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Garden, Plants

A CHIVE CONVENTION

October 4, 2016

I didn’t have much time to work in the yard last weekend, which is sad indeed. It has been raining here for days and days and there were other projects that took precedence (which you’re about to hear about).

The few hours that I did have for garden time were dedicated to working on the oval circle garden update. Mr. Much More Patient and I spend almost two hours laying out the whole plan. Since it’s meant to be symmetrical, being precise was important. But precision in an oval is difficult, especially when the original oval wasn’t perfectly precise.

You can see the layout for one of the paths marked by yellow paint. It continues across the center of the garden. 

We spent hours with a tape measure, stake and landscape marking paint drawing lines and dots, to the point where we forget which dot was which. (Not to self, always have at least two colors of landscape paint for these projects).

We got it all laid out and later I came back to start moving things around. The first step was heeling in all the chives from the areas that will be changed. For the most part, the outer rim of chives can stay where it is, but those along the paths had to be moved. Since I knew where the new paths are going to be, I forked over a segment between them, doing my best to root out any weeds and then just heeled in chives from other areas. The soil in that segment of the garden, which was originally used for tomatoes, is so lovely to work in, it really wasn’t difficult to do. Then I started popping out the cobblestones on the inner ring of each segment.

Chives moved and new paths marked. Good thing we also marked the grass or the lines would have been lost when I dug out the chives.

I’ll be widening the paths from the existing 16 inches to a much more realistic 24 inches, so there’s a fair amount of moving to be done.

As I took out some cobblestones I came across the dreaded landscape fabric. Yep, I put that nasty stuff down under the pea gravel paths and that was all well and good until weeds started growing in the paths a few years later. I’m wondering now if that fabric will make pulling up the pea gravel easier or more aggravating. I’ll find out soon enough.

A funny little garden full of tufts of chives.

Still lots of cobblestones to move and then that nasty pea gravel to deal with. As usual this project is progressing a snail’s pace, but there’s nothing to be done but keep on plugging away.

chive hedge circle garden garden design oval
by Erin @ The Impatient Gardener 
5 Comments

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Comments

  1. Ms. Wis./Each Little World says: October 5, 2016 at 3:01 am

    Can you work the gravel into the soil for drainage or do you want to reuse it?

    Reply
    • Erin Schanen says: October 5, 2016 at 3:53 am

      I certainly could. I never really thought about it. What do you think?

      Reply
  2. Lisa Greenbow says: October 5, 2016 at 12:21 pm

    Do you have trouble with the chives spreading out all over? I like the look of the chives but I have heard that they pop up everywhere.

    Reply
  3. Diane Amick says: October 5, 2016 at 1:16 pm

    Oh the dreaded landscape fabric…..previous owners had it everywhere and however many years later we had to use the big tractor to drag it out from under inches of soil and weeds on top. What a mess. I swore never again…..but now wish it was under stone walks around the raised veggie beds.

    Reply
  4. Nikki G says: October 5, 2016 at 3:39 pm

    I found the landscape fabric to be more of a pain that it was worth also! I thought it was the perfect solution when I first bought my house, and it was great the first year. My pea gravel paths were beautiful. But then like you said, the weeds began to grow on top of the fabric. I just don't use it any more.
    I am really interested to see what your plans are for this chive convention!
    🙂 gwingal

    Reply

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The Impatient Gardener

Do you love gardening? Me too! I'm Erin and I garden in Southeastern Wisconsin, zone 5. The Impatient Gardener is all about real-life gardening: the good parts, the bad bits and even the funny stuff. It's part information, part inspiration and a little bit commiseration. Thanks for visiting.

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E R I N 🌿 The Impatient Gardener
I had a rather unpleasant realization last night w I had a rather unpleasant realization last night when I remembered that I’d not yet ordered tomato seeds. And I’m not going to rectify that until I dig into my seed stash, because I don’t go through tomato seeds quickly so there are definitely some lurking down there. 

I never used to grow tomatoes from seed because there are great varieties to be had in garden centers (including many heirloom varieties). But it’s almost non-negotiable for me now that I’m a convert to dwarf tomatoes. If you’re not familiar with the #dwarftomatoproject championed by @nctomatoman and others, these are heirloom varieties that are crossed with dwarf varieties to create plant that produces all the flavor and interest of an heirloom in a short (usually less than 4 feet) plant. 

They are particularly great in my tall raised beds. Of course I leave room to try new non-dwarf varieties every year (I loved Sun Dipper from @panamseed last year and I’ll grow it again).

Last year was a good tomato year and the photo shows some of the varieties I harvested in one day. I hope this summer will be equally good for the tomato harvest. 

One of my favorite questions to ask gardeners is: What is your favorite tomato variety to grow? So have at it in the comments because inquiring minds want to know!
And this is why I leave my winter containers assem And this is why I leave my winter containers assembled until at least March. A dusting of snow gives them a whole new look (even if it’s shades of gray). Also, I think I love my Limelight hydrangea even more in winter. Fabulous winter interest!
I’m going to look for opportunities to add more I’m going to look for opportunities to add more ferns to my garden this year. They are such interesting plants and often real problem solvers, bringing texture and color to places that many plants aren’t interested in. Athyrium niponicum (Japanese painted fern) ‘Crested Surf’ grows well for me in part shade (even pushing a bit into part sun) and looks great next to Persicaria ‘Golden Arrow’.
Birds chirping, glorious fresh (i.e. not nibbled o Birds chirping, glorious fresh (i.e. not nibbled on) foliage, and texture galore. I can’t wait to have moments like this again. The star, by the way is Hakonechloa ‘All Gold’ which looks so good with the bold foliage of Ligularia dentata ‘Desdemona’ next to it. 

With the new path, this area will be getting a small revamp. It’s the next spot I’ll be focusing my planning on.
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