What's your garden plans for spring?

Discussion in 'Flower Gardening' started by 2ofus, Jan 15, 2016.

  1. 2ofus

    2ofus Hardy Maple

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    I started last fall organizing my over-crowded messy beds. I finished almost half of them and posted pictures of them. This year I'll divide some plants, remove the ones that can't adjust to my alkali soil and replace them with ones I hope will do better. I need to divide Arizona Sun Gaillardia and move some red lilies. I want to move the pineleaf penstemon closer to the patio so I can enjoy the hummingbirds that seem to love it. I'm also going to add a few plants that have been recommended to me and some heirloom tall phlox.
     
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  3. Sjoerd

    Sjoerd Mighty Oak

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    We have our lottie divided into two sections--veggie plots and flower plots.

    The veggie plots, or should I say--the crops will be rotated as every year. The veggie section has been divided into four sections to make the four-year spud rotation easier to keep up with and it the recommended schedule for commercial potato farmers in this country. It takes a bit of calculating because of the strawberry bed, which we want to leave in place for two or three years. The schedules of the other crops we adjust to the needs of the plant sorts in question.

    We keep our plots under a very thick layer of dead plant refuse which is like a great, brown duvet which we scoot back as we plant new rows. When one section is completely planted, we chop the remaining debris up and chuck it into the compost pile or bin.

    Aside from the germinating and planting out chores, there is also the ongoing soil-improvement project. Compost must be picked-up from the council and added to our own which is then spread over the garden.

    The wood chip paths must be emptied and new chips picked up from dumping points and then laid down. The composted chips from the paths are then placed in the flower garden around perennial shrubs and on other flower plots.

    Racks, pergola's and arches must be inspected and repaired where necessary.

    The soil in the greenhouse must be removed completely and a new mixture filled in for the coming season.

    These are some of the general gardening chores that must be addressed and then there are the bees. I will soon give them their oxalic acid Rx and I am forming plans for the coming year. I must make some frames to replace old ones, melt the wax out of them, clean the hive and hive bottoms and of course scrape and clean the honey and brood boxes.

    What will have to be done in terms of queen performance and colony strength will only be known after the early spring check.

    As I read back over this it looks like a lot of work...but I must admit that I have not mentioned the mundane and smaller tasks that must also be done...so-- plenty to do.
     
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  4. 2ofus

    2ofus Hardy Maple

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    That IS a lot of work, Sjoerd! I talked about the fun part, to me, which is planning where and what kind of flowers to plant. I didn't mention that compost must be added to each planting area and dug in. Then all the beds dressed with more compost and topped with mulch. Mike takes care of the vegetable garden, with a little help from me, but the flower beds are all mine. I'm going to tackle the front yard beds again! I just can't seem to get them the way I want them. When the snow melts I'm going to take a bunch of pictures of it and see if I can finally get it to look like I want it to look. Designing a garden is a challenge to me and I keep making mistakes! Mike tells me I just need to plant my flowers in rolling pots since I move then around so much. o_O :eek::confused:
     
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  5. Netty

    Netty Chaotic Gardener Plants Contributor

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    My thoughts, so far, have been on the vegetable garden. Soil improvement is always top of the list, and I already got a head start and added manure and leaf mold in the fall. I should have a lot of compost by spring as well. I also want to maximize what I can plant in the space I have now that I am an avid canner and so careful planning is in order. I already have seeds for everything except the Blue Lake Bush beans, and a friend with a greenhouse will be starting tomatoes for me.
    Now that you have me thinking about the flower beds, soil improvement is also top of the list, mulch would be great too. This year I will probably need to thin out a lot of perennials and volunteers ... the flower beds were rather neglected last year. I have plenty of shrubs and small trees that need pruning, and I would like to plant more trees. I'm sure the list will grow as we get closer to spring.
     
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  6. marlingardener

    marlingardener Happy

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    I've started cutting back some perennials, now that the soil is dry enough for me to get into and out of the beds! Tomatoes and some herbs are under grow lights, and I'll be planting the rest of the herbs and a few peppers and eggplant this weekend.
    My seeds have arrived, and I have my garden calendar (when to plant what) filled in so I don't get behind in the planting. We're doing okra again this year after a hiatus of several years. We don't particularly like okra, but the food pantry will take all it can get.
    The vegetable gardens are still a mess--too soggy to get into and clean out, but I've got the perimeters tidied--just as far as I can reach from the paths.
    Other than planting zinnias and marigolds, and tidying the flower beds a bit more, I don't have any big plans for flowers. (Unless I can wheedle a trip to Chamblee's Roses in early spring!)
     
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  7. toni

    toni Mistress of Garden Junque Staff Member Moderator Plants Contributor

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    I have got to get the back garden figured out this Spring. The front pretty much takes care of itself now, except I have to transplant the roses from where the Hackberry tree got bigger than expected to a full time sunny spot on the other side of the driveway.

