Viola's Flower Garden's weekly garden updates from Art. He shares what is happening in his garden, and shares some insight that could help you with yours. All of the Life if Better in the Garden Blog postings are completely searchable by date or by keyword. Use the search tools below to find a specific posting. The best way to search is by typing in a word in the search box that would appear in a particular posting. Hope you enjoy!

life is better (blog)

#28 Guests Are Coming

Today's Walk In The Yard

Today's walk in the yard is a long time coming. Sorry for the long delay but my father has been in the hospital for quite a while and on my days off I have been going back and forth to Phoenix. He's out now so time to get back at it.  We have been super busy, you see we had a garden club that wanted to come see the yard and we were around a month behind on our yard  (Robyn covering for me in the nursery and me being gone).     

Not sure were I'm going to start but let's take a walk on the wild side and we will see what I'm going to write about.  In honor of my dad's recuperation let's write this blog!

Writer's Block

I wrote the blog in record time and in the early hours of the morning.  I read it and it sounded good to me then I let Robyn proof read (the editor and chief of "Life Is Better") my blog.  I asked her like any other blog "how is it?'  She replied, "good" with a squeal of a twelve year old boy.  May day! May day! Houston we have a problem.  I re-read my blog and let's just say that somethings are better in the morning, breakfast, the newspaper delivery, sunrises, just not my blog.  I hope I can recover. 

My first project for the week is to make a rather large hole close to Robyn's cat Paige (RIP).  I then placed my last blog that I was going to send out a month and a half ago.  Then I covered it with planting mix.  I find that planting mix  helps hide the stench.  To make sure that it doesn't become uncovered I use the back of the shovel and pack it down. 

Company Is Coming

Last weekend we had a gardening group come over to check out our garden.  The only problem with that is that we were a little behind with me leaving town on my days off.  When we were asked a month in advance Robyn was a little skeptical because we were behind on the yard this year.  My reply to her was, "it's going to be a piece of cake" (now remember that I run on Bagdad  time and sometimes have been known to have no real concept of time).  We got to a point to where we had more than half of the yard done and we were feeling good.  Looks like I'm going to have my cake and eat it too.  Enter stage left Monsoons 2010 (we had a good week of really wet weather). 

Here we are three days before the weekend and we are just over 3/4 of the way through with the yard.  YIKES!  Robyn is a little worried ....it's good that MR Piece Of Cake is getting good at catching daggers if you know what I mean.   

The last day Robyn has all kinds of plants she wants to plant  on the patio and I'm finally back to reality we may not get done.  She says that she has her stuff done and she just needs to put some plants here and there.  As for me I get the honor of planting to pots in front and two beds up front.  I feel like a prisoner that has been released  (no mom I have never been to prison) I didn't know how to act, usually I do most of my plantings in the back.  I get off work, Robyn's working in the back I'm working in the front, she is done and MR piece of cake is working until 11:00 p.m. (time management art).   It was a great night and I love planting at night.  To top it off we had a good turn out and everyone was very kind.  So we did have cake (cinnamon rolls) and eat it too. 

Blogger's Note:  With the cooler temperatures we had just barely pulled out violas and pansies so it wasn't as bad as it seemed.  

I Must Be In The Front Yard

We have some beds in the front which have  black lace elderberry  in each of them.  This year they have gotten rather large.  Robyn trimmed them back because she didn't trust me.  Now it's time for me to plant around them. 

I'm going to treat these beds as a 3' by 3' pot.  That's right the elderberry is going to be the centerpiece of my "pot".  The next layer or the  supporting cast I used annual salvia for some spiky purple color,  sprinkled every now and then I'm going to plant some coreopsis for orange rays of fun. 

The next layer I put dash of Perilla(looks like coleus) to give the pot some texture.  I'm becoming a fan (facebook lingo for the younger demographic, my numbers from the youth are still down) adding foliage for my pots (i.e. perilla, coleous, ivy, potato vine).  On that same layer I use burgundy petunias to give this bed (pot) some pizzaz.  The bright purple color is exactly what I need.  I also have some ageratum coming up from last year that will be poking through. 

Now the last layer is the trailers I chose to go with some white bacopa broken up by some potato vines.  You know that this was my last project before our company.  I was out gardening until 11:00 at night it was really nice I hope that my bed looks the same in the daylight. 

Something Shady Is Going On

 For the longest time we have had some flame maples in the yard and nothing else in that bed.  I had never even thought about planting anything else there.  For some reason on a day around a month and a half ago this beaming light from the sky and harp music started to play.  Very annoying until I realized that the plant world was telling me to plant one of the only spots open in the yard before Robyn gets to it. 

Almost in complete shade I decided to plant some variegated hostas which not only do they flower and do well here, but with the variegated leaves they can brighten any shady area.  I also planted some spiderwort and some anemomes (not to be confused with that Julia Roberts movie......Sleeping With The Enemy).  I chose the spider wort because Robyn had some in a different shade bed and they have a different look to them with a cool flower.  Anemomes are one of my favs (also in Robyn's other bed now that I think of it.....dang it). 

They look good under our flame maples.  Later on I will add some other perennials and  maybe even add some annuals in that spot. As soon as I run the drip to that area. 

In Closing 

This Saturday August 28 9:30 a.m. we are co-hosting Jazzercise at Viola's, a benefit for Susan G. Komen 3-Day for the cure.  All are welcome to participate or just come hang out!  We are asking for a $10 minimum donation. We will have door prizes, a raffle, refreshments and of coarse Jazzercise class, stop in and show your support!

We are so glad that the gardening club came by to visit our garden.  It got us to finish up our yard and funny thing now that we got the monkey off our backs (planting our garden this season)  we have eaten out on the patio more.  

Any time you get a group together with the same interests as yours it just makes you feel better.  I think that is because they know your pains and triumphs (similar to old high school friends).  The best thing was afterwards we got to kick them out like on MTV's Cribs (again trying to get those youth numbers up, next week I may have to garden without a belt.....hopefully not). 

I can't wait to see where the garden leads me next week.  As Always Life Is Better In The Garden. 

