New Digs

 Hello All,

   I was going to type this up yesterday, but ran out of time. So, this is continuing our general discussion of new gardeners and gardens.  We are putting in new gardens, and adjusting some existing ones at the house this season.  The amount that gets redone is totally dependent on how my back does and of course, money. Figured maybe I'll share some tips and tricks and see where that takes us.

  First, it is always easier to modify an existing garden, ripping out plants and small to medium size bushes is way easier than hacking out a 10x10 foot square for your vegetable patch. Something to consider, plant some veg in with your flowers, nothing says that you have to have them separated.  Besides, how cool would a four sided trellis look with two sides peas and the other to clematis or wisteria? Why not have a bean bush mixed in with the daisies and petunias to add some green and anchor some smaller plants? 

 That being said, we are going to attempt to modify the garden immediately surrounding the house.  The previous owners, not very outdoorsy people from what I can gather, had a swath of river rock poured around the house. They had the obligatory hostas put in as well as some small bushes (I dislike hostas, they are boring, but very tough and easy to take care of).  Now, I don't hate hostas as much as my wife, but even I was a little put off by the number. So, I'm going to, sorry, WE are going to remove the river rock and have plants instead. This will increase our gardening space about 5 fold from what we currently have.

I'm, sorry, WE are also putting in an herb/flower border garden around our veg patch. As the veg patch has a stone perimeter, we are digging up the sod from around three of the four sides at a width of around 3 feet.  We will then place herbs and beneficial flowers in this border, freeing up space within the veg garden.  This will also, hopefully, prevent grass and Creeping Charlie (the bane of my existence) from easily growing up and over into the veg garden. I got started on this this weekend, I'll post some pictures below.

Depending on what garden and what size you are going to try putting in, here are a few tricks.  A straight bladed shovel and a mattock are the best if you're doing smaller patches; OR, if you just really like sweating and hard work.  You could grab a tarp and stake it out in the shape and size you want your garden to be, let it kill the grass, then till it up (I would recommend a roto-tiller for this as the grass roots and what not will still be there, just dead or somewhat dead).  We did this last year with what became our veg garden.  If you want to do this, I recommend putting that tarp out once the snow melts, or as soon as possible, it will take a couple weeks to really kill the grass.  There are also sod cutters that you can rent, I've never done that, but I'm sure they work nicely.  Again, just from a cost/benefit side, I wouldn't rent a sod cutter for anything smaller than, say 6x6 feet.  Obviously, it's up to you and your health, but even with my back I can swing a mattock for a little bit. Either way, if you're cutting sod, make sure you know what you're going to do with it before you start cutting it.  Most landfills and other such services don't like sod and won't take it, so make sure you know where the cut sod is going.

Side note: tape measures, stakes (of some sort) and kite string (or any string) are necessary accoutrements for the budding gardener in this endeavor, especially if you want straight lines and sharp edges.

Which leads to a general statement.  In garden layout design there are essentially two styles, the formal and the informal.  Formal will use layouts, designs, etc. that are straight, square, rectangular, the garden will appear as a grid almost.  Many veg patches are like this, both in layout and in plantings.  The informal tries to eschew the straight and rigid as much as possible.  Rounded edges, curving paths, indistinct borders. In Britain they usually call the informal a "cottage" garden.  Now, there are many other aspects that make a garden a cottage garden, including plant types; but for our purposes it works.

Your garden can be entirely formal, entirely informal, or a mix.  Ours is a mix, with the veg area very formal and square, while the rest we try and keep it as fluid and natural as possible. It is all up to you and your personality.  Point of note, if you are doing informal gardens with curves, consider how the lawn mower will do with it. Make sure the curves match the lawn mower, it will make it oh so much easier to keep neat if you do this. For example, we kept grass walkways within the veg garden, the grass walkways are the width of the push lawnmower. This way, we can keep the walkways nice and neat without adding a ton of time to my mowing.

Well, I hear someone screaming my name, I'm sure they are somehow stuck in between their bed and their nightstand.  Until next time, happy gardening, and Auf Geht's!