Complete newbie here need info on morning glor&veges

15 years ago

Hello,

I live in St. Paul (55102) and have a sunny small yard. When I moved in last July there were morning glories growing. In the fall I picked some of the seeds off and put them away; now what? Should I put them in the ground or start them inside...and when can they go outside? Also, should I have left all the dried vines and seeds on the fence to drop on their own?

Second question: I have a HORRIBLE yard...it is filled with very little dirt and mostly GRAVEL; the person who lived here before wanted to park his car in the yard so he put in gravel that is about 1/2 inch in diameter or so. I would love to plant some vegies but what do I do??? I have 2 raised boxes (70x30inches). Can I put soil in them and plant or should I dig up all the gravel and put soil down? How do I know what kind of soil to use?

Sorry for all the questions but like I said I am 100% new to planting outside as this is the first time I have ever had a yard. Is there a good website where I can go to find lots of general info?

Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!!

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (3)

mnwsgal
15 years ago
Depending on the type of morning glory that you had you may have volunteer plants growing from the seed that fell on the ground. I clean up the old vines and seeds in the fall to prevent lots of self seeding. Morning glories can be direct sown in the ground in early to mid-May or you can start them indoors now to be planted out after the last frost (Mid May for MN though many wait until the end of May).

I grow vegetables in raised beds as well as in the ground. How deep are your raised boxes? If I remember right Mel Bartholomew suggests 6" of good soil works well for square foot gardening. You can search "raised beds" to find more info. Go to the bottom of the discussion page and find the search box then put raised beds in the box and hit go.
0
kaptainkr
15 years ago
I don't have any insight for you re: morning glories but for the raised beds I would suggest you check out the "square foot gardening" forum and FAQ. Basically, it's a form of intensive, raised bed gardening where you create growing medium out of vermiculite, compost and peat moss. You then devote a certain amount of space in the bed, depending on the plant. There is also a book that's quite popular. Some people follow the method exactly, while others use it as a guide. Personally, I follow it closely, except for growing tomatoes. I started doing this last year and have been happy with the results.