Art

#27 Finally Back At It

Today's Walk In The Yard

Today's walk in the yard is a disappointing one, the yard has honestly gotten away from us a bit. After the square foot gardening incident in the last issue it was hard for me to get back at it,  and summer kind of took me by surprise.  As my high school teachers in Bagdad, AZ would say "time management" or was that "quit talking".  Well I'm back and very ambitious this week. 

I will be talking about how I planted my square foot garden two weeks ago. We are running out of room so time to cut out the grass. I also planted my vegetable garden in the ground. After this last week lets put this campfire out. Thanks, firefighters, hotshots, police, and volunteers that helped saved homes and lives. 

Putting This Demon To Rest

After the last cold snap I finally got to plant my square foot garden.  I must say it really looks cool.  In the far left corner I planted four corn plants.  In the square next to that I planted two corn and cucumbers (breaking the rules a little).  Yes, I do have a fasination with corn.  If this was a phychiatrist office I would be laying on the couch and telling you the root of the problem.  Well you know Shalene who has been with us forever grows corn that is 6' tall and the cobs are life size not like the salad corn that I ended up with last year.  In a mocking 3rd grader voice with my lower lip sticking out making a face, with my head slightly tilted, I asked, "Shalene how is you corn doing?"  Her reply was "my family got tired of all the corn we had last year so I decided not to plant it this year".  If I would have had a pencil in my hand I would have snapped it. I'll be okay.

The next square I put in one black cherry tomato they are fantastic.  The last square in the row I have one zucchini squash.  This row is all of the taller, or spreading  plants so that I can trelis them up. 

The top square on the next row I have one jalepeno pepper.  The next square I have one broccolli, a customer suggested that I grow it.  Like everything else in the garden they are supposed to taste great.  Especially when they are smothered in cheese the way nature intended.  To round up this bingo card I planted two squares of  4 lettuce plants.  I tied into my drip line and ran a soaker hose and the plants seem to love the consistent watering. 

Carrots and Potato Update: 

I have some carrots, not as many as I wanted, that could be because some were stepped on ,and Robyn rested a couple of flats on them oops! Hopefully they will regrow... only the strong survive. 

My potatoes rock they are huge and I have almost filled in the bed completely.  I can't wait to taste them. 

I Want One Too

Like any garden junkie we have plans to take out most of our grass to expand our vegetable garden. I'm hoping that I will get to that this fall, so we are ready for spring 2011 the year of the lama (totally made that up).  Of course that doesn't help us this year.  Robyn has been itching to start a square foot garden, probably because she saw how easy it was to put mine together (not the incident).

She says to me I'm just going to put it in the middle of the grass.  Just like in the movie "The Omen" all the birds flew out of our trees all at once.  What? I said.  She kindly repeated herself.  Now that I look back at it I was hook line and sinker. 

You see being a man we some how have a connection to grass, we water, we mow, we fertilize, we look at it (insert a Tim The Tool Man grunt....Home Improvement).  I can tell you this we definitely don't put a square foot garden smack dab in the middle of it.  She knew what she was doing.  This isn't the first seed that Robyn has planted.

My next day off I figured out a way to cut out a piece of grass (hard to water and mow).  I moved my metal edging and dug out the grass.  (actually the boys put down the edging for me and hauled off the grass for me).  We made an area for that big square foot garden kit.  They finished the project by putting down weed fabric down and brought in some decorative rock.  Robyn and I set up her kit and the next day I filled it for her so that she can get started. 

That decorative rock is a nice touch not only does it look good it collects and reflects heat which the vegetables are going to love.   

Better Late Than Never

Well I won't be having any of those sun blocking tomatoes this year.  I'm planting way to late. The good news is that last fall when I put down some leaves, yum yum, and farmyard blend it worked really well.  I stuck my shovel in the ground and it was like butter.  I will be doing that again this year. 

I planted a couple of tomatoes not much crop rotation happening this year.  That is right I barely moved them away from where they were last year.  Hopefully they will do good.  I went with early girl tomatoes and big beef tomatoes in the one gallons.  When I planted them I planted them deep.  Remember you can cover 2/3 of the plant.  They will develop roots from the buried part of the plant.

I also planted a jalepeno plant and I used my signature design by planting lettuce in front like a border. Then I put down some tomato vegetable food.  This stuff looks good and I trust the makers of Yum Yum. Who knows maybe I will have those huge sun blocking tomatoes.  For some more pizzazz I might get out there and add some marigolds (or not).  Marigolds are know to repel bugs and they will brighten the area. 

In Closing 

It was awesome to really get in the yard and see some progress.  It was also nice to change things up a little bit.  I also did some other projects so I'm sure that I will be able to put out another issue of "Life Is Better" on time.   

I have been busy with work but I think that the square foot mishap really took the wind out of my sails.  I really didn't have much interest in the yard during my hiatus.  I guess the lesson is that I felt so good when I finally cleaned it up and moved on.  So if you have a similar mishap or something that didn't look as good as it was in your head. Don't think about the time you spent, and move on.  I can't wait to see where the garden leads me next week.  As Always Life Is Better In The Garden. 

Art

#26 Back To The Scene Of The Crime

Today's Walk In The Yard

Today's walk in the yard is a dark one.  We got home late, and the sun is almost gone.  I can see just enough to see that I left my last project like there was a fire drill.  I still had all my tools out, weed fabric, bags of soil, and that square foot garden kit that just wouldn't fit still there looking up at me.  This week I'm going to finish the square foot garden. Just like a teenage girl in the eighties let's crimp this hair.

Over A Week Later

It was a little rough trying to get back to the square foot garden after last weeks defeat (Square Foot Garden 2 Art 0). I was inspired by the gals of Viola's they planted our large square foot garden that we have displayed at the nursery.  I have to admit the garden looks really cool.  I'm not a square kind of guy I like curves, not only on my roads (I get sleepy on long stretches of straight roads)  but also in my garden. Doing a square foot garden is going against my inner being, after seeing what the garden looks like in person I'm jazzed and ready to go.

Now that I'm back from the fire drill I have to get some help from Robyn to put together the kit again.  Our first step, we put down some weed fabric.  Then we set up the kit.  That took around 3 minutes, these kits rock much better than the kit I tried last week (same kit, if I can blame it on the kit it helps me sleep at night).  The pieces just slide together. 

