I was googling for information on taking care of overgrown land and came across your site. It seems very informative and everyone seems kind and helpful I moved to OR with my hubbs from NH...talk about a different climate! But we do love it...I just wish I could get used to the grey skies I've got two projects going on: on the homefront, we planted a garden over the weekend with eggplant, tomatoes, peppers, var. squash, pole beans, pumpkin and lettuce...but we deal with moles, deer and rabbits. If anyone knows any solutions for those pesky critters...I'm all ears! At work, my hubbs and I partnered with a friend to open a tea shop in town. We're right in downtown so no wild critters to deal with, but the plot of land is completely overgrown. I currently quartered the largest lot and am trying to go through it...digging it up bit by bit. The previous owner had many wildflowers and they've become horribly overgrown. Right now I'm digging up weeds and flowers alike just to try and get the yard cleared out. We also dug up part of the driveway to increase the yard. We're enclosing it as an outdoor function space with garden. I feel that in order to get this garden ready, I need to try and clear everything so I can put topsoil down. I know this note is too long already ...but needless to say, I need any advice I can get. If I get a chance, I'll try to post about this more properly. Anyways, I'm glad to meet y'all.
Hi rea, welcome to GardenStew from north Texas. We would love to see pictures of the new garden areas, both at home and the tea shop. Dumping compost on the lot would give the soil the kick-start it needs after sitting wild for a while, much more than topsoil. Sometimes a space just has to be cleared so you can start over with your plans. And don't forget pictures to follow your progress
thanks toni I appreciate the info about the compost, you're right, I definitely need to but that down once the land is cleared. The area where the driveway pavement was cleared is now a layer of gravel about 1.5" deep before you hit dirt. I'm still researching how I'm going to turn that into a workable garden...so far I think I can layer that with compost and topsoil. Thanks again toni
Hi Rea and a warm welcome to GardenStew from my current vacation spot of Ireland. Looking forward to having you on the site. Don't forget to check out our blogs, member map and upload any plant images you have to PlantStew for all to see Details here: http://www.gardenstew.com/plantstew/help#3 // frank
Ohhh, Ireland, well I hope you are having a wonderful vacation! I uploaded some fotos of how the property originally looked...we've done some work since then, unfortunately I don't have any good ones of the left side-which will be the enclosed garden. But at least you can see the general chaos I'm dealing with I uploaded it as an album under My Garden...feel free to look
Welcome to the Stew from the coast of mid-Norway. I'm so looking forward to following your progress on your overgrown plot. It's such fun when everything suddenly adds up and feels right.
Hello rea from a really warm Central Texas.Welcome to our Stew.Looking to see lots of pictures of everything.
My husband's from TX...we're visiting next week. I've never been to TX at the beginning of summer...I'm looking forward to it. Thanks for the welcome
Oh really if Texas does its thing you will be ready to head back to Oregon.Its been cooler most of the time this year .
Hi Rea and welcome to the Stew. Don't worry about your intro being too long. We love to talk and hear about each others projects. And we love pictures. I live in Lufkin TX (east). Where is your husband from? Forgot to say, we are a nosey bunch!!
Hello Rea this time from Scotland. :-D You've certainly got your work cut out running a home and teashop as well as undertaking the task of clearing the garden but I'm sure it will all be worth the effort. You've come to the right place for advice as we love helping each other out. WELCOME TO GARDENSTEW.
my hubbs is from Austin, TX which is where we're going next week Today at home we mulched most of the veggie patch, still need to do some more. We also set up a water timer...we're trying to figure out how to water everything while we're gone Thanks for the warm welcomes!
Hi Rea You are really to be admired for taking on so much work. You certainly sound like a stewbie already. Welcome indeed.
Aw, thanks everyone! Ugh, today bunnies got a couple of our baby lettuce Anyone know how to keep bunnies away? I boxed in a couple of the lettuce and I have a type of organic 'keep away' powder for deer, moles and rabbit...but you can only use them as a barrier. I hope they stay away because my hubbs wants to bring his shotgun back from TX...ugh! romina
