Throwing in the towel for this year

15 years ago

Due to a lot of error on my part, I think this year will be spent prepping for next year's garden. I'll nurture what I have but gardening won't be the joy it was last year. :(

Error #1 Contamination

We added dirt from a garden bed that had very little weeds into my raised veggie beds to fill in where soil got a little low. The veggie bed was all triple mix. Now, I have weeds growing abundantly in my veggie bed.

Error #2 Garden Help

In the fall, we got a new puppy. While we were able to cure our other dog of digging in my veggie beds, our newest dog finds all these secret ways into my fenced off veggie beds and has either "helped" me dig or has chewed my seedlings to the ground, in an effort to help me pinch back, I'm sure.

Error #3 Transplant Shock

We transplanted plants to a new bed to make room for a fountain. NONE of those plants survived, despite every precaution and nurturing I lavished on them.

Error #4 At least this isn't my fault

I'm assuming the erratic weather is to blame here, but all of my peony buds look burnt to a crisp.

All is not lost, however. My artichokes are looking plumper than ever, our horseradish looks like a force to be reckoned with and our black elderberry seems fuller. If anyone knows of how I can bomb the weeds in my veggie beds or if my peonies can be saved this year, I would appreciate the advice.

Thank you for letting me mope and whine.

m

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Comments (4)

themayocynic
Original Author
15 years ago
Okay, since tonight was absolutely perfect weather, I put on my big girl pants and weeded the entire veggie beds and most of the front yard. I plan on using gardening velcro to close up any access the puppy may have to the veggies and am going to pick up new seedlings that were chewed down.

My wonderful husband met me at the nursery after work to pick out some new shrubs to cheer me up, so I'll be planting those this weekend. I can't do anything about the peonies but at least I've salvaged my veggie beds. Sorry for the pouting post, but I'm just starting to get my garden going at this house and it felt like a big setback.

While it may not be a lush garden yet (I'm going for a cottage style) it's at least clean(er) and that's better than nothing. I'll just enjoy an easier-to-maintain garden this year before the back-breaking work happens next year.
ljrmiller
15 years ago
Your peonies will most likely recover just fine this year. If this was the first year they produced flower buds, it's all the more to be expected. I seem to end up with as many as three years of blasted buds before a peony finally blooms. That isn't always the case, but it happens often enough, especially with inexpensive bare-root or potted peonies from the box stores.

I just lost a hardy orchid in my pond because our new kitten was chasing birds, and knocked pots and, I suspect, himself into the pond in the process. It was a new plant, fairly small, but doing well until the kitten had his "adventure". WHY don't they make kitten chow with tranquilizers?

But eh--at least I know that variety of orchid (Epipactis gigantea) tolerates the alkaline water here. I'll try it again when Thomas T. Monsterkitten gets a little older and a lot calmer.

And cottage-style gardens ARE possible here, especially if you plant them in dappled shade/part sun rather than full sun. If you want a cottage-style garden in a full sun area, think xeric. It ends up looking a bit more abandoned-gold-country-homestead than english cottage, but it has the same loose feel.

Lisa
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themayocynic
Original Author
15 years ago
Thanks for the response, Lisa! Do you know if I should prune the really bad buds off and just let them go and let the plant do what it does?

Hahahaha, good luck with Thomas T. Monsterkitten :)
ljrmiller
15 years ago
themayocynic: you can prune the buds off or not as you please. It doesn't make any difference.

Lisa