Now alone I can feel a panic of cold sweat come over me like Tom Cruise in Top Gun when he says "talk to me Goose".  Okay not that bad, actually no panic at all, I just get these thought in my mind while I write.....I should rent Top Gun tonight........ for those of you that have been reading for a while know I have the attention span of a three year old.  I venture on, I trim the weed fabric 3 to 4 inches from the edge of the kit thinking that I will trim it even closer later.  Then I get this great idea to fold the edges up into the kit where there is a gap.  I worked really well.

The next step I cut open the bags of soil and poured  them into the kit.  Since I decided to use the small kit I have a lot of bags let over......what shall I do with them.  I'm sure that I will find something to do with them in the yard because I don't want to haul them back to the nursery. The total process took me 15 minutes way better than that other kit I tried last week (same kit, if I can blame it on the kit it helps me sleep at night).

Measure Once Cut Twice

After all of that work I decided not to plant my garden until next week, due to a cold night coming in on Sunday.  I have an idea for my new rock raised garden bed. I'm going to plant some potatoes and some carrots.  They need soft and fertile soil with my raised bed I won't have much more work to do. 

In a perfect world that would have been a great plan. You see I needed to fill my raised bed with something  to get it to the height that I wanted.  A good gardener would have planned it out a little better and had some topsoil, mulch, manure, and sand in the back of his truck ready to go.  I fly by the seat of my pants, I had some torn bags and topsoil and bark at the nursery, I poured them into the beds to get my height  (will this project ever quit bitting me in the rear).  This would have been okay if my original plan would have worked.

There I am in the middle of the raised bed with a shovel undoing what I was so proud of just a week ago.  I was digging as fast as I could for one to get it over with so I had something to write about, and because I'm just done with this raised bed. 

While I was shoveling thoughts past though my head (attention span of a three year old.. no offense three year olds). One of these thoughts was when I was tearing out our shrubs to put in a garden pretty late at night, my neighbor peaked over the fence, he asked me in a concerned voice, "Art is Robyn around?".  It took me a while, but I think that he was just making sure that we didn't have a "Desperate Housewife" situation. 

I'm back, I finally got all of the bark and everything else that I put into my bed out.  I will use most of the bark for the pathway around my new bed so not all is lost.  I added around 6 inches of Mel's mix to the bottom of the bed, I'm ready to plant some potatoes.  To plant potatoes you can cut the potatoes eyes up as long as the pieces are 1 1/2" big.  The potatoes that we have this year are large so I did some cutting.  Then I planted them 4 inches deep cut side down. As the potato plant starts to grow I will cover it again with another 3-4 inches of Mel's Mix.  Then once the plant is 8" high I will cover half the plant.  Then I will cover half the plant again in another 2 to 3 weeks. Then I will add an inch or two of soil every week or two to cover any forming potatoes.  A customer came in and convinced me that I need to plant potatoes because they taste so much better than store bought.  I can't wait.

Blogger's Note:  People ask all the time can they use store bought potatoes.  While researching on how to plant potatoes I found out that most potatoes are sprayed with something that will keep them from producing a lot or even any potatoes.  Because potatoes are actually in the ground you will definitely want to use organic fertilizers.  You should also wait 24 hours before planting to let the cuts callus this will cut down on the chance of rotting (oops).

Here Is A ^

The reason I'm not putting carrots and potatoes in the square foot garden is because they need deeper soil.  If I would have made some sections deeper it wouldn't be an issue. I have a lot of other vegetables that I want to put in the square foot garden next week any way. Carrots are a good projects for young kids.  Especially the ones that I'm gonna plant (not kids carrots silly). 

I recently had some really good carrots from the grocery store and that got me thinking.  Just think if I grew my own....multiply the taste by 1000. They were pretty easy to put in I made a hole with my pinky a 1/2" deep by the time I pulled out my handy dandy pinky (this is one tool I don't think I will ever misplace)  I had a 1/4" hole that was what I needed for my carrot fun.  Covered them and watered them. 

Seeds aren't my strong suit.  I plan on doing some seed starts next spring.  I will be asking for tips from you seasoned seed starters next season.   

Legal notice: not actually any scientific data that supports the statement "multiply the taste by 1000" please sign the release form at the end of the blog.

In Closing 

A much better day in the garden.  I'm really excited about my potatoes and carrots. Things are starting to look a lot better than my first trip out in the yard. Robyn was busy planting some pansies around the yard (even though they are Los Angles Laker colors) they look good.  The trees are starting to leaf out and the grass is getting greener it is amazing what a little water will do.  I guess the moral of the story is to look back at what all has been accomplish and not what still has to be done (or at least try).

This crazy weather will be over soon so don't get to discouraged look on the bright side we could be covered in 5 feet of snow and the shovel in your hand could be a snow shovel.  I can't wait to see where the garden leads me next week.  As Always Life Is Better In The Garden. 

Art

#25 Gardening Squared

Today's Walk In The Yard

Today's walk in the yard is a windy one. That's right it's mid spring in Flagstaff even if my maples still don't have leaves. I got to leave work a little early because of the wind so I had a little extra time.....that can only mean trouble. 

We had a square foot gardening seminar this weekend thanks Rod for traveling all the way up from Payson. And thanks everyone that showed up, we had a great turnout. Guess what I'm doing in the yard this week?  Without further delay let's plug this oil leak, no really BP plug that leak!!!

Rock Of Ages

Those of you who weren't sporting the bandana on your leg and the large hair (still not proven that the hair spray from the big hair caused the hole in the ozone) this sections title is a 80's rock song. 

There I'm at work thinking of where and how I'm going to build my square foot garden.  First thing I think  is take out some grass and expand the garden (I will be doing soon but not during our busy season). I will have to put it in the existing garden area.  I love the concept of the square foot garden being raised off the ground, but I think that it would be cooler to raise it another foot and a half so that I  don't have to bend over much.  There it is my project for the week.  I'm going to build a raised garden bed out of the heaviest rocks that I can possibly find and then I'm going to put a square foot garden kit on top of it (kind of defeats the purpose of the no digging, no weeding, easy to do, no problem Square Foot Garden).

