Expansion Plans for this Spring!
January 2022
- Move Lemon Balm to back of Zucchini bed
- Find a location for Rhubarb
- make a bed on the sunny side of shed
- trim that tree back ( or take it down? it's a crummy thing...) to give it more sun, good for the garden early morning sun too
- Expand raised beds for tomato and strawberry
- add one cinder block to the back of each, re-use cinder blocks from front porch
- Grape Tomatoes- plant eight tomato plants in the back of the bed with two (2) obelisks
- Build second tomato obelisk
- Paint both tomato obelisk- turquoise/ jade green
- Plant basil (four plants) in front of tomatoes
- Strawberry and Asparagus
- Increase height of netting- use two arched trellis to raise netting 6'
- Place stepping stones to easily access front of bed.
- Plant more strawberries (June bearing) behind asparagus
- June bearing will give more yield to make recipes than ever bearing
- Finish clearing Broccoli and Zucchini beds
- Add drip irrigation to new beds
- Curved edging to create path around circular birdbath
- The main path should be at least 30 inch wide for easy circulation.
- Put down cardboard to kill grass, top with mulch or wood chips (Chip Drop) or chips from taking down tree in back yard?
- Fence the entire garden
- Use existing hardware cloth and dig 1' down and angle out 1'
- Use 4' metal posts pounded in 1', then use 4 foot hardware cloth, leave top foot of wire flopping out so groundhogs can't climb over, use cheap hanging plant brackets to overhang fence
- Cover the 1' cleared area with mulch to keep grass from growing back into the garden beds and a neat look.
- Add nice metal gate
- Remove as much grass from paths as possible, lay down cardboard or newspaper to kill remaining grass, cover with a few bags of mulch and available rocks
- Clear Herb bed in the front of garden
- Also clear area in front of fence for decorative planting, or herbs that critters won't touch
- Amend soil for good drainage, add Perlite, compost
- Plant Sage- Western Mugwort- Atremisia ludoviciana- with lavender, may be invasive, plant in pots buried in the ground
- Plant any lavender that makes it through the winter
- Clear junk from far side of shed
- move extra siding under front porch
- throw away scraps of wood
- clear brush and overhanging branches
- throw away red car behind shed
- store straw bale here, on pallet (cut down and re-built), wrapped in tarp and bungee cord (Dollar Store) to hold shape
- Hanging for wheelbarrow, simple hooks on side of shed with support inside
- Clear slope for flower bed
- dig one swale to plant in across the middle
- add rocks and supports for dirt, use black landscape fabric from circle if necessary
- add compost and garden soil
- large course bark for mulch
- place pressure treated board vertically along the bottom to catch mulch and separate from grass- mowing strip
- move iris from peony bed to slope after flowering
- Decorate the Garden
- Use rusted shovel with stencil at the corner of the first bed- "Keep Calm and Garden On"
- Use blue bottles in front corner of the herb bed (inside fence) at varying heights
- Front Porch
- Demo front steps and re-use the cinderblocks
- buy new pavers to sit stringers on
- Lift out blue stone and use next to driveway
- Add new wooden steps, pre-cut stringers, add handrail
- Add hardware cloth to seal up hole groundhogs have made, use cinder blocks from demolished front steps to block the existing hole in the corner, leave the front open in case they are in there hibernating
- Dig front of porch for two beds, amend soil a little, add some seeds (whatever is left from wildflower bed- bee balm, echinacea, marigold)
- Do not start morning glories inside this year, direct sow and add string early
- Replace rotting boards a front, esp. corner
- add plastic edging around Hostas, replace landscape cloth, add smooth river rock mulch to keep it down
