Gardening

[Dtknuckles]

It does look funky! If I knew what kind of cactus it is I would know how to take better care of it. It's still covered in cat hair too. It annoys me so much.

Most cat is require just a lot of light and watering once a month. If you want it to get bigger maybe a bigger pot.

 

[Dtknuckles]

Plan 2 (because I have nothing else to do at 4:30 in the morning).

 

[wokeupnew]

Anyone have recommendations on raised planting beds? My girlfriend and are thinking of starting a small garden on our patio. We can’t actually plant in the ground but we’re looking at various raised beds online and settled on this VegTrug. Haven’t pulled the trigger yet but I think that’s the one we’re going to buy. My mom and grandma both have that same one and I remember building for them years ago and it being very sturdy.

Compact VegTrug® Patio Garden

www.gardeners.com

 

[Dtknuckles]

Anyone have recommendations on raised planting beds? My girlfriend and are thinking of starting a small garden on our patio. We can’t actually plant in the ground but we’re looking at various raised beds online and settled on this VegTrug. Haven’t pulled the trigger yet but I think that’s the one we’re going to buy. My mom and grandma both have that same one and I remember building for them years ago and it being very sturdy.

Compact VegTrug® Patio Garden

www.gardeners.com

Raised beds are pretty easy to make without special kits and would cost less.

I would mostly grow herbs in it also. They are expensive at the store and you should be able to grow enough that you will have a steady supply.

things like thyme, basil, sage, rosemary and mint always end up molding in my refrigerator after I spent a 1.50 on it when all I needed was a little bit.

 

[wokeupnew]

Raised beds are pretty easy to make without special kits and would cost less.

I would mostly grow herbs in it also. They are expensive at the store and you should be able to grow enough that you will have a steady supply.

things like thyme, basil, sage, rosemary and mint always end up molding in my refrigerator after I spent a 1.50 on it when all I needed was a little bit.

That one isn’t actually available until June to ship so found another that’s much cheaper. We were thinking of some lettuces and herbs, maybe grape tomatoes. Our back patio area is semi shaded so things would need to be able to survive without 100% direct sunlight.

 

[jaycee]

Plan 2 (because I have nothing else to do at 4:30 in the morning).
View attachment 40493

what's your sunlight situation on these? i presume the nw side of the page is furtherst from the house and gets the most light throughout the day but the most moisture is where the drain is? Do you want a lawn? or do you just want to use the space for planting and recreating? because some trees / height in the center or near the center might be cool and provide some shade if you have a deck/patio/seating area.

thanks for sharing these. it's cool to see other people's yards and what they do with them

 

[jaycee]

Anyone have recommendations on raised planting beds? My girlfriend and are thinking of starting a small garden on our patio. We can’t actually plant in the ground but we’re looking at various raised beds online and settled on this VegTrug. Haven’t pulled the trigger yet but I think that’s the one we’re going to buy. My mom and grandma both have that same one and I remember building for them years ago and it being very sturdy.

Compact VegTrug® Patio Garden

www.gardeners.com

You can grow a lot in 5 gallon buckets and if you want it to look nicer you can build or buy a wooden box to set them in. Buckets are also nice because they are easy to move about. If you can tie some string up and build a bit of a grid you can train the tomatoes to grow up and be supported by the string. You need enough sun to grow them and some herbs. If you are on the shadier cooler side of the building leafy greens, lettuce, and some cooler season herbs might work.

 

[wokeupnew]

You can grow a lot in 5 gallon buckets and if you want it to look nicer you can build or buy a wooden box to set them in. Buckets are also nice because they are easy to move about. If you can tie some string up and build a bit of a grid you can train the tomatoes to grow up and be supported by the string. You need enough sun to grow them and some herbs. If you are on the shadier cooler side of the building leafy greens, lettuce, and some cooler season herbs might work.

That’s great advice! I hadn’t even thought about that and buckets can be multi use after too.

 

[jaycee]

That’s great advice! I hadn’t even thought about that and buckets can be multi use after too.

y - just do some googling. you might need to drill or poke or hammer some holes in the bottom for drainage depending on what you're growing. Like if you're growing things that come from a dry Mediterranean environment like rosemary you need a well drained soil mix. You can set them inside prettier large pots or hang bucket if you have a support structure. You can grow strawberries and potatoes in bags.... hanging pots can work for some stuff too. You've got some options.

