How Does Your Garden Grow?

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Count me in as another fan of gardening. šŸ˜ƒ I mostly have flowers, they do a good job of attracting the butterflies and humming birds though. And I do have a strawberry plant.

I also know all about annoying critters, although mine arenā€™t deer and bunnies. Here is a pic of one of my critters:

http://lh4.ggpht.com/_22yl9Xrdlf8/SbKKPidfF3I/AAAAAAAAHUs/yinc-x2oiS8/s400/DSCF7590.JPG

That is a baby javelina. They like to come up from the wash and wander through my apartment complex and eat stuff. Iā€™ve had to put all my plants up on shelves so they donā€™t get eaten. Good thing theyā€™re all pots. šŸ˜‰
 
KarenElissa said:
Count me in as another fan of gardening. šŸ˜ƒ I mostly have flowers, they do a good job of attracting the butterflies and humming birds though. And I do have a strawberry plant.

I also know all about annoying critters, although mine arenā€™t deer and bunnies. Here is a pic of one of my critters:

http://lh4.ggpht.com/_22yl9Xrdlf8/SbKKPidfF3I/AAAAAAAAHUs/yinc-x2oiS8/s400/DSCF7590.JPG

That is a baby javelina. They like to come up from the wash and wander through my apartment complex and eat stuff. Iā€™ve had to put all my plants up on shelves so they donā€™t get eaten. Good thing theyā€™re all pots. šŸ˜‰
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Okay, you winā€¦that is one of the ugliest animals I have ever seen!!
 
Aww, I think the poor little critter is cute. My husband keeps telling me my idea of cute is strange though šŸ˜Š
 
OMG- before I read your post I thought it was your pet potbelly pig!
 
gardenswithkids said:
Sounds like Tundramom grows venison in her garden. šŸ˜‰

Hungry deer will eat most any plant, but I hear hostas are some deer favorites. A gardener on tv recently mentioned they prefer green leaf first, then variagated and last the blue. (At least the deer near that yard anyway.)

Deer havenā€™t troubled my hostas, but I have them very close to the house, and I do some of the preventions to keep away deer from them (like dumping the clippings from the family haircuts in that garden.) I need to divide some hostas, and Iā€™m wondering if I should give away the extras to minimize the attraction to deer in my yard or set the extra hostas somewhere like your deer salad bar garden. Maybe that would lure them away from my vegetable garden. Are your deer content to stay at your hostas, or do they stray through the rest of your gardens devouring everything in sight?
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In my experience, hostas are the deersā€™ favorite food. Theyā€™ve chomped them down to the ground, and my hostas are right next to the house! The problem was largely due to overpopulation of the whitetailed deer in the area, and they ran out of food in the woods across the street, which is part of our Metroparks system. A few years ago they opened the woods to bow-hunting to thin the population and that seemed to have largely resolved the problem. That solution was far better than deer being hit by cars and trucks all the time. We would see dead deer almost daily on our road, and people were also being hurt.

My friendā€™s husband has another solution to his deer problem: he goes out at night and urinates around his garden:eek: He claims he no longer has a deer problem. That reminds me of the scene in ā€œDoc Hollywoodā€ where they run through the woods urinating to keep the deer out of the area where traps were set. Maybe you could put your husband to ā€œworkā€ around your hostas. You can call it ā€œorganic gardeningā€:D.
 
tundramom said:
No, they pretty much stay at the salad bar. LOL They donā€™t seem to want anything else once they fill up at the bar. šŸ‘

Steph
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Thanks for your answer. I finally divided some of those hostas (long overdue), and now I must decide if I should plant the extras somewhere near my new vegetable garden in attempt to lure the deer away from the veggies, or not. It might seem neighborly to give them to my neighbors, but if is draws all the neighborhood deer into their yards instead of mine, it may not be very nice. I donā€™t know if I want any more deer magnets in* my* yard.

I received these hostas originally from a gardener who has a terrible deer problem in her yard. I doubt she tried CB Cathā€™s suggestion above, but she eventually resorted to electric fences. Her garden is beautiful except for the wires :bigyikes:. Her yard is filled with deer favorites such as hostas & daylillies. I have a large variety of plant, but I include alot (like herbs) that deer arenā€™t fond of. Deer like to munch my fruit trees. And now perhaps this new vegetable gardenā€“which is near the fruit trees.