An Omen

First thing that I did was pick out some extra rocks that I had left over from a project at Viola's.  The kind of rocks I picked out were small, big, flat, odd shaped, and heavy ones. The key to making a rock wall or a raised bed is to use a good mix of rock.  It looks better and with the odd sizes you can stagger the rocks like a mason would when building a brick wall.

As I'm driving down Route 66 with my heavy duty wheel barrow on top of this heap of rock  (because my little easy to move, cute, not to heavy duty, it keeps us from doing something to hard, wheel barrow just won't do the job)  I then get this feeling like this isn't such a good idea, very similar to the dad jumping on a trampoline on America's Funniest Videos as he creeps closer to the edge.....we all know how that ends.

I now have all of my rocks in the backyard and I'm thinking that Mel (the inventor of the square foot garden) he might have be on to something, with his no digging, no weeding, easy to do, no problem Square Foot Garden.  I ventured on with the NBA playoffs showing through the window,  as if to taunt me. 

I get going into the project placing one rock next to the other then I come across really good stacking rocks those guys go on the second level leaning those rocks back a little more than the level below. You will figure out which are good stacking rocks pretty quickly.   Building a rock wall is like a puzzle, there are times that you are in the zone and times that you can't even put together the outer pieces (I'm not good at puzzles).  Today was a perfect day because these rocks where talking to me, if you have ever built a rock wall you know what I mean.  I'm not crazy I don't talk back...at least while people are watching. 

Blogger Note: The hardest part of doing a rock wall is starting. When doing a dry stack wall  you just need to start placing them. You can always go back and replace rocks they just don't fit.  As for the rocks you are picking from lay them out (out of the way, not in a stack), this way you can give them a quick glance and see the ones that may fit.  If a rock doesn't fit you must not quit (OJ Simpson), if the rock doesn't fit flip it all directions if that doesn't work put it aside, you will find a spot for it somewhere else. Think of it as your solving a puzzle on Survivor. If you need more detail come on in I can give you some other tips.

Finally The End To The Project?

My bed is built, now it's time to..... put my square foot garden on top.  I called Robyn from the house to help. Before we go on I must tell you why I started landscaping instead of building houses.  Well I'm not good at pounding nails, using a tape measure, screwing in things........you get the picture.  Back to the halls of justice (you thought I forgot about my super hero references) we tried the square foot kit one way another way and yet another way.

Meanwhile I get that picture of wheel barrow on top of the heaping pile of rock racing through my head interupted every couple of seconds with a giggle from Robyn and a croak from this frog (that has shown up this season in the pond) as if he were giggling too. Not to mention the flickering of the NBA playoffs through the window.  It's eight o'clock at night and I tell Robyn I will be back (not like Arnold Swartzanager more like the kid on the Christmas Story "the mother of all cuss words").  

By the time I got to the store I have calmed down a bit, I grab the smaller kit and I'm coming back to the house and I start thinking of the wheelbarrow and the heaping pile of rock (haunted like the house in Ametyville).  I get my trusty helpers Shaniqua, and Robyn and we go to put this kit on... this time it's too big.  I hear this little giggle from Robyn. Will someone shut that frog up!

In Closing 

Even though things didn't work out this week it was still a good week in the garden. Who am I kidding the wind was awful, I missed most of the Suns game, it was still good. I will have to adapt and change my plans. The good news is that I have a cool raised bed and I will be able to plant potatoes this year. The bad news is I have no square foot garden.  I will think about it and see where I can put it, I think that I have a couple good spots.

Well I hope that this encourages you, and lets you know that we all have good and bad weeks in the garden.  Maybe just maybe that frog was shouting out words of encouragement (whatever).  I can't wait to see where the garden leads me next week.  As Always Life Is Better In The Garden. 

Art

#24 Going The Extra Yard

Today's Walk In The Yard

I was going to change my weekly blog to a periodical (seeing how it came out periodically last year) but I'm feeling good this year I might be able to keep up. Thanks to Robyn giving me some time to get in the yard and get my blog out. 

Today's walk in the yard is not nearly as bad as last week, although I see that I have a lot to do.  I'm still not ready to make a plan or a list for that matter.  I'm going to trim up some perennials and my annual fight with the dragon. I will also give some attention to the lawn.  In honor of the security pop up ad that keeps popping up on my computer let's download this program.

The Annual Dance With The Dragon

My plan for the afternoon is to cut back some perennials that I left from last year (very strange because I didn't remember having this many still around).  I got after it with my new pruners from Viola's they have a great feel and they cut very well, which will come in handy later in the day.  I should've done this earlier, because my shasta daisies and phlox are already 3" to 4" in size.  When cutting these guys back I reach into the plant and make my cut under the new foliage. Some of the dried stems from last year are actually breaking off when I grab them.  Piece of cake right?

Then it happened, with the attention span of a three year old (no offense to three year olds)  I looked up and I saw the dragon out of the corner of my eye.  I don't really have a dragon in the yard (I wouldn't know what to feed it, care for it,  not to mention pick up after it.....there it is again that attention span of a three year old), but every time I trim up this particular vine I feel so little in comparison.  I started with one part of it  and then with another, the next thing you know I'm yanking it out of a near by tree, out of the pond, the fence. I didn't know that I was really stressed out from the day at work but man there was stress that came out and I know that it was not all about the vine.  Next thing you know this vine (dragon) started hitting back, I was pulling and it was flinging back at me, not to mention the times that I hit myself.  I was thinking this is going to be good for my blog ratings if I go to work with a scratch on my face.  I could pull up my pants, and take a deep breath like Barney Fife on the "Andy Taylor Show" before I tell my story on how I got the cut.  Well I didn't get a cut but I did give my silverlace vine a great cleaning. 

If you have a vine out of control and  you want to trim it up you need to be careful not to cut one of the main branches.  To tell if it's a main branch I suggest that you give that branch a little tug so that you can see where it leads before you cut it.  I know that I may have some branches that I clipped still left on the vine they will be easy to see, they will be the ones without the leaves.  Thinning out your vines every now and then is a good idea to help keep them health and looking good. 

