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Florida Gardening

A surprise in a neglected garden

16 years ago

I finally got out to weed and get a section of garden ready for a makeover.

There in the midst of the knee high weeds was a miniture yellow rose bush in full bloom. Now it is the proud owner of its own weedless garden patch.

Ah the joys and surprises of gardening.

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Comments (9)

manature
16 years ago
That's happy news! I'm AFRAID to go weed my yard after 6 weeks of total neglect...who knows what might be lurking! I could find long lost treasures. Or entire colonies of meerkats. Or Jimmy Hoffa.

I tell ya, I'm afraid. I'm VERY afraid!
Marcia
SaintPFLA
16 years ago
SO -- it isn't just ME who has severely neglected the garden???

I have been growing more weeds than flowers the last month.

At least my Black Racer is happy with the weeds...although, they are so high, I can't even see him crossing my yard anymore.

Lucky you on finding the hidden rose bush -- I don't think I will get quite that lucky!

So..Marica -- are you a fan of Meerkat Manor, too? I just love that show! Although, when one of them dies it does upset me.
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Hummm...I guess it depends. To me, there is something kind of sad about a very neglected looking garden, as if the person(s) who had so lovingly cared for it before were no longer able to, for whatever reason. Now a purposefully "untidy" and "wild" looking garden I can appreciate. I'm not one to over primp my plants or take meticulous pains at some garden chores (*ahem!* edging and mowing, lol!). I do think my garden LOOKS better when I do all the upkeep and tidying up (etc), but it doesn't always allow one to get the chance to actually sit back and soak up all the beauty. To me, slightly untidy gardens look more like the owner insn't stressing out about every little detail but having fun and enjoying it, not having it around as a show garden to keep up with appearances or the neighbors! -Scully, I guarantee you will love seeing this link!!! If my picket fence and gate ever break down by the side of the house I might have to think about doing something similar... CMK Here is a link that might be useful: wooden door and stone arch
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You said you wanted to do it quickly but I just think about all those precious perennials, which can also have a cost value attached to them if you end up having to redo. For example, since you don't have a specific list of perennials, it could be something as common as canna lily or something a little more precious like a long-lived peony. Since you still want a garden there, just smaller, I think you can take this season to identify the plants and weeds coming up. For the weeds, take them out when you can. For the small trees, take them out also if you don't want them to be bigger. For the perennials, when you identify one you don't want, take it out. If it is something someone else might want, feel free to ask people if they do. For the remaining perennials in the section that you don't want, see if other people want them. For the perennials that you do end up wanting, but just need them relocated, then determine how you might arrange them in your smaller plot. Another reason to wait is that as the plant comes up, you can actually pull it out, now that you know where it is. If you still want to take them out without waiting this season, but still want to grow this season, then I think you can start digging and anything that is not dirt, put in a pile. You may have to dig as deep as 6-8" depending on the type of perennials you have.
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Kate, It's good to see you back here posting again. Congrats on going from 0 to 2. Your life must feel full of miracles and blessings. Just do the best you can do in the time you have. Your children will remember the fun of planting, caring for the garden and harvesting it (and eating the edible things) more than they're remember whether or not it was weed-free or whatever. Rototill or dig out the weeds and grass as well as you can, plant, mulch and move on. There is no requirement that any garden be weed-free and look perfect. Sadly the same conditions that grow beautiful garden plants will attract invasive grasses and weeds, and that's going to be a constant struggle. Thick mulch helps, but if y'all happen to have venomous snakes around, maybe go light on the mulch or only use straw or something that rattlesnakes and copperheads cannot blend in with quite so well. You can do this. You're not a rookie. Just, please, please, please don't be too hard or yourself---I'd try to focus on the fun and the magic, and not let it bother me too much when weeds and grasses invade. I still get good enough yields and pretty enough flowers, even if crab grasses and lambs quarters keep popping up all around them. As a gardener, one of the hardest things to do is to let your garden and yourself be less than perfect, but I have found that less-than-perfect gardens still are happy gardens. My garden gets invaded by weedy things every year in July and August when it is too snakey for me to spend much time weeding....too snakey and too dangerous. I still get an awesome harvest. In the winter, I clean it all up and start all over with a fresh slate---that's one of my favorite things about gardening. Whatever wasn't to our liking about the previous year can be changed this year. Just enjoy the journey with the kids. It will be fun for them even if the garden is not up to your pre-children standards! Dawn
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Yep, there's room for quite a bit more soil! How much you might need to add is dependent on what you might want to grow - you need to match the soil depth to the type of plants and what they require rather than some nebulous video recommendations (and most of the gardening videos I see online are just cr*p anyway). Deep rooted crops - potatoes, carrots, parsnips, etc. - need deep loose soil conditions. Greens and radishes can take much shallower soils but most other veggies like a medium depth. I;d consider 8" a minimum....deeper is better :-) Ideally, raised bed soil should incorporate some of the inground soil - at least loosen it up sufficiently so that deeper root plants can access easily without stunting growth. Raised bed or garden planting soil that you can purchase bagged will work, but bulk soil will be significantly cheaper if you can get it. I'd also consider adding a bag or two of compost or composted manure to get the soil biology working actively. And be sure to clear out everything before mixing in new soil or planting anything, otherwise you will be dealing with weeds in those beds from now on. I would do so manually rather than smothering as a) it is much faster; b) more thorough; and c) you will be able to loosen the underlying soil as well. Wet the bed throughly first - it will make the grubbing out of weeds and grasses much easier.
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ginibee
16 years ago
So glad your rose was not giving up and blooming for you. I'm another neglectful gardener due to unforeseen events, however I am trying to get some order back to the weed beds. My butterfly garden looks like just a patch of weeds now, but I envision it being beautiful again next year. Keeping my fingers crossed the weeds won't kill the plants first.

