The little garden gets choked with weeds over the winter. It seems like I have to create it all over again each year. Dig up the same things over and over. I am sure it is possible to keep the garden "clean" over the winter but not sure how. Maybe it's that newspaper thing that Sixty-five talked about a few years ago.
So out with the pitch fork. Hard work in my opinion. Out with the dandelions, grass and clover.
I cleared only a small section. Next time another small section. There are some plants that are perennials like the lupine you see on the left so I will have to hand pull the dandelions here. The trouble with that is I am likely to pull off the leaves, leaving the roots. Meanwhile, I need to think of some things to plant. Though not yet. SNOW is predicted for today and tomorrow, mostly in the very north. BRRR.
The little garden gets choked with weeds over the winter. It seems like I have to create it all over again each year. Dig up the same things over and over. I am sure it is possible to keep the garden "clean" over the winter but not sure how. Maybe it's that newspaper thing that Sixty-five talked about a few years ago.
So out with the pitch fork. Hard work in my opinion. Out with the dandelions, grass and clover.
I cleared only a small section. Next time another small section. There are some plants that are perennials like the lupine you see on the left so I will have to hand pull the dandelions here. The trouble with that is I am likely to pull off the leaves, leaving the roots. Meanwhile, I need to think of some things to plant. Though not yet. SNOW is predicted for today and tomorrow, mostly in the very north. BRRR.
19 comments:
Digging is the most demanding chore in the garden to me. No matter if you dig with shovel or fork. You will feel good about this space when you get it finished. It has been cool and wet here.
Plant something so colorful it pops your eyes out with happiness!!!
Dear Suki,
I have only a small garden (but am lucky to have even that) - I know you remember SF homes don't have too many open spaces to have them!
My neighbours and I try to keep it a bit "wild" for our Ferals who live there, yet still "tame" enough for some beauty - we have easy to care for plants - jasmine and a few perrenials. I confess, I am not very good at the digging up weeds part of gardening....
I know you will plant something with vibrant colour - for your Mother, for "Pippi" and for YOU!
It's cold and rainy here too.... another week of storms.... arrgh!
Love,
♥ Robin ♥
Digging and gardening is therapy for me. But why dont the flowers grow as well as those darn weeds?? LOL
I pulled some weeds this weekend too. I hate it, but it has to be done often or then it gets overwhelming. When can you plant? I can't plant anything until end of May. xoxo
annie I too cant really plant till close to the end of May. That's interesting. A similar weather level between Taos and here?
Suki, are some of those weeds daisies? The leaf is similar. It's been awhile since I've even SEEN weeds...they're not up yet, here. But daisies grow wild here and I generally leave them since they can take the extreme temperatures we get during the growing season...hot one minute, cold the next!
We're still in the snowy season...but I should be able to plant by May 24th. Hopefully.
I love "Dirt therapy"!
Suki, I am a terrible gardener - everything I touch dies :-( I applaud you in getting out to do this, however. My husband swears by mulch to keep the weeds down. I do know that most newspapers - except The Wall Street Journal - use lead based inks (this is why glass blowers can only use WSJ), so you may want to consider that as far as using them, I don't know.
Now stay warm up there!
Once you get the most of it dug out, lay down some fabric ground cover to keep out the weeds. Cut holes for your seed or plants that you put in the dirt for your garden and only THEY should arise. The weeds will stay gone over the winter. It worked well for me over the many years gardening was my passion.
Oh no not more snow......
This gardening seems like life doing the same things over and over again.........Seems pointless.....but I guess there is a lesson to be learned here...?
Suki don't you have a hoe, or a cape cod weeded? Or one. Of those 2-way stirrup hoes? Using the right tools makes a HUGE difference in gardening as in so many other endeavors. A pitchfork is NOT a good weeding tool. For the best general gardening advice I have another must-read blog for you: A Way to Garden by the incomparable Margaret Roach.
That is hard work, I agree. My back kills me after a short time in the garden.
SNOW??? Now that's just wrong.
I think the weather turned as soon as I planted my flowerboxes last weekend :(
I'm impatient for color.
sixty-five, I have a hoe but it is much harder to get up the large area of weeds than using the pitchfork. I cant use the pitchfork for the rest though as I need to work around the plants that I want to stay there. Thanks for the gardening blog tip!
Marion there is something in the garden next to the lupin that looks like it is intentional and that I may want to keep but I dont know what it is....maybe it is daisies. we have a lot of wild ones up here too.
I'v just visited the most amazing garden in Devon UK where weeds are allowed to flourish - overplanted with edible 'crops' so the weeds do not take control. As the owner said - it's not tidy gardening, but a 'managed wildness'. So I am looking anew at my tangled acre. Mulch and smother and plant through it all.
dandylions.... a pet peeve of mine...ggrrrr!!
snow? what? oh don't say that dreaded word shudder! you go girl.
Good luck with your gardening...I like the mix of flowers and vegetables...take photos when things are established. I'm excited about my hanging upside down tomatoes!
Oh NO! Not Snow! Anyway, I like dandelions. Weeds are just flowers in the wrong places.
You're right though, dirt is thereapy.
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