GreenTassels, You could try to big into the soil, Pine needles conifure type leaves. Into the soil where you plant the Heather. As they are acidic. very little grows under pines. and you will be adding humas at the same time. very slow rotting agreed but at the same time do leach slowly.
I know we struggled for two years to do it all by hand.. and didnt get as much done as in two days with one of these. We were lucky and managed to borrow one of a neighbor..
As I already posted, the soil here is dark brown, almost black, and really fertile. Stuff grows like crazy, mostly of course stuff you don't want. Last year my thistles were like a forest, impossible to walk through them, 6 or 7 feet tall and the thorns really sharp and painful. This year I'm trying to dig them out with a pickaxe but it's a mammoth task as I have a lot of land - over an acre.
I had planted some Heather here, and they withered and some died.. I was told they love very acidic ,moist soil,..- oh well.
(I used to live in Wiltshire, in Limpley Stoke on the edge of Bath. I know Salisbury quite well because we used to go see the crop circles or Stone Henge of course..)
my ground is also very heavy as are the allotments at the end of the village but the heathers i planted last year look as if they have grown quite well and at the time i was told they would only be a succses in light sand this evening i have planted some flower seeds called stocks aparently these are highly scented along with a lavender plant time will tell ossietoo
We are all living in very different parts of the world, (not that this matters, sometimes just short distances apart the soil can be very different) and I have been thinking about what conditions we find in our gardens..
Mine here in Switzerland is a greyish brown very heavy clay, but mineral rich and not too sticky.. Very good for a lot of things, but flowers want much adding fibre and hummus, and some veggies want sand..
Just wanted to add that I hate bamboo and love flowers and fruit trees. I have at least one quince tree on my land, and one medlar, and I've just found out through googling that that's what the latter is. I entered medlar in Google images and was immediately staring at this, which I have visible from my kitchen window. All the fruits have withered on the tree because I had no idea what it was. I'll know better this autumn/winter.
Hi GT, bamboo, a nightmare! I once cleared a small patch from the garden of a house I rented in Germany. The previous tenant had created a bamboo garden with a dinky little pond from the garden centre, and she had built a little wooden bridge over the pond. The roots of the bamboo were like you describe. Took me ages to get rid of it! I also have a weed that has interconnected root systems which I attack any time I'm feeling particularly frustrated, which for a while was very often, the first 2 summers I was here. I go at it with a pickaxe and a sharp spade. The problem is that if even a small piece of root survives, it will keep growing. So that's a work in progress.
Great post. I may try your ploy with the plastic sheeting. My soil is dark and very fertile and the weeds just shoot up. It's unreal, as if I were growing them as a crop. A friend who was keen to start gardening has already given up as the weeds swamped her plants within days. She would do days of weeding then after a light shower guess what, yep full of weeds again! Vegetables are cheap and plentiful at the market anyway though nothing exotic, just tomatoes cucumbers parsley peppers potatoes cabbage and that's about it.
I know a little about 'clearing a jungle'.. I lived in Japan for a while, ad we had a little house in the prairie, ahem,.. rice paddys there. but it was long abandoned farm land, and some bamboo had taken hold of it.. we started digging by hand,.. and dug... and dug.. but realised that the roots, all interconnected stringy branches of 3-4cm/almost an inch thickness, we needed to get a machine..
so we hired a little back-hoe digger thingy, and it was great fun learning how to use all these levers and rotations.. great mental exercise.. It still took more than a week for a really small piece of land..
but in the end we could make a nice little lawn on top. phew..
mmm peaches and nectarines..I would love to be able to grow that in my garden!
First let me say what a GREAT idea I think this is - having groups where there's a shared interest. I've just found this and joined immediately. I post pictures on picasaweb and I'm going to search for a few pics on my computer that will document the progress I've been making in clearing my land over the past two and a quarter years, and make a separate folder on picasaweb. Something I've been meaning to do for some time anyway. I bought this abandoned house and the land was like a jungle, and my priorities were such that gardening was way down the list. So it's only now that I've begun to make a tentative start. Apart from the fact that I planted 2 peach or nectarines the first spring I was here (I had bought 2 of each and 2 didn't survive so not sure what I've got but my neighbour thinks it's the peaches that survived). The labels are long gone so it's a question of waiting to find out.
Me too I'm a novice when it comes to flowers! I have just started a new flower bed, as where there was one when I moved in I want to have a wooden deck now, so I can catch that evening sun.. Flowers sure are dfferent from veggie growing! I am having to learn a lot, and I find it more complicated than veg,- but I guess its just what I'm used to.
