Summer garden updates?

[dr.girlfriend]

How is everyone doing?  What's left to be done?

I haven't paid much attention to things this year.  I immediately killed that lupine plant I bought, although a few small sprigs are left that maybe might establish themselves.  The planters next to my front door were a surprise -- I did a fern and some flowers in each, thinking the flowers would likely die from lack of sun but the ferns would do well.  Instead the flowers are doing great and the ferns are struggling.

My hydrangeas seem to be loving this rainy weather though!  The climbing hydrangea I planted about ten years ago is huge now and has almost made its way entirely over the arbor.  I have to get a stepstool out there to train some of the branches over more securely.

[heygrey]

Our veggie garden is growing like crazy! We have had So Much rain this year which is very unusual for my area. I picked the first zucchini yesterday and there are a few more ready soon.

We finally finished our backyard! Gravel patio with Muskoka chairs and a propane fire pit, mulch, plants. Best of all - no grass! I’m still trying to brighten it up with some potted plants, but overall so happy with the space.

ETA: The perennials in our front garden grew back nicely. I want to add more, but our neighbour’s cat keeps digging and pooping in our garden so I’m waiting at least until they move at the end of July.

[definitelyO]

My front flower basket is sad - nothing really getting big enough to fill up the pot.

the garden is doing great - we pulled all the garlic (~70 heads). we have some tomatoes - none ready to pick yet. Kale is ready to eat, I've picked a few zucchini already. everything else is coming along.

I do have a potted flowering plant of some sort that is doing great on the back patio.

[tacokick]

We have what appears to be a volunteer bitter melon plant and a pumpkin plant? I’m excited to see if they keep growing.

Besides that we planted three kinds of peppers. We have some flowers but that’s it.

[simpsongal]

Tomatoes are taking their time - I think the crows have been stealing them though. Things are bouncing back after the cicada damage. My planters look beautiful, though some of the baskets are drying out quickly and the petunias keep getting crispy. I probably need bigger hanging baskets - and I might look into those water pearls and things you can add to hanging baskets.

I have a corner of the yard I'm pretty certain I need to hire out re weed remediation. It's just too much.

My climbing jasmine came back beautifully. I was worried it was struggling after the cold winter. Our pineapple broom is doing well but didn't bloom. Smoke bush is getting big. I think I might need to move a few things in 1-2 years.

We also got a soil test so we're adding some nutrients to soil in response to that.

The Preen I put out 100% worked. I have fewer weeds in all my beds. I probably spent over $100 on Preen but it's 100% worth the clean beds and lack of toiling in the hot summer months to pull weeds.

[RockNVoll]

My cherry tomato plants have some green fruit on them and are flowering decently. But a lot of the leaves also seem to be yellowing or browning at the edges? IDK what's going on; I'm watering them daily until it runs out the bottom of the pot.

The bell pepper plants are starting to develop little buds. But I noticed today that the biggest plant also seems to be starting to develop some brown spots. Sigh.

I have a couple of bitter melon and about half a dozen fuzzy squash plants that are growing well and flowering/developing melons as well.

My mom gave me like 10 string bean plants that keep climbing and have plenty of leaves but no actual beans to speak of yet.

For non-food stuff, the yard plantings look pretty good. They key is keeping the bunnies away. The daisies have grown huge and I think I'm going to have to split them. My alliums looked great in the spring. We planted a few evergreens about a month ago and they're still alive so far. They hydrangeas have bloomed. Still have so so so much to do though to fill in the beds we had created a couple of years ago. Now getting quotes for hiring it out.

[konapoppy]

All we have is a peach tree. It over-produced and I took too long to thin it. Even still, thinning probably 250 peaches, we got a ton that ripened. I am not even as mad that the squirrels are getting some 🤣

[sadie]

Raspberries are fruiting all over. Blackberries are ripening.

Snap peas are mpstly nonexistent. I've picked a handful of sunmer squash and a cucumber. My zuccs keep having flower rot, so I need to add some tums to the soil to up the calcium. Tiny broccoli heads. All the squash plants are choking out my greens, so will need to redesign beds next year. Tomatoes are fruiting a bit.

