Fall gardening

[trtlcrzy]

I realize it isn’t quite fall yet but I’m so ready for it to be!

[trtlcrzy]

I planted a mixed border along the side of my garage. It doesn’t really look like much yet but I’m hopeful for it to be big and full next summer. Pretty much everything in the bed I got on sale/clearance. I want to add some bulbs for some spring color as soon as I can get my hands on them. I’m also tryi to decide on a lower growing plant for along the front, I’m thinking maybe dianthus. This is what it looks like for now. I did add mulch this morning but I didn’t take a picture afterwards. Plants from left to right:
Green mountain boxwood
Delphinium new millennium stars
Little goldstar rudbeckia (I’d like to add 2 more)
Dance and sing Siberian iris
Champaign wishes rose
A trio of color spires crystal blue salvia with Dalmatian mix foxglove in the back
Sugar buzz blue moon bee balm
Siloam double classic daylily

[Dramaphile]

My garden is currently a mess of weeds because heat plus pregnancy means my gardening time is minimal. Hoping maybe this Saturday won't be too hot so I can weed-whack around my raised beds and do some major weeding in them and hopefully plant the fall seeds that should be arriving any day now (dragon beans and kale). My tomatoes are still plugging away despite the blight and I'm getting a small, but steady crop. My zucchini plants are refusing to produce anything so I think I'm just going to give up on them. I have a bunch of jalapenos and poblanos growing right now, and my cucumber vine looks like it is going to give me at least a few. And I have a million carrots and beets growing in among the crabgrass. Need to clear out the weeds where my onions were so hopefully I can get beans planted.

[Lakes]

I’m ready for a clean slate. My cucumber plants look to be on their last leg but they’ve produced a ton so I can’t complain. My tomatoes were disappointing this year, both in yield and flavor. I started trimming back the non-blooming morning glories a couple of days ago.

My big successes this year were cukes, chives (as always), basil, sunflowers, and the garlic was acceptable. I’m hoping to expand a little next year. Hopefully it will be easier with slightly older kids.

My mil is moving and I’m excited to transplant a bunch of her black eyed susans to my house. I just need to decide where.

[Pistol]

Our garden needs mowed again. 🙈 Between being busy, the chickens eating my plants, and the weather we haven’t had much of a garden this year. I’m going to plant some cover crops that will double as a food plot for the chickens for this fall/winter. I also have an elderberry bush waiting to be planted when we get home from vacation. That is going to be planted at the front corner of the house as part of my landscaping that I still need to finish planning.

[mb3]

So I went a bit nuts and cut our yew hedge, which basically stretches across the front of the house, down to 6” stumps. The guy at the greenhouse swears it will come back, my neighbors keep telling me I should just take out the stumps. I don’t want to pay for that and I know my knee can’t handle that type of digging, plus I’d want some evergreen there anyways so why rip out what’s there?
This means I also have a HUGE sunny space to work with. My mom is coming up in a few weeks and we are going to plan it out, but I got 3 decent sized mums and then 5 tiny ones this weekend. Just need to plot where to plant them.

[Deleted]

We are harvesting cucumbers, tomatoes, and peppers pretty steadily. The peaches just ripened so we just started harvesting them. Yum yum.

For fall I’m planting carrots, radishes, kales, chard, and Brussels sprouts. At least I would like to. I need to get on it though, ideally I would’ve already planted most of this.

I may try overwintering peas so they’re ready to go nuts in early spring.

[Deleted]

Oh and landscaping gardening. There should be a native plant sale at the end of September, and we need to pick up some perennials for the space I’d hoped to be annual wildflowers that mostly turned out to be just weeds.

Or maybe I’ll give wildflowers another try, I do have a lot of seeds I could direct sow. Hmm.

[trtlcrzy]

Question for anyone that has grown strawberries before: I planted Quinault in a container and it’s been growing lots of strawberries over the last couple of weeks but most of them are either small (like slightly larger than a pea) or funny shaped. Am I doing something wrong?

[Deleted]

Sept 2, 2018 9:58:23 GMT -6 trtlcrzy said:

Question for anyone that has grown strawberries before: I planted Quinault in a container and it’s been growing lots of strawberries over the last couple of weeks but most of them are either small (like slightly larger than a pea) or funny shaped. Am I doing something wrong?

Have you fertilized?

[trtlcrzy]

Sept 2, 2018 12:57:21 GMT -6 @rocknroll said:

Sept 2, 2018 9:58:23 GMT -6 trtlcrzy said:

Question for anyone that has grown strawberries before: I planted Quinault in a container and it’s been growing lots of strawberries over the last couple of weeks but most of them are either small (like slightly larger than a pea) or funny shaped. Am I doing something wrong?