A group is only as great as its members! Welcome and enjoy!
hello my name is ossietoo this is my first time on site and would like to take the time to thank the other members and the person who is responsible for the group as i have a small flower garden myself which i enjoy mainly i grow shrubs but this year i had some succses with tulips i hope other members will read this and perhaps help me in the future as i would help them kind regards ossietoo
I tried to pick up some seeds here in Switzerland, but I think they dont sell them here yet.. And ordering them from abroad is probably too late now, especially as I dont own a credit card. -Shame. It looks like a great plant for a home veggie garden.
I found this site online and find it's just a wealth of information for all gardening, houseplants etc.. and also has lovely pictures of user's gardens and so much more..
Just got done planting 200# of potato seed, Burbank, Irish Cobbler, Red Pontiac, Kennebec and Yukon Gold. Next up is onions, Walla Walla, Spanish red and white, First Edition, Red Mars, scallions, leeks and chives. Tomatos started, Brandywine, Celebrity, Champion, Rutgers, Yellow Boy, German Pink, Juliet, Amish Paste and Tom Thumb. Peppers started, Bull Nose-large bell,Golden Nugget,Orange Bell,California Wonder,Jimmy Nardello-sweet. Lot left to do, will keep you up to date on what I am planting.
This is a great site for seasonal tips at least in England - will add more as we go along - its going to be quite interesting to work out the goegraphicals
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RE: What kind of soil do you have?
GreenTassels,You could try to big into the soil, Pine needles conifure type leaves. Into the soil where you plant the Heather.
As they are acidic. very little grows under pines.
and you will be adding humas at the same time. very slow rotting
agreed but at the same time do leach slowly.
RE: Project: Reclaiming That Jungle!
I have been thinking, reading about your giant thistles, maybe you also want to get one of these to get the job done well once and for all..I know we struggled for two years to do it all by hand.. and didnt get as much done as in two days with one of these.
We were lucky and managed to borrow one of a neighbor..
Just an idea..
What kind of soil do you have?
Hi Smoky!RE: What kind of soil do you have?
Hi there, fancy finding all you familiar people over here in your little gardening corner! Nice.I got quite nice soil. Just got to be very careful of not watering it with the tap water - too much Lime in it. Only rain water works here.
And we`re on an old glacier field, so the soil is FULL of round rocks that keep working their way up to the surface!
Anyway, nice to find this Group, and hope to read lots of interesting things here.
RE: What kind of soil do you have?
As I already posted, the soil here is dark brown, almost black, and really fertile. Stuff grows like crazy, mostly of course stuff you don't want. Last year my thistles were like a forest, impossible to walk through them, 6 or 7 feet tall and the thorns really sharp and painful. This year I'm trying to dig them out with a pickaxe but it's a mammoth task as I have a lot of land - over an acre.What kind of soil do you have?
I had planted some Heather here, and they withered and some died.. I was told they love very acidic ,moist soil,..- oh well.(I used to live in Wiltshire, in Limpley Stoke on the edge of Bath. I know Salisbury quite well because we used to go see the crop circles or Stone Henge of course..)
RE: What kind of soil do you have?
my ground is also very heavy as are the allotments at the end of the village but the heathers i planted last year look as if they have grown quite well and at the time i was told they would only be a succses in light sand this evening i have planted some flower seeds called stocks aparently these are highly scented along with a lavender plant time will tell ossietooWhat kind of soil do you have?
We are all living in very different parts of the world, (not that this matters, sometimes just short distances apart the soil can be very different) and I have been thinking about what conditions we find in our gardens..Mine here in Switzerland is a greyish brown very heavy clay, but mineral rich and not too sticky..
Very good for a lot of things, but flowers want much adding fibre and hummus, and some veggies want sand..
But all in all very easy..
How about yours?
RE: Project: Reclaiming That Jungle!
Wow!! What a fascinating read!!Lucky lucky you for having such a tree on your land. It must be a sign that the land has been left untouched for centuries..
Lots of nasty digging for you, but clearly full of ancient goodness!
Project: Reclaiming That Jungle!
Just wanted to add that I hate bamboo and love flowers and fruit trees.I have at least one quince tree on my land, and one medlar, and I've just found out through googling that that's what the latter is. I entered medlar in Google images and was immediately staring at this, which I have visible from my kitchen window. All the fruits have withered on the tree because I had no idea what it was. I'll know better this autumn/winter.
Project: Reclaiming That Jungle!
Hi GT, bamboo, a nightmare! I once cleared a small patch from the garden of a house I rented in Germany. The previous tenant had created a bamboo garden with a dinky little pond from the garden centre, and she had built a little wooden bridge over the pond. The roots of the bamboo were like you describe. Took me ages to get rid of it!I also have a weed that has interconnected root systems which I attack any time I'm feeling particularly frustrated, which for a while was very often, the first 2 summers I was here. I go at it with a pickaxe and a sharp spade. The problem is that if even a small piece of root survives, it will keep growing. So that's a work in progress.