The extra hostas are drying out, so if I donā€™t decide soon theyā€™ll just go in the compost pile.šŸ¤· Seems a shame to waste them, but I donā€™t want to attract deer into my neighborhood. Let them find another salad bar! Then againā€¦maybe Iā€™ll go ahead and plant the deer salad barā€“if they stay there and donā€™t dine throughout the rest of my yard, it would be okay.
 
Black_Dog said:
I love gardening too, I have a small fairly steep south facing plot with amazing views of the Northumberland coast, Bamburgh castle and Holy Island. ā€¦
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I working in my gardens a lot today and kept thinking about this post. This seems like such a beautiful place to garden! I know the UK is known for great gardens, but the southern slope viewing the coast, sea and castles sounded like a fairy tale. I can only imagine how beautiful your garden must be.

Welcome to the Catholic Church! Planting ā€œNew Dawnā€ rose in honor of your entrance to the church seems a perfect way to commenmorate the event. I pay attention to the names of plants and often plant something in honor specific events too.
 
We live on top of a small mountain with shallow soil, and a garden that is exposed to strong winds. Many of my plants suffer from wind burn. We have mild winters (very little frost) and hot, humid summers. We have several large trees so the garden is quite shady in summer too. I have several hostas which seem to be doing well, some lilies and azalas (sp?). Anyone know of some other strong plants that can survive such conditions? Any good gardening sites for difficult conditions?

Gearoidin
 
Gearoidin said:
We live on top of a small mountain with shallow soil, and a garden that is exposed to strong winds. Many of my plants suffer from wind burn. We have mild winters (very little frost) and hot, humid summers. We have several large trees so the garden is quite shady in summer too. I have several hostas which seem to be doing well, some lilies and azalas (sp?). Anyone know of some other strong plants that can survive such conditions? Any good gardening sites for difficult conditions?

Gearoidin
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Iā€™m not aquainted with all your conditions, but here are some suggestions that you might check out further.
Fern usually grow in similar conditions favorable to hostas and azaleas. (I see that youā€™re in Japan, which made me think of the Japanese Painted Fern, a silver and maroon variety that looks quite attractive with azaleas.) Many gardeners plant astilibes, heuchera and/or perenial geraniums with hostas-so you might investigate those. Other perenials suggested for shade include lily of the valley, ginger, violet, anemone and vinca. With mild winters, you might try annuals like pansies for some color from fall to spring, (they often self-sow.)

Another idea that might be helpful is to look around in your area at other peopleā€™s gardens and nature to see what plants thrives locally in similar conditions, and search for plant combinations you like. I enjoy touring gardens and have seen some lovely ā€œJapanese gardensā€ created here in America.
 
I grew up growing what I ate. As a military wife, I gardened less intensively due to the moves (6 homes in the first 6 years). Now, settled in a rural area, Iā€™m back to my roots. I love the flowers best, too; but veggies are great.

I plan to expand the fruit aspect of my gardens this year. Berries of two types going in.

Good harvest to all this year!
 
gardenswithkids said:
Iā€™m not aquainted with all your conditions, but here are some suggestions that you might check out further.
Fern usually grow in similar conditions favorable to hostas and azaleas. (I see that youā€™re in Japan, which made me think of the Japanese Painted Fern, a silver and maroon variety that looks quite attractive with azaleas.) Many gardeners plant astilibes, heuchera and/or perenial geraniums with hostas-so you might investigate those. Other perenials suggested for shade include lily of the valley, ginger, violet, anemone and vinca. With mild winters, you might try annuals like pansies for some color from fall to spring, (they often self-sow.)

