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burunx

Complete newbie here need info on morning glor&veges

burunx
14 years ago

Hello,

I live in St. Paul (55102) and have a sunny small yard. When I moved in last July there were morning glories growing. In the fall I picked some of the seeds off and put them away; now what? Should I put them in the ground or start them inside...and when can they go outside? Also, should I have left all the dried vines and seeds on the fence to drop on their own?

Second question: I have a HORRIBLE yard...it is filled with very little dirt and mostly GRAVEL; the person who lived here before wanted to park his car in the yard so he put in gravel that is about 1/2 inch in diameter or so. I would love to plant some vegies but what do I do??? I have 2 raised boxes (70x30inches). Can I put soil in them and plant or should I dig up all the gravel and put soil down? How do I know what kind of soil to use?

Sorry for all the questions but like I said I am 100% new to planting outside as this is the first time I have ever had a yard. Is there a good website where I can go to find lots of general info?

Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!!

Comments (3)

  • mnwsgal
    14 years ago

    Depending on the type of morning glory that you had you may have volunteer plants growing from the seed that fell on the ground. I clean up the old vines and seeds in the fall to prevent lots of self seeding. Morning glories can be direct sown in the ground in early to mid-May or you can start them indoors now to be planted out after the last frost (Mid May for MN though many wait until the end of May).

    I grow vegetables in raised beds as well as in the ground. How deep are your raised boxes? If I remember right Mel Bartholomew suggests 6" of good soil works well for square foot gardening. You can search "raised beds" to find more info. Go to the bottom of the discussion page and find the search box then put raised beds in the box and hit go.

  • kaptainkr
    14 years ago

    I don't have any insight for you re: morning glories but for the raised beds I would suggest you check out the "square foot gardening" forum and FAQ. Basically, it's a form of intensive, raised bed gardening where you create growing medium out of vermiculite, compost and peat moss. You then devote a certain amount of space in the bed, depending on the plant. There is also a book that's quite popular. Some people follow the method exactly, while others use it as a guide. Personally, I follow it closely, except for growing tomatoes. I started doing this last year and have been happy with the results.

    Here is a link that might be useful: Square foot gardening forum

  • duluthinbloomz4
    14 years ago

    Gravel is always somebody's "good idea" that turns into someone else's nightmare.

    How big a gravel area do you have? Is it an area you want to reclaim and plant something (even grass) in? I don't do vegetable gardening, but would probably leave that to the raised boxes, at least for now, if I did since gravel would be pretty tough on them. And burying gravel under a load of top soil or amendments will only find them resurfacing with the typical Minnesota frost and heave cycles. I still get surfacing glacial rock from the last Ice Age - and I just use my wheelbarrow and compost screener to sift them out.

    Can you rake, dig, sift or otherwise remove the bulk of the gravel? If not, some things aren't bothered by it - shrubs, many perennials, etc. - if you dig holes, pushing the gravel aside and plant in the dirt below. That might not be satisfactory if it doesn't create the look you want.

    Even up here I get morning glory volunteers, so chances are good you'll find some too. I have direct sowed after the safe date of Memorial Day (probably a little earlier in the Cities) - nicked the seed coats and soaked them in water for a few hours or overnight to speed up germination.

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