 

[Dtknuckles]

what's your sunlight situation on these? i presume the nw side of the page is furtherst from the house and gets the most light throughout the day but the most moisture is where the drain is? Do you want a lawn? or do you just want to use the space for planting and recreating? because some trees / height in the center or near the center might be cool and provide some shade if you have a deck/patio/seating area.

thanks for sharing these. it's cool to see other people's yards and what they do with them

This is the front lawn and East is upper right and west is lower left. Sun is all day until the later evening. The front of the house is the lower edge. Close to the house there is shade most of the day. The soil is quick draining and Sandy.

In the second picture the little circle areas are swales that will be dug to capture rain water from the roof and directed into the lawn.

My wife wants a lawn and the plants at the front will be a 6’ hedge for privacy. It would be a lot of area to put shrubs. But The grass I’m gonna get is nice looking when it unmowed, which matches the more wild looking native plants.

I want it to look more like a meadow or a hiking trail rather that the typical suburban lawn.

 

[Dtknuckles]

That’s great advice! I hadn’t even thought about that and buckets can be multi use after too.

Yea the cherry tomatoes should work well in home depot buckets.

 

[ranbalam]

Hey! FYI this is going to be a running theme with me. Look for a native grass. They are easier to grow. I’m in the middle of converting my years to all natives, for CA. There is a lot less maintenance and use of resources.

Here’s a book for gardening withMichigan native plants.

Landscaping with Native Plants of Michigan Landscaping with Native Plants of Michigan: Steiner, Lynn M.: 9780760325384: Amazon.com: Books

Thanks again for the reco on this book. I got a copy last week and I have picked out a few native to Michigan flowers and ground cover ideas that I want to consider for the south fenceline of my house and yard. Looking forward to the annual nursery trip this year, hoping it'll be sometime in May. I don't feel behind on plantings this year; it's snowing as I type this.

 

[nolalady]

This just came across my feed and I thought I would share. On Friday, May 1st, Queen Elizabeth's gardener is answering questions on Twitter:

Queen Elizabeth’s Head Gardener Is Doing a Q&A on Social Media, So Maybe We Can Finally Keep Our Plants Alive

Queen Elizabeth’s head gardener Is doing a Q&A on social media later this week.

www.purewow.com

 

[Dtknuckles]

Clarkia unguiculata from my garden!!

,

calscape.org

 

[Dtknuckles]

Iif you really want to be a nerd here’s an hour + of plant talk

 

[wokeupnew]

Anyone have recommendations on raised planting beds? My girlfriend and are thinking of starting a small garden on our patio. We can’t actually plant in the ground but we’re looking at various raised beds online and settled on this VegTrug. Haven’t pulled the trigger yet but I think that’s the one we’re going to buy. My mom and grandma both have that same one and I remember building for them years ago and it being very sturdy.

Compact VegTrug® Patio Garden

www.gardeners.com

On our way

 

[Dtknuckles]

On our way

View attachment 44726

That will make a nice little container garden.

 

[GritNGlitter]

@folsom_lives Here's the gardening thread.

 

[GritNGlitter]

Bought tomato and squash starts today--excited to plant them tomorrow!

 

[folsom_lives]

Aight. Here it goes. We bought this house three years ago and inherited absolutely zero decent looking landscaping in the process. The front bed has been an eyesore for all those years and all I’ve managed to do was pull all the edging wall stones and relay only one layer just to keep the grass at bay. This past week I nuked the three bushes and put down a fresh bed of mulch. And well, that’s about all I got.

I have no real experience shopping for, planting, and maintaining a proper garden. That said, being outside and caring for living things is a simple pleasure and something I enjoy.

Long story short. Here’s what I’m working with. At least in the front.

I’d like to keep things below the windows since we get great evening light (front is south facing). I’d like to keep thing perennial and simple. Nothing showy or finicky. Not my style. I’m thinking phlox along the front rocks with maybe some lavender or other low fragrant flowering bush in the back. Maybe a dogwood or magnolia tree on the left “lobe”.

Let me know if anybody has other ideas or suggestions for filler or other additions. I’m really out of my depth at this point.