Catching up

 Well, it's been a while.  

On the seed starting front, I'm happy to say that my pansies, impatiens, and petunias all exceeded my expectations.  I used what I could, mom used what she could, and I gave the rest away.  Some of the veg I started didn't do as well.  My broccoli bolted shortly after I planted it, but that may have more to do with the relatively cool spring we've been having.  We had one weekend in early May where the temperatures were ridiculously hot, then it dropped back down to the 60s during the day, 40s at night.  At the moment our average is low 70s during the day, 50s at night, and I'm loving it.  After a few years of going from winter straight into summer, we're finally experiencing a proper spring.

The veg garden is slow but coming along.  The cauliflower seeds I started seem to be doing better than the broccoli, and my sweet peppers are a little odd looking but thriving.  I have a feeling some of the strange growth patterns may have to do with the seeds being 4 to 5 years old at this point.  I direct sowed my cucumbers and green beans last weekend, and I think I'm done for now.  I have radish, onion, shallots, peas, beans, cukes, tomatoes, peppers, cauliflower, head lettuce, celery, and for the first time in decades, carrots.  

The perennial holding beds are all set up and I've started transplanting the plants I had temporarily housed in my mother's spare beds.  Everything is doing well, but I did lose some of my shade plants over the winter.  

I have been battling bindweed in and around these gardens all spring, and I almost wish I'd used landscape fabric weed block instead of cardboard.  I added a thick layer of mulch to each bed and the bindweed vines still poke through by the hundreds.  It's nearly a full time job trying to stem the tide of this invasive plant.  

One of the biggest transformations this spring is the area that will be my woodland garden.  I had a crew of tree experts come in and take down some hazard trees near the mule track and park out the area between mom's driveway and mine.  I had originally wanted most of the large oaks and what I thought were worthless trees cut, but the young man who owns the tree service convinced me to keep them, because they are quite spectacular.  He and his crew took out the smaller trees, cleaned up some of the invasive brush species, and did some pruning on the larger oaks to mitigate the acorn issue I have in the autumn.  The result is amazing.

pre-clearing

post clearing

I'm excited to begin working on this area, but first I need to get that track fenced.  

I've also built a small garden in front of the house where I've planted my Primrose Lilacs, and I've filled the giant planter with tomatoes, nasturtium, and borage.  I planted my clematis between the giant planter and the steps, with a miniature catmint 'Cat's Pajamas' to help shade the clematis base.

I have yet to begin working on a back yard plan, but I'm hoping to get that fenced in soon so I can develop some semblance of a garden area.  Since the leach field takes up most of the area directly behind the house, I've decide to plant a wildflower garden over that.  Anything planted over a leach field needs to have shallow roots so as to not interfere with the system, and wildflowers are a perfect fit.  I can plant some shallow rooted perennials as well; coneflower, creeping thyme, lupine, etc.  I have a feeling this summer is going to be a busy one.