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New England Gardening

What happened in your garden this week, June 12th?

16 years ago

Nothing.... in between the one gorgeous day where I was working non stop without even taking the time to stroll, and the rainy days, and the week end away, nothing got done in the garden, not even mowing. That will have to happen in small installments on dry evenings this week!

The garden needs a bit of pruning, a medium amount of weeding, and a large amount of mowing!

What happened in your garden this week?

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Belle Isis

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Comments (7)

diggingthedirt
16 years ago
Not much here either. This is the time of year when I walk around the yard with a load of plants and try to find a spot where I can stuff one more. It's not a very rewarding or creative way to plant, but that's just the way it is!

Most of the pots are planted, most of the vegetables, and most of the annuals too. Now about these young trees ...
drippy
16 years ago
Mowing, weeding, planting out endless wintersown containers, and (primarily) ditch digging to alleviate some of the drainage problem around here.
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Took down all of the burlap structures around my new little evergreen shrubs. The tops had come off a week or two ago. Pulled mulch away from the bearded irises so their rhizomes could get some sun. Raked oak leaves off some of the beds and added wood chips where needed. It's so dry that I raised dust clouds with the leaves. I keep checking the weather map online to see if the rain will bless us. Cut down the old growth from the Helictotrichons (blue oat grass) because they've started to show some growth. Left the old growth up for the various Miscanthus which aren't doing anything yet, just so there's something to look at. Moved some wintersown seed containers out of the little unheated greenhouse and put them back on the porch. It was getting too hot in there when the sun was out (I moved them into the greenhouse temporarily when serious wind was imminent, but I left them there being rather lazy). Sowed a few more seeds but put them indoors (not hardy). Put up a new birdhouse. No takers yet. Washed windows, the better to see the garden and the birds. Dragged some deck furniture out so I can have lunch outside on the deck. Not warm enough for breakfast yet. Checked for peepers, finally heard the first song on March 29. Claire
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Lynn, my sister tells me that being a grandmother is "her best role yet". Sigh - I'll probably be too old to appreciate it by the time my kids get around to having children.... But, to the topic! I am weeding, planting out wintersown babies in baskets, mostly, but I have started in the yard as well, figuring that we are probably not going to be able to do the big drainage/landscaping project this year. I'm just hoping plants can be dug up and moved if we change our minds, because we will surely have to move a lot of them! I planted a pumpkin seedling in a large container today - big experiment - I am trying to beat off the squash borers; evil beings that get my squashes & pumpkins every year (and I'm too stubborn to quit planting). Since I've tried 3 different places in 3 years, I figure they're pretty much in the ground in my yard, therefore, the pot. I will cover this baby with remay & hand pollinate if I have to. Mowing will be happening tomorrow, weather permitting. I mowed once this season, and it was horrendous, the "lawn" (I grow way more weeds in it than grass)was ridiculously long. Now it seems that way again, even though it's only been a week - or so - since I mowed it. After my piano recital this past Sunday, my schedule has lightened up a lot, so I'll have more time to work in the garden.
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Belle, hope you're enjoying Pisa. We spent some time there a couple of years ago and I was surprised at how much I enjoyed it. Away from the tower, there were few tourists and the city was very nice - I think I liked it better than Florence, because it was quieter and felt more "real". I meant to go around with a pen and paper and make a list, but ... you know how it is. Too many weeds to pull. So, from memory, I've got Shrubs and vines: fairy, new dawn and bonica roses, slender deutzia, various clematis. Most of the Hydrangea - Annabelle, I think, it's got huge white flowers and pale green leaves, is in full swing, Preziosa and the blue mopheads are just barely showing color, except Endless Summer which has been going for a week or more. A big old kousa volunteer has really earned its keep this month - it's beautiful. Oh, yeah, Mountain Laurel is almost done but still looks good, along with Nandina, which blooms for a really long time. Perennials, bulbs and subshrubs: loads of lavender, hardy salvia (a volunteer, unknown variety), a wonderful pink snapdragon that wintered over, shasta daisies and some "wild" daisies too, several types of thyme, black-eyed susan, lance-leaf corepsis, peach-leaf bellflower, tunica, soapwort, various dianthus, many kinds of tender salvia, hosta, balloon flower, allium (several varieties, including a smallish, pure blue that's new to me this year). Red valerian, good old hellebores, and various daylilies. Low nepeta is still going, along with several low-growing types of campanula. Oh, yes, foxglove is everywhere, and so is rose campion! Queen of the Prairie is just starting to bloom - that is about it for flowers. Sounds like a lot; if I could just get it all organized it might actually look like a garden. Patty, you can also tell a lot about the kind of gardener each of us is. I've got a lot of plants that most people would not allow in their yards - wild things that pop up all over the place. I'm just a sucker for anything that blooms well.
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weeded, got bit by skeeters, ignored the scary tall grass, got bit by skeeters, put some more dirt/compost on the taters, got threeee big packages of seeeeeds in the mail, took the squirrel barrier screens off the beets & carrots & parsnips because they're getting big enough to fight back, got bit by skeeters, fluffed the compost & used some of it as mulch, planted some coral bell cuttings mom sent, got bit by skeeters, trimmed some of the delphiniums because the wind finished them off & they just might be convinced to bloom again, installed a delightful copper trellis & planted a climbing peace rose, gathered anemone sylvestris seed, said 'hi' to new nasturtium & hollyhock & spider flowers, marveled again & again at the loveliness of cerinthe 'pride of gibraltar,' picked & ate some peas, got bit by skeeters, compiled a $250 martagon lily/heirloom dahlia order online with old house gardens & erased it before i did anything that rash (this whim will be revisited this weekend), patted myself on the back again about the fabulousness & lushness of this year's window boxes, planted some more greens, checked the weather report about every 2 hours ...
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barefootinct
16 years ago
Trimmed, pruned, weeded, deadheaded, mowed and FINALLY started mulching. That is one chore I always put off...don't know why because when it is done everything just has an extra spit-and-polish look to it.

