I've had several Agaves in plastic nursery pots for over a year. Some of them were inherited, and some I bought.
Do you ever feel like you're trying to solve a giant sliding tile puzzle when working in the garden? You know those puzzles: there's only one tile space available and you need to move all of the others around utilizing that one space until the whole thing is solved.
You'd think that with at least 30 in-ground plantings of running bamboos that I'd be hesitant to plant more. You're wrong of course, and having 30+ already is not a deterrent. To be honest, once you plant the first running bamboo and properly maintain it every year to keep it from spreading, adding another isn't such a big deal. Then the next thing you know you have 10. Then 20. Then you stop counting.
Remember that first bamboo planter box I created for a friend's garden? Well, the plant that I gave him for that box is just not a "good one".
This weekend I was faced with a long list of freezing-temps-are-coming chores to tackle in the garden. Rather than my usual approach of thinking about each of them and figuring out which were highest priority, then figuring the amount of effort involved in each before making a decision on where to start, I just chose the one I was most excited about.
Two little projects today in which I needed a little more space. The first is this pathway:
Back in January I asked for some advice on what I should do about an Austrian pine whose roots had escaped the pot and gotten into the soil below. I was sure it had done this because it really put on a lot of growth last year, and from past experience I knew that meant that roots had escaped.
I tackled a fairly big project last weekend, one that should pay off for me in future years. It may even pay off early this summer.
Yesterday I asked about creating better drainage in clay soils, and I got quite a few suggestions (although I'm not yet certain what I'll do). Today I have another problem that I'd like some opinions on: transplanting.
If you read my blog regularly, you know that I build planter boxes for bamboo. In fact, I just built one a couple of weeks ago -- am I building another one already? Nope. This past weekend I removed the bamboo from one of these boxes.
If you've been reading my blog for a while, you'll know that I've grown cactus from seeds before. Twice. (If you haven't done this, give it a try, as those little prickly plants are adorable!) I had to give the first batch of cactus away as they weren't cold-hardy species.
The other day when my gardening friend Michael invited me over to see his bamboo, he had an ulterior motive: he wanted to give me some plants.
As I've noted before, this year I've been visiting the Schlafly Gardenworks -- a large (to me) urban garden just outside the St. Louis city limits in "historic" Maplewood. As the gardeners there are 95% focused on growing food, I thought I'd pick up some tips on getting my veggie garden producing this year. Three years of disappointing harvests motivated me, and I remade my veggie beds earlier this year, got the cool season plant seeds in the ground early, and things are looking pretty good.
Oh, not me -- we're not moving house. It's time to move one of the larger plants in my garden that has been bothering me for a few years: the Forsythia.
Last weekend I tackled another of my bamboo-related jobs, something that I've been debating and thinking about for a while. I finally stopped thinking and started gardening! So what was the job? Along my driveway I have six different bamboo species, most of them quite different visually from each other.
The last of the plants that were stored in my garage this winter are the Elephant Ears. Apparently not only will I never need to buy another one of these again in my life, but nobody I know will ever need to either. It seems there's no wrong way to store these and have them survive the winter -- as long as they don't freeze.
The hardest plant-related projects in my garden always involve grasses. Digging bamboo rhizomes (bamboo is in the grass family, did you know?). Removing turf grass when creating a new planting area. Removing or transplanting ornamental grasses. These are all hard work. About ten days ago I did one of these "little" projects, and I can't believe I almost forgot to post about it.
(That title only really works if you say it as if you're the Papa Bear from Goldilocks)
This morning I noticed some digging in one of my new banana plant pots. I assumed it was just raccoons so put the soil back into place and watered the plant. Raccoons have curious hands, and they often mess up the soil of potted plants, pull smooth rocks out of pots, and other tactile things. So I wasn't concerned. Then I noticed another pot that had been dug in, and thought "that's a raccoon that sure loves to dig".
I've decided what to do with the new coneflowers I bought the other day: they're going in my coneflower bed. (That certainly took a lot of careful planning and consideration, didn't it?)
It's been so hot here lately, early morning is the best time for me to get some gardening done. Yesterday morning was quite busy, so let's jump into it!
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