Good luck and happy gardening.

Ginny

Ginny
manature
16 years ago
Saintpfl, I love Meerkat Manor, though I haven't watched it lately. I had seen so many episodes, I was getting into repeats. I also got upset a few times when bad things happened...like the babies being drug out into the sun and left to die. Arrrrrgggghhhh. I think they are the most adorable and interesting little guys! They had a wonderful meerkat exhibit at the San Deigo Zoo, and I just fell in love with them. They are just as cute and inquisitive and alert in real life as they look on Meerkat Manor.

I'm glad I'm not the only one with a really bad looking garden right now. It somehow makes me feel better to know I have company!

Marcia
SaintPFLA
16 years ago
Marcia - the new episodes have begun a few weeks ago. The Whisker family is kinda falling apart lately.

Yes, I would be the 'scientist' who runs out to the field to save the dying Meerkat....then, they would boot me off the project.
manature
16 years ago
Oh, me too. As much as I fully understand and believe in nature taking care of itself, and knowing all about prey and predators and what not...I have watched so many shows on Animal Planet where I would shout, "No, no, NOOOOOOOO!" at the tv screen. I always tell Mark, if I were the person filming, I would be throwing the camera down in the dirt/marsh/lake/jungle and racing in to save the cornered prey. During the show, I'm yelling like a football fan, "Run FASTER, little gazelle...FASTER!!!" Or, "NOOOO, don't stop to drink THERE! Don't you see that 15 foot crocodile???"

I watch them, anyway, and I do enjoy them, and understand that crocs gotta eat, and a meerkat's gotta do what a meerkat's gotta do. But sometimes I don't like it!

You know, the same adventures play out in our gardens on a daily basis, even if on a smaller scale. And usually, I'm fine with it. It's the way it's meant to be. That's one more reason I love my garden. It's just a little bit of the Wild Kingdom in my own backyard.

And in one way, we are a long way away from the start of this post, about finding hidden treasures in your overgrown flowerbeds...but in another way, we aren't. It's all part and parcel, and sometimes the hidden treasure is the meerkat colony! ;o)

Marcia
wanna_run_faster
16 years ago
You all are good! I think the last time I weeded was in the spring! I can't imagine what I'm going to find! LOL
FlowerLady6
16 years ago
What a treat to find a neglected, growing rose bush.

This was the first summer I really didn't feel like getting out and working in the gardens. The drought was depressing and being cut back to watering one day a week didn't help matters any. The heat and humidity make me feel awful, and that weeds sprouted. Not that I don't have weeds anyway, they are just worse after this summer. Now that the weather is cooling a tad, I lookf forward to working outdoors again.

FlowerLady
manature
16 years ago
I'm with you, FlowerLady...by August, I just gave up. I couldn't take it, and I was afraid Mark would come home and find me lying dead, pruning shears clutched in my hand, and fire ants dining out on my excess 60 pounds! ACK!!

The weeds waited just fine. I can take care of them now, bit by bit, day by day. (Kind of like my housework, which I can't blame on the heat, even!)

And today, *I* discovered a treasure! My two-spot salvia (can't think of the Latin name) was still doing fine, completely hidden under weeds, and blooming away. What a lovely blue it is. Now I can't wait to pull the rest of the weeds and see what else might be lurking.

Marcia

Marcia

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