 Ain't So Bad

Last week I was a little hard on the lawn and this week it looks a lot better.  I still have some Shaniqua spot issues but the rest of it looks pretty good.  It seems like the moisture from the winter  seems to bring the thatch to the surface (similar to a suv wreck and the gals of Tiger). You guessed it, time to do some raking.  When raking up your  lawn you are going to want to use a hard rake and be a little rough with it.  If you start pulling up roots or clumps of grass that is a little to rough.  If your lawn is still wet from winter you may want to wait until your lawn has dried out a little bit. I'm running a little late and the sun is going down so I only got a little part of the lawn done. I will finish later or I will have the maintenance guys finish it.  

I know that it really isn't a lot of fun but you should put the effort into it.  Thatch is the little pieces of cut grass that doesn't decompose or get picked up by the lawnmower.  To much thatch can lead to blocking water and air from getting to the roots, which will lead to an unhealthy lawn.

Jump Starting The Lawn

Time to fertilize the lawn.  I switched to an organic fertilizer the last few years,  to help make sure that Shaniqua is safe.  The one that I like is 9-0--0  which is a granular corn glutten.  This fertilizer is a pre emergent that will prevent seeds from germinating therefore controlling the spread of dandelions and crabgrass).  So if you are wanting to re-seed your lawn this fertilizer is not for you. The maintenance crew applies this fertilizer when they come to mow the lawn (how easy was that).   

Compared to last year I'm winning the fight with dandelions and crabgrass,only a couple spotted this year so far.  To get rid of the not so dandy-lions I 'm going to spray weed beater plus.  The plus in the weed beater is because it also kills crabgrass.  All I do is point and shoot right on the little boogers. 

If you have grass that just doesn't seem to fit in (like when your friend doesn't tell you that a party is formal, when it is.....you need to let it go), you may have crabgrass. If your lawn has this clumpy looking grass within the grass that is crabgrass.  I have a couple of small patches of crabgrass so I point and shoot  with the weedbeater plus and BAM it 's all over but the crying.  Weedbeater plus isn't going to do harm to your existing lawn just the dandilions and the crabgrass. 

While pruning up the perennials that I should have done last year I noticed that it was really dry in that bed, there was even dust flying up. I will need to amend it.  The point is that it was really dry, yet in another corner of my yard it is so wet that I can't go over the lawn with a rake for fear of damaging it.  So be careful, if that storm at the end of the week doesn't have a lot of moisture,  you may need to start watering especially the sunny areas of your yard. Some areas still may need to dry out a little so get out there and check things out.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In Closing 

 

I can look outside and see some progress in the yard. The leaves are starting to push out (maybe before May).  We might be able to stick a fork in winter after this weekend, things are looking up for the gardeners of Northern AZ.

 

When I was taming the dragon (legal notice: no dragons were hurt during this or any other blog this year) I didn't realize how wound up I was after work until I was really getting after it and I could feel the stress leaving. Then all at once I felt a calm come over me, it felt really good. Gardening is a magical thing so get out there and get dirty.  I can't wait to see where the garden leads me next week.  As Always Life Is Better In The Garden. 

Art

#23 Back Where I Belong

Today's Walk In The Yard

A  shovel was invented for gardening not shoveling snow, I finally got tired of snow, hello to everyone!  Wow what a winter!  I hope that everyone survived and is ready to get outside in their garden.  With the extra moisture it's going to be a good year for gardening.  My yard looks great therefore I won't be writing my blog anymore....ha ha.  Actually the reason I was late blogging  is because we had a little snow and I have been afraid to get out there because the yard looks rough.

The first thing I needed to accomplish was to do a walk around and make a mental list of what I need to do.  I'm not going to write a list just because, call me crazy, I  don't want to look at a big list, today is just about getting out in the yard and getting started (the hardest thing for me to do this year).  I'm going to prune up shrubs with winter damage, clean up the pond. Time to pot up a couple of pots out in the front  yard, very excited about that.  

The Good, The Bad And The Ugly

As I'm walking through the yard all isn't lost. The  good... I see that my blueberries and the raspberries that I put in a pot are coming back.  My hanging strawberry pot may have dried out but I have a lot of perennials coming back. 

The bad... it's amazing how no matter how I think I leave the yard, come spring it always seems a lot messier than I imagine (similar to some of those eighty movies that I love, sometimes they aren't as good as I remember)   like I just gave up. I see I missed some perennials they need to be cut back, not to mention I have collected a lot of pots and some other stuff that needs to go. 

The ugly...my lawn looks really bad and the pond is just a mess.  It is going to be a long spring.  Oh well, if gardening was easy it wouldn't be as rewarding when it looks good. (I keep telling myself as I hold myself rocking back and forth humming).

 Gardening Isn't A Competition

Yes, it's time to plant up some big pots out front, to fire the first shot in the neighborhood (I may not be the first person to put up heating tape or shovel the walk and drive, but I'm going to be the first with color this year). Gardening isn't a competition (unless you are the first to put out color). 

For my flowers I'm going to go to  Viola's ( the first of many self promotions of the year), I'm going to pick out two hanging pots which will fill the pots. It's easy and will give the pots an instant Ka Bam! 

I take them out of their pots rough up the roots a little bit with my hand (by making  my hand look like a hand rake). My next step is to remove the old roots from the pots, and dig out a hole around the size of the root ball.  Then I place yellow  violinas (trailing violas, cold hardy) in the hole then I quickly realized that I needed more potting soil.  It seems like when you go to replant your pots you always need some potting soil.  I then put fresh potting soil to finish the job.  These guys look great like they have been there for months. 

Blogger's Note:  If you had a plant that had trouble with bugs or disease in the pot you may want to freshen or just use new potting soil.  A lot of bugs and diseases can winter over.

Ponder The Question

For pond lovers all over, spring is a rough time of year. Ponds have a lot of nutrients for algae and not much else going on to counteract it. The water is high in nitrogen because of  dead plant matter ( leaves falling in the pond and water plants that may not have been cut back).   After this winter the pond looks really rough.  The roughest it has looked in a long time.  I didn't cut back the plants in the fall, so that I could protect any fish that I have left from the raccoon massacre.   

The first couple of warm days of spring that monster string algae has raised his ugly head.  I used my trusty skimmer net to remove as much of it as I could, not to mention the plant debris.  I also put two bags of my barley flakes (they seem to help, I still get algae but not as bad), one in the skimmer and one on the back end of the pond under some rocks. Barley flakes have emzymes that steal the nutrients that the string algae.  I'm starting to feel a little better about the yard.