But, flowers!! All winter sown!

[sadie]

Jul 8, 2022 12:23:59 GMT -5 konapoppy said:

All we have is a peach tree. It over-produced and I took too long to thin it. Even still, thinning probably 250 peaches, we got a ton that ripened. I am not even as mad that the squirrels are getting some 🤣

I would love a peach tree! It would not survive our winters.

[sadie]

My first attempt at designing an interesting planter.

[heygrey]

Jul 8, 2022 18:27:34 GMT -5 sadie said:

Jul 8, 2022 12:23:59 GMT -5 konapoppy said:

All we have is a peach tree. It over-produced and I took too long to thin it. Even still, thinning probably 250 peaches, we got a ton that ripened. I am not even as mad that the squirrels are getting some 🤣

I would love a peach tree! It would not survive our winters.

We grow peaches in Canada! I’m in a milder part of the country, but we still get to -20F occasionally. Our average winter temps are between 0-10F.

Our friend has 2 peach trees and she gives away flat after flat every summer. I cut and freeze them.

[hbomdiggity]

I usually do a bunch of containers for the deck but I just don’t have it in me this year. Summer didn’t arrive until 2 weeks ago and seems like a lot of work when it’s half over.

We spent our time replanting grass after the basketball court install and I think next year we will have a landscaping overhaul.

[dr.girlfriend]

Jul 8, 2022 20:44:08 GMT -5 heygrey said:

Jul 8, 2022 18:27:34 GMT -5 sadie said:

I would love a peach tree! It would not survive our winters.

We grow peaches in Canada! I’m in a milder part of the country, but we still get to -20F occasionally. Our average winter temps are between 0-10F.

Our friend has 2 peach trees and she gives away flat after flat every summer. I cut and freeze them.

Okay, I totally want a peach tree now!  I never knew it was an option, I thought they were only for warm-weather places like, y'know, Georgia.  :-)

This may be a stupid question but are they self-pollinating?  Like, you only need one?  ETA:  Looked at the specs for the one I was interested in and it says it's self-pollinating but you get a much better yield with two.  Any idea how close they need to be to each other?

[heygrey]

Jul 9, 2022 23:13:53 GMT -5 dr.girlfriend said:

Jul 8, 2022 20:44:08 GMT -5 heygrey said:

We grow peaches in Canada! I’m in a milder part of the country, but we still get to -20F occasionally. Our average winter temps are between 0-10F.

Our friend has 2 peach trees and she gives away flat after flat every summer. I cut and freeze them.

Okay, I totally want a peach tree now!  I never knew it was an option, I thought they were only for warm-weather places like, y'know, Georgia.  :-)

This may be a stupid question but are they self-pollinating?  Like, you only need one?  ETA:  Looked at the specs for the one I was interested in and it says it's self-pollinating but you get a much better yield with two.  Any idea how close they need to be to each other?

friends that have just 2-3 in their yard are probably 12-20’ apart? Depending on how much yard space they have.

[mrsukyankee]

Got back from the States on Sunday and this morning did a bunch of work on the garden. Some damage from caterpillars and too much rain but most of it should be reversible (though I had to pull out two purple broccoli plants, which made me sad).

    

[libbygrl109]

We've had almost no rain this season, and pretty cool temps, so everything has been coming along really slowly. I have a bunch of different tomatoes, but they are all green. Hopefully the heat we're finally going to get this week will ripen some of them. Summer squash and peppers are just starting to form, and I'm finally getting blossoms on my eggplant plants.

And can someone tell my why white begonias grow so slowly and/or get eaten by critters more so than the red or pink ones? They're all getting the same amount of light and water, but the white ones are barely moving.

[purplepenguin7]

I'm very new to gardening since moving into my new house. The previous owner had a dwarf plum tree and a fig tree but neither are producing any fruit. Google hasn't gotten me anywhere. Is it the wrong season for them? Should I be doing something more to care for them?

