From the Garden
Spring Chores in Earnest
Posted on Feb 27, 2011 by Jones Tyler
Spring is under a month away, but the weather in Richmond, Va has been so nice that I have started a ton of my Spring chores. Most of the fruit trees have been trimmed, removing the inner facing branches and water sprouts, and now I have to get my spraying routine down. This is a great time to put on some of the all season oil, before anything gets blooming (when it could hurt my bees!)
I am feeling good about getting a lot of the plants from 1699. There are still several more to get, but the progress so far has been really good. I have nearly moved, given away or trashed all of the blackberries and hope that the patch will be gone by the end of March.
My final task, which takes place primarily in the evening, is to get through my garden postings for last year (the plant records I take.) I came across the picture in this post, taken back in early June of 2010, and had to post it. It is a really nice set of daylily clumps with a bit of blue in the back. Nice bed.
Tags: Blackberries Oil
Posted in General
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Great Weather for Gardening!
Posted on Feb 14, 2011 by Jones Tyler
We have had some whopping good weather the last few days in Henrico, Virginia and they expect it to continue past the coming weekend! Running between 50 and 70, it's been ideal to get out in the garden and get a good start on the goals for the year. For me, the goals focus on two things – move a ton of plants over from 1699 and reorganize some of the existing beds at Wilton, my home in Varina, Virginia. This past weekend, I was able to get a great start on both goals.
Since late Winter is an ideal time to transplant most plants (even evergreens), I moved several small plants and bushes, including Autumn Joy Sedum and some hydrangeas. Late Winter is so good because the plants are dormant, so they have very low needs for moisture and food (no growth is going on.) This lets you damage the roots (which you definitely will do when you transplant something) without having to worry about destroying the plant’s lifeline. As long as you move a good bit of the roots over, the plant will grow the rest back in short order, as growth begins to pick up in the Spring.
One of the problems with moving items from 1699 is that it does not mesh well with the reorganization strategy. Regardless, things are getting closer. I was actually able to trash several of the more common items at 1699, instead of trying to transplant them. I am a couple of years from being done, but progress is being made!
Tags: Sedum Hydrangea
Posted in Landscaping
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Looking forward to 2011!
Posted on Dec 25, 2010 by Jones Tyler
Snow is falling in Richmond, Virginia and it looks like we will end up with a few inches from this Christmas snow! Snow is great for the garden, as it creates a bit of a blanket over the flowers and also provides moisture as it melts. It's been a tough December for the central Virginia region, so a bit of snow is going to be nice.
As the year winds down, it's time to come up with some realistic goals for 2011. As an avid (sometimes obsessed) gardener, I have learned a lot of lessons over the past years about the importance of coming up with goals for a year. Without goals, it's very easy to get caught up trying to do it all and simply being stressed the entire growing season (and never getting any one goal accomplished!) It's painful to estimate the number of years that I have been so hell bent on planting new flowers, starting new beds and growing the best veggie garden that I have never had the time to do any one task right. 2011 will be different.
One of the big lessons that any gardener should learn early is the 'manage what you have before you add to it.' Basically, I find it very easy to try to start a new bed. Typically, this is driven by the purchase of more plants then I can plant in my current beds. Usually, there are several beds that were started the prior year (or the year before that) that need a lot of attention. Add a few new beds and you really start to eat into your available time (and it grows exponentially each year!) So, this year, I will not be adding any new beds.
As to my usual penchant for purchasing a bunch of new flowers, I do not plan to purchase any plants this year. I will only plant seedlings that I start (which I plan to cut back by a half or more this year) and plants from 1699, my prior house (and now a rental.) I am hopeful that having fewer plants in the Spring will give me more time to get my current beds in good shape.
As to getting the beds in good shape, I expect this to be the primary goal of 2011. I have planted many different varieties of plants all over my yards in different beds. This year, I plan to consolidate where I can and start to focus on expanding the number of plants of a given variety to create swaths. The risk with tackling this task in the Spring is that a severe drought could really whack me. It's best to do this kind of work in the Fall, when the plants can build up a good root system in the Winter and early Spring. But, you have to do it when you can and 2011 is when some major changes are coming to the beds.
I hope to have a good watering system setup to help me in case of a drought issue.
Tags: Snow Transplanting Goals
Posted in Garden Planning
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2010 Landscaping Project : Attack the Foundation
Posted on Nov 21, 2010 by Jones Tyler
I found a picture from April 20 of this year, recording my progress with the backyard landscaping effort here in central Virginia.
The first mission for improving the backyard was to deal with the overgrown, Japanese holly boxwood. These things grow like weeds and I am having a tough time keeping it down and also keeping it natural looking at the same time (I am not a fan of the squared-off bushes).
So, I have gone over each bush and removed all but a few sprigs, here and there, with leaves. I will monitor this through the year and attack the lawn next year.
Tags: Richmond Landscaping Virginia
Posted in Landscaping
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Garlic Begins to Come Up
Posted on Nov 01, 2010 by Jones Tyler
The weather in Richmond, Virginia has been outstanding for gardening these last few weeks. Unlike most of the time, it is actually raining DURING THE WEEK and sunny on the weekends. In addition, the weather is so nice that you have to wear long-sleeved shirts in the morning and late afternoon! I was able to get another batch of daylily seedlings in the ground this past weekend, in addition to doing a bit of cleanup here and there. The Pasture, as my wife and I call it, is really starting to shape up.
Also, I noticed the first couple of stalks of garlic coming through the straw. I am definitely impressed, as I put the straw on pretty think to discourage weeds. Immediately afterward, I was concerned that the garlic might not be able to penetrate the mass. But, at least a couple have done so. If they all make it over the next week, this will be another lesson learned!
Tags: Garlic Straw
Posted in Veggie News
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