Garden recommendations for New Orleans in the fall
Rosefolly
9 years ago
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Buford_NE_GA_7A
9 years agoRelated Discussions
New Orleans Garden Art - Little houses
Comments (8)What cool little houses. They capture the flavor of New Orleans so well. I only visited once, but we spent a week there, visiting my sister at Tulane. That was back in the 1980s. (Tragic about the double hit of Katrina and now the BP oil disaster.) Do you know what these mini houses are made from Kathy? If you do create some NH style houses I'd love to see photos!...See MoreNew balcony fall vegetable garden
Comments (9)First, in case you didn't know there is a Balcony Gardening forum here http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/balcony that could be really helpful to you as it is a very different form of gardening. Then, since you will be using containers, also be sure to check out the Container Gardening forum here http://forums2.gardenweb.com/forums/contain as that too is a very different form of gardening with different requirements. While I agree that gardening is trial and error activity in part you can save you self a lot of time and effort by first learning from others and so avoiding all the common errors new gardeners make. With balconies two biggies come to mind -(1) not nearly enough sun exposure due to the roof or floor above. South facing is often not enough. And (2) sometimes severe water draining problems for those who live below you every time you water. Since containers have to drain well that water has to go somewhere. So be sure to thoroughly explore those issues upfront. Then with containers the common mistakes are (1) using containers that are too small and/or too shallow. (2) filling those containers with dirt rather than a quality soil-less potting mix and that creates all sorts of problems. The potting mix is expensive so starting out with just a couple of containers instead of umpteen of them not only let's you learn as you go but also saves you a lot of wasted money. And (3) not understanding the very different feeding and watering regimens required for successful container gardening. So with your proposal I see a couple of issues. First, snowpeas as a container crop - take lots of room for minimal production and the trellis will shade the other plants so I'd suggest sipping them. Plus they have very different nutrient needs than broccoli and spinach. Put the broccoli and spinach in the same container as they are high nitrogen users and peas won't tolerate high nitrogen. Second, both basil and dill will need a much bigger container than 1 gallon. They are very tall plants with big root balls. Third, as already mentioned I think there are much less expensive and better functional containers available than the ones you have linked. Not that i am recommending them but for the price of 1 of your linked boxes you could buy 5 of these and have almost 3x the planting space. http://www.homedepot.com/p/Unbranded-15-in-x-7-99-in-Plastic-Leonardo-Black-Bronze-Window-Box-WB100F-BB/203621275 Just some thoughts to consider. Enjoy your planning. Dave...See MoreNew Orleans rose gardens, update (generals, noisettes, fairies...)
Comments (9)Virginia, by now I've posted the photos of about 20 roses from my weekend visit to Louis Armstrong Park on HMF. 7-8 of these are noisettes: Fewell's Noisette (4 photos), Tutta’s Pink Noisette (2 photos), Mary Washington, Haynesville Pink Cluster (2 photos), La Nymphe, Mrs. Wood's Lavender-Pink Noisette, Multiflore de Vaumarcus. I noticed that someone with your name posted lovely photos for these and other noisettes. That must be you, I think! I only wish to be better at taking photographs and with something more 'sophisticated' than my iPhone. Hope you find these useful nonetheless. BTW, that Alliance Franco-Russe is indeed beautiful but, as I was taking a closeup photo, it lodged a huge thorn so deep into my shoulder that it required a very slow and careful plucking to remove it! It's absolutely beautiful, I must say, very floriferous, and not a large shrub, ideal for smaller gardens like mine, alas if it would be hardy enough. stillanntn, I had no idea that you are from New Orleans. I fell in love with this city ever since I first saw it some 20 or so years ago. Your old residence is in a gorgeous area! I hope there are still roses planted by that lady and next time I'll make sure to reserve some time to search for them. There is some possibility I'll come back to NO for a weekend again next spring (fingers crossed). Thank you very much for sharing your beautiful memories....See MoreStarting new raised bed garden in the fall
Comments (4)I will just add to the good advice nancyjane and gardengal have given. The beds you have built sound ideal and the amendments are good. But gardengal really nailed the best approach. This is not a container; you are not creating a soil medium from scratch. What you need is dirt, i.e., what is already there in the beds. You just want to dig it up and add amendments and mix it all together. But the actual dirt is the most critical ingredient - it has all the minerals and biology. The rest of the stuff is just to add organic matter and improve on your native soil and also work some air into the soil. I usually go 60% dirt and 40% amendments by volume. Dig down 1 to 1.5 feet and break up the soil. Add the amendments and then turn it in, mixing it all up. This is hard, sweaty, work. I am now getting up there in years, so for this phase I usually recruit some neighbor high school kids that would like to make some extra money to do the heavy digging for me. The amendments and the air will raise the soil level up 4 to 6 inches. That is perfect, because your 10" sides will accommodate that plus a thick layer of mulch on top. (We are coming up to the fall season - be sure to save and shred all your leaves because they make the perfect winter mulch.) Once things are dug in, you can plant. Carrots, lettuce, spinach, kale and brassicas can be grown from seed for the fall. Don't feel obligated to plant the whole thing. Use a part of it, and then when you get some leaves, heavily mulch the whole raised bed. That mulch will start to decompose over the winter giving you free compost by the time you are ready to plant things like tomatoes and corn next year. Another option is to plant a cover crop in unused portions of the beds - like hairy vetch and rye grass. Those will survive the winter, then you can cut them down and add them to the soil about a month before you need to plant next season. So there is lots of good news here. You have built a great raised bed, you have some good amendments ready, and you are going to be able to plant right away. And you will be able to take some of the stuff you purchased back and get cash! It doesn't get any better than that....See More
leonola
8 years agoRosefolly
8 years ago
plectrudis (Zone 8b Central TX)
8 years agoleonola
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PROLeigh Wilson Versaggi Architecture
8 years agoRosefolly
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8 years agoRosefolly
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