Warning .... picture heavy.
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| March 2013 Mowing Weeds |
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| More Weeds |
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| All pretty & neat - why won't it stay this way? |
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| August 2013 - It was as if we hadn't done anything. |
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| Lots of Weeds |
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| More Weed Whacking |
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| Trying black plastic on a few beds |
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March 2014 - plastic helped somewhat in the beds but in
between was another story so we decided to put down
cardboard & pine bark mulch. |
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| Different angle |
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| Looks all nice & neat again. |
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| Wish it would stay this way. |
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May 2014 - better but those weeds left are deep! And,
they seem to have taken a liking to cardboard. I think
they think it's some kind of fertilizer instead of a deterrent. |
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| Added more cardboard & mulch to the other walkway. |
It was all helping but not controlling & since I'm not up there (yet) to be able to tackle the weeds on a regular basis we decided to spray. NOT something that I wanted to do but we've got to get the upper hand at some point. So we did what we did. We'll see if the spray helps kill it back so we can mulch thicker & on a regular basis.
We didn't spray the asparagus beds which are doing much better because I have thicker mulch & some cow poo & more leaves on them & the few weeds that spring up are manageable - no pic. I plan on putting in crowns as soon as I can get some, may be too late for them again this year but if so, I'll put them in next spring.
Regardless, the other beds aren't getting anything planted in them until next fall (2015) at the earliest, so hopefully, the bad stuff will have dissipated. I never planned on being an organic gardener to begin with but hoped to do more natural gardening. We'll see if that pans out after I am able to tend to it regularly.
Anyway, here's a few more pics of the trees & such. Not sure if I mentioned before it but we lost all 3 large oaks that we planted to some strange disease & lost the lemon & lime to freeze. So, I plucked a few oak seedlings & a bay laurel from the City property & planted those in March & so far, knock on wood, they haven't died. Plus we got a few fruit & maple trees in the ground as well.
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| The 'Orchard' - 2 apple & 2 peach |
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Lone Surviving Orange
Gets the worst wind & no wind break but
it survived the winter. The other 2 citrus
with wind breaks did not, go figure. |
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| Bay Laurel about 3 ft. tall, dug up from City House. |
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| 1 of about 8 tiny oaks seedlings from City House - about 1 ft. |
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| 1 of 2 purchased Maples. |
The fruit trees & Maples were purchased in early March 2013 from a Greenscape sale in the City. Prices were very good for decent sized trees ($10 - &15 each).
Last but not least, as MIL & FIL were fertilizing the crepe myrtles we planted last year (which are doing great by the way) we noticed this in one of the crepe myrtles. Anybody know what kind of snake it might be?
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| Snake skin in a crepe myrtle |
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| Close up of skin |
22 comments:
That maybe a cotton mouth or a water moccasin skin.
Weeds can be a real pain, especially if it recently rained. Have you tried using plastic? Patrice Lewis over at Rural Revolution blog used old bill board signs. The companies who make them and change them out gave them to her free. Check her blog out here on how she used the signs in her garden.
http://www.rural-revolution.com/search/label/garden?updated-max=2013-05-28T09:17:00-07:00&max-results=20&start=10&by-date=false
http://www.rural-revolution.com/search/label/garden?updated-max=2013-05-28T09:17:00-07:00&max-results=20&start=10&by-date=false
Weeds - the bane of every gardeners life lol
Pouring boiling water on the weeds also kills them - but you'd need quite a bit?
This the part of gardening I dislike but it is a necessary evil and by no means is my garden clear of weeds. If it doesn't hinder the growing plant it stays. Lol! That's terrible I know but I have to many things to do to fuss over weeds. I understand that there is a cloth they use for landscaping to prevent weeds maybe this would be the way to go. Start buying now for future plantings.....just a thought....links real nice what you have done thus far.
Thanks Sandy. We tried triple layering the cardboard this time. If they continue to come through then plastic may have to be tried. We didn't go that route first because this is all on a slope & the plastic wouldn't allow drainage & may wash the mulch down the hill. sigh.
My plan, once I'm able to be there mostly full time, is to use hot water, salt & vinegar. Crossing fingers that will work ;)
I love how it looks when all nice & neat. If there was just a small clump here or there I wouldn't worry so much but they get so thick & snakes inhabit the area frequently. We've even found a couple of snake skins mixed in all those weeks. Yuck!
hot water, salt and vinegar will work! you go girl!
u no hoo
DFW - until you are there full-time this is going to be an ongoing problem...stop pulling your hair out and just accept it. all of the things that you have been doing are going to work and it will all come together for you. it's not easy to keep a garden weed-free when you live in it full-time, let alone when you can only get out to your garden every second or third week. you are doing a fantastic job and like i already said - it WILL all come together.
can i admit how jealous i am of those beautiful raised beds? because i am! much love hon! your friend,
kymber
It's just so frustrating to get up there each time & face all that. We will continue plugging away. Thank you for your kind encouragement!
You could use a weed block ground cover and mulch on top of that. Weeds won't be a problem for 10+ years. Or the next time you plan raised beds or plantings be sure your riding mower will fit between and around them so you don't have to hand trim.
Thanks Mike. I love the look of grass between beds but it gets so high that sometimes you have to manually whack before mowing. It's always something. We have used the 30 year weed block but I was trying something more economical. Sometimes I don't know when it's best not to try to be cheap.
OK, first of all; it's finally nice to hear from you again! Second, I feel your pain when it comes to weeds. I can not win the battle either. It seems the more I pull, even more grow. Finally as to the snake skin YUK!
Thanks Izzy. I do . not . like snakes either!
Great pics, Deb! I hate weeds, too, and there is some kind of grass growing in one of my raised beds that will poke its sharp little self up through any plastic weed block I've tried. Grrrrrr.
"Gardens are not made by singing 'Oh, how beautiful,' and sitting in the shade." ~Rudyard Kipling
These weeds are relentless. Thanks my friend.
Thank you for this post. When I look at other blogs and the beautifully manicured looking raised beds I can only sigh because my garden is staunchly in the "or not" camp.
But what you grow is spectacular Leigh!
When you first laid the blocks until now, you're forgetting how far you've come and letting the weeds make it all seem pointless. Somehow you made it all look like art with the neatness and planning. Water, vinegar, and salt will work wonders. Although it's a lot of work, look at all you've accomplished so far!
Thank you Joy. I hope to keep it somewhat neat when I have more time to spend there.
While 'neat' makes for beautiful photos, it's your massive planning that amazes me. You're creating land into your own produce market. Last night when I checked my kale, tomatoes and sweet potatoes (I do container gardening and am amazed at the yield) I had tiny holes in some leaves. So, it's just water and a dash of dish soap in a sprayer bottle for me, and I can't even say it's all that neat. lol
DFW, not sure if you remember how 'beautiful' our garden area looked after mulching. This weekend I'm going to get some pics of now. The weeds are coming in everywhere. And alas, I'm seriously thinking of using "the stuff" that I don't want to, in order to get a handle on it. We have a few empty beds that we won't be planting in either for awhile. I like how you did the plastic over the weed beds. I tried putting some down and was trying to think of how to hold it down. I tried bricks on top and it just made the weeds push up elsewhere, ha.
Side note, amazing how similar our situations are, that's why I like visiting your blog to see how things are going for you and your planning. You help keep me in check, sometimes I want to do it all now, ha. Thank you!
Thank you 1st Man! I think we must be a lot alike in our impatient natures. In one of the beds w/black 4 mil plastic (thick stuff), there was a tiny tiny pin prick & a dang blasted weed pushed right on up through. They are so strong!
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