What did you do in your garden today?

[lliefveld]

We just moved into a new house in northeastern Tennessee and it came with five raised beds. So, we started weeding them as they were left in a horrible condition by the previous owners. The soil here is filled with a LOT of clay so I have to do something about that. In two of the raised beds, as I dug down to get out weeds, I found some soil underneath the clay that seemed to have a lot of Perlite in it and it was rich and dark so I'm not sure what the deal was there. Seems like it should be the other way around. I wonder if I could just add some new planting soil over the top of the old stuff and add new Perlite and then perhaps add some bone meal for phosphorus and then maybe top it off with a light sprinkling of Epsom Salt for magnesium. What do you think? We are very new to this and so we aren't real sure about how to amend this clay other than to maybe cover it with good soil.

It does seem odd that there's friable soil under the clay. What it sounds like is that they had put down some potting soil, then covered it with 'real' soil, and your real soil has lots of clay. Potting soil has no business being in an outdoor garden. That's not what it's formulated for.

Putting more soil on top isn't the way to go, even if it's 'planting' soil. There are some bagged commercial 'garden soils' that are meant to be dug in, but those really aren't that great, and even with those, you should not just put it on top.

For an immediate effect, you can add a commercial, bagged 'soil amendment', but you'll have to dig it in and hopefully also incorporate all 3 layers. For a long term effect, put compost, mulch, leaves, etc. on top of the soil and the earthworms will dig it in for you (long term).

If you have lots of weeds and other growth that you aren't able to get out, cover it with a couple of layers of cardboard, wet thoroughly, and then cover with about 2-4" of organic material (compost, mulch, leaves).

Raised beds have a tendency to shrink down every year (don't ask me why the soil in the ground doesn't also shrink, I have no clue), so you'll have to add to the top of the beds every year. But don't do as the previous owners did. Primarily add organic material. You can use a little soil, but be sure to mix everything into the top couple of inches.

I wouldn't just automatically add bone meal and Epsom Salt. At a minimum, get one of those NPK soil test kits at the local nursery or building supply store, so you can see what the balance currently is, before you start adding stuff.

 

[lliefveld]

Living at 1500' in North Central Idaho, we're still having late winter weather, mixed in with glorious spring days. The snow is gone (for now), but our clay soil is like a mud wrestling pit. I'm absolutely dying to plant the bare root plants I received 2 weeks ago, but don't dare dig for fear of compacting the soil more, so they are sitting in a box covered with sawdust, coconut coir and compost.

I did manage to put cardboard down for a 8'x8' area that I'm wanting to improve, and gathered some forest mulch to put on top, but it's still too wet to mow the 8 bags of leaves I gathered last fall, so I can cover the cardboard deeper. I also started a hugelkultur bed. So far, its only about 5' long and 3 feet tall, but still working on it.

 

[Neno Baylov]

Something from today in my garden, I do not have perfect pruning of trees, I am still learning. My hens, this hen will be 5 years old on May 17, a faithful veteran.

 

[Sean Regan]

Went to Parkers for some lawn dressing, compost and a couple of clematis.Montana alba (white) and Sally, (pink)

Applied the lawn dressing mixed with a bit of seed, where it needed to go.

Dug out a clematis in the big tub next to the front door, (there's two Mayleen that grow up the trellis and over the front door). It was showing no sign of life yet, this is supposed to grow along the wire below the front room bay window but always struggled, I replaced it with "Sally." I put the old one in a pot with some fresh compost on the shed window sill, I'll give it a chance. Planted the Montana in a gap in the narrow bed next to the garage.

Dug out the solar lanterns, got eight working and put them out. I've a couple more waiting for batteries to be charged.

 

[Oliver Buckle]

Improved a bit of soil where I have recently cleared, put up some canes, and planted out sweet peas. Made a seed bed, planted carrot seed and collected a couple of large pots of clay lumps to burn. Carried on cleaning the greenhouse that I started yesterday, almost finished and much brighter. Dug out a trench to fill with organic stuff where I intend planting runner beans in a couple of months or so.

 

[Herbie]

Mowed the back lawn today , it has finally dried out after being a paddy field for most of the winter.
Also planted up a Lavender Hidcote in a big terracotta pot by our back door , for lovely scent as we brush past it . Keeping my eye on a big patch of Eccremocarpus Scaber self seeders in my border , l can’t get the little wotsits to germinate in trays of lovely fresh compost , they seem to prefer roughing it ! .

