Fri, 30 Nov 2007
Garden experiment success
I love the fall veggie garden in Austin. I always plant beans, cukes, and some flowers on Labor Day. This year things were really hot in september so the beans did great. I also planted cool season greens in September Now that the weather has cooled my greens are perking up. They looked horrible for the first month they were in. They got eaten by snails and wilted in the heat. I should have waited to plant them until October, but I got the plants for free early in September and I was tired of watering them twice a day in their tiny pots! This year I had little time or energy to turn the garden over or even to mulch it. I planted my seeds and transplants at night! I let the weeds grow. I watered during the hot times and watched them get munched on. I still haven't mulched the garden. It still looks ok, I am glad I did it. I hope that other gardeners out there will think about taking the same route with their gardens, and not worry too much about getting it all perfect. It has been fun for me, and now that I have more free time I will put come compost and mulch around the greens, then they will really take off! THe best part- I have cosmos blooming out there that I can see from my bathroom window when I brush my teeth in the morning. They are gorgeous and bloomed with nothing but neglect from me.
posted at: 18:47 | path: /colleen2007 | link for this entry
Sun, 25 Nov 2007
Surprizes
It has been a strange fall. My landscaping buisness has been very busy even though this is usually a slow time for us. The weather has been erratic- getting cold, then warm, then hot, then cold again. It is really hard on plants when the weather changes abruptly, just as hard as it is on people. Did you ever notice how people get sick more often when the weather changes abruptly? Plants are the same way. My crew and I have been spraying plants with liquid seaweed to help them overcome stress. We also have been careful not to overwater or underwater when the temperatures change. Try liquid seaweed and see if your plants like it. But be careful because it can stain porous surfaces so rinse it off if you get it on anything like a window, the side of a house or a patio. Happy gardening!
posted at: 21:02 | path: /colleen2007 | link for this entry
Mon, 05 Nov 2007
Big Yard Changes
Now that the weather has cooled off, my husband and I started working out in the yard more. We cut down some huge boxwood shrubs that were growing as a hedge in front of our house. They were ok, but they were way too big for our house. We have a small one story ranch house, and the boxwoods were almost 6 feet tall. We plan on building a stone patio/porch in their place and planting around it, as well as within the spaces inbetween the stones. I will keep you up to date on our progress and take pictutres.
posted at: 07:07 | path: /colleen2007 | link for this entry