Proudest Veggie moment of 2011: growing a Thai Pepper Plant from seed and having it produce over 100 peppers.
Proudest Landscaping moment of 2011: Keeping most of my plants alive through the summer from hell.
Friday, April 28, 2006
The Rules of Gardening
Rule # 1: Don't try planting Pansies for the summer...they won't make it. Thankfully, this is not one of the many errors I made--I had read Dale Groom's Book before I started gardening.
Rule # 2: Always intersperse Bean plants with your other plants. Beans take nitrogen from the air and put it back into the soil. Which pretty much means constant fertilizing. Awesome.
Rule # 3: Butterflies like large plantings of the same color. This is because they are nearsighted. Also, if you want Black Swallowtail Butterflies (and caterpillars), plant parsley, dill, fennel and/or carrots--the larger the plant, the more caterpillars there will be.
Rule # 4: Don't drown your plants. This little gem was given to me by my "Moisture+pH+Light meter" I bought myself for Christmas. And "Thanks, but I think I figured that one out already"
Rule # 5: When in doubt, go native. If you can't get plants to grow, stack the odds in your favor: go native.
Rule # 6: When wanting to grow wildflowers, be lazy. Wildflowers tend to look like weeds when they're small. So, be lazy and wait for everything to bloom before deciding if it's a weed or not. I personally scattered wildflower seeds for 2 years before I learned this lesson. I probably pulled out most of our wildflowers thinking they were weeds. Now I've learned: Be lazy.
Rule # 7: Remember, gardening goes almost year-round down here. All this really means is that if your garden fails miserably in the spring/summer, plant a summer/fall crop of the same plants. Perhaps they'll do better.
Rule # 8: If you're going to grow a vegetable garden, you really ought to do it in raised beds. Especially if you live west of Mopac. The limestone is just so close to the top of the soil that you're really planting things in rock. Make it easy on yourself--build a raised bed.
Rule # 9: Probably the biggest thing that guarantees success in a veggie garden is going out and spending time in your garden. The sooner you know of problems, the sooner you can get those problems solved. Then your garden can go back to being productive.
Rule # 10: For all you Austin Newbies out there: Even though it is hot as Hades down here, you'll need to plant your veggies in a full sun location (or at least a location that gets 8 hours of full direct sunlight). Remember, some veggies are water hogs (like tomatoes), and you might have to water them every day. Heck, last year (2009), during the 56 days of uninterrupted 100+ degrees, I was watering tomatoes 2 times a day.
Rule # 11: If you have hummingbird feeders, you should really leave one up through the winter. Both Rufous (a hummingbird common in the western part of the US) and the Black Chinned overwinter in Texas.
Rule # 12: If you put up a bird nesting box (and you really should), don't be surprised if it takes a little while for a new couple to move in - birds tend to prefer weathered boxes.
Rule # 2: Always intersperse Bean plants with your other plants. Beans take nitrogen from the air and put it back into the soil. Which pretty much means constant fertilizing. Awesome.
Rule # 3: Butterflies like large plantings of the same color. This is because they are nearsighted. Also, if you want Black Swallowtail Butterflies (and caterpillars), plant parsley, dill, fennel and/or carrots--the larger the plant, the more caterpillars there will be.
Rule # 4: Don't drown your plants. This little gem was given to me by my "Moisture+pH+Light meter" I bought myself for Christmas. And "Thanks, but I think I figured that one out already"
Rule # 5: When in doubt, go native. If you can't get plants to grow, stack the odds in your favor: go native.
Rule # 6: When wanting to grow wildflowers, be lazy. Wildflowers tend to look like weeds when they're small. So, be lazy and wait for everything to bloom before deciding if it's a weed or not. I personally scattered wildflower seeds for 2 years before I learned this lesson. I probably pulled out most of our wildflowers thinking they were weeds. Now I've learned: Be lazy.
Rule # 7: Remember, gardening goes almost year-round down here. All this really means is that if your garden fails miserably in the spring/summer, plant a summer/fall crop of the same plants. Perhaps they'll do better.
Rule # 8: If you're going to grow a vegetable garden, you really ought to do it in raised beds. Especially if you live west of Mopac. The limestone is just so close to the top of the soil that you're really planting things in rock. Make it easy on yourself--build a raised bed.
Rule # 9: Probably the biggest thing that guarantees success in a veggie garden is going out and spending time in your garden. The sooner you know of problems, the sooner you can get those problems solved. Then your garden can go back to being productive.
Rule # 10: For all you Austin Newbies out there: Even though it is hot as Hades down here, you'll need to plant your veggies in a full sun location (or at least a location that gets 8 hours of full direct sunlight). Remember, some veggies are water hogs (like tomatoes), and you might have to water them every day. Heck, last year (2009), during the 56 days of uninterrupted 100+ degrees, I was watering tomatoes 2 times a day.
Rule # 11: If you have hummingbird feeders, you should really leave one up through the winter. Both Rufous (a hummingbird common in the western part of the US) and the Black Chinned overwinter in Texas.
Rule # 12: If you put up a bird nesting box (and you really should), don't be surprised if it takes a little while for a new couple to move in - birds tend to prefer weathered boxes.
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