    Laying cardboard and mulch on most of the wild back yard is a must this Spring. Turning the bed nearest the back door into a small veggie garden and I have got to figure out what to do about a 'catch-all' area by the side fence....I'm thinking walls and no door that way what no one can see doesn't really exist...right?
     
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  8. TheBip

    TheBip Young Pine

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    I would love to finished the front/side beds and maybe start planning the backyard. A lot of the front is annuals, so definitely need to replace those. The perennials, Im probably going to do some seed for the plants that are hard to find here (like my fave color of Delphiniums). But Ill probably try direct sowing rather than starting them inside like I usually do. All we have here for plants is a Lowe's, a Menards and a nursery that is rather overpriced lol
     
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  9. Sherry8

    Sherry8 I Love Birds!

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    Our spring project is going to be the large flower bed. We want to remove every plant, bulb, etc. in it and add a load or two of topsoil to mound it up. Not sure if we will be able to do it, it depends on the availability of soil ( if it is wet, it takes longer to order it) and it will depend on how we are feeling. It is a huge project and not one we can take our time on doing it or we will take the chance of loosing too many plants. We are saving any boxes, bags, tarps to put them in or on and then move them into the garage so critters don't get at them. This may end up being just a dream but we would like to get it done. The flower bed is 10 years old and over crowded so I am sure we won't find room for everything. What doesn't fit in the flower bed will go into containers until we plant it in another bed... The flower bed is about 35 feet by 25 feet wide. (just a guess)This photo is just part of the flower bed..

    [​IMG]
    My Front Flower Garden ( photo / image / picture from Sherry8's Garden )
     
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  10. TheBip

    TheBip Young Pine

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    Sherry, I love the look of that bed! I do hear ya about crowding, but it looks good from this angle ;)
     
  11. Sjoerd

    Sjoerd Mighty Oak

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    I can understand you wanting to refresh the soil. It is a gorgeous and professional-looking plot.
    I have enjoyed seeing it the times that you have posted.
     
  12. 2ofus

    2ofus Hardy Maple

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    Sherry, Your front flowerbed is beautiful! Truly drool worthy. :smt007:drool: I'm going to be working on mine again this spring. Salvias have taken over so I need to remove some to the back yard. I've ordered some new plants that have been recommended to me here plus some that looked like they would do well in my alkaline clay soil. Next month I'll be starting some of my seeds, mainly vegetables, but a few flowers also. I want to find an heirloom petunia that I used to have that reseeded itself and also smelled heavenly. Very pale lavender and it always seemed to pop up in the best of locations!
     
  13. Sherry8

    Sherry8 I Love Birds!

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    Thank you TheBip, Sjoerd and 2ofus. I am really worried about doing this project. That garden is full of plants I put in for the last 10 years and it has blooms all through the summer. I am worried I will not be able to re-do that part and have blooms all summer. ....I love the color all through the season. My biggest concern is I won't be able to accomplish the project if I only do part of it at a time and doing the whole project will be very time consuming. But well worth it. The weather will be the one that decides if I can do it all ....too much rain will slow us down or stop the project completely...I will sacrifice my tulips and daffodils but I do not want to sacrifice any lilies . The voles and mice have taken care of over half of the tulips and daffodils through the years so I would just plant more in the fall.
     
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  14. Tooty2shoes

    Tooty2shoes Hardy Maple

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    So far the only plans I have for my spring flower beds is to keep an eye on that horrible invasive I spent so many hours on last year getting out of the one bed. I will be stocking up on Vinegar and making sure my sprayer is ready to go. I also have another bed that needs to be cleaned out of weeds that have tried to take over. This year we are also going to get some composted horse poo. I can't wait. My veggie garden will be so happy it may whinny.

    Yikes Sherry that is a big project. Would just thinning out some of the plants work? I know I have to really watch it when I do a new planting or add something to the existing gardens so I so not plant stuff to close. The people that originally owned our home planted a Blue Spruce tree only 8 feet from the house. We have to keep trimming back the branches on it so it won't hit our siding. We hate to cut it down, but maybe that will have to be done sometime soon as it is over 30ft tall.
     
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  15. Sherry8

    Sherry8 I Love Birds!

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    Tooty2shoes...have you used horse manure before? I have used both cow and horse manure and I would choose cow over horse. Not sure why it would make a difference but the summer I used cow manure in my gardens (years ago) and it was fresh that was left to sit at the farm until it was ready, everything grew like crazy. Maybe it was what they fed the cows. Maybe we have someone here that knows more. But when I used the horse manure a few years later, I really never seen any sign like I did with the cow manure. I hope it works out for you and happy gardening.
    :stew2::stew1:
     
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  16. 2ofus

    2ofus Hardy Maple

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    One big job I have to do this spring is thin my honeysuckle vine. The stems are so twined around each other that I'm not too sure how I'm going to do it. Thankfully it's a pretty forgiving plant and will recover and hopefully hide any mistakes. I have thought of taking a saw to it and dividing it but I'm afraid that would kill it.
     
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