This past week has been a bit of a blur trying to grow a little Juniper, most of my time in the garden has been observation rather than interaction.
What’s growing on with you all? I hope your gardens are bringing you joy
I moved into a new place in May and have been having to deal with something I’ve never had before… a yard
It’s been a learning experience. And I want nothing more than to get rid of all the grass and do something more low maintenance. Neighbors have some creeping thyme in their yard which seems quite nice. That or clover. Also was left some planter boxes that have some sage growing in them that we’re trying to find uses for. And as a sort of house warming thing a friend of mine got me some carrot and lettuce seeds!
Thyme runs and spreads pretty well among grass in my experience, and bee balms (Monarda spp) can do pretty well too for something taller, but they’re so pretty I wouldn’t mow them. Other good low-growers include things like wild strawberry and heal-all (Prunella vulgaris).
Autumn is also a great time to plant dormant and bare root plants to let them root over winter and early spring, for any patches you’re looking to fully transition into multi-year plants.
Thanks for the tips! It’s been an interesting process so far. Right now lots of weeds growing which I don’t care too much about, however the HOA might get annoyed…
The thyme seems nice although it’s not native to the pnw from what I understand and would like to try and have something native if possible
I haven’t lived in an HOA but I have some friends that do, does yours have any guidelines or rules about garden edging or borders? One of my buddies was getting heck from his next door snitch until we put some stones around his “weeds” patch and tossed a little mulch down. Once it looked just that tiny bit more formal the complaints died down.
So the only part that is our responsibility is our backyard within our fence. Everything else is done by some landscapers once a week. I can’t recall immediately if there are exact rules on how our backyard needs to be maintained, but our across the way neighbors who we’ve become friends with have said if a lawn gets completely overrun in weeds some neighbors may complain but really most people in the neighborhood are pretty chill
That’s awesome, I’m glad they’re not aggressive reporters!
Earlier in the year I collected some fruit from a Ficus macrophylla which is a rare tree in my area. After annoying my wife by soaking the fruit in water on our counter for a few weeks, then sowing the seed in a small humidity box, I had almost given up hope when nothing germinated for over a month. But this past week, some finally popped up. I transferred a few into bigger containers but I need to figure out what to do with the rest.
Hoping to grow some magnificent trees someday. Here’s what they’ll grow into for the uninitiated:
I’m also trying to root and propagate some water spinach I bought at a farmers market recently. Delicious, I hope it takes. Got some good roots growing but the plant looks a bit sickly. I am going to move it to a more sunny position and hope that helps.
A maple tree I planted last fall has almost doubled in size which is a really good growth rate.
On a less successful note, I think I didn’t water my raspberry enough and it looks pretty dead. Was a bit of a stretch in my climate but my wife loves them and I love her… oh well.
Hey, I got a squash! Did I pick it a couple weeks early? Shut uP!!!
We’ve been getting corn, plenty of salad greens, green beans out the wazoo, tomatoes galore, and plenty of peppers!
I’ve been collecting the ground cherries dropping off the bush and made my first jam ever! It didn’t make very much… BUT IT’S DELICIOUS. It tastes like…roasted pineapple pie, maybe?
I sort of took a year off of gardening, but some of my perennials are doing great. My Jasmine is growing a lot. It’s gotten to the window above the trellis. I might need to consider trimming it. I don’t know if it’s actually bad for the house or not lol.
I’ve seen a lot of wildlife. I saw a spider that caught a dragonfly right outside my window. That was amazing to see. Plus I saw a opossum last night (my favorite animal).
Dang, what a catch! I don’t know as I’ve ever seen a dragonfly caught, that’s wild
But also of course it’s an orb weaver. What an incredible picture, thank you for sharing it!
My chilies are ripening and I’m looking forward to trying out some new hotsauce recipes. Sadly, due to an aphid infestation killing all the new flowers, it’ll be the only harvest this year.
But with a bit of luck, the plants will survive the winter and bare fruit again next year.
Send hot sauce recipes! A friend of mine got into them earlier this year and is coming to spend a few days with us (and I have some peppers to get through).
This guy has some really good recipes.
He can be a bit fuzzy on the amounts of the ingredients, but so far everything I’ve made is really good.
I can highly recommend the Caribbean-Style Mango-Habanero Hot Sauce.
Tysm!
