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The Kitchen Table

I rehabbed the shade garden today.

17 years ago

The garden was a mess, overgrown with oxalis and violets, some areas dry as a bone. I yanked out the bad stuff and planted a couple new things. It will look prettier when things grow up a bit more. Must remember to put out slug bait tonight.

{{!gwi}}

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Comments (21)

shellm
17 years ago
Very nice looking,great job.

Shelley
alisande
17 years ago
How pretty!! You did a good job.

I'm glad to see at least one Susan is making progress outdoors..... :-)
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mariend
17 years ago
Beatiful--still too wet too cold here, but weeds are showing up. Will try soon but expecting more cold wet weather in ND.
susan_on
17 years ago
That is just beautiful. Great job!!
Linda Wayman
17 years ago
That looks so nice. I worked on getting rid of weeds in my beds a couple of weeks ago and thought I did a pretty thorough job til we got a lot of rain the past few days. I noticed a few hundred more of them when I was out there today. :(
socks
Original Author
17 years ago
Thank you everyone. I can see out there from my kitchen window, and it's so nice.

I mulched heavily to keep out weeds.

I thought it was silly to have stepping stones to nowhere, but then I decided it's all about the journey not the destination! LOL! I do walk out there and inspect the garden, and it's a pleasant moment for me.
linda_in_iowa
17 years ago
Lookin' good.
shequit
17 years ago
I have not been on the web much in the last many months and low and behold I sign on tonight and see something which could really help me.
Socks, first of all, your garden looks wonderful. I, too, have lots of shade. Besides hosta, ferns and begonias, all of which I also use, what else is planted there? I am always curious about shade plants.
Also, Socks, what do you use for slug bait? I just transplanted about 50 hosta in the last two weeks and I noticed holes in some leaves today. For all of the effort, I would like to keep it looking good. Any info regarding the bait would be greatly appreciated.
Lindsey_CA
17 years ago
Oh, that looks so nice! And I really like those heart-shaped stepping stones, too. :-)
slimefrogmillionaire
17 years ago
ZEN!
I think you really have the path there if you keep on. Beautiful.
socks
Original Author
17 years ago
I love those stepping stones too, Lindsey. The previous homeowner left them. They were painted PINK, but the color has worn off over the years.

Thanks, Shequit. My plants are pretty routine, nothing unusual. There's a fuchsia--Gartenmeister Bonstedt on the left. It has a blue-green leaf and grows grows to about 5', but this winter I whacked it down to about 1', so it's just small now. There are some lilies which would really like more sun. There is an old schefflera house plant in a pot in the back which I plopped there years ago and the roots grew into the ground so I leave it. Impatiens of course. There are a couple old cyclamen there too. I love the begonia; think it's called dragonwing.

Some of the plants are looking a little stressed because I managed to step on almost every one while I was working! But we've got a spell of warm weather here and with the watering I did today, things should perk up.

I also put some violets in long ago, and along with the oxalis (that big shamrock stuff), they had overgrown everywhere, so most of that was pulled out.

I'm using one of the standard slug baits from the nursery, cannot remember the name. The main ingredient is something like metaldehyde. Boy do the slugs love hostas. When the box is finished I'll be switching to Sluggo as a safer product. I've used it before and found out it has to be put out about every week or 10 days diligently or the slugs take over.

Susan
Deb_from_Pa
17 years ago
ooh, love it! I have to find my hummingbird feeder today, and get out my beer for the slugs...TFS
jannie
17 years ago
Very nice job-can you come to my house next?
lynn_d
17 years ago
That looks so nice! What a good job you have done!
socks
Original Author
17 years ago
My legs hurt today! Owwwww!
stargazzer
17 years ago
Very nice, resembles my garden at the other home. I had so many trees, very little sun got in.
tammyms
17 years ago
You are so right about the slugs. They will gobble up your hostas overnight.

Your garden looks great! Love the stepping stones.
zeetera
17 years ago
That is GORGEOUS! I love the trees in the background. I have a little corner garden that has potential to be something like that but I wouldn't know where to start. Wished you lived nearby.
socks
Original Author
17 years ago
Zeetra, just start digging, working the soil and adding bags of soil amendment. You can work on it over a period of time, you don't have to do it all in one day or one weekend.

Water, put a little border, then get your plants. It's so much fun. This was a "dead" corner where no lawn would grow, so I made it into a flower bed.
ont_gal
17 years ago
for you Hosta ppl....keep your egg shells,crush them up,not too fine,and spread around under your hosta plants..that'll keep the slugs at bay
zeetera
17 years ago
I'll try. It may have to be a summer project. I had a raspberry tree in a pot and stuck it there and the roots grew into the ground, so I'll have to work around it. The area is smaller than yours but I want stepping stones so I'll try to find some small ones.

Thanks for the encouragement.

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