Here is a link that might be useful: Square foot gardening forum
0
Related Discussions
Complete Newbie, looking for reassurances
Q
Comments (10)
I agree with bpgreen, but I have some other comments and a question. I'll start with the question. If you still have the seed bag, could you copy and post the Guaranteed Analysis here? It might suggest some issues you can either expect to see or not expect. It should list the seed varieties, Other Crop, and Weed percentages. One more question, are you interested in having the best lawn on the block? It is not any harder than having one of the mediocre lawns on the block. The 1-2-3 steps that bpgreen suggested above are the same for either one. The only difference is seed variety and quality. This would suggest that you do a complete renovation in the fall. That's not that hard to do, so I'm just asking. You have made a mistake by seeding this late in the spring. One problem is that your lawn is full of bare spots that contain crabgrass seed. When you start to water as bpgreen suggests to sprout your KBG seed, you will also be sprouting the crabgrass seed. The worst thing that will happen is that instead of getting a bluegrass lawn, you will have a full coverage crabgrass lawn. Unless you are fanatic about it, don't worry. Crabgrass only lives until fall no matter what you do or don't do. If you want to renovate in the fall, all that goes away anyway. The other reason late spring is not good for reseeding is the new grass will have roots that are too tender to withstand the summer heat. If the crabgrass did not get you this month, it will be there waiting in July when the new KBG is suffering. My strong preference for an above the ground sprinkler is an oscillator type. Maybe you have read that they waste water. Unless you live where it is very windy, the oscillator will provide a much more even coverage than the impact you have now. In SD the impact might be the only choice. I also like Craftsman heavy duty hoses because they don't kink and carry a lifetime, no questions asked, no receipt needed, guarantee. NEVER bag your grass clippings. Always mulch mow. Think of the grass clippings as fertilizer applied all season long. If you mow high on a weekly basis, you will never be cutting more than a small fraction of the grass height off at any one time. These clippings fall neatly into the grass and decompose. Here is a little photographic motivation for you. These are all Kentucky bluegrass lawns, mowed high, and watered deeply and infrequently. They are all maintained with organic fertilizer and use no herbicides.
...See More
Need So Cal Bromeliad info please - newby
Q
Comments (6)
I can't tell you "the best" bromeliad, but I have lots of broms in similar situations, and the neoregelias and aechmeas are very happy under those circumstances. These plants qualify as easy, for sure. I'm not an expert, only having grown them for a couple of years, but I expect all the mother plants to eventually fade after blooming while pups emerge. So far I haven't separated them, I'm just letting them form clumps. Most of mine are in pots set into deep mulch, but I have a few directly in the ground. But be aware the "ground" should be mostly orchid bark, fast-draining soil mix, maybe some gravel, I've had a few begin to rot from sitting in wet clay, not a good thing. Some of mine have produced pups like crazy, others are still singles growing larger, no bloom, no pups. The variety of shapes and colors is thrilling. Just for the record, I've been unlucky with guzmanias, and the vriesias prefer shade. I have a couple of billbergias, but haven't had them long enough to comment. Mine get sprayed several days a week, and I flush out the center cups thoroughly once a week. I don't fertilize, but if you do, make it very very light strength, and only mist, don't put it in the center cup. You're going to love your bromeliads.
...See More
Newbie here! Need help in indoor vines.
Q
Comments (3)
Hi & welcome to Gardenweb! It will be hard to find a Clematis for sale until it's naturally time to put them in the ground outside, so that may make your decision for you. Generally, it's harder, and the results are less positive, to try to cheat by getting outdoor perennials going sooner because they are exposed to unnatural conditions, or at least unnaturally-timed conditions. The starting indoors to get a head-start thing is usually for annual plants that may not have time to complete their cycle if started from seed outside later, or who's blooming cycle can be greatly extended by doing so. Most Clematis don't bloom all summer, many bloom only once for a few weeks. Causing one to start blooming sooner than it would outside likely won't cause it to bloom for a longer period, but could get you another flush of later blooms on some. Good point above about the roots of Clematis preferring to stay cool. A morning glory or moonflower vine might benefit much more from being started inside early, happy in a pot as long as it's a big one. That kind of vine will continue blooming indefinitely, until it gets too cold. A Mandevilla would also be OK with being in a hot pot, and bloom for a long time. There are house plant vines you could enjoy inside all year, if that appeals to you.
...See More
Newbie here, water softener issues (amongst others!)
Q
Comments (1)
I'm sorry it's taken so long to answer, but to be quite frank, you post was difficult to read as it appears to be one giant paragraph. Okay, what is the brand/model of your softener? What size is it? What is the hardness of your water in the following 3 places: 1) Before any treatment, 2) After neutralizer, 3) After softener? You could have something wrong with the softener valve or it could be something as simple as a plugged brine draw orifice. Any further trouble shooting will required answers to the questions above.
...See More
duluthinbloomz4
15 years ago
Gravel is always somebody's "good idea" that turns into someone else's nightmare.

How big a gravel area do you have? Is it an area you want to reclaim and plant something (even grass) in? I don't do vegetable gardening, but would probably leave that to the raised boxes, at least for now, if I did since gravel would be pretty tough on them. And burying gravel under a load of top soil or amendments will only find them resurfacing with the typical Minnesota frost and heave cycles. I still get surfacing glacial rock from the last Ice Age - and I just use my wheelbarrow and compost screener to sift them out.

Can you rake, dig, sift or otherwise remove the bulk of the gravel? If not, some things aren't bothered by it - shrubs, many perennials, etc. - if you dig holes, pushing the gravel aside and plant in the dirt below. That might not be satisfactory if it doesn't create the look you want.

Even up here I get morning glory volunteers, so chances are good you'll find some too. I have direct sowed after the safe date of Memorial Day (probably a little earlier in the Cities) - nicked the seed coats and soaked them in water for a few hours or overnight to speed up germination.
0

Complete newbie here need info on morning glor&veges

Comments (3)

mnwsgal

kaptainkr

Related Discussions

duluthinbloomz4

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US