Early July Update

'What was Paradise? but a garden, full of pleasure, and nothing there but delights.'  -  William Lawson, 1617.

Not too much happening around the homestead. All the plants are busy soaking up sunlight and heat building up their energy to produce their goodies.

Deck Side Garden - too much grass in it

I on the other hand have been busy helping these same plants along by deadheading, feeding and pulling weeds. And grass! Two of my beds have grass growing right up through the plants, which is extremely frustrating because I can’t get them out by their roots without damaging the plants themselves. I’m sure a solution will come about, I’ll just have to bide my time and hope I recognize it when it does.

As I dig deeper into my ‘to do’ list in a desperate attempt to get anything on it done and crossed off, a laughable endeavor to say the least, I keep finding new things to add to it.

One item that is currently on the list that seems like it should be the most pressing task is to get the irrigation system in. But honestly, after getting my watering done sufficiently well by dragging a hose around for the last six years, even that task is not really pressing. It’ll get done eventually.

Another item that really must get done this year is to find the time to dig up all of the bulbs so they can be divided. It’s a bit embarrassing that this will be the first year I’ve done this. Everything I read says to do it every 2-3 years so after 5-6 years I rather imagine they really need it. I pulled up some Grape Hyacinth a week ago and I could not believe how many bulblets there were, many still attached to the Mom. Of course the other part of getting this task done is to find room after I dig them up. Which brings me to my next tast: making new beds.

Deck Side Garden - before and after expansion

The expansion for my Deck Side bed is finally finished, for now. It would be no surprise for me to want to expand it yet again sometime in the future. But right now there are no plans. After the expanded area sits over winter it should be ready for new plants. I’ve got a bunch of new plants from cuttings that need somewhere to go but they’ll have to wait for this area until Spring. Can I keep them alive that long? I’ll keep my fingers crossed.

birdhouse welcome

I finished the birdhouse-on-a-stick thingy and it needs to be put into one of the front yard beds.

There is another trellis to be built for the newly planted beans along the back fence. This should be fairly simple to build out of a pile of tree limbs I’ve been collecting.

An idea I’ve been kicking around for sometime is to make some solar powered light to spread around the yard and pathways. Really simple and cheap is the way to go here. My non-gardening partner and I have been discussing attaching rope lights around the deck too. A couple more things to add to my list.

A couple of ideas for what to put in the B1 expansion at the west gate is an old-fashioned Weigela or the lilac taking up space in one of the raised vegetable beds. I’ve tried the newer varieties of Weigela and have lost them all, so maybe the old-fashioned type will do better. Which ever one I decide to plant here, I’m sure I’ll change my mind before something finally goes in.

The Butterfly Bush is finally getting flower buds and the Hydrangea has bloomed. First time ever.

As this all of this wasn’t enough, tiny grasshoppers are beginning to show up so I need to be ready with some organic means of kicking them out should they start getting out of control.

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Boy, How time flies!

It has been awhile since I last posted. No, it isn’t that my interest in gardening has waivered. It’s just that life’s demands have forced my attention to be focused in other directions, and I will spare all of you the details.

Earlier in the year, our area was hit by frost that killed off my newly set-out tomato plants, not once but twice! This can be expected to happen and I should have known better, but not being able to focus 100% on the task at hand will often bite back hard. Predicting weather never has been an exact science, and the lesson learned is that I need to cover everything when temperatures have a chance of dipping below 40F. Hopefully, problem solved.

Anyway, I only planted tomatoes this year and dispensed with plans to grow anything else. This allowed me time to focus on my other, more pressing, non-gardening issues.

I planted the usual Juliet Grape tomato which has always proven to be a big performer and this year was no exception. The other tomato was a Roma I found at some box store. I’m a bit ashamed to admit I didn’t buy this from a garden center but there you have it. It was just crying out to be taken home so I did. While it didn’t produce a bounty of tomatoes, and they were only slightly larger than the Juliet grape tomatoes, I did manage to make sauce for several spaghetti meals.

Over the course of the summer the average high temperatures were in the 90’s and my lawn (and my neighbors lawn) conspired to retake territory that I took for flower beds, those being the ‘non-raised bed’ variety. So, over the next week, the chore of re-pulling all of this grass will be a priority.

Now on to new stuff. I have decided to try my hand at propagation. Since starting from scratch five years ago, I now have several shrubs and plants that have established themselves and so the time has come to attempt to make more. The task seems a bit daunting right now, being behind the learning curve, but I think it will be interesting to learn the various ways in which plants can be propagated. I’m not a total stranger to this, I have been rooting houseplants in water for years with a good bit of success. However, outdoor plants may need a slightly different approach such as, placing cuttings in soil (or soiless medium) to layering to dividing and more. Research will allow me to select which type is best according to which plant I want to multiply.

