Concerning lawns, gardens, etc.

[NeedleinA]

On 6/24/2016 at 4:41 AM, LiterateParakeet said:

Ornamental onions are really cool looking. 

There are some really beautiful ornate cabbages too. Well, I've always seen the temple grounds looking beautiful across the world, so hats off to your hubby for his part in it!

Edited June 26, 2016 by NeedleinA

[Backroads]

On 6/24/2016 at 3:41 AM, LiterateParakeet said:

Backroads, I don't garden - at all, but my husband is a Master Gardner, and he is on the Grounds Maintenance crew at our local temple.  One thing I was fascinated to learn from him is how they sometimes use vegetables to decorate the temple.  Ornamental onions are really cool looking.  I can't remember the others off the top of my head (remember I don't garden) but if you want I can ask him.  

I'm curious now!

 

 

Today I lost a battle over clover. Husband got to pull up my patch.

[Guest]

@Backroads,

What kind of soil do you have?

[Backroads]

We actually sent in for an official analysis but it is on the sandy side... the nature of my city.

[Guest]

2 hours ago, Backroads said:

We actually sent in for an official analysis but it is on the sandy side... the nature of my city.

Cool.  What do you want to plant and where?  (front yard, backyard, etc.)

[Backroads]

3 hours ago, Carborendum said:

Cool.  What do you want to plant and where?  (front yard, backyard, etc.)

Ooh! Insta-help.

First, the front yard. Right now it's grass. I did get my secondary water back and despite my parents' tears and moans we would like to do something besides grass up there. Prior owners had made a little bed with a Japanese maple and some woodchips with weeds and grass infiltrating it... we ripped up the landscaping cloth and it's slowly but surely turning into a bed of local plants we steal (with permission and more than a little insistence) from my MiL, who in turn steals them from the hills.

Backyard. We have a garden where the prior owners parked the RV. This is the second year of the garden. The first year we were just dumping out compost stuff here. As a result, we're extremely happy with the current soil of the garden. I want to make the backyard kid-friendly with something besides just grass... not sure what that would be.

[Guest]

14 hours ago, Backroads said:

Ooh! Insta-help.

One is glad to be of service.

First, the front yard. Right now it's grass. I did get my secondary water back and despite my parents' tears and moans we would like to do something besides grass up there

Look online for sources of "microclover" or "miniclover".  This doesn't grow nearly as tall as grasses do (less mowing).  They choke out weeds because it has such a dense root structure.  It nourishes the soil.  It is softer on the skin than most grasses (for lying down or playing on).  I highly recommend it.

Prior owners had made a little bed with a Japanese maple and some woodchips with weeds and grass infiltrating it... we ripped up the landscaping cloth and it's slowly but surely turning into a bed of local plants we steal (with permission and more than a little insistence) from my MiL, who in turn steals them from the hills.

What local plants?  Landscaping cloth is over-rated and over-priced anyway. But it can find a use if one understands what it actually does and how to use it.  Let me know if you have a need to look at it.

Backyard. We have a garden where the prior owners parked the RV. This is the second year of the garden. The first year we were just dumping out compost stuff here. As a result, we're extremely happy with the current soil of the garden. I want to make the backyard kid-friendly with something besides just grass... not sure what that would be.

If you're growing herbs and vegetables in the garden, you need to be very careful of planting clover near it.  This would be a good place to have a filter fabric.

1. Get a good weight fabric
2. Dig out a good depth (12 to 18 inches depending on what you want to grow) of soil.  
3. Lay down two layers of the fabric (try to get the edges to go vertical (see step 5 below).
4. Fill in with soil.  It appears that your composted soil is working wonderfully.  Keep going with that.
5. Gently compact the soil as you go.  If your compost includes lots of plant fibers, you can compact more vigorously.  Feel free to add sawdust and small wood chips to the mix -- especially if you have acid loving plants.
6. Insert landscape edging around the border of the garden area between the two layers of fabric.  Then you can trim back the cloth an inch or so below grade so you don't have to see it.

With this in-ground box design, you should be able to plant clover in your yard and be ok while still getting the nourishing benefits of the clover.  You'll still get some clover that the wind has planted in your garden area.  But with the fabric in place, it should be easy to pull it out.  You just need to catch it when it's small or else the weeds will go ALL over the "planter box".

If you want to keep the maple, remember that it produces juglone which tends to kill all other vegetation within the root zone.  Most people who desire the maple for its aesthetics place rock or other non-living surfacing under the tree's canopy.

 

[Backroads]

On 6/28/2016 at 6:39 AM, Carborendum said:

What local plants?

Currently, Bee balm, butterfly weed, honeysuckle, and aspen daisies.

[Guest]

OK.  I'm afraid I don't know too much about those.  Root depth, expected height and diameter?  Water requirements?  Acid/base/neutral?

[Backroads]

2 hours ago, Carborendum said:

OK.  I'm afraid I don't know too much about those.  Root depth, expected height and diameter?  Water requirements?  Acid/base/neutral?

You know, I really don't know! My MiL just gathered up from the hills behind her home and put them in her garden a few years ago. She gave me some of them with the recommendation I will barely have to pay attention to them. I'm still observing them to see what they do. But, yeah, they're just doing their thing.

[Guest]

26 minutes ago, Backroads said:

You know, I really don't know! My MiL just gathered up from the hills behind her home and put them in her garden a few years ago. She gave me some of them with the recommendation I will barely have to pay attention to them. I'm still observing them to see what they do. But, yeah, they're just doing their thing.

If you're saying that these plants grow wild without any care anyway, then SCORE!!!  Just plant 'em and forget about 'em.  It's just that it is very uncommon for people to actually LIKE the plants that naturally grow wild.  We usually call them 'weeds'.

Edited June 29, 2016 by Guest