Raccoon Update:  No sign of fish, I will get more once I can provide them with protection. 

#22 Time To Go Dormant

Today's Walk In The Yard

Today's walk in the yard is a good one. I have been tied up with taking down Halloween and cleaning the garage so I'm going to talk about what Robyn has been doing.  I did contribute a little bit.  A fond farewell is in order.  That's right I will be signing off for the season.  I was hoping to continue but with all the time that I'm throwing into the website and plans for next year I better call it a season.  We were going to do the best of "Life Is Better" for the winter months, but as we have discussed before that only exist in my mind.   

 Out With The Old In With The New

The beds in the front yard looked really bad, our annuals looked dead, great for Halloween decorations, but now they need to go.  I went to work today, and by the time I came back the beds were all cut back and the annuals pulled out (thanks to the magic of TV,  actually Robyn and our maintenance guys).  The weather has been so nice so we have had time to do a good cleaning of the yard. 

The next day Robyn had grand plans of putting back her favorite violas and pansies.  I can tell by how many she is planting by how many she orders during the season. Some of these guys look a little rough because of the cold weather that we had experienced.  No worries just before we get snow or as we get closer to spring either she or I will cut these puppies back a little and they are going to come back like gain busters in the spring.  They will fill in that void of color during the early spring (help scratch that early spring itch).

The last step is mine.  I sprinkled and watered in some yum yum.  I get to do that  chore because as most of you know I like to pretend that I'm feeding chickens.  I don't know where that comes from maybe I was an old chicken farmer in another life.  That could be why I like chicken manure???? 

Blogger's Note:  Absolutely no chickens were hurt during this segment or any other this year.   

Ponder The Question

My pond is full of leaves.  That's right, with fall comes the little annoyances.  In a past issue of "Life Is Better" or the article in the newspaper "Put The Ah In Autumn (I don't remember) I compared fall color as the finale of a fireworks show.  Now I can compare this part of fall to cleaning up after a ticker tape parade.  What a bummer. 

Back on subject (I feel like a little kid on the last day of school, could be the coffee or just because I'm done for the season with my blog) okay focus, I kept getting leaves in the pond so I turned off the pond for a week because it kept getting plugged up.  I cleaned out the leaves with my handy dandy pond skimmer thing.  I put the leaves into my garden area that I talked about last issue.  Mixed with the leaves is moss looks great for the garden.  I'm going to put my barley flakes in the pond as early as I can in the spring to help keep the algae down.  

While I was cleaning the pond I saw Nemo (what a good name, Disney should make a movie about a fish called Nemo, I think it would be a hit)  the only gold colored fish that I have left.  He is probably an inch to two inches long.  He is a ray of light to the raccoon massacre. I also think that I still have two larger fish that are really dark colored so there is life in the pond.  For this reason I'm not going to cut back the perennials in the pond until spring.  This will give them a safe haven before I break ground on the flagstone safe haven (with the recession our funding on the safe haven has been pushed back).   

Year In Reveiw

I don't mean to toot my own horn but toot toot.  I think that this blog was the best idea I have had in a long time.  I have learned a lot about myself and about gardening (mostly that I have a little voice in my head, and it is me and boy does it talk a lot).  This blog has given me focus and next year it will give me an extra day off to complete my blog.  That's right Robyn has said that I will be given a set day off so that I can work in the yard and write my blog.  This way I can  be more consistent on the date that my blog comes out (I still run on Bagdad Time so maybe not).   

I hope that you have enjoyed reading my blog as much as I have enjoyed writing it.  I also hope that you have learned  a little along the way.  I'm very thankful to those of you who complimented me and came in to talk to me.  You don't know how much that helped.  Doing this blog I kind of put myself out there a lot more than I am comfortable with and your kind words kept me going (not knowing how people would receiving it).     

Like everything I could not have done this without Robyn she was the proof reader and encouragement.  So if you have problems with any of my errors you should talk to her or my Bagdad High School Educators(Bagdad AZ).    

I also would like to thank my good friend Jake, who redid our website and emailer and taught me how to use everything.  (The music is starting to play I better wrap up this lifetime moment).  If you are interested in a website, or anything graphic design call me I will pass on his number.  

  In Closing 

Our online store is up and running and I will be adding tons of stuff, it's very exciting.  You can even buy  gift certificates. I will also be adding tons of stuff for reference so when you are getting cabin fever check out our website.   We are selling live Christmas Trees at the store so if you are interested come on in and say hi.   

 Have a good holiday season From Robyn, Shaniqua, and myself.  Thanks for a good year and we will see you in the spring.    I can't wait to see what will be new at Viola's next spring.  As Always Life Is Better In The Garden. 

Art

#21 Early Bird Gets The Worm

Today's Walk In The Yard

Today's walk in the yard is a messy one.  We are going to get an update on the last issue with the raccoons.  I'm also going to clean up the vegetable garden and amend it.   In honor of Halloween let's watch this horror movie even though we know how it is going to end (if it ever does with all of the sequels). 

 24 Hour Fish Restaraunt Closes

The raccoon update is a sad one.  You guessed it they came back and finished the job. (except for three survivors, unless they are too afraid to come out of hiding) I think that the electric fence is a good idea and did work for awhile but for some reason it quit working and I woke up to a lot of debris in the pond. I should have spent the money on a better one. 

Blogger Retrospect:  (Because we don't have the supped up version of Constant Contact I need you to start humming  Memories by Barbara Streisand)  Now I need you to visualize me running along my pond with the fish swimming to the edge to get fed. I am throwing  food into the pond and feeding the fish while cherry blossoms falling from the sky. My tribute to my fallen fish.

I am going to take a break from fish until spring and maybe the racoons will leave us alone.  I also have another idea for raccoons this fall,  I am going to make a safe haven for the fish.  I am going to get a really big piece of flagstone and put it on top of bricks laying on there sides so there are two squares showing so that the fish can get in but the racoons can't get in.  So as long as my new fish are smart enough to know that it is a safe haven it should work.  Fish swim in schools so I think that they will figure it out

Another sad fact:  Nick from the Aquarium Store will be closing his doors after 20 years.  Part of the reason is because of the economy and the other part is because of not enough support from the community.  He still will be doing maintenance and can get some items in for you, so go by and say goodbye.  Thanks Nick for the fish. 

