I refuse to grow cactus. I'll settle for growing mulch piles instead. I have good soil. All those wildflower seeds I tossed just before the last rain went into the driest part of my lot (this would be the corner lot next to the lot my house is on.). Looked on Saturday, there are a ton of sprouts: of crabgrass. and it is hard as rock again. I know I need to lightly soften the ground with water daily to get seeds to germinate, might explain the mulch paths in a lot of places and the foot high winter rye in others. I am digging out winter rye and bermuda grass and covering with heavy underlayment up under trees, to be followed with cypress mulch.
I did put snapdragons and seed for sativa nigella and asclepius (tuberosa? - came from Steadycam by mail around fall roundup last year) in the bowls of the 2 toilets I parked on the underlayment. yes, toilets, and left the lid on one tank and hid the pond electrical in it. Planting trailing lantana from Steadycam in the tank of the other, with a seed or 2 of heavenly blue morning glory and annual moonflower DonDiego Deblanca. These are backed up under my little elderberry, so the vines will climb the tree. Photos to come. I have gotten fancy 6 setting water timer but my gosh it is 100 foot from the faucet to the far corner of the lot and I will have a maze of soakers.
Anyone else short on time and long on garden planning?
I took a shortcut with tomatoes and swiss chard. Upped their pots to 1 gallon the last week in the greenhouse, hardened last week, and yesterday put trays of expanded shale on the big tray on the big pond, and set the tomatoes and chard on top, so maybe 1/4 inch of the bottom of their pots are submerged. They look good today and won't need watered. Just supported properly. Best tomatoes I got last year grew aquaponically fed by fish waste...
planting and planning for drought
guess it is just me. I bought the parts for a drip irrigation system yesterday, no more sprinkling and watering weeds and wasting water. The toilets are actually going to be gorgeous when the plants around and in them take off. I'm a country girl front flowerbed I had to steal edging from got new edging and weeded, plants are all fairly drought hardy, lot of wildflowers between the shrubbery, the yarrow from roundup has done well. Need to clean my front porch off, lol.
Hmmph, Like I get to work on gardens! My porch and my kitchen tables held more stuff than they were made for! Constant juggling act. You do have good mulch piles! Time to stuff everything into the ground or pots and let Spring slap them around. Let me know how the drip stuff goes- we bought a system 3 yrs ago that is still in the shopping bags, cringe. Give em time to browse thru Gypsi, busy days!
Mine are busy too, and I can't see most of the kitchen table. The Bliss of living alone. I have to get mine off the front seat of the car (where it has been since I bought it.) I resigned myself to not doing much housework, shopping or social life in the spring when I started the pond business, got worse when I took on beehives, I sweep once a week when I happen to be indoors.
And that guy that griped a lot. He kept the old house... But I pay the bills on this one and I wasted $150 a month and risked being cited by the city for watering with a sprinkler - not for the watering but for the darned weeds - with as much land as I have It better not need weeds dug
Yeah, weeds they consider neglect and real estate damage to the area. Good luck.
I am fortunate to be somewhat rural but I still live in Fort Worth City limits and I either have to weed and mulch or mow. I've been digging out the bermuda grass on the lot for years as it is so invasive. A realtor bought a couple of lots near me for new houses, my messy lot had best stay cleaner or I will have tickets.
Easiest way to go low maintenance is drip irrigation or just not watering and letting everything die which I did a lot of last year. May have lost my asparagus to that one.
I had one teeeny little shoot pop up a week ago, maybe yours are making sure before they show their heads..
2 asparagus plants sent up shoots but the bed is overrun with weeds and wildflowers. Think I will just let the wildflowers bloom, and lift everything after the bloom is done so I can get the weeds out. Honey sells higher than asparagus.