23,948 Garden Web Discussions | Vegetable Gardening
What kind of black mulch? If it's the wood chips, you can still hand water. Maybe lay a soaker hose or drip irrigation before laying down your mulch.
I don't use drip cause I have tons of minerals in my water and they tend to clog. I prefer to hand water (therapy) or use the soaker hose and the oven timer or my watch (or cell phone) timer. Nancy
I sure would have been concerned about its use in my garden last year but not this year assuming it was exposed to average winter weather (no location given so can only guess about that). This assuming that product is in fact what they used.
As for the nests of chipmunks that all depends on how you feel about killing them by moving them or delaying planting and letting them mature and leave on their own. I'm a country-dwelling wildlife softie so I'd plant elsewhere and leave them alone until they mature but it is your choice of course.
Once they are gone then I'd suggest a thorough tilling of the entire bed to destroy the tunnels, seal/caulk any access points, and give some thought to fencing/enclosing the bed in some manner so that they can't return.
Dave
One of the things about pyrethroid insecticides is their fast knock-down. Insects are immobilized instantly upon contact, so it is not likely that they carried the insecticide more than a few inches from where it was applied. With an active hornet nest present, I doubt that chipmunks visited the freshly treated area, either.
We start watching for yellow jacket and bald-faced hornet nests about now, and terminate those in bad locations. Boiling water poured down the entry hole at night will make them move on. On level ground, covering the entry hole with a translucent bowl will slowly extinguish a nest, too.
I've noticed that the yellow jackets often relocate in midsummer. We look for new nests in late June so as not to be taken by surprise, but we try to keep a yellow jacket nest close to (but not in) the garden. In years with a working yellow jacket nest nearby, we never see a cabbageworm on fall broccoli and cabbage.
Mindy, bok choy is one of those things that only work as a fall crop. Spring-planted, as you say, bolts and gets tough very quickly. In your zone, I'd direct-seed it outside in mid to late August.
It can be covered with a low tunnel to prolong the fall harvest period but it is not as hardy as kale or spinach. Harvest it before night temperatures drop below the mid-20s.
Thank you, yes, I meant width (there are hazards to posting too late at night). I will go with 4 feet, as I prefer not to have overhang of the pumpkins. Overhang means it is difficult to see if there are snakes hiding, I like my paths to be rather clear. I am on the taller side and my back is fine so reaching in the 4 feet is not much of a problem (knees are harder for me but no matter the width, I will have to bend down when not using a hoe for weeding). All beds will be double dug at least 18 inches, I hate going to plant and hitting the hardware cloth. Thank you for all input.
Root maggots are a major issue around here. I posted a thread a couple weeks ago about using row covers to stop the adult flies from laying eggs in the first place, if you want to do a search for it. There's also a thread on using tulle as a barrier against other small insects.
I finally decided to splurge on something called Proteknet Insect Netting which comes by the roll and is cheaper than tulle when purchased in bulk.
An A-frame trellis staked down on both sides of the bed would do the job.
Dave
Here is a link that might be useful: A-frame trellis images
Thank you Dave, I have some scrap lumber and hinges and will be trying a variant of this design:
http://www.vegetablegardener.com/item/8315/diy-a-frame-veggie-trellis
Will use string instead of mesh.
I'm in zone 6 PA and just planted my melon seeds in the garden, I rake the soil in rolls about 6 inches high and about 16 inches wide (Raised Rows), Then cover with black plastic especially since the weather has been so messed up so far this year, I always have better luck planting my seeds in the garden instead of transplanting.