The Gardening/Landscaping Thread

[SDC]

An offshoot of this discussion.

I spent my childhood in the garden and yard with my mother, and now that I have my own property I finally have the chance to go at it alone.

Have a pretty basic vegetable garden this year. I have two rows in an area where I could easily fit five, each about 12 feet long. Several different types of tomatoes, a few lettuces, cucumbers, zucchini and a bunch of herbs. Would've liked to do a lot more, but I didn't want to over do it.The previous owner made the garden and really took care of the soil. I tilled in some compost and manure. I weed about once a week. Got a great tip this year - every week or so loosen the soil about an inch or two deep. This prevents tubes that form in the hardened dirt that allow water to escape.

I have plenty I want to do with the rest of the property. Just planted a lilac bush. Looking to do roses and hydrangeas eventually. Really beautiful Dogwood in the front yard. My lawn needs a lot TLC.

What does everyone else have going on?

[Ben]

I am currently clearing a massive infestation of briar rose and box hawthorn - it may just keep me busy for years. And its really awful stuff to deal with. I have to put my full-length oil-skin coat on, a leather hat and gloves and goggles. You have to cut the whippy suckers close to ground level and then paint the stump with herbicide. The infestation includes many dense thickets and the thorns are just nasty. Recently, burned the outcrop of about 10m2 of gorse after it was sprayed last spring. Poisoned five willows (proscribed invasive weed species where I live) and waiting approval for a quote to have the trees felled and cut into firewood rounds. Even during the middle of winter the stinging nettle continues to grow so have been spraying with a backpack. Also clearing a lot of fallen timber - I have taken about 10-20 loads on the back of the ute to our bonfire site.
I doubt whether I'll plant anything in the vegie garden site until Spring. Last year we had six significant floods that inundated the vegie garden between autumn and spring.
kind regards,

Ben

[chownah]

I'm an organic farmer in northern Thailand and have Jasmine rice and sweet corn as my two biggest crops but also grow lettuce, okra, eggplant, snap beans, edible morning glory, sorgham, pumpkin, guords and occasionally other vegetables and also several kinds of tropical fruits including bananas, papaya, mango, rambutan, jack fruit, lynchee, and lamyai.
I call myself a farmer because I'm pretty much beyond the gardening approach to growing stuff but I'm not sure if I'm really big enough to be called a farmer....I'm heading more towards being a real farmer every year and maybe in a few more years I'll be a full fledged farmer but right now I'm sort of between farming and gardening.....it's what I do every day.....
My wife (who does some of the farm work) also has alot of flowers and plants around the house including a small shade structure with orchids.

chownah

[SDC]

I am currently clearing a massive infestation of briar rose and box hawthorn - it may just keep me busy for years. And its really awful stuff to deal with. I have to put my full-length oil-skin coat on, a leather hat and gloves and goggles. You have to cut the whippy suckers close to ground level and then paint the stump with herbicide. The infestation includes many dense thickets and the thorns are just nasty. Recently, burned the outcrop of about 10m2 of gorse after it was sprayed last spring. Poisoned five willows (proscribed invasive weed species where I live) and waiting approval for a quote to have the trees felled and cut into firewood rounds. Even during the middle of winter the stinging nettle continues to grow so have been spraying with a backpack. Also clearing a lot of fallen timber - I have taken about 10-20 loads on the back of the ute to our bonfire site.
I doubt whether I'll plant anything in the vegie garden site until Spring. Last year we had six significant floods that inundated the vegie garden between autumn and spring.
kind regards,

Ben

I forgot about the different seasons, sorry southern hemisphere peeps.

Sounds like a real pain, Ben. Any plans for when you get it all cleared?

[SDC]

I'm an organic farmer in northern Thailand and have Jasmine rice and sweet corn as my two biggest crops but also grow lettuce, okra, eggplant, snap beans, edible morning glory, sorgham, pumpkin, guords and occasionally other vegetables and also several kinds of tropical fruits including bananas, papaya, mango, rambutan, jack fruit, lynchee, and lamyai.
I call myself a farmer because I'm pretty much beyond the gardening approach to growing stuff but I'm not sure if I'm really big enough to be called a farmer....I'm heading more towards being a real farmer every year and maybe in a few more years I'll be a full fledged farmer but right now I'm sort of between farming and gardening.....it's what I do every day.....
My wife (who does some of the farm work) also has alot of flowers and plants around the house including a small shade structure with orchids.

chownah

Sounds really awesome, chownah. I would say you are a farmer considering the variety of what you are growing and the amount of work you do to tend everything.

