What have you done today in the Garden?

I love reading about your challenges. They are so different from mine. Tunnelling into a greenhouse— you couldn’t make it up.

 

@Tetters this is a commercial potting mix. This brand always works well for me. It's aged compost, peat moss, perlite. I don't trust my own compost due to risk of disease transmission among my own vegetables. I was thinking about making tree leaf leaf mould if there are enough leaves after using them for mulch.

As for the white creatures, they just laid there looking dead. If I see more, I'll try a magnifier. They were not moving at all. The plant was in a cool room, which might be why. I'm not as concerned about whitefly as I am about potential symphylans I worry I brought in with a commercial local soil mix. Grrrr. That mix was supposedly a raised bed mix, containing topsoil, sand, compost, composted manure, and forest humus.

Symphylan.



I cant tell without a magnifier. I should have done that.

https://pnwhandbooks.org/insect/ipm/garden-symphylan

I haven't actually seen any symphylans, I just don't know why nothing thrived in that mix. Except potatoes. I also dob't know why symphylans would be hanging out on the soil surface. Doesn't seem like anything I have read.

This plant is in isolation. None of the others seem to have the creatures.

 

@Melody Mc. I enjoy reading your challenges and your solutions. It shows a pioneering spirit! And please don't get stuck in any windows! Oh my.

 

Thank you @Daniel W The plastic drop for a temporary door should keep me safely away from the window approach - sometimes I think I should have a chaperone. .

I've changed the plan today to putting the plastic on the inside of the greenhouse to cover the open door, instead of trying to attach it to the outside- that way snow won't weigh it down and I can sneak in safely. And if not..I'll just do a Superman and burst through the plastic into the warm greenhouse. ( except I'll probably pre cut the "burst through dramatically" part of the plastic...so that I don't hurt myself).

 

@Melody Mc. yes, pre cut. You never know if that plastic was made from Kryptonite.

Pulled weeds, then spread leaves. Now Im working my mini-orchard, which needs cleaning up and the attention that the annual vegetable beds got for the past two years. I'm happy with the progress so far.

Got out the last clump of Johnsongrass from the ginkgo tree. It was a challenge because it grew through the vole protective, hardware cloth collar.

Planted the last 30 crocus corms. That's the last of the spring blooming bulbs for the year.

Today - hoping to collect leaf truckload #5.

 

Went to see my friend Marion and moved a chamelia from the front garden to the back for her and planted some tulip bulbs but they wasn't very good, they had sprouted a lot but see how they grow.

 

Loggie—What a nice thing to do. Fingers crossed for those bulbs.

 

Thank you Sjoerd, she doesn't know much about gardening so i've been doing a lot for her by taking some young plants and pulling up brambles, also planted 2 clematis a few weeks ago. If the weather is good next time I'm going to move a rose from the back of the garden to the side border, it's the best time to do it. I got her to do some weeding while i was doing other things, i've also left a pair of my old shoes that i use for gardening i have 3 pairs so i won't miss them.

 

it sounds like your friend is going to have some colour thanks to you.

 

My neighbor came over. He had two big bins of leaves for me. What a nice Man! That plus leaves from my own, smaller, trees filled the truck.

My fenced garden is about 30 feet by 40 feet rectangle. It's split down the middle, half mostly miniature fruit trees or espaliers, and half vegetable beds. The espaliers are along the fence, with columnar apple trees in the corners. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to take good care of most of the fruit trees for the past two years, so there have been lots of grasses, thistles, stickyweed, and a couple of Himalayan blackberries. It was a mess.

Today, I finished weeding and mulching the East fence line, which has two espalier apple trees, and four columnar apples. Plus a climbing rose. So then I weeded and mulched the north fence line, which has two corner columnar apple trees (one already cleaned up), two espalier apple trees, and a sort of fan trained peach tree.

After weeding, I put down a thick layer of tree leaves without chopping them. I want them to smother any remaining weeds, and last a year. This works for me.

The espaliers are about three years old, and don't have every tier yet. One made some nice Honeycrisp apples this year, and another made some nice Rubunette. One of the miniatures is a Cosmic Crisp, two years old. It made a few apples, so incredible. Other than Cosmic Crisp, I made all of the miniatures myself, by grafting scion onto extreme dwarfing rootstock. Most are antique varieties. Also, I grafted some of the columnars. Most are a nice size now. So they are sort of my children. If next year is a good year, most of them have the potential to make some nice fruits.

Also, the red flesh, Redlove Calypso espalier made about ten small apples. They are fairly tart, have a berry aspect to their flavor, and when mixed with other apples in pie, color the whole pie filling red.

I am feeling very good about this progress so far. I'm getting my orchard back! I hope to have some "Thank you" fruits for my nice neighbor, too. When this mini orchard is more mature, I hope to be able to putter and tend the trees without a ladder, and get a bowl or two of fruit from each.

 

This is very exciting news Daniel. Such a good feeling to recover something that had to be let go for a little while. Next year will be amazing!

I'm planning something similiar with the whole intact leaves that I managed to bag without mulching - I have a row of asparagus waiting for a leaf experiment to happen sometime in June - bagged partially broken down leaves for weed blocking and rejuvination Fingers crossed.

That was a very nice thing for your neighbour to do. Good things happen to Good People.

 

Thank you Sjoerd and yes it should look good, when i do my summer sowing i'll give her some of those. One of the plants that i gave her are forget me nots and they're doing well and the others also. Not sure of the lupin plant, it's died down for winter but i couldn't find the middle, but i'll be doing some more next year.

 

@Daniel W it's good that you're able to catch up with things, i've gone through that sort of things a few times.

 

Loggie— I like your choices, meid.

Daniel, you have got your leaf exchange going full tilt now. It is just amazing. Chapeau.

 

Thank you Sjoerd