Gardening to divert depression

Blessings2011

Thank you, Wren! The sound of running water is soooo soothing!

Thanks, Mods! I don't know much about gardening, but that's the wonderful part - waiting to be surprised at what comes up!

Shrek4

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lanagraves

I'm so happy to have found this thread. I grew up vegetable gardening. We grew all our vegetables. And I just asked my husband yesterday to till me a small area for a few tomato plants, peppers, and summer squash. I'm so looking forward to having some fresh veggies again, and I get so excited watching them grow.

Maya2

Blessings: The brown glob on the top of your seedlings may be the seed. The leaves haven't pushed it off as yet. Give it time. I'm with the others. Wait a while and see if the other seeds sprout.

I concur, the waterfall and lilies are gorgeous!

Blessings2011

Thank you, everyone.

We had this house built when we got married 7 years ago. The developer put in the front yard, but the back yard was a complete wasteland for nearly a year.

DH had moved down from the mountains, and he was determined to have a "water feature" in the back yard. He thought it should go in a corner; I said if we were going to pay that much money for it, I wanted to be able for people to see it the moment they walked through our front door. I won.

I also wanted a pool. I didn't think that was going to happen. But the day the workers were digging the hole for the pond for the water to flow into, DH said "Hold on a minute" and ran and got my inflatable little plastic pool raft.

"Make sure it's at least this big" he said. So when I got home, and the hole was all dug out, he proudly showed me my "pool".......

Sherryc

Love the pictures.  After my surgery I had two people bring me some lillies and I planted them.  They look like they are going to do well.

candie1971

wow..this is such a nice thread to read. I do not own my own house but wherever I have lived I usually have a small flower garden and soemtimes I do grow vegetable in big containers. I just moved again and I have a patch outside my apartment to grow things. I will start to take some pictures so you can see how I do. I am not an expert but I like to do this.

Maya2

Candie: That's what I do as well. Living in a big city, I was lucky to have a balcony. Then a couple years ago, the building management notified us that a roof garden was in the works. Almost everyone planted something. Those who didn't, came to look. Containers work great. The fruit tastes just as good. It's nice to have a big backyard, but not necessary for people with green thumbs.

candie1971

Maya2...I read recently on a garden website, that a good way to grow veggies is in big cardboard boxes. Either line it with a plastic bag and put holes in it...or cover the bottom with rocks for drainage. I am going to try it.

Chevyboy

I love this short video....!  It's the Life of Flowers....

 http://player.vimeo.com/video/27920977?title=0&%3bbyline=0&%3bportrait=0href=

It is so fun reading about all of you "Gardeners"....  I also grow my own Tomatoes, and Peppers, although I have quit growing everything I get my hands on....

You know, you can  add used coffee grounds, besides the dried, crushed egg shells!  You can add "bone meal" .... all of this helps your soil.

I get LOTS of coffee grounds from Starbucks, and they are free!....  When I set my Tomato plants in, I do use some of my "compost" soil from my barrel....  I save potato and apple peelings, after I cut and dry them.   And my DH has a cigar once in awhile, and I dry up the smelly thing, and crush that into the same barrel 

You can use a spray for little bugs, but filling a spray bottle with water, a dash of dish soap, and a little rubbing alcohol...  I use it for all my house plants.

Shrek4

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Blessings2011

Oh, my gosh....last year on our Godzilla Armenian Cucumber plant, I kept seeing dozens of tiny black caterpillars. I thought it was under invasion by some noxious pest!

I squished a few, but then I figured I'd better find out what they were.

They were ladybug larvae!!!! Ooooops!!!!! Never mind!!!!

Maya2

Blessings! Well, at least you looked them up and, bless your heart, you know a friend when you see it now. But I can imagine I would have been horrified  to see the "invasion" myself.

Candie: Cardboard boxes sound great, they are a natural product, unlike all those plastic containers. One could still recycle at the end of the growing season.

On our rooftop garden we have a composter. It's amazing to watch all our proper Parisians carrying their carefully wrapped scraps to the rooftop for composting. A few who can't make the steps would ask a neighbour to take theirs. We always make sure they reap some of the rewards too. It's similar to a co-op. Each week small bags of veggies are packed and everyone gets some fresh eats.