Jack Frost's Carnage

The growing season is over and it's  time to clean up the yard. It's a mess,  Robyn went back to Michigan to visit her family in Michigan and Ohio so I have been busy tending the fort (mostly jumping on the bed while eating  cookies, watching espn, staying up past 11:00 even on school nights, and running with scissors).  Now that she is back I have time to get back to the yard.  Getting started this week I see that I have a ton to do.  First thing that I am going to do is take a breath and pick what I want to start on.  I decided that I'm going to start on one end of the yard and move to the next. 

This puts me in the vegetable garden.  The first thing I am going to do is rip out the tomato plants and the pumpkin plants.  I made sure that I pulled out and picked up all that I could. 

 If you had a lot of trouble with you plants it is time to play Quincy (an old tv show one of my favorites).  Carefully dig up the roots and examine the soil, the roots, look for insects, mold, and smell the soil, if they smell rotten you could be watering to much. You probably can't examine the plants themselves  because of the frost.    I don't want to keep these plants in this area especially since I was battling blight towards the end of the growing season.  A lot of tomato viruses and fungi will winter over in the soil.  I will definitely rotate crops next spring. 

Make Like A Tree And Leave

Still in the garden I'm going to throw down some yum yum.  I know what you are thinking their are no plants what am I feeding.  I'm feeding the soil which in turn will feed the plants. I apply this organic gem by pretending that I am feeding chickens.  I am going to put down a decent amount. 

 My next step is to rake up some leaves from underneath my flame maples.  I am going to put these leaves an inch deep  on top of the yum yum.  The cherry on top of this organic sunday is chicken manure.  I am using the chicken manure to hold down the leaves.  There are still a lot of leaves poking through.  I am going to water in this combination which will encourage worms and help the breaking down process.  I have never tried anything like this but I am pretty sure that these leaves will break down by spring.  I will be watering this combo when I water the rest of my yard .  You should be watering your yard once a week since we haven't gotten any precipitation.   

  In Closing 

I went to the master gardener conference around a month ago and one of the speakers (a great speaker the bun wiggling guy,  sorry I don't remember his name) said to leave you leaves on the ground where they fall and let them break down and nurture your plants.  It is a great idea but in the real world (homeowner associations) you may not have an ideal situation for that.  If you like someones idea that just won't work for your situation you can always change it to fit your needs.   

 I will be writing the newsletter so I will see you in two weeks.   I can't wait to see where the garden leads me next week.  As Always Life Is Better In The Garden. 

Art

#20 It's Electric

Today's Walk In The Yard

Today's walk in the yard I'm at a loss for words, it looks like someone took a flame thrower to the yard.  I will start there by the preparations that I took before the bomb went off.  I'm also looking for the welcome sign so that I can take it down, so that all the critters that we have been getting will quit coming to the yard.  In honor of Halloween (when adults can act like kids) let's pick this pumpkin.

 Fried Green Tomatoes

The night before we got that hard freeze,  I  picked a lot of the green tomatoes.  Knowing that even though they predicted 32 degrees they could be wrong and it could get down to 22 degrees.  Of course the wind stopped and the temp dropped.  The outside growing season is officially done.

This is where my blog takes a turn we head indoors and I get in touch with my Martha Stewart side. Robyn's Mothers advice was to wrap the tomatoes in newspaper and put them in a dark place. There I am tearing up newspaper and wrapping these tomatoes like an elf on Christmas Eve. I put them in a couple of laundry baskets and stored them in a spare room that I will keep dark. 

I also took some to my parents house my moms advice was to do something similar except that she didn't like the newspaper.  She took the stems off and put them in a box upside down and stored them in the garage.  

After working on my blog I googled ripening tomatoes indoors and guess what I found that Robyn's Mother was right. They suggest putting them in a box and covering it.  To speed up the ripening place a ripe tomato or banana in the box.  To slow the process remove ripe tomatoes. 

 The green fruit will ripen in two weeks when they are stored at 65 to 70 degrees and in about 3-4 weeks at 55 degrees.  Storage below 50 degrees will give the tomatoes a bland off flavor (probably a store bought practice)  Remember they aren't going to taste vine fresh but they are going to be better than store bought.  I got most of my information from the Colorado State Extension.   

Blogger Note: At no time when I got in touch with my Martha Stewart side did I do any trading of stock.

Get Rid Of The Welcome Mat 

Just when I think that I'm going to run out of things to talk about, all of a sudden the yard takes me on another adventure.  You may want to get some popcorn and a soda because this is the biggest adventure yet.   

Robyn got up in the middle of the night because the pond pump was making a funny noise, this usually happens when the water level gets to low.  It doesn't happen often, but when it does I'm usually the one that takes care of it (part of my manly duty).  So Robyn gets up and looks in the pond and there are two large cat looking things in the pond. Then it registers, they are raccoons and they are eating our fish. They are freaked out, she is freaked out, she chased them around the yard with a flashlight( She is so brave) until they climbed over our fence like a cat.  Meanwhile back at the halls of justice (my usual super hero reference) I'm dreaming of running in a field of flowers similar to Laura Ingalls in "Little House On The Prairie" (not really but I was sleeping sound).   The pond plants were all torn up and the pond was all muddy from the raccoons being in it.  That's what was clogging the pump.  They got quite a few of our fish but we still had some left.  Robyn stayed up for a couple of hours in case they came back and because she was still a  freaked out.  Mean while back at the hall of justice I was still on a "Little House On The Prairie" episode. 

After feeling so violated the next night we were up all night checking for them.  We knew that they had it all planned out right down to their masks.  Almost like clock work the pond was sucking air around 3:30 in the morning, because the pump is filled with plant debris from our little friends.  Robyn jumped up and looked out the window and that is when I got the bat signal.  She yelled they're here!  Then she tapped on the window and ran to the kitchen.  I got up and looked out the window and I saw a raccoon in the middle of the pond trying to finish off the job from the night before. When I looked at him we made eye contact and all that I could think of was in the Tom and Jerry cartoon when they would look in the shower and Tom would be wearing a shower cap with is arm up and the other one covering himself up (now you know what level I operate on). 

