garden planning

A New Garden Plot

~ McArtor ~ 1 Comment

This fall we transformed a 12 foot by 20 foot soil patch in the backyard of our townhouse into a new garden plot.  Most of the day, one side of the plot is in shade and the other is in sunlight. We wanted a natural and clean looking flower and kitchen garden, but did not know where to begin so we consulted a landscape designer from Sun Nurseries. She inspired us to make these changes…stone path, drainage system, new plants and two raised beds.   My husband built two beautiful cedar structures to contain our kitchen garden. What a great milestone birthday present!

new plot

My husband is putting a wire mesh on bottom of one raised bed. This will prevent moles and other ground digging critters from tunneling through our kitchen gardens. There is a lot of work to do, but we persevere with thoughts of watching our new garden come to life in Spring.

Garden Additions –
Plants:
Schip Cherry Laurel
Autumn Fern
Japanese Painted Fern
Astilbe Sprite (Pink)
Bleeding Heart
Brass Buttons (ground cover)

Bulbs:
Chionodoxa Blue Giant (Glory of the Snow)
Tulips (Lilac Wonder)

In another spot about 15 feet away from the flower and kitchen garden we planted two new trees:
Eastern Redbud
Semi-Dwarf Peach

Our Garden Plot Dreams for 2011

~ McArtor ~ 2 Comments

My son's garden dreams include bugs and three suns (can you see them at the top right?)
Who says you can't dream big?
My husband, my son and I share our garden dreams before we start planning and ordering seeds for the new growing season. Every year our son dreams of growing tall gigantic sunflowers. This year he also wants cucumbers, tomatoes, bugs and more visits to the goats and the snowball stand near our community garden at the Howard County Conservancy.

My husband dreams of installing a drip system so we can work in the garden (and visit the goats and snowball stand) while the plants are being watered. He also wants to combine the garden beds, reduce the walking paths and cover more plants with row covers so the plot has intensive plantings thus more produce and less bug damage.

I dream of a longer growing season so I can cook from our garden harvest all year. I want to plant new types of veggies and make a cold frame. For additional crops in early summer and late fall I would like to try planting leeks, shallots and peas and Asian greens, broccoli and kohlrabi along with our regular crops of tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, zucchini, sweet potatoes, white potatoes, carrots, beans, spinach, turnips, greens and herbs. But, my biggest garden dream for 2011 is that our family has fun together with each other and other gardener friends in our community garden.

What are some of your garden dreams for 2011?