May 31, 2008

is it time to cry uncle yet?

I ADMIT IT, I am overwhelmed. Is it time to give up yet? This always happens to me when spring passes from promise to has-been, and the gardener passes from excitement to insanity. You? How are you holding up out there?

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17 Responses to “is it time to cry uncle yet?”

Jane Marie on May 31st, 2008 7:15 am

When it comes to gardening, I never cry uncle until fall when it gets cold and rainy. It’s a constant battle, after all you are fighting and cooperating with nature all at the same time. It’s either love it, or leave it, and I chose to love it.
margaret on May 31st, 2008 7:18 am

Welcome, Jane Marie, to A Way to Garden. I am definitely in for a pound over here, too…but there are days when I wonder what I was thinking. But yes, it is a love thing.
gina on May 31st, 2008 8:51 am

I’m sitting here surfing the net in denial that the creeping charlie is taking over.
Country gardener on May 31st, 2008 9:22 am

I wonder what we were thinking. We bought our property 10 years ago and created something resembling a country park, with huge garden beds. Maintaining it is a full time job for me, and I have outside help too. But what gets me crying uncle is the lack of rain. It’s happening again this year. We expect it in mid-summer, but when spring is already dry, I seriously question gardening at this scale. But we were 10 years younger when we started.
margaret on May 31st, 2008 10:16 am

I LOVE YOU ALL. Thank goodness it’s not just me. :)
sogalitno on May 31st, 2008 4:21 pm

in for a moment as i still have one bed to finish planting (adding plants to) and eight more delphs to plant…

and its hot and humid and ugh…
but almost done…. that shower tonight cant come too soon!

back to the beds
Kathy from Cold Climate Gardening on May 31st, 2008 7:22 pm

I have pretty much stopped reading blogs (obviously I made an exception) and am seriously neglecting the writing of my own, in order to persevere in the garden. I get overwhelmed every year. I can never engage the enemy on all fronts. This year I am taking back a bed from the goldenrod; meanwhile the garlic mustard remains unpulled somewhere else.
margaret on May 31st, 2008 7:48 pm

Hi, Kathy. I make the funniest lists, oodles and oodles of lists, of what I need to do…all on separate pieces of paper, which adds to the sense of chaos. At this time of year, before Garden Open Days and such, I am the perpetual chicken with the head cut off (if a longtime vegetarian can be a chicken). Partly from my nature, partly from all my years of Martha training…multi-task, multi-task, multi-multi-multi-task! I like your thought: can’t engage the enemy on all fronts. So tactical.
GardenGuyKenn on May 31st, 2008 8:21 pm

Mustard. For some reason there are little (and some not so little) mustard plants that are popping up everywhere in and around my ‘rescue garden’ located at the back of the house. These mustard monsters are everywhere! Oh, what is a rescue garden? A small(ish) garden that I use when I find a plant that looks as if it has been a bit neglected at the nursery, needs a good home, but I’m not quite sure where to plant it. Into the rescue garden it goes to gain some strength before it’s placed permanently.

Oh, by the way, if you ever hear me say that I’ve planted ANY variety of mint in my garden again - take away all my garden tools. I could spend an entire weekend pulling up rambling mint!
Keith Alexander on May 31st, 2008 8:21 pm

I realize more each season that I have the seasonal preference of the cyclamen and arum - fall, winter, and spring are fine, but summer is time to go dormant. I hate the muggy heat.
Kitt on May 31st, 2008 11:53 pm

I concentrate on one little bit of garden and in that small moment, everything else goes to hell. I can’t walk from the front of the house to the back without getting sidetracked by weeding or pruning that needs to be done along the way.
margaret on June 1st, 2008 7:45 am

Here’s a cartoon (from my favorite, and often off-color, illustrator, Englishman Andre Jordan), that about sums up where I am at after frantically running ’round and ’round from dawn each recent day, combined w/plant-shopping excess.
Layanee on June 1st, 2008 8:08 am

Just keep plugging! Everything seems half done! The veggie garden is coming along, the fish pond is running but not quite primped enough for pictures, the perennial beds are filling in but the weeds are starting to join in also! The new shrub border needs weeding and mulching to the tune of six yards of mulch and the corn is not yet planted. I guess it won’t be knee high by the fourth of July! It is the best stress around isn’t it!? Blogging is taking a back seat, sadly.
High Valley Farmgirl on June 1st, 2008 3:47 pm

Message to Margaret: You must never cry uncle!