Also, I thought I was done planting but this morning the thought came to me that I must have a knock-out rose. Don't know why. I have been afraid to try roses and yet everything I read says these are the way to go for the rose-phobics. Anyway, I thought a couple blush knock-outs would like nice near my daughter's garden path soooooo I went to HD and bought two. All I can say is that it is a form of insanity. So, now I have two more things to plant.

Patty
diggerdee zone 6 CT
16 years ago
More of the same as last week - building some raised beds, (and all the lugging of buckets of soil that goes with that), planting out winter-sown containers, weeding. I put up my tomato cages, put up the netting on part of my cutting garden, and mulched parts of the vegetable and cutting gardens.

I'm a bit overwhelmed because it seems like there's no end in sight. I thought for sure that this would be the year I'd have everything planted out and done by May! Oh well, I guess that's the great thing about gardening - there's always next year!

:)
Dee
mayalena
16 years ago
Weeding, planting out winter-sown babies, swap babies, and Bluestone babies. At Stonegate, found a few more azaleas I must have. Want to putting them in a wilder spot in the yard -- "virgin clay" -- needs lots of sifting out of rocks and amending before I can put anything in. I am hoping to get them in by end of June. Also, trying to clear perennials from under a magnolia. It (only 1 out of 3) is underplanted and seems to be struggling. Ironic that I've just begged, borrowed and stolen lots of tiarella to underplant the other 2. Rethinking that. Any experience with magnolias out there?
Sue W (CT zone 6a)
16 years ago
My husband finally finished the bluestone patio in our new hot tub area...yay! Now I have to rework some of my brick edging in that garden and shuffle some plants around to soften the patio edge. Then I'll add some containers and wall decor on the new fence and side of the house. A trip to Homegoods may be in my future. I've decided to remove the weeping cherry. It's taking up too much room and has developed a rather unattractive form-not worth the space for maybe two weeks of flowers in the spring. In it's place, maybe a japanese maple or a conifer like that Korean fir 'Horstmans Silberlocke' I've been lusting after for years in Monique's garden.

Earlier this week I picked up a bunch of tomato cages. This will be the year I venture into vegetables, cherry and grape tomatoes in pots on the patio. I also plan to modify the cages for dahlias-maybe keep them somewhat upright this year. Usually I have all my containers done by now but I'm still plugging along.

A few intense hours of shoveling and dashing around with a wheelbarrow last night made a nice dent in the compost pile. Like Patty, I always put off mulching. Usually it's because I just want to find one or two more plants to put in the ground. A few years ago I discovered this really nice fine chipped pine bark mulch. It's great for perennial beds because it stays loose and breaks down the soil quickly. Unfortunately it only comes in 3 cubic foot bags. Yesterday I picked up the first of what will probably be a few loads of 10 bags. For the wilder areas and shrub borders I'll get a truckload of shredded bark...as soon as I get rid of that compost.

Tomorrow Mindy (arbo retum) and her husband are stopping by for a garden visit and then out to dinner in Hartford. Never a dull moment when it comes to the garden and garden related activities lately.

Sie
triciae
16 years ago
mayalena, I've always thought that magnolias didn't like to have their roots disturbed & it was best not to underplant them. That said, in our NH home...I had scilla, Virginia bluebells, & celedine poppies seed under my star magnolia. I left them & never noticed any decline in the tree. I never dug any holes though to actually plant something...all were self-seeders.

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