What steals your time in the garden?

It has such a whimsical aire. Almost a badhair day.

Oooooo...

I can't resist adding my two cents on landscape cloth. I moved into my home when it was about 12 years old. The previous owners weren't much for gardens and so put landscape cloth in all of the beds that were established with a few trees and shrubs. Then bark was replenished in the years that followed. When I started redoing the beds it was an absolute nightmare. There was at least six inches of mulch over the cloth and salal, which is a common native around here, had happily spread its roots underneath the cloth. It must have been good quality as I had to hack at it with a box blade whenever I wanted to add a plant. I have finally, after another twelve years, gotten nearly all of it removed but still battle with a bit now and then. Be very very careful.

Welcome to my world.I have removed large swaths of it in order to plant. Invariably I hit it when planting.I find an end and start to yank and part of the garden comes up.
I also had 6 inches of mulch on top.It was heavy to remove anything but 1 square foot at a time.

Its best use is for paths and not in gardens.

The cheap stuff was a nightmare for us when we tried it in the vegetable garden.

This message was edited Feb 25, 2010 4:58 PM

Did you try it between the rows or on the plant rows themselves? I am thinking about putting it between the rows of corn as my veggie garden is at my son's place 1/2 mile away and I can't get to weeding it as often as it needs as it is bordered by pasture.

I'm not sure if you're addressing my comment about the vegetable garden but, for what it's worth, we laid it down, then cut the X and planted tomatoes in each spot. That did not work with the cheap fabric sold back in '92.

Now we use the red tomato plastic and that's much better - ideal, in fact.

Between the rows, in the paths, is still a problem so this year they will get the good fabric...but now we have new snow cover so it will all proceed normally and get done in April.

I'd agree that between the rows of corn should work for you.

Thank you for the feedback. I tried the "X" technique on my squash and pumpkins but found that the fabric was a perfect cover for our voracious slugs, much to the demise of the seedlings. At least just using it between the rows will give them a better chance of survival. I did the red tomato plastic and think it helped, but it was really hard for me to see when the tomatoes were just starting as they ripen first at the bottom of the vines around here---and not very prolifically, I will mention.

Even the red tomato plastic is a haven for slugs.

As you plant each squash/melon/cucumber put a spotlessly clean can (both ends removed) over the baby plant. Push it down an inch or two. It will keep the slugs and cutworms away from the stem - the most vulnerable part.

I hate slugs and deer.

I tried the red plastic mulch (RPM) one year, versus good ol' straw. Straw won out - it was easier to pull the weeds and just toss them on top of the straw (assuming they hadn't gone to seed), it was easier to water evenly, etc.

And the yields weren't significantly different, at least in a home garden. Maybe in a commercial setting, you'd see better yields with the RPM.

Not much difference in the crop here either, Terry.

Thanks for reminding me, Pirl, that I intend to "can" those veggies this spring. I had better start collecting coffee cans, NOW!

You should see the slugs that we have to deal with here in the PNW. They can get up to 4 or 5 inches long and have quite the appetites. I entered a pic in the DG contest last year and will try to dig it up to show you when i am on my home computer. I live in a forest so they are a big problem for me. Virtually nothing can be seeded right into the ground as the seedlings are immediate goners.

I spend (not necessarily waste) a LOTof time seeking out and controlling slugs.

So do many of us in the northeast, sadly.

The best I've found is Ortho's Slug Geta Plus. It kills earwigs and slugs.

It REALLY kills earwigs? I thought the only death to them was squashing or cutting in half. If that is true, I will be etrnally grateful to you for sharing that information. By the way, way back when, there was a thread in the PNWGardening forum that discussed controlling slugs extensively. I will look for it and send you a link if I can.

Here it is, hopefully.
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/998605/

And here's one for you:

http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/832617/

By the way, it was California's own Jasper Dale who told me about the product and, yes, it does work. Buy it as soon as it's on the shelves of your HD or other store because it quickly disappears and they don't restock it as frequently as we slug haters need it.

I wouldn't be without this product. It's excellent.

There must be some correlation between snails/slugs and earwigs, but I can't figure it out. (Has this already been discussed ?)

I've always had a snail and slug problem and always will.
However, when I started using the "regular" Sluggo and other products with iron sulfate, I suddenly started having an earwig issue. I'd never seen them until then. The snails and slugs vanished, but then I had earwigs from out of the blue.

hmmmmmmmmmmmmm.....

I think clematis are vitamins for earwigs. They devour them and my only saving grace is the Ortho product.

The earwigs love my dahlia blossoms, particularly the lighter colored ones. Thank you for the information.

On the Dahlia forum they often mention the earwigs love white dahlias and any dahlias with white tips. I shake my dahlias before I bring them in for a vase but there's always one or two hiding anyhow.

How do eggshells and/or diatomaeceous earth work for the slugs? Any experience?

The diatomaceous earth is very fine granules that supposedly irritate their delicate bodies and I'd guess eggshells and gravel work the same way. The DE has to be reapplied after rain or watering.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diatomaceous_earth