Gardening 2023

[CaptainT]

Bunnies arrrggghh they just decimated my cucumber and squash seedlings

[mrmass]

This may be the most important gardening advice that can be summed up in two words:

AVOID BAMBOO!!!!

I love bamboo. I have some nice clumping bamboo in my yard.

[InMyDreams]

This may be the most important gardening advice that can be summed up in two words:

AVOID BAMBOO!!!!

I love bamboo. I have some nice clumping bamboo in my yard.

I just took out my Fargesia Nitida - clumping, didn't run. But it wasn't happy with the amount of water that it (wasn't) getting, and it wasn't growing tall enough to create the screen that it was put in to do. Plus I found out that my skin reacts strongly to the filaments on the stalks (google it, it's real) and I was done with it.

[homebuyer6426]

This may be the most important gardening advice that can be summed up in two words:

AVOID BAMBOO!!!!

I love bamboo. I have some nice clumping bamboo in my yard.

I just took out my Fargesia Nitida - clumping, didn't run. But it wasn't happy with the amount of water that it (wasn't) getting, and it wasn't growing tall enough to create the screen that it was put in to do. Plus I found out that my skin reacts strongly to the filaments on the stalks (google it, it's real) and I was done with it.

I grow running bamboo. It's no problem if you grow it somewhere you can mow a good 15 feet around it. After 6 years, my grove is 15 feet high and 25 feet wide. That's from a tiny 3 foot plant.

Down to 3 cucumber plants from 8 seedlings.

The parsley and rosemary are tasting very good, and the lemon tree that spends half the year in the greenhouse is ripe.

[8301]

Our tomatoes are over one foot tall. Is the soil mostly clay? If yes, how do you deal with it?

Soil in the plot for the tomatoes is clay-ish, as the entire yard. Haven't grown a thing there for about 8 years and just cleared the weeds last year. Will add compost from fava beans, cucumber and carrot peels, crushed eggshells, and chicken manure to amend soil texture and attract earthworms and beneficial microbes.

How do you get the tomatoes so tall this early? Did you start from seeds or got starter plants? What zone?

I bought tomato plants in one quart containers in a farmers market in Davis in early April. The bay area, zone 9b? I found out that it is very difficult to fix clay soil.

[FunnelCakeBob]

Soil in the plot for the tomatoes is clay-ish, as the entire yard. Haven't grown a thing there for about 8 years and just cleared the weeds last year. Will add compost from fava beans, cucumber and carrot peels, crushed eggshells, and chicken manure to amend soil texture and attract earthworms and beneficial microbes.

How do you get the tomatoes so tall this early? Did you start from seeds or got starter plants? What zone?

I bought tomato plants in one quart containers in a farmers market in Davis in early April. The bay area, zone 9b? I found out that it is very difficult to fix clay soil.

Sweet! So you got a jump with starter plants. I seem to like making things hard (and frugal) by raising tomatoes from seeds. If you're in the San Joaquin Valley, that summer heat will do wonders for those tomatoes.

Depending on how extreme the clay soil may be, you might just need to mix even more compost and kitchen scrap into the soil. Otherwise, using new soil on raised bed is another solution. I've also heard great accolades about growing plants using straw bales. You literally carve a hole in the bale and plant the tomatoes inside with some soil. The straw will compost slowly and provide nutrients and warmth. At the end of the season, just compost the straw by working it into the ground.

[protagonist]

This may be the most important gardening advice that can be summed up in two words:

AVOID BAMBOO!!!!

I love bamboo. I have some nice clumping bamboo in my yard.

I just took out my Fargesia Nitida - clumping, didn't run. But it wasn't happy with the amount of water that it (wasn't) getting, and it wasn't growing tall enough to create the screen that it was put in to do. Plus I found out that my skin reacts strongly to the filaments on the stalks (google it, it's real) and I was done with it.

Clumping varieties are probably fine. But I bought a house with highly invasive running bamboo in 2008...ignorant fellow that I am, I thought "wow, what a beautiful privacy screen...I love it!!" I've been losing the battle ever since.

[Loon11]

Zone 7
I am sure that wisteria must be equally bad or worse than bamboo. It is like a metastatic cancer, popping up everywhere. Even curled around one of our pines bigger than a huge python, until it chocked it to death and we had the tree removed. Runners under the whole yard.
But other than that, just planted some sweet basil and peppers in baskets in the ground. Otherwise, the voles, chipmunks dig them up.
Have hyacinth bean vine germinating and will train to climb my trellis.
Springtime in Virginia is beautiful!

