Finally, A LOT!

We've been doing construction, and there has been a messy area that is due for a new garden. I managed to convince the guy with the bobcat to move a huge (1000 lb+) old stone with a carving out of the top (for a birdbath) into location. This inspired me to get started, so we tilled the whole area, added about 1000 lbs. of compost (wish it was more), planted the evergreens I wanted in there, and started transplanting some divisions of perennials into the area. I also laid out a riverstone walkway through the garden. Seemed great. Then I realized that there had been a lot of crabgrass in the area, and we totally failed to dig it out or roundup it. Just tilled it in. So now I am looking forward to a lovely grassy garden next spring! Duh!

Otherwise, weeding, but mostly...actually enjoying the garden. We've had great weather for hanging out. I did start cleaning some pots, and I can't wait for the bulb orders to arrive!

Still spreading those coffee grounds, lol!

Yes, I'm still building lasagna beds (and probably will be for the next two months at least, as I've just got to make more room for my next season's cutting gardens.) I just found another source of coffee grounds, so hopefully things will move along a bit faster.

I pulled out some spent vegetable plants, emptied out and cleaned up a bunch of pots, and I made a pretty good dent in emptying out and recycling my plastic milk cartons from last year's winter sowing - about time, huh, lol? Only about 50 more to go!

Planted a few things from my latest Bluestone order, and potted up some stuff for the local swap next week.

Belle, I'm doing the same as you - not taking advantage of the weather to get things done! I've been under the weather due to allergies, and I keep telling myself it's better to do it now feeling lousy and in good weather, because sure as sugar I'll be out there in a few weeks in cold weather doing stuff, wishing I had done it now, while the weather is nice. I can't seem to convince myself though...

:)
Dee

IT FINALLY RAINED YESTERDAY!!! We've had just 2.75 inches since 7/1 and I could put in a whole new bed with the $$ spent on water for establishing:-) Other than doing rain dances and lighting candles for the Autumnal Equinox (anything to help) I've:

Resited hostas
Started mulching up the roses
Took cuttings of herbs for sticking and drying
Dug out stray, conspicuous dandelions and bugleweed - practically needed a jackhammer
Put in trellises for some climbing roses
Did more rain dances
Did "final" (yeah, right :-) plan for bones-in-progress, mostly paths and a low stone wall
Took inventory of what I have where

A very busy week/end. Grateful for the weather and to have ground to dig.

Martie

Put in another small path. This one is about 4 x 4, and directly off the main brick path to the back door. It's about 1/3 walkway brick and 2/3 cut bluestone from the front porch redo. Since the lawn slopes there, I also had to build a small retaining wall. By my standards, this was a serious wall. It's dug out at the bottom and everything. Usually, they are just glorified rock piles, but this one had to be nicer because it's almost part of the house.

Now I have 4 buckets of leftover dirt to deal with. DH wants them for the raised vegetable beds, but can't do anything with them until frost.

Saturday we went to the Saugerties garlic festival. I was sick, so just sort of followed along. I don't even know what we came home with except for some enormous shallots. Cooperative Extension sells ornamental alliums there, but this year it was a repeat - Gladiator.

Lessee, in the last two weeks....

Ordered a ton of bulbs from a couple different places.

We have grapes. LOTS!

Both green and purple, more purple than green. It looks like one of the vines on the big arbor is green, everything else on the big arbor and on the little arbor is purple.

We made purple grape jelly and green grape jelly. Fun fun.

Started preparing the bed for the bulbs we ordered. We layed out the beds, dumped 14 (!) bags of dehydrated cow manure, and 2 huge bags of peat moss on them. We rented a tiller, tilled that all in, and put in the two hibiscus bushes we bought for either side of the driveway entrance. HereÂs a shot after the manure and peat was spread:

Also, bought timerelease fertilizer capsules and a little pushcart spreader. Note: do *not* try to use the spreader as a wheelbarrow. I tossed the bag of fertlilizer in it to push it to the barn, but the little twirly thing tore up the bag and got twisted. Stupid me!

Also bought 24 Fritillaria Uva Vulpis bulbs and put them in sort of in front of and between the new lilac bushes. ThatÂll be cool next spring.

And picked up 4 asters (nicely blooming) and 5 iris bulbs at the nursery coz, well, they were thereÂ.

Started making a rock garden to the left of the garden shed entrance. Lots of rocks. Planted
Sedum spurium "Fulda Glow"
Phlox subulata "Snowflake"
Phlox subulata "Fort Hill"
Nemesia fruticans "Compact Innocence"
Hens Ân chicks

And lastly, we were woken up at 4AM this morning by a very loud noise. When day dawned, this is what we found:

We're having a tree inspector out this week to make sure the other pines, closer to the house, wont do that as well....

Need you ambitious types here! I didn't do much this week; a little moving around in the front garden. It was enough to make my back mildly cranky - getting old is not for sissies!

A kindred soul! Carolan, I did the same thing in a (fortunately) small area but didn't realize it until very healthy grass started to come up!!

Here was my solution: instead of using roundup or killing yourself trying to pull crabgrass through stone, use boiling hot water poured over the very first signs of any crabgrass coming through. Learned this trick from a very wise grandmother who de-weeded her paths this way long before chemicals ... Yes, cook the baby weeds and they don't come back. This also works when pulled shrubs have left some roots that start new growth. It's free and effective!

Martie

Martie,
thanks and great tip. i'm being a little thick here, but can you explain how you safely get the boiling hot water into the garden? do you bring a tea kettle out? thanks!

Exactly. I usually have two going in rotation so one is getting to boil while the other is being slowly poured, just a little at a time to avoid runoff. In my case, the area was far away from the kitchen, so we moved the gas grill to near the garden and used that for a heat source.

The ONLY worry is also taking out the good organisms in the soil, but my feeling is that for cracks in the driveway, or paths, etc., it doesn't matter what the soil is like underneath. It also beats the heck out of using chemicals. Within a day or so, those weeds are toast.

I've used the same method on poison ivy, wearing a mask to avoid inhaling any steam from the plants.

Yes, it sounds absurd, but it works.

Martie