Help a newbie TX gardener plan a rose garden!
whoopdedeaux
15 years ago
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alameda/zone 8/East Texas
15 years agowhoopdedeaux
15 years agoRelated Discussions
Garden planning for a newbie
Comments (2)Hi len. Thanks for the reply. The back of the property near the drains are almost certainly an easement of some sort. Here in the US, easements can be nearly impossible to avoid in tract neighborhoods. Typically the only restriction is no concrete structures. You can do a lot of other things though. For example, the area is fenced in with the rest of my yard now and the posts are set in concrete. A garden including trees should be ok. They just reserve the right to bulldoze the entire thing including the fence with no notice. Having said that, this is very unlikely but still possible if something undeground breaks. The front door of the house faces the southwest with the back yard pointing northeast. The back fence is maybe 70 feet from the back of the house so the shadow from the house shouldn't be an issue. The face of the uphill area in the back faces the southwest. The land just barely slopes away from the house downhill toward the northeast for maybe 50 feet, then noticeably uphill for maybe 20 feet. There's a 15 foot deep deck on the back of the house that's making it hard for me to mentally estimate. As for the planting along the contours, I think that's what I was envisioning. This would create an area that's relatively flat and easy to elevate if needed. That would also give the sloped area in back to the trees which I think need more drainage. There's enough space on the (north)west side of the house to plant a number of trees. I could easily put them in a line down that fence instead of in back. My only concern there is that this area can be sort of a valley between our house and next door. This might make a light problem. Although the area never seem to be dark to me. As for the fruit tree size, I'm worried about full size trees. Maintenance will be tough enough. And I'm worried about picking and spraying such a large tree. I like the fast bearing nature of the dwarf trees as well. If I lost one or had to cut it down, I wouldn't feel so bad about it. brian...See Morenewbie question about garden planting plan
Comments (3)Most of the vegetables you mention are summer (tomato, watermelon, cucumber, okra, eggplant, pepper) while the others are better suited for springtime. I don't know what your particular seasonal situation is, but not all those veggies should be going in at the same time. Fertilization might be the most useful way to organize your veggies. All of the summer veggies you mention (I think--not sure about okra?) are going to want the same basic fertilization, heavy on the P in NPK (phosphorous), but a P-heavy fertilizer might cause greens (spinach, broccoli, maybe the chard even though it's a biennial) to flower early, which you probably don't want. Clustering together veggies that have the same basic needs might simplify your operations. In addition, the amount of watering matters. For example, watermelons and cucumbers want a lot of consistent watering, while peppers should dry out sometimes (especially if you're aiming for spicy peppers--too much water is supposed to make them blander)....See MoreHelp Newbie's garden plan
Comments (3)Wrengarden, I just purchased my first clematis this year (21 clems). I don't know that I'd call these my favorite, but these are the online clematis vendors I'm familiar with. Some are pricier than others, but I'll pay a little extra $ for a clematis that I really, really want. Donahue's has an online sale right now, I believe each clem is less than $10.00 (you have to add one to your shopping cart, and the purchase price will be shown there). Donahues Clematis http://www.donahuesclematis.com/ Klehm's Song Sparrow http://www.songsparrow.com/default.cfm Joy Creek Nursery http://www.joycreek.com/ Silver Star Vinery http://www.silverstarvinery.com/default.asp Clematis on the Web http://www.clematis.hull.ac.uk/ Sedumphotos.net (since you mentioned sedum) I'm fairly new to the garden scene, still a novice, but one online vendor/catalog I particularly like is Bluestone Perennials. Great catalog with pics, and basic info helpful for newbies. They also sell some clematis, and have a spring and fall sale each year with everything 50% off, and all plants are sold with a lifetime guarantee. I got my Madame Julia Correvon from them on sale for $4.97 (a small pot, but healthy nonetheless). Good luck with your garden....See MoreNewbie Gardener - May have killed my rose bush
Comments (12)Might I gently suggest, Ickle Cat, that you be patient and wait for that outdoor garden next spring and plant roses then? Keeping a potted rose happy inside a warm apartment is very difficult, indeed. Starting out with a boxed, dormant rose (especially one of those unnamed chopped & waxed poor things) is even less likely to reach success. There is a good reason that roses are not usually house plants. You certainly can keep the potting soil moist and let things go for a some more weeks to be sure, but it sounds like your rose pushed all the energy it had stored in its canes into some growth and then you cut it off. That kind of "pruning" does not, I'm afraid, "make them grow." It may be putting out new roots and it may send out more new leaves - you can mist the canes to help keep them moist (if planted outdoors, one would mound them to keep them from drying out.) Don't keep the pot in standing water in a saucer; you don't want to rot the roots - but keep the whole thing nicely damp. Be sure to allow it the maximum sunshine you can manage and then be patient. No fertilizer, please, at this time. Either it will grow or it won't and all you can do is wait and see. The real trouble comes in if it does succeed in surviving and pushing out new growth - then it will be your task to keep it free of spider mites and other troubles that plaque roses in the dry, warm indoor environment...and you're realistically looking to do this for a year? Well, not impossible, but highly improbable, IMHO. I've overwintered potted healthy roses indoors just for fun - and believe me, it is a lot of work to keep them healthy. Did it for a few years and was glad to put the practice behind me! ;-) Perhaps you could spend this year researching and learning more about roses, what they need and how they grow. There are lots and lots of good books on the subject and not to mention lots of information on the Web. Visit nurseries and gardens and ask questions. You'll be far more prepared next year to make good choices of roses for your new garden and to keep those choices happy and growing. Sincere good luck to you!...See Moremalmason
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