RE: Hoping to grow good veggies this year
Sorry that was in reply to hedistuff.Great idea with the frozen tomatoes too.
RE: Hoping to grow good veggies this year
Great post. I may try your ploy with the plastic sheeting. My soil is dark and very fertile and the weeds just shoot up. It's unreal, as if I were growing them as a crop.A friend who was keen to start gardening has already given up as the weeds swamped her plants within days. She would do days of weeding then after a light shower guess what, yep full of weeds again! Vegetables are cheap and plentiful at the market anyway though nothing exotic, just tomatoes cucumbers parsley peppers potatoes cabbage and that's about it.
RE: Project: Reclaiming That Jungle!
Hi there shotwelcome here!
I know a little about 'clearing a jungle'.. I lived in Japan for a while, ad we had a little house in the prairie, ahem,.. rice paddys there.
but it was long abandoned farm land, and some bamboo had taken hold of it.. we started digging by hand,.. and dug... and dug.. but realised that the roots, all interconnected stringy branches of 3-4cm/almost an inch thickness, we needed to get a machine..
so we hired a little back-hoe digger thingy, and it was great fun learning how to use all these levers and rotations.. great mental exercise..
It still took more than a week for a really small piece of land..
but in the end we could make a nice little lawn on top. phew..
mmm peaches and nectarines..I would love to be able to grow that in my garden!
Project: Reclaiming That Jungle!
First let me say what a GREAT idea I think this is - having groups where there's a shared interest. I've just found this and joined immediately.I post pictures on picasaweb and I'm going to search for a few pics on my computer that will document the progress I've been making in clearing my land over the past two and a quarter years, and make a separate folder on picasaweb. Something I've been meaning to do for some time anyway.
I bought this abandoned house and the land was like a jungle, and my priorities were such that gardening was way down the list. So it's only now that I've begun to make a tentative start. Apart from the fact that I planted 2 peach or nectarines the first spring I was here (I had bought 2 of each and 2 didn't survive so not sure what I've got but my neighbour thinks it's the peaches that survived). The labels are long gone so it's a question of waiting to find out.
RE: gardening flowers
Hi ossietoo!Me too I'm a novice when it comes to flowers! I have just started a new flower bed, as where there was one when I moved in I want to have a wooden deck now, so I can catch that evening sun..
Flowers sure are dfferent from veggie growing! I am having to learn a lot, and I find it more complicated than veg,- but I guess its just what I'm used to.
A group is only as great as its members! Welcome and enjoy!
gardening flowers
hello my name is ossietoo this is my first time on site and would like to take the time to thank the other members and the person who is responsible for the group as i have a small flower garden myself which i enjoy mainly i grow shrubs but this year i had some succses with tulips i hope other members will read this and perhaps help me in the future as i would help them kind regards ossietooCrazy japanese corn?
Thanks taranoga.. I'll do that.I tried to pick up some seeds here in Switzerland, but I think they dont sell them here yet..
And ordering them from abroad is probably too late now, especially as I dont own a credit card.
-Shame. It looks like a great plant for a home veggie garden.
RE: favorit online resources
I found this site online and find it's just a wealth of information for all gardening, houseplants etc.. and also has lovely pictures of user's gardens and so much more..RE: Hoping to grow good veggies this year
Just got done planting 200# of potato seed, Burbank, Irish Cobbler, Red Pontiac, Kennebec and Yukon Gold.Next up is onions, Walla Walla, Spanish red and white, First Edition, Red Mars, scallions, leeks and chives.
Tomatos started, Brandywine, Celebrity, Champion, Rutgers, Yellow Boy, German Pink, Juliet, Amish Paste and Tom Thumb.
Peppers started, Bull Nose-large bell,Golden Nugget,Orange Bell,California Wonder,Jimmy Nardello-sweet.
Lot left to do, will keep you up to date on what I am planting.
RE: Crazy japanese corn?
Grow the corn the same way as any other corn you have. Just go to the regular seed savers siteCrazy japanese corn?
Isnt it amazing!?!RE: Crazy japanese corn?
That rice paddy art is really something!RE: favorit online resources
This is a great site for seasonal tips at least in England - will add more as we go along - its going to be quite interesting to work out the goegraphicals
favorit online resources
Post your favorit online gardeners resources here. Post a link and a little description what there is or why you like it! Thanks!!Some of mine are:
Huge sustainable agriculture info
Sweet, more personal "library Garden", also with long term planning in mind
Beginner Gardening.com, the name says it all
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