I had the privilege of glimpsing a corner of Miss M’s garden today in person and was left both breathless and speechless! One could barely take in the magnitude of magnificence! As awe-inspiring, enchanting and inspirational as her photography is on these pages, you cannot even begin to imagine what it’s like to see the fruits of her efforts in person.

Keep on keeping on Margaret!
margaret on June 1st, 2008 5:58 pm

@HVFG: Geez, had I known you were in awe we coulda hooked you up w/a wheelbarrow and a shovel or one of the lawn mowers. Next time!
Trish on June 4th, 2008 6:07 am

thank goodness for all of you and your understanding of this season and how insane it is - the public butterfly garden I’m in charge of still has too many weeds, my daughter in law’s garden hasn’t been planted, our farm is behind in planting & weeding, forget my garden - but I am enjoying all the blooms. Just might take the 14th off and finally visit your garden!! love the early bird cartoon!
margaret on June 4th, 2008 9:32 am

Welcome, Trish. Too many weeds is right. And you are so smart to be “still enjoying all the blooms.” Great philosophy.

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Who's Gardening Here?

from martha to just margaret
I was so blessed to visit and document many of the nation’s finest homemade gardens for 15 years for ‘Martha Stewart Living,’ first as its garden editor and then as editorial director for the company. The list of places we were proud to publish included my own upstate New York home a few years back. Take a tour of how it looked then. Want to know more about me? Or read what Anne Raver said in June in The New York Times, calling A Way to Garden “the best (garden blog) I’d ever seen.”
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Why Do You Garden?

One of the most popular questions at A Way to Garden: Why do you garden? A bunch of us answered in a stream of comments, and there's great other stuff on the Forums. Just in case you'd like to tell us why, too (or have a good read about what makes the rest of us tick).
October Garden Chores

All based on my Zone 5B Berkshire/Hudson Valley location; adjust accordingly.

FALL IS HEATING UP, at least visually, even as temperatures begin to trend downward. Cleanup is (hopefully) under way in earnest, with time out to cook up the last bits from the vegetable garden into a batch of ‘Tomato Junk’ or soup, or local apples into applesauce. With such delicious reminders of summer and fall in the freezer, and the right plants in the garden, there’s no “end” to fear. Some of us even feel happy about the coming riches: berries, bark, new birds. Peak planting time for bulbs and for many woody things is through month’s end or so; make that work include some focus on the addition of fall and winter plants to the landscape.

TREES & SHRUBS

CLEAR TURF OR WEEDS from the area right around the trunks of fruit trees and ornamentals to reduce winter damage by rodents. Hardware cloth collars should be in place year-round as well.

BE EXTRA-VIGILANT cleaning up under fruit trees, as fallen fruit and foliage allowed to overwinter invites added troubles next season.

BE SURE TO WATER trees now through hard frost if conditions are dry, so that they enter dormancy in a well-hydrated state. Evergreens (needled ones and broadleaf types like rhododendron, too) are particularly vulnerable to desiccation and winterburn otherwise.

DON’T PANIC IF EVERGREENS continue to show some browning or yellowing of needles this month and next. The oldest, innermost needles typically shed after a few years on the tree.

ALWAYS BE on the lookout for dead, damaged, diseased wood in trees and shrubs and prune them out as discovered. This is especially important before winter arrives with its harsher weather, where weaknesses left in place invite tearing and unnecessary extra damage. Remove suckers and water sprouts, too.

