Garden 2011 Update

This Memorial Day weekend was spent engaging in one of my favorite activities: gardening. I spent eight hours a day for two full days shoveling and raking, planting and pruning, watering and weeding. My back, I'm pleasantly surprised to say, does not hurt, my muscles are not sore and the sunburn I sustained in spite of generous amounts of sunscreen does not hurt. All in all, this was a very successful gardening event for me.

These are before and after photos of my front garden. Last year that weedy patch was thick with marigolds. Much to my surprise I only found four marigolds growing there this year. I had expected many more seeds to have been dropped from last year's crop. Since I don't own a roto-tiller, all of the weeding was done by hand. First I loosened the dirt with a long handled shovel, then I got in real close and personal with my hands, breaking up the clumps and pulling out the weeds. this process allows me to be very thorough and get all those tiny little weedlings outs as well as check the general condition of the soil. Thankfully I found very little in the way of Japanese beetle grubs. Unfortunately I also found little in the way of earthworms. This means I'll have to be diligent in amending the soil with compost from my backyard bin which is chock full of worms.

What you really can't see in the before photo are the three plastic crates behind the monster hosta in the center. They represent my makeshift raised garden that I have used for the past two years. This year I moved them back towards the property line and added two more crates, replaced the garbage bag liners, filled them with dirt and compost and planted peppers, tomatoes  and dwarf carrots. The marigolds I found growing in the weedy patch were transplanted alongside the tomatoes to act as a natural disease and insect repellent. Future plantings will include bush beans, more marigolds and who knows what else. I've already got basil, oregano, onions, thyme, spearmint, peppers and tomatoes growing in pots along side the house and by my front steps. I'd love to get some garlic sets but haven't found any in the local nurseries. I may have to order them. The front yard may look a little sparse now but I have no doubt that it will fill out very nicely.

While I was in the mood to uproot and move earth, I took the opportunity to pry up all the edging blocks that had slowly made their way down into the earth, pack soil into the depression and replace them at their intended levels. This work was more difficult than the gardening in that it required me to really use muscle, crowbar and hammer to pry the blocks out and get them all back in again. Of course they don't all fit back into place as neatly as they did before being pried out of place so they needed some vigorous coaxing. That's where the hammer came in. In the end, they cooperated to create a neat looking edging to complement the neat looking garden.

In addition to moving dirt, I severely pruned the ancient azalea bush that's been in front of my house for well over 20 years. It was full grown when we bought the house and apparently had never been pruned. It was a tangled web of dead branches underneath that had been hidden under the dense foliage. Once I started hacking away at it, nothing was sacred. I took nearly half the bush down before I had to stop to clear out the debris. You can see how much I took out of that bush by looking at the photos. There is still more to be pruned but I will get to it when I get to it. No matter how badly I mangle it, it will grow back. Azaleas are tough plants and can really take a beating once fully grown. It had better. I'm counting on it.

My vegetable and herb garden is well on it's way for this season.  My flowers have been a riot of color and the showiest of them have yet to bloom. I have been looking forward to this season since last year and now that it's here I can barely wait to see how my garden grows.


Ballo ergo sum
- Gitana, the Creative Diva