Glories and mistakes

Gardenwise, what are the best and worst things you have done?

The best thing I made was the wildlife pond, it teams with life and look really nice (most of the time).

The worst is the herb garden (rockery comes a close second), everything grows huge and wild despite being in almost complete shade between May-October. My brother calls it the witches garden.

What's yours?

Probably the best thing and I didn't do it...DH put in raised beds for me..only the height of a rr tie but still off the ground. He also put in all the top soil and covered everything with mulch. Mulch is a life saver. I haven't gardened long enough to know what I've done wrong YET!!! LOL I do try to plant too much too soon sometimes to try and make up for lost time but I haven't felt overwhelmed yet. I'm sure that day will come. I found DG soon after I started gardening so I had the best advice right out of the gate :-)

Best: Mulched the walkways in between the vegetable garden raised beds. I used to say that building the raised beds was the best, but not anymore! It used to be a battle to get in the garden if I hadn't taken the weedwhacker in there in a while (We had made the walkways too close together for the lawnmower.) and when the weedwhacker broke and we didn't go get another for a month, it was sheer murder trying to do ANYTHING out there. So, of course, lots of things went kaput from lack of nurturing that year. Since we laid down old carpet and covered it with mulch, it's been a joy!! And less weeds in the beds because there are no weeds in the walkways to drop seeds in them.

Worst: Where do I start?! LOL! It was probably when we built a bed on top of some bermuda grass before killing it. I fought that stuff for three years in that bed before we bulldozed it. When we did that, I found the original runners still very much alive and sending up shoots 11" long to the top of the bed! I guess I live in the perfect hot climate for bermuda grass. That stuff is pure evil!

Gosh I have more mistake stories than glory stories!! One really maddening thing I did way back was putting fertilizer (diluted in water) straight onto a really strong and healthy clematis. The plant died the next day!! I should have made sure the ground was wet before applying the food!!

The best thing I ever did was marry my DH. He's built me a greenhouse, several light stands, raised beds and puts up with plants underfoot all spring. He waters and mows and likes daisies. He's a peach!

The worst thing I ever did was build a row of flower beds at the end of our drive. The snow plow burm sits right on top of it, so it's very late in the spring before it is completely thawed. Guess I need to rethink the whole thing!

Weezin - you don't think you could hire out your DH now and again do you?? Better still, if he ever wants a free vacation let me know!! It would cost him of course!! I want fencing erected, a few dry stone walls, a meadow and about 10 more new beds. Think he would do that???? :-) Wingnut we are putting down mulch walkways too but never thought about the underlay :-) Great idea!!

Weezin, I've got a good one, too - and he's become very concerned about my increasing inabilities and is building me a sunroom and "organizing the backroom for my messes" - lol, little does he know!

The best thing for gardening that we ever did was to buy this farm. Stan thinks it's a dairy farm, silly man, but it is a living rose museum with old garden plants thrown in as a bonus. Putting them along fences was also good - keeping the roses corralled gives me just a bit of an edge.

My list of worsts is as long as my years of gardening, but at this point, I would say putting the raspberries behind the studio. They are moving very soon, very very soon!

I'm with everyone on the mistakes far outweighing the glories.

Kathleen,

Does Stan have Dairy Cows to provide the garden with the perfect fertilizer :)

Louisa: I'm sure he'd love to get out of Seward for a vacation, but he's an old hippie with sore joints, so he can only get so much done in a day, then it's Advil and a soaky bath. He's six feet tall, so he has quite an appetite, too!

Besides, he'd have lots of work to do when he got back from sunny VA! Might be cheaper to hire some enthusiastic high school kid & whack him with a broom every once in awhile to keep him focused!

lol - now there's an idea!! The University of VA is not far from us!! Would rather have an expert though and I'm quite a good cook!! Kathleen, what about Stan - think he'd be interested!! We are on the same side of the US - just a stone's throw away!! :-)

You guys have hit upon one of my pipe dreams. I picture myself secreting some of the crewmembers off one of these ships that dock here from third world countries. They can build a cabin on our back lot and put in some chickens and a garden. We'll supply the rice or spuds. In my pipe dream, I'm on a comfy lawn chair with my feet up. I have a bullhorn and a cocktail...ah, I can dream.

In reality, INS would nab them before they weeded a flower bed or shinnied up a tree, and I'd be trotted off to jail in restraints...but it's a dream.

Vacation swapping sounds a good idea - you look after my house and I'll look after yours... :-)

Lordy, louisa, he's got more than he can take care of with me and the bovines! I like Weezin's idea, but the INS is very suspicious and mobile even out here in the boonies! College boys, hmmmmmm... oh, never mind - - - - -

Baa, isn't that what cows are for - they do seem to make a whole lot more of that than anything else!

the only problem with swapping is that we wouldn't get to see each other, and it's more fun to garden with a friend.

Do you suppose the BBC would like to send Charlie and Tommy and Alan over for a lark??

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I would only suggest Garden Force to those who want blue fences, decking and the ubiquitous small, tacky, preformed water feature.

Come to think of it, they have done gardens in other countries before.

This message was edited Saturday, Apr 13th 5:41 PM

LOL, do I detect a bit of an anti-bias? Jess is very fond of Gound Forest, as she calls it and wants to grow up to be like Charlie because she lifts heavy things. A worthy goal.

Yes, well detected! You may have missed my thesis on 'Obvious ways to get ahead in a man's profession' on a much earlier thread on Brit TV by someone else LOL. I'm yet to write my thoughts on 'What is it with blue paint?' or 'How do TV garden designers justify their wages?' ;)

Indeed, strength is a worthy goal. Good for Jess!

You can have Charlie (yuk) and that voice of hers!! - just give me the big guy!! I wonder if he would like Virginia :-)