Another idea that might be helpful is to look around in your area at other peopleā€™s gardens and nature to see what plants thrives locally in similar conditions, and search for plant combinations you like. I enjoy touring gardens and have seen some lovely ā€œJapanese gardensā€ created here in America.
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Thanks so much for the suggestions. Iā€™ll give ginger, vinca and violets a try. I do have some Lily of the Valley and anemones, some are growing better than others. Ferns get really wind burntā€¦ but Iā€™ll try to find the one you are talking about. Our neighbours all have built high walls or other wind breaks but we donā€™t have enough space and the wind blows between the house and the neighbours wall. We donā€™t want a Japanese garden since our house isnā€™t built in a Japanese style but perhaps we can adapt some ideas and some plants used in them.

Gearoidin
 
This will be my first year doing a vegetable garden. So far I have planned:

Three types of tomatoes
Cucumbers
Peas
Beans
Carrots
Onions
Potatoes
Leeks
Beets
Broccoli
Green peppers
MIxed sweet mini peppers
Lots of herbs

I am also putting in a new flower bed and extending a flower bed around the next side of my house (currently it is only across the front of the house, now it will extend around the side in an L shape). I just planted lots of mums, some calla lily, lily of the valley, and something I canā€™t remember the name of, but it looked pretty in the picture. :rolleyes:

I have only been gardening a few years but I absolutely love it. I get outside and work in my gardens while the children play. Those are the best days.
 
High everyone. Many would consider me a master gardener, but Iā€™ve yet to complete the program. I plan to do it next year.

We have 6 different gardens around the house. One is vegetable and tobacco garden, the 2nd is a herb garden, and the rest are filled with common flowers, plants, short trees. Some are my motherā€™s, but it always ends up me doing most of the planting, watering, weeding, ectā€¦ šŸ˜ƒ

Hereā€™s some of the tobacco; Iā€™ll be sure to take and upload more later.
(Please Note: This uploaded content is no longer available.)
 
Almost a month since anyone posted here ā€¦
We have been trying our best to get rid of weedsā€¦
Have put in pansies (in pots)
And will soon be setting up a veggie bed possibly with lasagna gardening.
It is still cold here but have a lot of my winter sowing all coming up and will start to harden them and plant.
 
While my husband and I were engaged, we planted our first garden together in my parentsā€™ backyard in Indiana as my father was too busy that year for his regular vegetable garden. We loved it and grew green beans, yellow squash, tomatoes, eggplants, watermelons, and other veggies, including lots of herbs.

Since then, though, we moved to Monterey, Cali and our backyard is a complete sandpit, yet, that hasnā€™t deterred us from planting a vegetable garden!!! We planted tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, herbs, and even artichokes in pots and all are growing well!

After my husbandā€™s time in the AF, we hope and plan to settle down on what I call a ā€œfarmetteā€ in Georgiaā€¦8 acres at least, to grow all the fruits and veggies weā€™ll be eating. I really want a peach tree and some berry bushes. I canā€™t wait to begin flower gardens too!!! I love gardening! I love being outside and then being able to literally watch the fruit of your hardwork grow! Itā€™s so rewarding, relaxing, and fulfilling to us!

Both of us grew up helping our parents garden, and we want to instill the love for our gardening in our children too šŸ˜ƒ Best of gardening to you all!!!
 
Gwyn said:
Almost a month since anyone posted here ā€¦
We have been trying our best to get rid of weedsā€¦
Have put in pansies (in pots)
And will soon be setting up a veggie bed possibly with lasagna gardening.
It is still cold here but have a lot of my winter sowing all coming up and will start to harden them and plant.
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Thanks for bringing back this thread. Gardening season is well underway where I live, which means the outside of my house looks great, but I might not invite company inside if they stop by unannounced.

Weeds. Ack! Yesterday I removed a plant in one of my perenial gardens that had a perenial weed growing right along with it. When I dug up the plant/weed combo, I found the tap root on that weed went down about two feet! No wonder I couldnā€™t kill that thing!

I didnā€™t harden off some of my little indoor started seedlings enough and lost over half of them. The seeds I started directly in the ground later seem to quick catch up to the surviving indoor seedlings. In any case, it was fun to see some plant life growing inside during the cold weather (even if I later killed them.)
 
Funny you mention that Gardens becuase all my little cherry tomatoe seedlings died:(
(well I think they are cherry tomato seedlings- my destructo tot;) removed all the labels and I had to put them back as best I could)
 
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