calliope said:
(you can yank onion grass,
jed said:
So today I'm walking to the Jitney and admiring my neighbor's flowers -- it seems like he/she always have something new blooming there! -- and I see "OOH snapdragon! That's my favorite from when I was a kid!" I go over to take a closer look and I think "hmmm... those leaves and stalk look really familiar." And that's when I realize that I have been "weeding" snapdragons from my garden before they bloomed. SMH
So my basil photo randomly showed up above the post... Here's the yellowing thing I was talking about.
Hi Y'all!
So, here I am, year two. Thank you so much for all your wonderful advice last year! I took a lot of it, ignored some of it (oops), and read books and blogs over the winter. Here's where we are now:
1) Started a bunch of seedlings indoors in March, I think? Transplanted them after Mother's Day. Morning Glories got accidentally weed whacked by a careless landscaper (it's been dealt with, don't worry) but luckily I planted some seeds right in the soil as a backup and those are doing AWESOME. Snap peas died shortly after transplant, but one is still hanging in there and has produced a tiny little pea. I'm trying to keep it alive but I think I'm failing. To maximize sun exposure (after studying sunlight patterns in the yard last summer & early spring) I decided to plant the rest of the seedlings (tomatoes & basil) in large containers on the patio. They are growing splendidly but the tomato's leaves look kind of lacy and the basil looks a little yellowish. Trying to attach pics but it's not working for some reason...
2) Thanks to your advice, my azaleas KILLED IT this year. Both bushes bloomed beautifully!
3) Last year's lettuce was disgusting. Didn't try that one again this year -- maybe next year.
4) Knockout Roses are a knockout -- again, thanks to your advice!
5) I put aside a big planter for my daughter to plant green beans and she dumped in an entire packet of seeds, plus a handful of tomato seeds for good measure. So that's a forest now and who knows what's what. Should I pop a trellis in there for the beans to climb? They don't seem to be the climbing type as they're not reaching for anything (like the Morning Glories are, and the Snap Peas were... RIP Snap Peas). Do I need to stake them?
6) Should I stake the tomatoes? Or only when they start to produce fruit?
7) I mulched! It looks SOOOO good, you guys. Makes a HUGE difference. And the weeds are much more under control.
8) OK OK this is so weird: Hydrangeas. Can we talk about Hydrangeas for a second? So... last year I waited to see what would happen on the old wood, and nothing ever popped out so I pruned it after all the new shoots grew up. It never bloomed. THIS year, I noticed early on that green shoots were popping out of the old wood! I left it alone and now it's all green and leafy... but no blooms yet. Isn't that crazy that last year NOTHING grew out of the old stalks and this year it ALL grew out of the old stalks? Anyway, when should it bloom?
9) I had a lone yellow tulip this year and I got so excited. I want to plant more bulbs! When should I do that? In the fall?
10) Last spring a co-worker gave me some potted white flowers. They were tall and white with small blooms, with a bulb root. I forgot about them and recently found them during an office cleanup. Are the bulbs still good? Can I re-hydrate them and plant them?
That's all (for now)... thanks again for your wisdom, and keep those pretty pictures coming!
Just quickly: You should stake the tomatoes now. Otherwise, shoving a stake in the ground after they've grown might damage roots.
eta: And congratulations on your new gardening skills. Sounds like you're going gangbusters!
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I do so love the photos of your gardens! We moved here in the late fall last year and are just experiencing gardening/landscaping for the first time! It's so fun to watch our garden and see what pops up. I am hoping someone can help me address some very elementary questions here so that I can keep up the beautiful garden I inherited!
1) How do you know what's a weed? I did a google search and found some helpful photos but there are some items I'm just not certain of.
2) what's the best way to get rid of those little teeny weeds that grow close to the ground? Pull em up by hand or spray something on them? And if the latter, how can I be sure I'm not killing the plants around them?
3) How often should I be watering my plants? I have forsythia, hostas, polka dots, glorious reds, tomatoes (maybe), herbs, lettuce, irises, roses, azaleas, and possibly a rhododendron, I'm not sure. And some various other things that are green, no idea what they are. Do all these things need to be watered regularly? How much water is too much?
4) What do I do with my rosebush? I deadheaded it in winter/early spring and it's blooming beautifully. Should I prune it at all? Or just let it be?
5) Hydrangeas... I've read so much about them and I'm still totally confused. To prune or not to prune the supposedly dead branches? Or wait until the new growth blooms and then cut away the old?
6) Azaleas. Half of them are not flowering and the other half are beautiful. Prune? Fertilize? Leave it alone?
7) And speaking of fertilizer, what needs fertilizer and what doesn't?
8) Mulch. I bought a bag of it and I'm not really sure what to do with it. Can I put it right on top of weeds and smother them or do I have to pull them first?
I think that's it... TIA for any and all guidance!