.. 6 to 9 inch leader growth .... this will be.. a fairly aggressive plant ... if you have a bigger spot for it.. you might want to think about moving it.. this early spring.. or in fall .... if you have a full latin name.. google it.. and find out this plants potential... and decide if it is properly sited .... i have pis's that have both huge annual growth potential.... and much lesser ... [and they are usually planted in the wrong spot.. lol.. the lesser in the large spot.. and the greater growth rate.. in the smaller ... lol ... so dont think you are alone in this conundrum ..] ken

ogrose, I plant my heirloom tomatoes where they have afternoon shade - give them fish emulsion and then stand back and watch the miracle tomatoes grow! They are absolutely the most delicious "maters", and most of them produce gigantic fruit. And let me tell you kid - you have never had spaghetti or lasagna until you've tasted it made with Brandywine tomatoes to make the sauces. OMG! :) In the photo below: Mortgage Lifter heirloom tomato in my hand and Red Brandywines and more M.L.s in the bowl. I have heard so many people state that the heirlooms take too long to make fruit and don't make a lot of fruit. My heirloom tomatoes put on fruit about the same time as all the other tomatoes and start to ripen around the middle of June...not really much later than the hybrids. The only tomato that produces earlier is Early Girl. But when the determinate hybrids kick the bucket, the indeterminate heirlooms will keep on making fruit, as long as the daytime temps don't exceed 98 degrees, that is. Then all tomatoes will all just sit there and sulk. Humph! As for quantity - well, consider that they make LARGE freaking tomatoes! Each plant may have four or five tomatoes ripening, vs. the hybrid which may have 6-10. But, they are two or three times bigger tomatoes! You are getting the same amount of fruit per pound. And the flavor...out of this world. I like to grow many varieties because it gives me a wider choice of tomato flavors, but it also extends my tomato production on into the Fall. Anyway... I can't wait! Fried Green Tomatoes, Tomatoes and okra, Tomatoes with Macaroni, Lasagna, Spaghetti, BLTs, Hamburgers, On pizza, and in eggy, cheesy Quiche (yummy), I love sliced Tomatoes Marinated with fresh Basil in a mixture of olive oil, balsamic vinegar, splash of water, salt & black pepper, and a touch of sugar. Serve with warm Italian bread and a good red wine. Heaven.....pure heaven!

I am a novice gardener so my experience is limited but here are my thoughts: If you like the sunflower idea you can grow them in containers by themselves or in the same container as the cucumbers because I don't think sunflowers are allelopathic to cucumbers as it is often recommended as a companion plant.. Last year I had a lemon cucumber and sunflower plant in the same container, actually I don't recall it being that great with pollinators and it attracted ants which bugged me but I don't think they harmed the plants. One mistake I did make was sprinkling diatomaceous earth on the plants to deal with the ants and that may have inhibited/repelled the pollinators, although I think at the time most of my plants were male. If I had to do it all over again I would let the ants be or sprinkle the DE less liberally to avoid the blossoming cucumber plant. I think that you have a good selection of flowers, I think the salvia should work really well. I am a marigold fan but have read that they attract spider mites which I don't know if that's a good thing or bad thing. It's a good thing if they serve as a trap crop but a bad thing if they attract the spider mites to neighboring plants. If it's the bad thing scenario then I would still have them in the garden but not near the cucumbers. I bought a penta flower plant on clearance at Lowe's and it was a great pollinator, I brought it indoors for the winter and hope it will serve me well this upcoming season. I also bought a snapdragon which bloomed so-so last fall but it is doing beautifully now. My plan is to plant bee balm, borage, lavender, tansy, dill, alyssum, anise hyssop, basil, more salvia, more nasturtiums, et. al. for the pollinators (and other reasons) and I also hope to acquire an African Blue Basil plant. Now that I write this, it seems like overkill, and it is, but another thing to take into consideration is bloom times, some plants are not going to produce blooms for the duration of the growing season. The other thing to take into consideration is the timing of watering plants and treating plants with insecticides, all things considered, my conclusion is that it is best to water in the morning before the pollinators show up and do insecticide treatments, organic or otherwise, in the evening. I guess if you are using water to blast the aphids and mites off the plants that that could be done morning or evening but my understanding is that it's best for the plants to not be too wet during the time the pollinators visit. I have a question for you, I see that you live in zone 8b, what state are you in because I am curious if you had powdery mildew issues. I was very diligent with spraying my plants a homemade concoction containing baking soda and did not have a problem, but then I got lax, the plant got powdery mildew and that is what ultimately killed my lone cucumber plant.