Garden bed ideas

Have you planted a bulk of seeds just to discover in early spring you don't know where to put them or what beds to put them in. Here are some photos that might be a help for you

3 sisters garden

The Three Sisters all work together. Critters will find it harder to invade your garden by interplanting your corn, beans and squash. The corn stalk serves as a pole for the beans, the beans help to add the nitrogen to the soil that the corn needs, and the squash provides a ground cover of shade that helps the soil retain moisture.



1. In late May or early June, hoe up the ground and heap the earth into piles about a foot high and about 20 across. The centers of your mounds should be about four feet apart and should have flattened tops.

2. First, in the center of each mound, plant five or six corn kernels in a small circle.

3. After a week or two, when the corn has grown to be five inches or so, plant seven or eight pole beans in a circle about six inches away from the corn kernels.

4. A week later, at the edge of the mound about a foot away from the beans, plant seven or eight squash or pumpkin seeds.

5. When the plants begin to grow, you will need to weed out all but a few of the sturdiest of the corn plants from each mound. Also keep the sturdiest of the bean and squash plants and weed out the weaker ones.

6. As the corn and beans grow up, you want to make sure that the beans are supported by cornstalks, wrapping around the corn. The squash will crawl out between the mounds, around the corn and beans.

Patio Gardening

I love to see a person living in a apartment with limited space plant a garden. when it comes to creating a patio Garden its really easy and rewarding.

What to grow

Grow whatever you like in the containers

There’s no rule that says that any plant won’t grow in a container. I grow trees, perennials, vines, roses, water plants, annuals, vegetables and herbs in mine.

Why not?

And you can combine them!

Again, why not put a perennial in with annuals? Why not tuck a basil or parsley herb in amongst the vegetables? Why not grow a big banana tree and tuck annuals at the base? Or put other smaller pots around on the soil of the bigger pot?

(That’s how I overwinter some of the more tender patio gardening plants – I set several smaller pots on the soil of my banana tree pot to relieve crowding at the window – soil doesn’t need light, the leaves do)

Spring has officially sprung

Gardening in November

As I sit here and look at the calender i'm like what is there to do in the garden for Nov. I took my ? to the web and evidentially things are still to be done no vacation yet fellow gardeners lol.


Protect cauliflower curds by folding over the leaves. This will keep the cauliflowers a nice creamy white.

Brussels sprouts ready
for picking


Turnip


Clay forcing pots were
traditionally used for
forcing seakale and rhubarb


Make your own leafmold

Winter cover

Make sure that bare ground is covered. Autumn leaves make a good winter mulch spread over the soil protecting it from heavy rainfall.

You can use leaves collected last autumn, or, when they fall this year. Your local council may deliver leaves on request to allotments and other sites where lorry access is possible. Ask for parks and cemetery leaves, rather than street swept ones.

Vegetables that can still be planted this month

Garlic

Plant in November, or even later on light soils. The sooner the better for the best crop. It is preferable to plant named varieties of garlic, such as Thermidrome and Printantor, rather than using left-over cloves from garlic bought from the greengrocer. This will avoid the risk of introducing disease, and help ensure you are growing a variety suited to the UK. Some varieties of garlic, such as Printanor, can also be planted in early spring, but will give much better yields if it goes through a cold period over winter. There is a useful article on garlic growing in issue 169 of The Organic Way (pages 29-31). Members can download back copies of The Organic Way here.

Broad beans

Broad beans are traditionally sown in autumn (late October to early December) for an early summer crop. Autumn sown plants are also less attractive to blackfly. But their success can be variable; mice and wet conditions can cut plant numbers considerably. Sow in November in a well drained spot. Dress soil with a potash fertiliser if chocolate spot disease is a regular problem. Use extra hardy cultivars such as Super Aquadulce, Aquadulce Claudia, Imperial Green Longpod, or The Sutton (a bush variety good for small gardens under a cloche). If autumn sown crops tend to fail in your garden, don't despair; some of the spring sown cultivars can produce a crop that is almost as early.

Hardy peas

Round seeded, hardy peas can be sown now for a June crop. Suitable varieties include Douce Provence, Feltham First, Meteor and Pilot. They can also be sown in the spring. Pea seeds are a favourite with mice, so it is not worth sowing them now where mice are a problem.

I have planted Roses yall

This year was my first introduction to planting roses I have 3 rose bushes (later i will get into the varieties) I want to draw attention to taking care of them the reason it has taken me so long(3 years to be exact) is because every Gardner I came in contact with would tell me its hard to grow roses, you have to do this you have to do that but so far so good so i'm crossing my fingers for next year here is some tips to help you create a rose garden.


Black Spot: Black spot is a fungus that is very common during humid weather because it is a water-bourne disease. As its name implies, small black spots form on leaves and stems, eventually causing the leaves to drop and weakening the plant.


Treatment: Choose black spot resistant varieties and be meticulous about sanitation. Water the roots of the rose, avoiding the foliage. Water in the morning, so that splashed leaves have time to dry off. If Black Spot is an annual problem, try a dormant spray of lime sulfur at the end of the season and again in early summer. Once Black Spot appears, it is hard to stop. Neem oil and Sprays containing Potassium bicarbonate are somewhat effective.


Downy Mildew: Downy mildew is a very serious disease that spreads rapidly and can defoliate a rose plant in days. It is not as common as Black Spot and favors cool, wet weather. Purple spots with yellow edges form , often on the veins on the top side of the leaves and along the stems. Pale gray fuzz can form on the under side of the leaves. The leaves will eventually become brittle and fall.


Treatment: The good news is that Downy Mildew often clears up with the weather. To reduce the chance of Downy Mildew, practice good garden sanitation and keep the rose plants well pruned for air circulation. As with other diseases, a dormant spray may help.

Rust: A Rust infection is easy to spot. Small orange pustules spots form on the undersides of the leaves. This fungus can also cause defoliation. Rust is most prevalent when nights are cool.

Treatment: Treatment of Rust is similar to treatment of Black Spot, above: Good sanitation and a preventative dormant spray after pruning. Once infected, remove all infected leaves and try Neem oil for control.


Mosaic Virus: Once a rose is infected with Rose Mosaic Virus, there’s not much to be done except check with the nursery for a replacement. Rose Mosaic Virus shows up as yellow mottling on leaves and deformed new growth. It can stunt growth or it can be a mild infection. If there are only a few affected leaves, the plant may continue growing and blooming fine. The really good news is that it won’t spread to your other roses.

Garden QUOTES

I love a great quote which is why I have chosen this topic. Quotes can inspire and make you see the world in a whole new way so these are a few quotes i have ran across about Gardening enjoy.



My green thumb came only as a result of the mistakes I made while learning to see things from the plant's point of view. ~H. Fred Dale (Thanks, Anne)


Gardening requires lots of water - most of it in the form of perspiration. ~Lou Erickson


Science, or para-science, tells us that geraniums bloom better if they are spoken to. But a kind word every now and then is really quite enough. Too much attention, like too much feeding, and weeding and hoeing, inhibits and embarrasses them. ~Victoria Glendinning

In my garden there is a large place for sentiment. My garden of flowers is also my garden of thoughts and dreams. The thoughts grow as freely as the flowers, and the dreams are as beautiful. ~Abram L. Urban


Weather means more when you have a garden. There's nothing like listening to a shower and thinking how it is soaking in around your green beans. ~Marcelene Cox

God made rainy days so gardeners could get the housework done. ~Author Unknown


Gardening is about enjoying the smell of things growing in the soil, getting dirty without feeling guilty, and generally taking the time to soak up a little peace and serenity. ~Lindley Karstens, noproblemgarden.com