VEGETABLE, FRUIT & HERBS

PREPARE A SEEDBED NOW for peas and spinach for next spring, to get a headstart on such early crops. Spinach can even be sown now through Thanksgiving, for super-early spring harvest; not the peas, of course.

AS VEGETABLE PLANTS (and annual flowers) fade, pull them to get a start on garden cleanup. Before composting the remains, cut them up a bit with a pruning shears or shred, to speed decomposition.

PARSLEY AND CHIVES can be potted up and brought indoors for offseason use. A few garlic cloves in a pot will yield a supply of chive-like (but spicier) garlic greens all winter for garnish. Determined types with really sunny windowsills can sow seeds of bush basil in a pot, too. I rely on frozen pesto cubes instead.

IF NEXT YEAR’S GARDEN plans include a patch of strawberries or asparagus, do the tilling and soil preparation now so the bare-root plants ordered over the winter can be planted extra early come spring.

AS AREAS COME EMPTY from harvest, build vegetable-garden soil by sowing cover crops: winter rye can be sown through mid-fall. These “green manures” will be turned under later to improve soil tilth and fertility.

REPLANT YOUR BIGGEST CLOVES from heads of harvested garlic for best yield, or hurry and order a supply and plant now (about a month before frost is in the ground). Prepare a sunny spot, and plant each clove 1-2 inches deep and 6 inches apart in the row, with about 12 inches between rows. Green growth will happen this fall, which is great; don’t panic. It’s a hardy thing.

FLOWER GARDEN

PAY SPECIAL ATTENTION to areas around peonies, roses, irises and other flowers that are prone to fungal diseases. Cut down iris foliage and rake well under roses.

CANNAS, DAHLIAS AND OTHER tender bulb-like things including elephant ears need to be dug carefully for indoor storage. There are many methods, but the basics: Once frost blackens the foliage, cut back the tops to 6 inches and dig carefully, then brush or wash off soil and let dry for two weeks or so to cure. Stash in a dry spot like unheated basement or crawl space around 40-50 degrees, in boxes or pots filled with bark chips or peat moss. Details, here.

DON'T DEADHEAD FADED perennials, biennials and annuals if you want to collect seed (non-hybrids only) or will let them self-sow. Nicotiana, poppies, larkspur, clary sage and many others fall into this leave-alone group. So do plants with showy or bird-friendly seedheads, like coneflowers.

LAST CALL FOR BULB ORDERS (see Sources), and plant as they arrive (lilies most urgently). Remember our “early, middle, late” mantra when ordering. And think drifts, not onesies and threesies.

PREPARE NEW beds for future planting by smothering grass or weeds with layers of recycled corrugated cardboard or thick layers of newspaper, then put mulch on top.

HOUSEPLANTS

START A POT OF PAPERWHITES in potting soil or pebbles and water, and stagger forcing more every couple of weeks for a winterlong display.

REST AMARYLLIS BULBS by putting them in a dry, dark place where they will have no water at all for a couple of months. I put mine in a little-used closet.

IF HOUSEPLANTS NEED repotting, do it as they come inside (less messy than in the house!). Don’t step up more than an inch (on small pots) or a couple (on large ones). Most plants don’t like to swim in their containers.

LAWNS

KEEP MOWING TILL THE GRASS stops growing, and make the last cut a short one. Let clippings lie on the lawn to return Nitrogen to the soil.

COMPOST HEAP & MULCH

START A LEAVES-ONLY PILE alongside your other heap as a future source of soil-improving leaf mold, or when partly rotted for use as mulch.

