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THE STATE OF THE GARDEN (AKA WHAT’S HAPPENING)

June 24, 2014

There are so many things happening in the garden at this time of year. Sometimes I feel like I mention something and then completely forget to give you an update on it. So today I’m tying up a few loose ends.

GARDEN CLEANUP
A couple weeks ago I mentioned my new strategy for getting the garden in shape: Take one garden area at a time and finish it completely before moving on to the next. It should come as no surprise that I grossly underestimated how long this would take, but I’m happy with the progress I’ve made.

Chive hedge: The Impatient Gardener

I spent most of one day working on the circle garden which is now looking pretty good. The chive hedge I planted last year has just started blooming and I absolutely love it. So much, that I’ve decided to continue it around the entire perimeter of that segment of the circle garden. I need a few more chives to surround it (I’m hoping to take a few off my mom’s hands or else it will have to wait until I can divide what is there), and eventually I would like hedge the other two segments of that garden.

There are a lot of bare spots in this garden (actually, all of my gardens, which is something I’m discovering as I free them from weeds), so filled them in with 75 kale seedlings. I planted Redbor kale seedlings in one segment and Lacinato in the other two. If they grow well, and I hope they do, I think it will be a really interesting look to the garden. Maybe by the end of summer I’ll be able to call the circle garden (which is very much an oval) the kale garden.

Vetch weeds: The Impatient Gardener
See the vetch trying to eat that hosta? Edited: Upon further review, I don’t think this actually is vetch. If you know what it is, let me know! I also see a maple seedling there and some jewelweed off to the right. So much weeding, so little time.

We’ve had a very wet and cool spring and the amount of weeds is astonishingly. Some kind of vetch (see note in caption) seems to have taken over the garden and I’m literally pulling it out by the handful.

POTATO TOWERS

Potato towers: The Impatient Gardener

The potato towers are finally starting to show some signs of life. As you can see, there are plenty of shoots popping out and up. I’ve been “hilling up” the compost on the top of towers as the shoots grow. Other than that, I’ve done very little with the towers since I planted them. I have occasionally taken the hose and made an attempt to water the entire thing, but that’s about it. I’m starting to lose hope that the entire tower will be covered in green leaves, but there is a long summer of growing to go yet so we’ll see.

COMPOST BIN

Although I still need to transfer in the unfinished compost from the previous location, I’ve started layering future compost. On top is nepeta trimmings and under it is shredded paper I picked up from work. Above, you can see the new location of the compost bin. I didn’t meant to tuck it in so close to that tree, but I had already dug the trench for it and I didn’t feel like redigging it, so that’s where it’s standing. I’ll just trim the tree around it.

I successfully moved the compost bin and ended up going with the sunnier location by the vegetable gardens. I actually tucked it a little more under the tree than I intended to, but once I dug out the trench to level it, I wasn’t going to dig it again, so that’s where it ended up. There was some lovely finished compost lurking at the bottom of the bin that I’ve been happily using. I’m throwing all the unfinished bits back in and starting to make some new layers as well. Because its the time of year for lots of greens (plant trimmings and kitchen waste; I never put in weeds), I got a supply of newsprint trimmings from work to serve as “browns” in the pile until some fallen leaves are available in autumn.

TOMATO STAKING

A few brave tomatoes have made an appearance but I don’t see them ripening any time soon.

It has not been very summerlike here so the tomatoes have done very little growing, but so far my new method of staking is working out pretty well. One of the jute strings broke off at ground level. I’m hoping this does not happen to the rest. I had some excess at the top so I lowered that and tucked the bottom back into the soil as firmly as I could.

GARAGE

The “before” shot of the garage taken last fall. Check out that mossy roof!

Hallelujah, I found someone to paint the garage and with luck it will be finished by the end of the week. With all the work there is to do in the garden as well as a very busy sailing schedule (pretty much every weekend from now through August), I knew I wouldn’t have time to do all that scraping and painting and I didn’t want to look at an unfinished garage all summer.

I ended up choosing Ozark Shadows for the siding color (the top right in these photos), which was a favorite of many people. The trim will be Simply White, which is the same color as on the deck.

RAIN BARREL

Rain barrel : The Impatient Gardener

The rain barrel we put on the corner of the garage is already proving its value, even if I think it’s pretty ugly. The garden by the garage is right on the edge of reach of both hoses, so it has been very nice to be able to water that area from it. There’s not enough pressure in the hose to actually spray water, but it works great to just set by the base of new plants and give them a good soaking.

NEW BACK/SIDE GARDEN
It’s finished. Well as finished as any first-year garden ever is. I keep waiting for a nice day to take some photos, and that never seems to happen. I’ll show you soon and hope that the deer don’t eat it in the meantime (they’ve already munched my Sweet Summer Love clematis to the ground).

That’s what’s been happening here. What’s up in your garden?

chive hedge compost bin garage potato tower tomatoes
by Erin @ The Impatient Gardener 
9 Comments

About Erin @ The Impatient Gardener

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Comments

  1. Garden Fancy says: June 24, 2014 at 4:25 pm

    Little by little we get our projects done… Your chive hedge is very nice, and I'm sure your garage will look good when it's all painted. Looking forward to photos of the other garden areas, especially the new ones you posted about designing back in March. Thanks for the update! -Beth

    Reply
  2. Ms. Wis./Each Little World says: June 24, 2014 at 9:41 pm

    Chive hedge is terrific! My garden feels out of control with the weeds and the bare spots from dead trees etc. From a distance it looks good. I have that unknown weed in your photo and I hate it.

    Reply
    • Erin Schanen says: June 26, 2014 at 2:28 am

      Any ideas what it is? Not that it matters, in the long run, but gosh it is persistant.

      Reply
  3. Heather - New House New Home says: June 25, 2014 at 11:41 am

    it's a never ending process this thing we call gardening. I use the same method for clearing weeds – one bed at a time. The only problem with that is that by the time I finish them all, it's time to start again. This year, grass seedlings seem to be the bane of my existence especially in the veggie garden.
    Love the chive hedge!

    Reply
    • Erin Schanen says: June 26, 2014 at 2:29 am

      Oh grass seedlings are the worst!

      Reply
  4. Casa Mariposa says: June 25, 2014 at 11:58 pm

    Great progress!! I think the chive hedge and potato towers are fabulous. :o) But I think the plant eating the hosta is a weed.

    Reply
    • Erin Schanen says: June 26, 2014 at 2:30 am

      Oh the plant eating the hosta (and the rest of the garden) is most definitely a weed. I have filled multiple wheelbarrows with it! I have to figure out what it is, but it seems that it is destined to be a fact of life for me. It is so prevalent that I almost wonder if I introduced it to the garden in a load of purchased compost or mulch.

      Reply
  5. Anonymous says: July 7, 2014 at 6:47 pm

    Hi there, up here in Canada we call that weed chickweed – or maybe it's just in my garden that it's called that… I just had a quick google of the name and that seems to be it – does it have tiny white flowers?
    Caroline, Calgary

    Reply
    • Erin Schanen says: July 8, 2014 at 2:59 am

      Thank you so much Caroline, I think that's what it is! Helpful to know the enemy!

      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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