|
| Those of you who "know" me know I moved from southeastern MA to the deep south in 2009, landing briefly in SC, and finally ending up at this house in the Huntsville area 2 years ago. There were borders at the front of the house, and one on the side of the house that faces the pool. The entire 1.4 acre property is fenced, and in the farthest part, a second fence squares off a good-sized area that has become my vegetable gardening area. The property backs up to a wooded creek, and there is plenty of wildlife - rabbits, possums, snakes, voles, moles, you name it.
Learning to garden in the south has been a challenge. Between the red clay - hard as a rock during the drought times, mud during the rainy/tornado season - and the heat, I've had - and still have - a lot of learning to do. Here's what I've done, thanks to winter sowing, in two years. Sorry I don't have more pics to show, but I may get back to that sometime in the future. In the veggie garden area, I chose raised beds and containers. I currently have 4 3x3 raised beds, and two beds made out of cinderblocks that are approximately 3x8. The plantings vary with the season, but garlic and kale and tomatoes are must-haves. We ate the kale all winter, and I will replant this fall. My garlic is about ready to harvest (this was not wintersown, but direct sown). I have nine different varieties of tomatoes in, all wintersown, and some peppers I had started indoors. My WS tomatoes are setting fruit. The front beds have trees (a Japanese maple, a birch, and a couple of crape myrtles), a Burford holly, 3 azaleas, 6 spireas, and came with lots of hosta, liriope, and spiderwort. Why people plant trees so close to the house I don't get, but I am not moving them. The Burford holly is also too close - too big to move, but has been pruned way back. I will take pieces of it and site it elsewhere, and hope to eradicate the original over time. The liriope was rampant, I pulled most of it out; ditto for the spiderwort. I gave away all but one hosta (a second one starting to grow back, LOL), dug out 1 spirea, with the promise that I will get two more out this fall. Here's what I now have, thanks to WS, in these beds: Penstemons - Esprit, Cambridge mix, and murrayanus
The garden facing the pool, which I am working on turning into an herb garden (at least for now), had three large clumps of ornamental grass, a crape myrtle, 6 juniper bushes, and a lot of overgrown cannas. I pulled out all but two juniper bushes (and one more may yet go), put a few of the cannas in large pots and gave away the rest, chopped the crape myrtle down (have to keep pruning new growth each year), and took out 2 of three ornamental grass clumps. I added: Spearmint (helps repel mice, and we had a problem)
In addition to all this, I have tons of containers with various annuals & herbs. ALL this stuff, except where otherwise indicated, was WS. It boggles my mind what can be done in two years. Happy gardening, all! |
Follow-Up Postings:
|
| Very impressive. I hope you are finding joy and comfort in your new surroundings. For dealing with the clay, visit the Soil, Compost and Mulch forum. The best thing you can do to improve the clay is to add organic materials such as shredded leaves and compost. It will help to hold on to moisture in times of drought and allow it to drain more quickly when it rains. I hope your progress continues and brings you satisfaction. Martha |
|
| That's the Kim we know. Queen of the mile high WS club! |
|
| Martha, I have two compost bins working. I have a big lot, though - a lot more to amend than my home composting can keep up with. Since I already need to turn some of the lawn area into garden area, I am hoping to get a load of compost delivered in the fall. I'm with you on adding organic matter! Joy & comfort is a 10-month (really 12, as gardens can be prepared, and some veggies grow right through winters here) gardening season. |
|
| It sounds wonderful Drippy! How exciting to be planning the gardens in such a thoughtful way.I can't imagine dealing with soil that is difficult on top of all the work involved in a yard space that large so I give you a LOT of credit and applause. Ok, now we need to see some pics! Have you tried the new feature that makes plopping them in easy with your post? But it does seem to do only one pic at a time. If anyone figures out how to do more than one, please let us know! For drippy to show us this huge yard, she'll need to post more than one pic! |
|
- Posted by northerner_on Z5A ONCanada (My Page) on Mon, Jun 18, 12 at 2:32
| Congratulations!! I can't believe you did all that work in two years. It made me breathless just reading your list. I started WSing just in 2006 and grew lots of things without really researching them e.g. buddleia, asclepias, and gaillardia are half-hardy in my zone and must be replanted. I am now at the point where I am removing things (sometimes giving them away) and really planning the spaces I have. I also have spaces which have changed because of trees maturing in the neighbour's yard and that requires changing the plants in the border. I hope that by next year I'll have a look that I like. Looking forward to seeing your pics. |
|
| It sounds great, Drippy. Pictures, please, when things progress. Karen |
|
- Posted by sandysgardens 4MN (My Page) on Tue, Jun 19, 12 at 8:11
| Kim - I love all that you've done with your new gardens and the memories you were able to bring with your from your gardens in MA and have them grow and flurish in AL. Sandy |
|
- Posted by ladyrose65 6bNJ (My Page) on Wed, Jun 20, 12 at 11:40
| Wow! You did quite a job! I hope you take pictures. |
|
- Posted by albertar z7 LINY (albee7447@aol.com) on Wed, Jun 20, 12 at 11:48
| Kim We all want pictures, LOL, good to hear from you and know you are doing well. You've done alot of work and the composting will pay off as you add it and add it. Now we want pictures. :) Alberta |
|
| Hi Kim, It's nice to hear from you! Your gardens sound beautiful, and, like everyone else, I cannot wait to see pictures! I'm behind in that department myself LOL. Brad AKA Moonwolf |
|
| Here is the hollyhock Carnival Rosy Red - not as double as the commercial photos, but I like this better anyway. |
Please Note: Only registered members are able to post messages to this forum. If you are a member, please log in. If you aren't yet a member, join now!
Return to the Winter Sowing Forum
Instructions
- You must be a registered member and logged in to post messages on our forums.
- Posting is a two-step process. Once you have composed your message, you will be taken to the preview page. You will then have a chance to review the contents and make changes.
- After posting your message, you may need to refresh the forum page in order to see it.
- It is illegal to post copyrighted material without the owner's consent.
- HTML codes are allowed in the message field only.
- No advertising is allowed in any of the forums.
- If you would like to practice posting or uploading photos, please visit our Test forum.
- If you need assistance, please Contact Us and we will be happy to help.