A New Home-New Garden

19 years ago

I left my last home after putting 10 years of hard work into virgin land on the end of the woods and creating a beautiful flower garden. I knew nothing about gardening having moved from NYC but found my passion(unfortunately also blew a disc which required emergency neuro-surgery). I want to continue to enjoy my passion but want to be smart about how I go about it. I already am concerned about the soil conditions I am working with. I am about 30ft from a large pond. There are ponds all over here. Seems drainage is a problem. The soil is wet clay consistancy. The prior owner (home is only 4yrs old) planted a few plants on top of the clay and mulched like crazy. I have a 3ft x 15ft piece of planting area in the back on my patio. I get morning sun. In the front I have a piece about 5x6 lots of sun and a piece 2ft x 15ft good amount of sun. The last piece also gets alot of run off from the house when it rains. Also is mulched alot and up to the foundation of the house. I am planning on doing several inches of stone inbetween foundation and dirt/clay. I was planning to ammend the soil by adding bags of compost/peat and some good garden soil specific in the hole of the plant I was planting. I spent 2 hours removing all of the mulch from the bed on the patio. Now I am questioning if this is the correct thing to do...or should I be doing something else? The builder filled the ground all over--under lawn--with what looks like tons of gravel mixed with a bit of dirt. Did he know something I don't? My inclination is to remove stones from my planting beds. I am not so sure now. I am also wondering if I should add all peat moss since it is drier? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I am going to fumigate myself as I felt something on my neck while composing---and removed a tick---why can you NOT squash those things!! I ran my nail through it (under paper) and I just looked and it's legs are still moving!! Better wash the dog too and put her flea & tick guard on..The Pros and cons of Spring!!

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Comments (5)

orcuttnyc
19 years ago
I'm in lower orange. Your situation sounds like mine. Four year old house, rocky soil. Lost most of the topsoil with the flood/rains a few weeks ago. Frontline on the dogs religiously.
There is a place called Alders, 845-651-4177, they have great delivery prices on mulch and compost.
Good luck...
oldroser
18 years ago
If drainage is that bad, you're better off with raised beds. They don't have to be raised much - just the depth of a landscape timber or a 6-8: stone edging. If you remove rocks, more will 'come up.' That is, the soil washes down into the next layer of rocks and you will be growing more rocks than plants. The trick is to bury them - with compost, top soil, mulch, whatever.
I wrap the tick in a twist of paper towel or kleenex and light a match to it. You can't squash them and flushing them down the drain is not supposed to kill them either, But they haven't found a way to survive incineration. And yes, Frontline on the dog but unfortunately it can't be used on humans.
Use Deet when working outside, wear light-colored clothing and pitch everything in the washing machine when you come in. So far this year I've found 5 ticks on me - none on the dog! If you get them off within 24 hours, you won't get Lyme disease as it takes that long for them to transmit it.
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barb4serenity
18 years ago
Thanks for the feedback. I am going to ammend the soil just a little but will really focus on just raising the bed with about 6-8 inches of good soil. That IS when I have the courage to return to the great outdoors. Why should something I love to do be detrimental to me?? I ended up in the ER SUN w/severe allergic reaction to several bug bites (possible spider & mosquito or tick & mosquito). I was kind of just kidding about the tick in the first post--I was able to ID it (adult male)..I underestimated my concrete patio/adjacent to lawn & a distance from the woods. Now I have been on steroids, antibiotics & anti-histimines. 5 days later my arm is almost back to normal size & I am breathing pretty well!

Thnx again! Barb.
tomgrower
18 years ago
Barb, welcome to Orange County. Hope your feeling better. WATCH the TICKS. No kidding about those buggers. If you are outside you need to do a tick check daily. Just the way it is in Orange County until someone finds a way to remove this unbelievable population of deer. Try Straubs in Florida, NY (Rt.94) for all types of topsil and mulch. He has a large selection of material for delivery. I'll get the # and repost. Don't forget a 7' fence too to keep the critters out. A must or your hard work will be ruined in one eating.
orcuttnyc
18 years ago
Home Depot sells deer netting for $50 for two hundred yards. I've been stapling it to trees around my border. It's only a deterent not an answer.Still..it's cheaper than real fencing.
As for ticks?..If your there full time and have some property and the inclination...look into getting a couple of Guinea Fowl. Best tick reducer around...if you can put up with feeding, housing them and their noise. Or...put up lots of bird feeders, ground and posted. Attracting birds to your yard can only help with getting rid of ticks.
Deet on the clothing helps as well. Also, all of those ponds have bred mozzies by now.
Nothing stops me from gardening tho. I love it.
On a brighter side, the Bellvale Homemade Ice Cream shop has re-opened for the season on top of the mountain off 17A! Nothing like working hard in the garden all day and then treating yourself to a cone while watching the sun set over Warwick Valley!