Some plants I have and want to reproduce are Forsythia, Spirea, Caryopteris, Bee Balm, Daylily, Phlox, sedum, mums, and Lamium.

One thing I find most thrilling and fascinating about plants is that every plant cell has the ability to duplicate all parts and functions of the plant. By taking a cutting of a leaf or stem and creating the right conditions, you can create an entirely new plant.

I bought rooting hormone, potting soil, perlite, and I already have loads of plant containers to re-use, so my new adventure will soon be under way. For the next 4-6 weeks I am going to diligently watch over my little charges and hopefully they will become new plants in the spitting image of their parents.

Stay tuned for updates.

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Autumn already?

It seems like just yesterday….

I don’t know why summers seem to go by so quickly these days. They say that as you grow older time does seem to fly by faster. I am beginning to see the truth to that statement.

Since the night time temperatures here at nearly one mile above sea level in the Utah valley are dipping into the 40’s the call to dig out my Fall work list is getting stronger. It seems I cannot put it off any longer.

I finally relented and planted a Geranium, at my wife’s insistence, this year. Don’t get me wrong, I like their foliage and flowers but they seem to get leggy, although this one didn’t, and they need to be dug up every year (this is the true reason I resisted planting one). So, now the time has come to add this chore to my list. Oh, I complain but it isn’t really that big of a deal. The first step is to cut back the plant so it will be easier to dig up. Wait a few weeks for it to recover from the trimming before putting into a container. I am going to also take some cuttings for new geranium starts. Over the winter they will be grown in bright light with cool temperatures. We have a food storage space in the basement that would be just about right for this as the garage would tend to get too cold. There is an excellent post at Ventnor Permaculture that addresses how to take cuttings.

Now is a great time for bargain shopping at nurseries. Which is great because early fall is also an excellent time to set out new perennials to fill in those empty spots that are a constant reminder of past failed plants. Also, dividing and re-planting spring-blooming perennials should be done now so they can get rooted before the ground freezes. Use a spading fork to lift plants and divide them.

I have several Chrysanthemum Alaska that will be divided next year. They have grown in size since planting last year but have not yet begun to die out in the center, which is how you can tell they need to be divided.





The next three plants will all keep their heads this year to both feed the birds and hopefully drop some seed onto the ground in order to start new plants.
Bee Balm Monarda Blue Stocking








Echinacea Magnus








Echinacea Bravado













The Black Eyed Susan (Rudbeckia Goldstrum) has already started some new plants and I will leave them untouched, also for the birds. The Goldfinch especially loves picking seeds right off of the heads.


Earlier this year, I dug some daffodils up to divide them and to move them to a different location. September is perfect doing this so they can establish roots while the soil is still warm. They need to be planted deep, with at least 7-8” of soil above the nose of the bulbs. Deep planting assures they will last and multiply for many years to come. Hopefully, the spot I put them in will be their final location, but who knows, plans are always open for change.

September is also a great time for planting "hardy" pansies for both their late-season color and to get an early start next spring. This is one annual that will actually survive winter to return early in spring. They will grow and bloom well into December. This photo, Delta Violet Face, is from spring 2008 which was planted in winter 2007.

Herbaceous and tree peonies can be planted now in full sun where the soil has been enriched with compost and sphagnum peat moss. Don't plant too deeply because that can cause failure to bloom. I haven’t grown Peonies yet but the neighborhood I live in have had success with them.

Cooler temperatures mean a sort of mini re-birth of the perennial garden. Plants that were stifled during the heat of summer are beginning to respond and grow with cooler conditions. Aster’s are known for their fall bloom and are usually tall 24” up to 48”. This Aster, Snowdrift, was supposed to grow to a height of only 6” and 24” wide and makes a great groundcover.
The first photo shows one which gets all day full sun, and is now 8” tall and has spread to 40” across, has been developing small white buds for several days now and some are beginning to open. This plant will soon be covered with bright white star-like flowers.

The second photo shows another one, in a different location, that is overshadowed by dozen or so Zinnia California Giant opened its blooms about a week ago.





As a side note, if you are experiencing problems with powdery mildew, now is a good time to get a handle on this fungus. You can control the spread and kill off a bunch of spores to lessen the problem next year by spraying a baking soda wash on the plants. Prepare a the wash by mixing 1 tablespoon baking soda and 1 tablespoon vegetable oil (canola oil or dish washing soap works too, it helps the mixture stick to the plants) into 1 gallon of water. Pour the mixture into a tank sprayer and apply to upper and lower surfaces of leaves. Doing so will inhibit the germination of the fungus spores.

This is just the beginning of Fall clean up, and if you take it one step at a time so you don’t overwhelm yourself at the last minute, it shouldn’t be viewed so much as a job as a preparation for next year. Remember, the garden is for your enjoyment so have fun.

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