[Beensabu]

Bunnies arrrggghh they just decimated my cucumber and squash seedlings

They actually really seem to like mustard leaves. If you let a few mustard patches do their thing in your yard, it's a handy bunny distraction.

[Fiddle-Bow]

Zone 7B
I planted green beans and sweet corn on May 9th and they both were up yesterday. In the process of conditioning tomato plants and plan to set them out on Saturday. We have 4 heirloom varieties of tomatoes in addition to Better Boys.

[sevenseas]

Zone 5B update:

We've had a cool, very dry spring as well as an unusually late frost (close to Memorial Day) which had gardeners all over the region (self included) scrambling with buckets, blankets and covers. My tender annuals made it but local farmers had entire crops decimated (strawberries, peaches, cherries, tomatoes). The lack of rain has meant a lot of hand watering of newly planted ornamental trees, shrubs and perennials (including lilacs, kousa dogwoods).

My annual beds are on drip irrigation but have been growing slowly due to the temperatures. I am just now harvesting lettuce, radishes, baby turnips. We are finally starting to get rain again as well as more normal temperatures so hopefully will see a growth spurt of the heat-loving plants (it's hard having to wait until August each year for homegrown tomatoes!)

[FunnelCakeBob]

Bump to see how everyone's gardening is doing..

Zone 10a update - SF East Bay:

Finally got 6 tomato plants in the ground. They spent about 2.5 months in the seed starter and were about a foot tall by then. Buried a good portion of the main stems so only about 4 - 6 inches are poking out. Got 16 more plants waiting to go in.

Been battling slugs nightly. I figured out the swiss chard, beets, and lettuce seeds that I had directly sown but that never emerged were getting eaten as soon as the seeds germinated. They also managed to destroy all the basil that I transplanted into the ground. But I'm now able to start harvesting bok choy, kale, arugula, and mizuna. Yes, winter crops being harvest in June finally.

Just put down some zinnia and cosmos seeds for the pollinators and hummingbirds. Sweet peas that randomly showed up last year are doing great and attracting tons of fat mason bees. Cilantro has bolted and should be only several weeks before harvesting coriander seeds. Got 3 pounds of fava beans, remaining pods drying on the plants to be harvest as seeds for fall planting. Artichoke has started blossoming - one 10-year old plant has sprouted 5 plants.

[HomeStretch]

NE Zone 7a.

The weather seems to be getting more regular - more rain and warmer temps.

All my herbs except the basil are thriving (I need to plant more). I think I’m seeing swallowtail eggs on the dill. Carrots and zucchini are getting bigger. A year 2 carrot plant is tall and getting ready to bloom (I have never seen one bloom before). Strawberries and raspberries are producing sweet fruit, early blueberries are just about ripe and blackberries/mid-to-late blueberries are green but getting bigger.

Flower beds look great - blooming, lush, and covered in pollinators. I have been transplanting seedlings of various perennials to other areas to hopefully reduce the amount of weeding and mulching. The viburnum bushes I nurtured from seedlings for 2 years were large enough to put in the ground and are getting bigger. Sad to see the large native mt laurel blooms starting to fade but the Kousa dogwood blooms are still going strong. Looking forward to seeing the hydrangeas bloom, the lace caps and Annabelles are just starting.

I nurtured some small hydrangeas and coral bark maple saplings during the pandemic. They were large enough to put in large planters on my back patios. Different look than just annuals in pots and I’m liking it for a change.

Loving all the birds, hummingbirds, butterflies, bumble/honey bees floating around the yard.

[Mr. Rumples]

Flower beds are not great, rain expected for the next few days however should really help; no rain for two weeks, though areas around have gotten it. Have held on to a Bear's Breeches for six years, its finally blooming. That is some consolation. The dry weather had created the perfect environment for the Cardoons which are almost 8' tall and blooming. Not many bees or birds this year. Found a thistle plant which are hard to find around here; hopefully it will thrive, bees sleep on the underside of the flowers with is kind of neat.

https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/acanthus-spinosus/
https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/cynara-cardunculus/

Been pulling in the garden as I age and more attention to the bonsai. Did a radical pruning on a golden gate ficus which is almost/about 30 years old...turned another into a Fukinagashi (windswept); ficus are easy to manipulate and very forgiving should someone have one to practice on.

The county had a tree giveaway. Lots were left over so I took a few maples for outdoor bonsai. The ficus will come in over the winter.

Rabbits - I think - ate all my cucumber plants except one. They left the tomatoes plants; no chard this year since the deer eat them down to stubs.

[Conch55]

Zone 7b reporting in: Abundant zucchini and yellow squash, cucumbers, some bell peppers and basil as needed thus far. We are in a hot spell so that should liven things up. Our tomatoes plants are large with lots of fruit but still green due to a later than normal planting. We have picked some grape tomatoes but are eagerly awaiting the slicers. Eggplant and jalapeño peppers are behind schedule but everything went into the ground later than usual.

