What are your main gardening challenges or problems?

[LA in Idaho]

I think my biggest challenge is the weather. We live in zone 4 at 57600 elevation so I have to be prepared for late snows (or early snow in the fall). The plants all seem to like our long days and we get a nice crop form our vegetables and, after the long winters the flowers are really appreciated.

 

[Greenhorn]

Gophers
I hate the little *&^%$#@!

 

[Icecold]

moss and lichen between my hardscapes.

they weren't as common back when we still had acid-rain, but ever since the environment got cleaner they've become a huge problem.

also Aegopodium podagraria.

 

[Esther Knapicius]

my leaves, the tons that fall in the fall. that would be it.

 

[Corzhens]

From our experience, our greatest problem in the garden are the aphids. They ravage the leaves of the red pepper - our 2 pepper plants have plenty of fruits right now but the leaves are not healthy. Aphids also inhabit the fruits of the sugar apple which causes worms inside the fruit. Our only defense now against aphids is the liquid dishwashing soap but we have to be careful because that liquid is toxic to the leaves of the pepper although it is okay with the sugar apple.

 

[djordjem87]

I have a really small garden. It is fenced and thus separated from the rest of the yard. My problem is not related to pests. It is actually my uncle and his cats. So it is related to pets . Those kittens are very cute but they are very rude and careless and he is as well. I have started to make some shapes in the grass with some very nice bushes. So I have to trim everything regularly and take care that shape is not lost. However, he has 7 cats and they like to sleep all over my lawn and garden. Ruining everything in the process. They don't just sleep but they roll over, play, jump around and fight. Of course that is all normal for cats but still my uncle is very disrespectful to my effort.

 

[Pat]

My challenge is the over grown trees that block the sun light to the area I plant in. Some wild trees have grown up between the fences, when all of the leaves have grown out they cover my garden space.

 

[aquaticneko]

the problem we had with at my parents farm was weeds. The hot sun and rainy intervals makes the weeds flourish. There is also acacia trees that will spring up in the drought that needs to be taken care of. It's a pain since sometimes I'll need to head over and help my dad with the over grown weeds.

 

[Esther Knapicius]

Aphids----if you can import lady bugs they eat aphids. but not sure how they do in your climate. @Corzhens

 

[Owdboggy]

Badgers eating all our tulips. And the animals are protected so not allowed to do anything to them. Cannot find where they are getting into the garden either to block off their ingress point.

 

[LA in Idaho]

I just thought of a few more big problems (other than the weather). We have nematodes in our garden that deforms our carrots. 3 to 5 'legs' instead of one straight one. And there's no way to get rid of them that is feasible. This year we are going to try planting carrots in hay bales and see if that works. Then there is the leaf miners that invade my leafy vegetables. I read that a covering called 'inviromesh' will keep them out so we have built a tunnel covered in it and cross our fingers that it works. It worked fantastic on our broccoli last year, not a worm one!

 

[DeborahJane]

My challenge is the native wildlife. A possum or wallaby can totally destroy trees and plants.
Weeds only grow in the garden enclosures. Any that grow outside are eaten by the critters.

Hi Jed. I have one visiting wombat and one visiting wallaby. Being only one of each I'm quite happy with them leaving their mark but I do know from a friend who lives further out of town to me when they are in numbers they really do create havoc. It is a shame because they are fascinatingly unique or maybe fascinatingly frustrating!!!!!!

 

[DeborahJane]

I think probably the thing I find the most frustrating is the constant broken branches, some quite large, bark and leaves that litter my 2/3 acre block. Particularly worse after a wind and rain. It looks so untidy and picking them up, dragging them and chopping them (the thin ones only----the rest I leave for others to axe) is really quite tiring and takes away from serious beautifying gardening time, I think. Oh well, I tell my self it's all good exercise and I'm in the fresh air.

 

[marlingardener]

LA in Idaho, if you can find French marigold seed, plant it with your carrots. For some reason the roots of the French marigolds repel nematodes. I have a few bunches of marigolds growing among our potatoes and mix the seed in with the carrot seed when I plant carrots. It has to be the French marigolds--not any of the more attractive big yellow or orange ones. Here is a link to the U. of Florida agricultural site that explains marigolds and nematodes:
https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ng045

 

[cas]