 Robyn is shining the flashlight outside, it looked like a UFO movie and I am looking for a bat and my shoes and I am sure that our neighbors are putting up their for sale signs by now.  They climbed out of our yard before we got outside.  It was a rough night because we were getting up and checking every 20 minutes after that for our friends to come back.  The next morning we were able to see some fish  were left, unfortunately they got 5 of our big fish and many of the little ones.  We have one big one left and a couple smaller ones.  It is sad (added by the proof reader Robyn).   

How To Get Rid Of These Masked Men

After feeling silly that I was carrying a  bat around, I realized their must be a better way.  If Robyn's dad who likes hunting was staying with us we would all be would  wearing Davy Crockett hats by now.  I am not a hunter so What to do? 

We carry a product called Repel All, but I don't think it will work seeing how they only have to travel 3 to 4 feet from the fence to the pond.  Another option is to trap them and relocate.  I am not sure if they have laws against that so I am going to pass.  

Then it came to me It's Electric  (No not that cheesy wedding song "electric slide") an electric fence.  We put that up the next day and so far so good we have eleven fish left and we have not been awaken in the middle of the night since.  Knock on wood. 

  In Closing 

Well, Jack Frost has ended our annuals and vegetables, and he raises the question.  Are we more appreciative and enjoy our yards more during the growing season because it is taken away from us for so long?  I think so, because I know that by spring I am excited to get back into the yard.  If you look at it in that sense then fall and winter is a good thing.  We get rejuvenated and we have time away so we can get new ideas.  

Don't get to comfortable because we still have a lot to do before the season is over.   I can't wait to see where the garden leads me next week.  As Always Life Is Better In The Garden. 

Art

#19 Not In My Neighborhood

Today's Walk In The Yard

Today's walk in the yard I have an unlikely intruder I must get rid of quick, visit a wonderful shade garden, and another installment of (read it with your announcer voice and make sure to blink your eyes really fast we can't afford cool effects) The Good The Bad And The Ugly. Let me check my watch it"s time to turn this shish kabob. 

 Holy Voley

The first thing that I had to take care of this week at the house was chosen for me. It was like Luke Skywalker in Star Wars, I had no choice (not to mention Robyn told me to apply some Molex). We live in boulder point where I thought  we would never have this problem.  Never say never.

We had a pot of petunias that started to die over night.  Robyn thought I forgot to water it,  it looked horrible.  When we  looked a little closer and we found that there was a hole that ran right through the middle of the pot.  A perfect hole like a bullet hole that you would see in Tom and Jerry.  Upon further review (football season has started) the plant was totally torn up.  That is how we found out that we had a vole.  A Vole is like a little mouse that acts like a mole, it eats plants and it tunnels underneath the ground.  After that happened we didn't see anything else happen so we didn't worry about it. 

A month later we had some other petunias acting the same way.  When Robyn went to get rid of them she found tunnels under them.  That was when I got the command from headquarters to get rid of the vole (very similar to the bat signal). 

Instead of using deadly force we used Molex which will deter them out of the beds.  I spread the Molemax by hand because I have such a small area and I don't want to throw it into the pond.  This stuff really stinks and it says not to get it on your hands so wear gloves.  The last thing that I did was water it in lightly.  That was pretty easy, the only bad thing is that it's like I'm doing battle with the invisible man, I still haven't seen him, very frustrating.  I hope he gets his eviction notice. 

Something Shady Is Going On!

We have a bed that is almost all shade and it looks so good I  need to talk about it. It is our only flower bed that is mostly perennials, although she does put a couple of annuals in this bed they are not needed.  The front of the bed is coral bells,spiderwort and astrantia, then it moves up to the anemone and artemisia (guizhou group).  

Those of you that are thinking that there is nothing for your shade bed nothing could be further from the truth.  My favorite two are the large ones that anchor the bed.  The artemisia is a 3' plant that blooms mid summer to the fall, it  is covered in little white flowers that remind me of  fireworks.  The anemones are 2-3' tall and bloom in the fall, they come in different colors, ours  are  pretty pink flowers with yellow centers.   When the anemones start blooming you know fall is just around the corner.   These plants are covered in flowers, and are a wonderful addition to any shady area.   

The Good The Bad And The Ugly

Okay time to see how things panned out for some of my projects.  I have been eating a lot of early girl tomatoes and I can say that with confidence because I zip tied a tag to the tomato cage. I will definitely plant more next year.   

I also for the first time picked and ate a black tomato.  Wow!  They look a little crazy because they do look a little black, burgundy in color. Eating it I felt a little like that guy that eats all kinds of bizare food from all around the world.  Okay, so it's not so extreme, but come on, for me that is like a cow hoof.  The black tomatoes are a must for next year, the tomatoes are huge and the taste is even better than the early girl. I'm still waiting for the brandywine tomatoes to turn red.  It was worth putting the tomatoes in walls of water and starting may 5th (I know that because of the tags).  I think next year I'm going to start sooner.    

The strawberries in the hanging pot worked out really well.  I even got strawberries.  They did not trail off the edge but they were really close. I'm going to try to keep them alive through the winter so that next year they will definitely trail.  I did have to add a hook and I will probably add another hook because they were a little to high.  It was kind of hard to see if the fruit was ripe or not. 

 My pond has never been so easy to maintain.  I  barely had to do anything to it this season.  Those barely flakes I put in I think had a lot to do with it.  I did have to change them out once.  Now this isn't Mr. Wizard"s World so it's not so scientific.  I think there were other conditions that helped, my water plants are well established, the fish are more active, I have a little more shade in the afternoon. Either way I love not having to pull out string algae. 

  In Closing 

I'm caught up on a lot of things and now that we aren't so busy I will be adding a lot of stuff to the website.  This includes garden photos which people are starting to send in, so if you have any photos send them into me. They are pretty cool.  I will also be adding items and redoing the way that you look them up.  I'm really excited about having time to really update our webpage.  Next season this is going to be a great tool for you.  I will be writing the newsletter so I will see you in two weeks.   I can't wait to see where the garden leads me next week.  As Always Life Is Better In The Garden. 

Art