[MP173]

update time. Zone 5b, NW Indiana

The last 10 days has seen above average rainfall and the grass has gone from dormant to mowing every 3-4 days.

Gardens were watered every other day during the dry stretch and now sufficient rain is falling for growth.

I starting using compost tea this year, not sure if it is making a difference but it is a new approach.

We have had a steady crop of lettuce, kale, and arugula for 6 weeks with a steady supply of lettuce in various stages of development. We should be good for salads for at least a month, perhaps more.

Also starting to harvest onions, celery (one stalk as needed at a time), snap peas (nearly done), broccoli, and banana peppers.

Pole beans starting to form. Spaghetti squash plant taking over garden and forming football sized fruits. Cucumbers flowering. Bell peppers forming, waiting to turn color. Potatoes flowered and starting to turn brown. Garlic scapes turning to seed and leaves are browning- will begin harvesting in another week. San Marzano tomatoes forming nice, but green fruits. Popcorn is 7 ft tall, still 2 months out.

Herbs are DW's responsibility, the house is starting to smell incredible as she is drying now. Flowers are bright and healthy. We planted marigolds with vegetables this year...huge almost 2 ft tall and vibrant.

All in all, a great garden this year, so far.

Will pick blueberries at a "u-pick" later this week.

Ed

[vnatale]

I live in western Massachusetts.

What vegetables would you advise planting now?

I have lots and lots and lots of kale so don't need to plant any of that.

Is broccoli an option?

Any kinds of lettuce an OPTION?

How long WILL they take to grow compared to planting them in THE SPRING?

The days are shorter and cooler but could that be the same as early spring?

[sevenseas]

I live in western Massachusetts.

What vegetables would you advise planting now?

You are on the late side for your region to plant a fall garden. Most people probably would've planted in mid-August. Having said that, vegetables with either short time to maturity, and/or that are frost-tolerant, might be doable. I'd recommend starting by googling "fall vegetable garden" and your USDA growing zone for recommendations. You can also check your local garden center to see what vegetable starts they have; the labels usually list time to maturity/harvest after planting.

Here is a link to one of my favorite garden writers who gardens in my zone (5b), with a pretty exhaustive of possibilities for our area. She lives in Copake NY which is quite close to you and maybe in the same, or a similar, zone. https://awaytogarden.com/what-to-plant- ... le-garden/

Good luck!

[vnatale]

I live in western Massachusetts.

What vegetables would you advise planting now?

You are on the late side for your region to plant a fall garden. Most people probably would've planted in mid-August. Having said that, vegetables with either short time to maturity, and/or that are frost-tolerant, might be doable. I'd recommend starting by googling "fall vegetable garden" and your USDA growing zone for recommendations. You can also check your local garden center to see what vegetable starts they have; the labels usually list time to maturity/harvest after planting.

Here is a link to one of my favorite garden writers who gardens in my zone (5b), with a pretty exhaustive of possibilities for our area. She lives in Copake NY which is quite close to you and maybe in the same, or a similar, zone. https://awaytogarden.com/what-to-plant- ... le-garden/

Good luck!

I asked that question because the day I asked it I'd read an article in special insert to my local newspaper advising planting vegetables now ... so looking for more refined guidance, which did give me above. Thanks!

[InMyDreams]

I love my elephant heart plums - a variety of Satsuma plums
"Luther Burbank, a legendary plant breeder, introduced the popular commercial plum cultivars ‘Santa Rosa’, ‘Satsuma’ and ‘Elephant Heart’ in the 1900s. "
https://fruitsandnuts.ucdavis.edu/rootstock-selection

"Elephant Heart – mottled dark crimson colored skin, rich firm, red, juicy flesh. One of the best tasting plums with extremely sweet flavor. Japanese variety has clingstone fruit"
https://extension.usu.edu/boxelder/agri ... ums-prunes


I pick them usually before fully ripened for two reasons - I like them still firm and a bit tart, but the birds are in competition with me, and if the squirrels figure out what's in the tree, so will they. So, I usually eat them quite a bit early.

The tree only produced a limited quantity this year, and I may be eating my last one.

[MP173]

Region 5b here.

I have been planting for about a month. August 10th planting have resulted in radish and lettuce with spinach growing nicely.

Carrots will overwinter and be available in spring, as will onions. Not many places have onion sets...Johnny's in Maine does.

Kale will over winter as will brocoli. The spinach mentioned above will be great in April.

Go for it.

Ed