[dr.girlfriend]

Jul 12, 2022 15:00:32 GMT -5 purplepenguin7 said:

I'm very new to gardening since moving into my new house. The previous owner had a dwarf plum tree and a fig tree but neither are producing any fruit. Google hasn't gotten me anywhere. Is it the wrong season for them? Should I be doing something more to care for them?

If you call your county extension office they love questions like this!

[purplepenguin7]

dr.girlfriend , thanks! I never heard of that, off to google their number.

Also, another question.  We planted a tomato plant that is growing out of control.  We put it in one of those cages but it grew beyond the cage and is wild.  Should it be trimmed or something?  Just let go wild? My husband thinks its going to fall over it's so big.

[libbygrl109]

Jul 13, 2022 9:40:16 GMT -5 purplepenguin7 said:

dr.girlfriend , thanks! I never heard of that, off to google their number.

Also, another question.  We planted a tomato plant that is growing out of control.  We put it in one of those cages but it grew beyond the cage and is wild.  Should it be trimmed or something?  Just let go wild? My husband thinks its going to fall over it's so big.

My dad always used either a piece of twine or one of my mom’s old stockings to tie the plant to the cage so it was more upright. I have coaxed some plants back into the cage before. You just have to be really careful about bending the branches.

[simpsongal]

Dr G be sure to do research on varieties if you plant a peach tree. We’ve had one 10 years and it is a constant battle of diseases and insects. After years of spraying organic chemicals and other things we just gave up.

Re tomato cages- we built ours using concrete reinforcing mesh. Makes a much larger, stronger cage for indeterminate tomatoes
cottageatthecrossroads.com/diy-tomato-cages/

[mrsukyankee]

Jul 13, 2022 9:40:16 GMT -5 purplepenguin7 said:

dr.girlfriend , thanks! I never heard of that, off to google their number.

Also, another question.  We planted a tomato plant that is growing out of control.  We put it in one of those cages but it grew beyond the cage and is wild.  Should it be trimmed or something?  Just let go wild? My husband thinks its going to fall over it's so big.

Yes, trim it as well as support it. 

[deadwing]

Jul 13, 2022 9:40:16 GMT -5 purplepenguin7 said:

dr.girlfriend , thanks! I never heard of that, off to google their number.

Also, another question.  We planted a tomato plant that is growing out of control.  We put it in one of those cages but it grew beyond the cage and is wild.  Should it be trimmed or something?  Just let go wild? My husband thinks its going to fall over it's so big.

The little wire cages you get at Lowes or Home Depot are useless.  I like these instead: www.gardeners.com/buy/tomato-stakes-ladders/8609737.html and use clips like this to secure the plants to the cage www.amazon.com/Ram-Pro-Gardening-Gripper-Supporting-Straightening/dp/B01M34L0DB/

[Susie]

This is the garden area as a whole.  Very much a work in progress, but considering a year ago we were just moving in, and there was an above ground pool in the circle, and a pool deck where there are now wood chips and day lilies, I would say we're making good strides.

The raised bed boxes were made from wood reclaimed from the old pool deck.  They are lined with plastic between the growing medium and the wood, in case anyone is concerned about growing food in boxes made of pressure treated wood.

This box has 2 zucchini, some jalepeno peppers, marigolds, basil, and cilantro.  We didn't do much with this round of cilantro, I need to re-seed so it comes in again around when the tomatoes do, to make salsa.


This box is cherry tomatoes, thyme, oregano, and cucumbers at the far end.


This box is tomatoes and green onions.


All the boxes have trickle irrigation set up on a timer for 3 evenings a week (Mon/Wed/Fri).  I think I need to add an early Sun AM 4th watering to the program.  With the exception of the green onions, I grew everything in the boxes from seed myself.

These are hops. Experimenting with how we're growing them.



These are two sage (that used to be one sage, but split in the transplant process). They moved with us from our old house last year. Yay thriving.  