Have you fertilized?

I have, it’s been a little while though.

[Deleted]

Sept 2, 2018 12:57:55 GMT -6 trtlcrzy said:

Sept 2, 2018 12:57:21 GMT -6 @rocknroll said:

Have you fertilized?

I have, it’s been a little while though.

They might do better next year. I think often strawberries produce best in their second year.

[mb3]

I planted some chrysanthemums in my front garden, which is looking a little barren since I pruned the yews back so much. Labels say they are hardy mums so I’m keeping my fingers crossed they’ll truly be perennials. If not, thankfully they were cheap on sale.

I also found that the wildflower seeds I had spread on the alley side of our back fence back in May and had pretty much given up on actually did take. I have brown eyed Susan’s, coreopsis and morning glory vine growing. I also have quite a few flowering herbs (or weeds if you prefer) flourishing. It’s not perfect, but those are cheap, so I think I’ll plan to do it again next year while I focus my energy (and money!) on the front.

[olenka]

I've pretty much put my garden to bed for the season....just harvested the last of the potatoes, onions, and garlic. I still have some chard and a kabocha squash that looks like it won't make it.

My SO's ghost pepper plant did awesome. We are afraid to try them though, so I will likely gift them to coworkers who are into hot peppers.

[Dramaphile]

olenka I'm on my way to doing the same. Just harvested the last of the peppers and almost all of the carrots (I keep finding more in amongst the weeds! I though I got all the decent sized ones and pulled about 5 more big ones and some smaller ones yesterday). My tomato plants are somehow still going, I'll let them go till it frosts, I guess, and hope I maybe get a few more of the green ones on there now to ripen. Need to get in and harvest my beets, maybe if this weekend is decent.

I want to try and plant some garlic to overwinter, and need to figure out what kind of cover I should plant/lay in my beds to keep them from becoming weed central when they defrost. Straw maybe? Or some other kind of mulch?

[Lakes]

I started clearing out stuff the other day. Everything looks so brown and empty now.

[AmyG]

I have one serrano pepper plant making peppers going into it's 2nd fall.
two bell pepper plants just now making a couple bell peppers, one green and one purple.
two tomato plants hanging in there barely, I'll cut them back and then likely toss them in a couple weeks if they don't do better once we get under 100 degrees.
I have two volunteer baby tomato plants I'll try to overwinter, so I'll have early tomatoes next spring.
Eggplant still making dozens of eggplants.

Need to dig up the garden and get out tree roots, and dh wants to plant a bunch of lettuce and spinache and such for the winter. Trying to get the gumption to finish making 2 raised beds but it's just too hot still.

It's bulk pick up in 2 weeks, which means it's time for quarterly tree trimming.
I have 5 huge mesquite trees that need huge split branches cut off. when mesquite get irrigation water they grow too fast and have a tendency to split horribly. I didn't plant any of these trees they came up from seed on their own. Then the palo verde, 3 cottonwood tree, 6 citrus trees. not to mention the jasmine, and other various bushes that could use a trim.

I'm tired just typing.

[trtlcrzy]

I started some lettuce seed a couple weeks ago, I’m hoping to harvest some before it freezes here. My watermelons were a huge bust, if I try again next year I’ll be starting way earlier. I’ve slowly started removing some of the annuals that are looking crappy but I did get some mums to put on my porch. Just need some pumpkins and I’ll be set.

[roseinbloom]

Our rhododendrons haven't been pruned in three years (nothing has). I'm debating whether to prune them now...the plants have overgrown windows and I want the light but I don't want to risk losing out on the flowers in the spring. And the birds love them for scooting around the house in. I do like the privacy, but not how it looks. Decisions, decisions.

[trtlcrzy]

Oct 6, 2018 6:06:13 GMT -6 roseinbloom said:

Our rhododendrons haven't been pruned in three years (nothing has). I'm debating whether to prune them now...the plants have overgrown windows and I want the light but I don't want to risk losing out on the flowers in the spring. And the birds love them for scooting around the house in. I do like the privacy, but not how it looks. Decisions, decisions.

If you don’t want to lose out on spring flowers I’d wait to prune until right after they are done blooming. I’m not sure where you live but they are deciduous in my area so losing the leaves would allow more light in during the winter.

[roseinbloom]

Yeah, I decided not to and just wait till the flowers die off...I can see the new growth buds which makes it too painful to cut them! We will still get light through them in the winter and it does give a nice screen. I knew we'd need to live somewhere without an HOA, lol. We're approaching Briar Rose territory. 😂