So Much Garden, So Little Time
Monday July 20, 2009
It’s about this time in the summer that many gardeners start to feel they’ve bitten off more than they can chew. If you still have plants in the pots you purchased them in or still haven’t gotten around to mulching, you are one of them. Yup, me too.
What we need is a better plan; a way to prioritize what we really want to focus on. David Beaulieu, About’s Landscaping Guide, offers some thought provoking suggestions in Top 10 Mistakes to Avoid in Home Landscape Design. If you voted ‘Yes’ in the Edible Landscape poll, you might be especially interested in #7 - Failing to Work with What You Have.
Photo: © Marie Iannotti
Comments
Great top 10. Two items to keep in mind which applies to every one of these suggestions are:
1. Soil testing and preparation–this will make your plants more successful and disease free. Send a sample to your local agricultural extension office and follow their recommendations. Start a compost pile to build your soil’s health and tilth.
2. Match your plants to your climate and local conditions. Again, contact the agricultural extension office to find which varieties are most successful in your climate. Also pay attention to your property. Azaleas, rhododendrons and other acid-loving plants will do well near pine trees, but most will not.
I invite you to review the systematic property evaluation advice on my site to complement the top 10.