A zillion beginner questions

springgreen2 said:

jed said:

Today I made moss milkshakes and that covered about one square foot of my lawn, ha! I took the Princess over to Cardinal Garden Center to inquire about moss; i.e. do they sell it, and what can I do to encourage it? And they told me to put soil acidifier on the lawn and that would make the moss grow like gangbusters. So I went out today and sprinkled that all over the lawn, especially in the grassy spots. Then it rained most of the day, so that was good timing! Hopefully it'll soak in and the moss will be happy. I am trying to temper my expectations, however: I hear it can take a few growing seasons until the moss really establishes itself.

My mother-in-law, an accomplished gardener herself (lives on a gorgeous, huge property in Bethlehem, PA with ample sunlight by a creek... sigh...), gave me a GINORMOUS book about gardening. I read all about pruning and decided to give my Forsythia a haircut. Last fall, I dug out all the vines and weeds and old dead branches because the poor thing was just a hot mess. So of course now it looks pretty leggy and pathetic, but with beautiful yellow flowers! I think I did a pretty decent job of trimming a bit, stepping back, adjusting, and trimming some more. And I'm glad I gave it a good cleanup in the fall, because the branches I trimmed back are sprouting new growth. 

There's a big bare patch of land right next to the forsythia, and next to that is a little firewood holder/gazebo thingy. I'm thinking of planting a shrub there -- maybe just another Forsythia, but I'm also thinking maybe raspberries would be fun. I hear they're relatively low maintenance. I'm sure the birds & squirrels will eat most of them, but we might get a few berries out of it, right?

Now... for the firewood holder/gazebo thingy... I'd like to hang some flowers from that, but I'm afraid they won't get enough sunlight. What would be a pretty hanging flower that doesn't mind partial shade? Maybe something that would sort of climb down the planter?

How about philedendron or lantana?  We live at the Bethlehem side of NJ. We have great soil around here.

Begonias would also be pretty and they do well in shade.

Or a hanging geranium?

ooh! Lantana! Those are pretty. Good call, thanks!

I love geraniums. They remind me of childhood. My mom always had them around. I keep a couple by the front stairs!

springgreen2 said:

Or a hanging geranium?

Begonias are the waxy-looking ones, right?

They are usually pinkish-red flowers with little oval petals. They do have a waxy quality. I haven't seen them as often in a hanging basket. 

Begonias are available in many shades/colors and some varieties are trailing ones: 

http://www.calbegonias.com/product-category/begonias/begonia-hanging-basket/

This just in: Went out to gaze upon my perennial garden this morning and noticed that the holly plant has little black spots on it. Some of the leaves looked like they were burnt. It's near the house and there are no black spots around the house, so it can't be that fungus thing that throws itself on the walls. What do you think, garden gurus? 

This weekend's project is the aforementioned raised garden beds. The package arrived this week from Amazon and, with Princess' help, constructed it yesterday. I put some weed cloth on the bottom so the soil wouldn't wash out (hopefully). We went to Cardinal Garden Center -- Princess loves that place for two reasons: 1) The resident cats, especially Mo; and 2) seed packets. Aren't seed packets the best? -- and purchased a load of soil and a bag of cow manure. They sent a big dump truck over to our house not even an hour later, and dumped a yard of yummy rich soil & compost on our driveway. I'm patting myself on the back for putting down a tarp first!

It was more backbreaking work than I anticipated to haul that dirt in wheelbarrow loads to the garden beds. Shovel dirt, wheel it over, dump it, rake it out, repeat; bending over to build the next tier, shovel dirt, etc... rinse, repeat. My back is KILLING me today! But, I'm thrilled with the result and the product! 

Note to self: Do not use rubber mallet on soft, chemical-free, rot-resistant cedar. Thank goodness for duct tape.

Today's projects: 

• Relocating the giant pile of soil leftover from the delivery!
• Sowing lettuce seeds.
• Sowing Forget-Me-Not seeds.
• Starting to harden off tomato plants (is this really a thing? I read about it online somewhere but it seems like a lot of maintenance for someone with a business, a four-year-old, and a husband.
• Feeding roses, hydrangeas, and perennial garden.
• Pruning lavender.

I want to plant flowers SO BAD but it's probably too early, right? I went to Home Depot yesterday and it's so hard to resist all the pretty flowers! I did get some geraniums and put them in planters in the front, because I figured those were pretty hardy. I also planted some lily bulbs in a planter. But there's something about Home Depot that bothers me -- it seems they will sell anything, even if it's too early in the season, because there's demand for it. Whereas, at Cardinal, they only put out plants that are appropriate for the season. Also, neonicotinoids.

Since we're not using a landscaper this year, I'm trying to figure out how to keep the weeds out of the patio. As you can see from the photo above, of the garden beds, we have flagstones separated by little tiny rocks. I hate the little tiny rocks. I kinda want to let the grass overtake it, but I don't like the weeds. How can I encourage grass but get rid of weeds?

I COULD use vinegar -- I've had success with that in the past -- but it takes a LOT of application, at least every weekend, for that to really work. And I'd have to buy vinegar in bulk at Costco. Not a big deal, but that's a lot of maintenance. Any suggestions of how to naturally eradicate weeds on the patio?

If you are trying to keep to using good organic practices, please don't buy ANYTHING for the garden at HD.  They use insecticides that kill bees and other pollinators---go to the garden center and ask questions.  

The frost warnings officially end May 15th in our region, if you want to plant flowers plant some Pansies.  I love them and they are cold hardy and will last a long time!

You are doing a GREAT job! (I am  exhausted just reading all you did!)