The big damn deal, in terms of effort, is the mulch. All of this area (and more) had black landscape fabric with tangled roots in it, and we had to pull up the landscape fabric before we could mulch. Some preexisting plants are planted through holes in the fabric, others are growing on top.  That will be the case with all beds in the yard. It is a nightmare. Most also have red landscape stone over top of the plastic, which is just so, so much work. It's brutal. But necessary before I can really work on these gardens.  As we clear these beds, we move the stone to around the fire pit.

This bed has a bunch of baby perennials that I planted this spring.
The rhubarb against the house was a transplant from the old house, along with the 3 hydrangeas along the deck.  The middle one is a limelight from our dog's tree.  The other two are macrophyllas.  In the middle are various daylilies, two varieties of lavender, and a bee balm.  My realistic hope is just for establishment this year, and a good showing next year.

[Deleted]

I expanded my garden this year to allow room for some plantings from seed and I had moderate success. The beets came in great, only about half of the carrots grew, none of the onions grew, and only 1 out of 12 green beans grew. Oh well. On the other hand, my tomato plants are thriving. I saw a tip on TikTok about removing all of the lower leaves before planting, cracking an egg in the hole, and then planting in a deeper hole all the way up to the top leaves. I didn't get them in to the ground until 5/21 and they are huge, the Rose Tomato is over 5ft tall. My zucchini, cucumber, and jalapeno are all producing, and I think that my peach scorpion may have some peppers soon. My herb garden is doing great. I had dill and cilantro grow that had self-seeded, and my lemon thyme, mint, and oregano are all doing well.

[Susie]

We had an unexpected garden experience this summer that turned out pretty fun.  

A couple weeks ago I found a group of black swallowtail caterpillars chowing down on our parsley, so we brought them inside for the kids to see the life cycle up close.  

The caterpillars were ravenous eaters.  Like, it was hard to keep them fed on days when one of us didn't WFH.  And omg the poop!  So much caterpillar poop -- or frass, as I have learned.  It was endless.  They were definitely like small high maintenance pets, although only for a few days.


Of 6 caterpillars, 5 successfully made it into chrysalids.  It was neat to see the ones that formed chrysalids on the sticks were brown, and the one that was on the mesh near the green strip, was bright green.  That coloring lasted the whole time.


This weekend they all emerged.  We have 3 males (with the large/prominent yellow spots on the wing upper) and 2 females (darker, with a more prominent blue area). 


We will release them back into the garden, probably tomorrow.  All in, they've been with us for about 2 weeks.  That time has been about 50/50 high maintenance (caterpillars and butterflies) and no maintenance (chrysalids).  

My kids (ages 3 and 6) have been big fans of the experience.  I will be good with releasing the butterflies from my care, but I have also enjoyed it too.

[mrsukyankee]

My garden is finally giving back after a lot of frustration (something dug up a large portion of it despite some wire in place - not happy about that). I've gotten a bunch of cucumbers (making fridge pickles today), some zucs and tomatoes (made my first pasta dish with the tomatoes). I've learned a lot this summer about what to do and not do, so hopefully next year will be more productive and easier. I actually have more of a plan.

[simpsongal]

Susie that's so cool!

I'm just waiting for cooler weather. I need contract out some beds - they're overrun w/weeds, I'm out-gunned!

[macmars45]

My strawberries have done really well as has my zinnias. My petunias got eaten by bud worm again this summer. I love them but I don't think I'll plant them next year. My cornucopia didn't like the west facing sun by my front door. I think it'll do better in my east facing backyard next summer.

Next year I think I'll do geraniums, zinnias, cornucopias and strawberries.

[libbygrl109]

Susie that is so fun! My SMIL had gotten DS a butterfly habitat one summer when he was that age. He would give me progress updates everyday 😄

My garden is just there. I have lots of tomatoes, but they are not ripening, despite the heat we’ve gotten recently, along with my watering and the rain. My eggplants, peppers, and squash are just starting to come. At least I won’t have to buy veggies once I head back to work in 2 weeks?