Shrek4

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Anonymous

OK, fellow gardeners, I have a question for you.   My problem is caused by a dead tree that we are going to have taken down as soon as we decide which tree service to go with. I was hoping to at least keep the honey suckle bushes but everyone tells me they will go with the tree. It provided a LOT of shade in the backyard for my ferns, shadeloving plants and also on the pond.  It is OK right now, but once the sun gets stronger, it is going to fry my ferns.   In order to help with this problem and since I can't grow a tree overnight, I had an extension put on the pergola that goes from the exisiting pergola out to the pond.  Once I get something growing on top of it, there will be some shade for the ferns.  The question, What to grow?  I have been reading about wisteria which I love, but it sounds like it is a PIA, not only takes time and effort to train, it may not bloom for years.  I have grape vines on the existing arbor and because there never was a lot of sun out there, it took me probably 12 years to get those vines established....plus they are heavy and putting strain on the structure.   So any ideas on an attractive, fast growing vine.....no morning glories as they are invasive and I am constantly pulling them out of my clematis and other plants because they choke them.  I love my flowers and plants and just hate the thought of the sun destroying them.   Thanks for your input in advance.   I am going to post some pics of the yard and plants.   Marybe 

dead tree and honey suckle  ferns

existing pergola and new addition 

Blessings2011

shade cloth for now to just get you thru the summer?

Wren44

See if Kiwi will grow in your area. They don't fruit here, but the vines were vigorous and leafy. We shaded our deck and used them as a privacy screen.

ananda8

Why take the tree down at all?  It will still be habitat for animals.  If you don't like the bare branches, then have it cut just to the top of the bushes.  The bushes will hide the rest of the stump.

Glad to have found this thread.  I am still learning how to garden after 20 years of trying. 

TwoHobbies

Marybe, in a magazine once they used scarlet runner bean as a fast growing vine.  A couple was getting married and wanted to get married under a pergola and wanted something fast to grow.  You might look into that.  Yep morning glories would work and they are pretty, but you will have to pull seeds next year if you don't want them again.  We planted morning glories against our garage one time and they were gorgeous but I had to pull a lot of seedling the next two years and some even traveled to my back yard and grew up the shrubs.  But the hummingbirds love them.  

Blessings oh what a beautiful waterfall.  And Day, the former owner of our house had planted a lot of lillies but the chipmunks or squirrels dig them up.  They don't bother the tulips but they love those lily bulbs. 

Maya having a roof top garden would make city living tolerable for me.  Oh course living in Paris might make city living tolerable without a roof top garden! 

I like planting in containers even though I have a yard.  We do both.  Its way easy to weed, and you can move your containers to a better spot, less sun, more sun as you need it.  It also keeps the more invasive things controlled - I'm thinking spearmint, for example. 

Shrek4

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Anonymous

  Thanks for all the suggestions and I will research them.   I didn't know I could get a tree that would grow that fast......if we get the stump taken out also (costs extra of course), then I could plant a tree, but maybe just getting rid of the dead limbs and growing vines up over what is left is a good option.    Thanks again. I have a lot of sun loving plants out front and on the side, but like the idea of keeping it shade in the back. 

3jaysmom

after reading here( i've been feeling depressed, after all the overdoing) so, i;ve decide to go to Home Depot, and see if i can get some lillys.. mine didn't come up this yr.. i got them from robertas' garden, on Q

vc, and they were beautiful.. i think too much replanting, digging up, and replanting did them in.. i hope they have some at home depot.. looking for instant gratification here......3jays

Maya2

Sometimes we just need instant gratification. I hope you get your lilies. You deserve something beautiful 3jays.

Shrek4

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3jaysmom

i didn't get to home depot this weekend.. so much for "instant gratification" hah!but, am insisting mur take me to lowes THIS coming weekend!!!thanks, day..3jays

Sherryc

We have had glorious rain here the last few days and my garden is going crazy.  Crazy in good way, haha

3jaysmom

we're havig the begginning of rainy season here. Just in time so my plants that were transplanted are doing better!!!(still no lilies yet, though. gotta get to lowes this wkend.............3jays

Sherryc

We have also been having lots of rain.  The farmers needed it and my garden is loving it.

chabba

Hadley - Yes, your first flower is exciting.  Enjoy!

The family always joked that I have a gangrene thumb, any plant I try to cultivate dies.  Tjhe only flower garden I ever managed to grow was the Carpet of Old Fashioned Flowers that someone gave me.  It was a fibrous mat you just laid out on freshly tilled soil and watered.  I was thrilled to watch it grow and had lovely flowers all summer long.

FLwarrior

Hadley that is great that your flowers are sprouting!  My veggies are sprouting, so I can share in your excitement!  My tomatoe seeds never sprouted so I ended up buying an established plant-cherry tomaotes...wish me luck!  I also got a new hanging basket of hot pink trailing vinca this weekend.  It is very pretty.