ORDER A SUPPLY of bulk mulch, which is cheaper than the packaged kind and also eliminates the waste of all those heavyweight plastic bags. Many local nurseries deliver. Top up mulch in all garden beds as they get cleaned up gradually in fall.
Brief but Juicy

new-fashioned recipe swap
OUR SUMMER-LONG SERIES of Thursday Food Fests, a cross-blog joint venture with our friends at the Dinner Tonight blog, has been a big hit. For those of you currently awash in a sea of cuke or zukes, take heart: still time for a batch of refrigerator pickles or squash parmigiana. Up to your whatever in basil? Maybe you missed our pesto fest. We’ve talked tomatoes (red or green) and green beans (from dilly to dally), ways to savor or stash fresh corn, and ideas for the fruit harvest, too. You can find them all under the Category “Edibles” in the right sidebar on every page, or by scrolling down through the posts at will.

ultimate garden no-no’s
WHEN SOMEONE ASKED in a comment about my point of view on using landscape fabric, the fuse was quickly lit: NO! I said. NO! I’ve rounded up some no-no’s we’ve posted collectively so far, but I bet by now there are a few more things to bitch about. Grab a lawn chair and a cold drink, and we can fester together. Sure beats weeding (which ought to be a garden no-no).

lose anything lately?
THE SAYING GOES THAT a thing of beauty is a joy forever. I guess “forever” in this case is in the mind’s eye. My darling, oldest bottlebrush buckeye (Aesculus parviflora) went down for the count in July, or at least half of it did, and I had already seen the death knell for a couple of my 10 crabapples. Jeez.

true love, really
LOOK, I HAVE A THING for frogs. Call it my little fetish. An issue. Whatever. My general obsession notwithstanding, I’ve finally met THE ONE FOR ME.

hail the stewartia
I LIKE PLANTS THAT EARN THEIR KEEP. By that I mean they do more than a week or two of showing off; they look good in more than a single moment, or season. The small-ish to medium trees in the genus Stewartia are a good bet if that’s the kind of multi-season interest you are looking for. Sound good?

more, more, more clematis
WHEN I SEE ‘POLISH SPIRIT’ CLAMBERING up and through the golden Chamaecyparis in late spring-into-summer, I realize I have a serious Clematis shortage around here. Not in the Chamaecyparis, specifically, but in lots of other places where things look a little dull. I’ve got a penchant for growing vines up and over otherwise-dull shrubbery, you see.

can-do pruning
REPEAT AFTER ME: I can prune. I can prune. If you follow this simple method for starters, your woody plants will thank you.

the ‘other’ peonies
JUNE WAS PEONY TIME, the big raucous kind of peony time, but just before that another kind of peony you might want to consider adopting did its subtler, wonderful thing.

which lilac to plant?
SO MANY LILACS, so little space. Browse a glossary of some of my favorites before you shop—maybe you’ll like them, too.

non-blooming peonies?
Did your peonies not cooperate—was there not a good crop of flower buds, and you don’t know why? This came up on the Forums, and here’s the dish.

twist-off ticks
I AM COMING IN everyday with at least a tick or two on me; not embedded, thankfully, so far, but it's only a matter of time. But I am prepared. Are you?

anything but forsythia
I guess I have a thing against forsythia…even though I have several specimens of it along the fringes of my property. But there are better choices for spring color among shrubs.

surprise (avian) visitors
If you make a garden for birds, or even plant a crabapple or two (or ten), you never know who’ll show up.

magnolias to love
THEY’RE MEMORIES NOW but I couldn't garden without magnolias. Want to know more about the queen of the spring-blooming trees?

order in the garden
I AM LABELING my plants, I am. As memory fades, out comes the label machine, just in the nick. Saved by the Dymo. You can be, too.
Buried Treasure

I NOTICE THAT BLOGGING results in some rich but buried treasure: great stuff in a comment thread you may not see; interesting topics on the forums that perhaps you haven't visited.

Subjects ranging from feeding and pruning Hydrangeas and pruning clematis, to entertaining (read: ranting) lists and lists of garden no-no’s (not just mine!).

Pick a click, and enjoy. Better yet, CHIME IN yourself. Up in the nav bar…that's right, GO FOR IT: our Q&A FORUMS.