 

[Neno Baylov]

Today I extended the drip irrigation and connected the rest of the network. All I need is a retainer and other things to be ready. I just keep the grass low, I don't use tractors in the garden, I have roses, chokeberries, vines, fruit trees.
The Greek hose is better, the Turkish one is not so good. The hose is f 16.

 

[Neno Baylov]

My grass is made of all kinds of herbs, there used to be a big forest near me, now it is small, but the herbs there are the same.

 

[Oliver Buckle]

Also planted up a Lavender Hidcote in a big terracotta pot by our back door , for lovely scent as we brush past it .

Choisia gives the same sort of effect, with added scent when it flowers. Hidcote is always cited as the best lavender, but either the garden has produced a few different ones or someone is cheating a bit; I see all sorts of different lavenders in garden centers, all labelled 'Hidcote'.

 

[Meadowlark]

Put in rows for corn, okra, peppers, squash and installed my pole bean trellis, and set out a few tomato plants all in the former alfalfa bed. Really looking forward to seeing how the plants react to that alfalfa cover, especially corn which is a big nitrogen feeder.

 

[Sean Regan]

Got into the bamboo along the back fence, it sheds a lot of leaves each year and they don't rot down. Many get trapped between the canes an the fence panels at the bottom. So it's a case of "poking them with a stick" and at the same time blasting them with my garden vac/blower.
Took about an hour and there's still a lot that won't come out. Tomorrow afternoon I'll check for dead canes and prune them out there'll be a dozen or so.
Found a good quality newish football wedged in the thick bamboo foliage about five feet up. It must belong to the two young girls who live in the house behind ours. I don't know how long it had been there, bet they hadn't told their parents they'd lost it. Anyway I chucked it back.
I gave the bottom bed a good hoeing, several bluebells didn't survive.

Deck scrubbed the patio to get rid of the pigeon poo.

Got another three solar lights working, so that makes about a dozen.

Noticed that half the white quince along the side fence looks dead, the rest is doing well. I'll have to trace the dead bits back towards the main root. Another job for tomorrow afternoon, (golf in the morning, got to get your priorities right!)

 

[Neno Baylov]

Can the hoses be buried in the ground, will they clog in time. Otherwise, my idea is similar.

 

[Herbie]

Mowed front lawn today, having set mower at the very highest cut. It will need cutting again once it’s settled down ( this is the first cut this year ) , but it is lovely and thick .l scarified and top dressed with sterilised loam in September last year as most of the lawn is under large ornamental cherry trees and was a bit thin and patchy.
l Think l cut it much too low all through last year. This year l will cut much higher and more often , hopefully for a thicker lawn.

 

[cntrlwagdnr]

Tore out the 3 old wooden raised beds, dumped several large pots/half barrels and a 3 tier planter that never worked very well for us. Put in 4 new metal raised beds - much taller, less bending over, more total area. Keeping 3 barrels for things that need to be contained. Reused the good stuff from the old beds. This week, got to get a couple of yards of new mix to top them up, redo the irrigation and change the crushed rock around them. Looks so much better already. Looking forward to planting and sowing. Sold the planter on Craigslist. Couldn't believe I got 6 replies within a couple of hours! It will work great for what she wants. She was going to borrow a truck to pick it up, but I was about to go to the dentist about 3 blocks from her, so I delivered. She was a happy camper! Now gotta get rid of the old wood from the raised beds. Hope the kid wants it for his fire pit. Can't burn anything in our city, except gas firepits or cooking - or tumbleweeds! City will even loan you a special burn trailer for them. But you can have any kind of fireworks you want for July 4th or New Year! Next city where the kids lives you can burn anything you want but no fireworks. No logic to politics! Cancelled our lawn treatment service. Was going up almost 3x. Nearly $1k for the year for 4,500 sq ft and they don't mow it. Chemicals haven't gone up that much, nor has labor. Shame - they were good and local and been around for a long time - probably not much longer though! Hate to think what the big national franchises are charging now. Signed up for Scott's program. They send you customized shipments for your lawn and location when you need to apply them. Solves the problem of forgetting. Less than $140 for the year - and that included an extra treatment for bugs. Already have a spreader. I can rent an aerator every few years and do that myself. We also started cleaning up the dead stuff and going to have to do some pruning real soon too. Hoping my new maypop passionflowers survived. The new blackcurrant and gooseberry are looking good. Didn't know honeysuckle was so hardy. Forsythia and heathers are in full bloom.

 

[harrylee]

Screwed together a couple more raised beds this morning. I make them out of old skid wood.
Put some stain on them and ready to put in place when the rest of the snow melts.