[Ben]

I am currently clearing a massive infestation of briar rose and box hawthorn - it may just keep me busy for years. And its really awful stuff to deal with. I have to put my full-length oil-skin coat on, a leather hat and gloves and goggles. You have to cut the whippy suckers close to ground level and then paint the stump with herbicide. The infestation includes many dense thickets and the thorns are just nasty. Recently, burned the outcrop of about 10m2 of gorse after it was sprayed last spring. Poisoned five willows (proscribed invasive weed species where I live) and waiting approval for a quote to have the trees felled and cut into firewood rounds. Even during the middle of winter the stinging nettle continues to grow so have been spraying with a backpack. Also clearing a lot of fallen timber - I have taken about 10-20 loads on the back of the ute to our bonfire site.
I doubt whether I'll plant anything in the vegie garden site until Spring. Last year we had six significant floods that inundated the vegie garden between autumn and spring.
kind regards,

Ben

I forgot about the different seasons, sorry southern hemisphere peeps.

Sounds like a real pain, Ben. Any plans for when you get it all cleared?

No worries, SDC.
Clearing the weeds is part of an ongoing environmental management plan that I am conducting in consultation and participation with my neighbours and the local municipality and State government. With regard to our shared driveway, the verge is about 10 metres deep on each side and runs for over 1km. Its actually an avenue lined with endemic eucalypts and wattyls. The wattyls tend to get to a certain height and fall over in strong winds. The eucalypts just drop debris in the form of bark and branches. We've also got a number of large dead trees that need to be felled and removed. The object is to clear the verge of fallen timber, engage a strategy to manage the weeds and maintain it. Some of the weed species such as the hawthorn and briar rose either have very large seed beds or grow via rhyzome. If we can get the verge cleared during the winter, it'll be a lot easier to then manage the weeds by spraying with a selective herbicide in the Spring and then continue with year after year. On either side of the driveway verge we've got paddocks of barley, poppies, fennel and sheep pasture at different times of the year. Controlling the weeds on the driveway verge means that there is less risk of those weeds invading productive farmland.
kind regards,

Ben

[Rui Sousa]

I have a garden with grass, some trees and lots of flowers. I also have a small area where I grow vegetables, cucumbers and letuces at the moment.

Tomorow I will clear my carway from weeds, I don't use herbicides because of my dogs and my son. My son had a serious allergic reaction the last time I used a chemicall herbicide. So I will clear it by hand.

I will also prun my bougainvilles tomorow.

Three peach trees were born this year, I don't now where to relocate them to. I might fill some empty spaces in the grass, where I sometimes place some bulbs.

[chownah]

No worries, SDC.
Clearing the weeds is part of an ongoing environmental management plan that I am conducting in consultation and participation with my neighbours and the local municipality and State government. With regard to our shared driveway, the verge is about 10 metres deep on each side and runs for over 1km. Its actually an avenue lined with endemic eucalypts and wattyls. The wattyls tend to get to a certain height and fall over in strong winds. The eucalypts just drop debris in the form of bark and branches. We've also got a number of large dead trees that need to be felled and removed. The object is to clear the verge of fallen timber, engage a strategy to manage the weeds and maintain it. Some of the weed species such as the hawthorn and briar rose either have very large seed beds or grow via rhyzome. If we can get the verge cleared during the winter, it'll be a lot easier to then manage the weeds by spraying with a selective herbicide in the Spring and then continue with year after year. On either side of the driveway verge we've got paddocks of barley, poppies, fennel and sheep pasture at different times of the year. Controlling the weeds on the driveway verge means that there is less risk of those weeds invading productive farmland.
kind regards,

Ben

Ben,
Have you considered using goats to eat the weeds....I've heard that this is a very effective technique for controlling even thorny weeds....I have heard of people borrowing goats and tethering them even on steep terrain to control weeds.
chownah

[Ben]

Hi Chownah,
Yeah, we thought about that and goats would be a good choice. However, for a number of reasons we've decided against getting a livestock at this stage.
kind regards,

Ben