I can’t imagine what she could do with those plants...
Probably make you drool on yourself while you search for words and your beer...
TOO Garden Thread
- Thread starter Milo
- Start date
Probably make you drool on yourself while you search for words and your beer...
Left myself a mess again this year, but it actually cleaned up well. Took about 2.5 hours, but she's ready to plant after another couple passes with the tiller. Need the grass to die and things to dry out a bit more and it'll powder up nice. This is year 4 here and the soil is really developing nicely.
Before.
After.
Before.
After.
Mine looks about like your before picture Jesse. Im hoping for some dry weather so I can start in on it
I need to get some bales of straw on the cheap fairly soon. I don't think I'm going to do the landscape fabric this year. Really think it's more trouble than it's worth.
Buckmaster
Senior Member
I'm at that crossroads too. My larger garden is the size of Jesse's and gets away from me every year with weeds. I typically use 19-19-19 fertilizer so that's part of my problem.
I've done poly fabric however the weeds grew through it.
Next quest: Roll black plastic or straw?
I got tired of planting through the fabric and would like to plant unencumbered this year. Plus, weeds will grow through the slits in the fabric next to the plants, so like you said Ben, you still have weeds to deal with. At least with straw, you have organic matter that can decompose into the soil and doesn't require clean up after the growing season. I'm going to roll with straw this year and see what I think. Maybe try plastic next year if I don't like the results.
Buckmaster
Senior Member
....problem with plastic is...
increased trapped heat (increases possible plant/root burn), propensity to hold insects, rodents, and snakes, lack of breathability, and lack of rain/moisture leaching through the plastic.
Ideally, fiber works the best for breathing and drainage however I found it about 50% effective in weed control even using Preen.
I may try straw this year as well. I like the thought of future organic nutrients adding to the soil.
increased trapped heat (increases possible plant/root burn), propensity to hold insects, rodents, and snakes, lack of breathability, and lack of rain/moisture leaching through the plastic.
Ideally, fiber works the best for breathing and drainage however I found it about 50% effective in weed control even using Preen.
I may try straw this year as well. I like the thought of future organic nutrients adding to the soil.
bigten05
*Supporting Member*
I think I'm going to do do a few smaller raised beds this year my garden always gets crazy and last year I let it go. Didn't get much out of it.
Last summer the garden was put on the back burner as we spent the summer watching Dad die. This spring went from winter straight to holy heck it is busy! Today we finally got around to doing something. I sprayed mid day. Buzzed weeds down with string trimmer late evening. Brought a screened top soil/compost blend in to top off our raised beds which had settled. Wife says she plans to plant Tues/Wed. We shall see. I won't have time to help. The compost scares me. It has sat for a couple seasons. Should be great in terms of nutrients and plant growing. Unsure though as the weeds were flourishing the couple times I turned it. Will need copious amounts of preen, and I anticipate more weeding. Once planted I will reinstall the irrigation (a la Milo's idea) and mulch heavily.
Good luck with the gardens, fellas. I might plant a few different varieties of peppers around the house but that'll be about it.
I got off work a little early today (felt weird to only work 8 hours) and came home in time to repair our raised beds. I don’t imagine Christine is going to waste any time getting the plants in the ground now. She just tried to talk me into going and getting her compost...I displayed a single finger and walked away.