Happy Friday! My dirt is coming! My dirt is coming!

LOL! Oxborrow is delivering my garden soil and decomposed granite today ~ asked them to give me a call here at work before they deliver so I can get home by the time they get there.

Am getting 3 cubic yards of Double Mix (topsoil and grape compost) and 3 cubic yards of D.G. 5/16″ (coarse). Have my wheelborrow and shovel ready!

Well have to go shopping for seeds and some plants afterwards. List has been made:

Here’s a picture of where it’s all going ~

Soil in the boxes ~ decomposed granite all around the boxes where the dirt is now. It’s going to be nice not having dirt all over the patio when the wind blows. Tired of sweeping out there all the time! I was going to get the fine D.G., but the lady at the counter asked what it was going to be used for. Told her and she suggested the coarse as the fine is like sand. She said that the coarse D.G. is what everyone uses in their xeri-scape landscaping. Small pebble size, like your pinky finger nail. I plan on using it in the front yard where I’ve been re-landscaping too.

ALSO! Wanted to remind everyone in the Reno/Sparks area that the University of Nevada Cooperative Extension office will be holding their:

ANNUAL MASTER GARDENER PLANT FAIRE next Saturday, May 17th, 2008 at 7:00 am to 11:30 am. 5305 Mill Street, Reno, NV. 784-4848.

From our gardens to your’s at great savings! Wide variety of annuals, perennials, vegetables, herbs, grasses, shrubs, grapes and more. 4-inch and 1-gallon plants.

Here is a link to their Calendar of Events.

Front & Back Yard Gardening ~ Roses are in!

I took yesterday off work to work in my yard…wanted to finish up the front side-yard and my FIL came over to help me ro-do the raised garden beds.

THE ROSES ~ almost didn’t get my English Roses! G&G Nursery had a run on them over the weekend and there were only two Hansa’s left and a few David Austin Roses.

I bought a Weeks Roses Hansa ~ bred in 1905. Medium-tall/bushy round shrub that is suitable for growing in pots and hedges. Tolerant of poorer soils. Ornamental value of hips/large fruit. Very fragrant ~ spicy cloves. Large, full reddish-violet blooms. Very hardy and disease free.

In the ground ~ and a stock photo.

The Squire ~ a David Austin English Rose. The large double blooms of this rose are a deep rich dard red. The attractive strong fragrance of this wonderful cutting rose is a welcome addtion to your garden or bouquets. These roses are a wonderful combination of old world charm and new advancements in rose culture. They will help create a wonderful English Garden feel in your landscape and are excellent for bedding and hedges. Superb border plants.

They look great! Can’t wait for them to grow, grow, GROW! I did a jig out there on the lawn after mulching and watering!

Now onto backyard ~ I decided to take the top boards off of the raised bed as it was just way too deep. My FIL came over yesterday morning and we whacked the crap out the top boards (5 nails each side into a treated 4×4 ~ OY!)…took us a while but we were able to pry them off. We then made a 6×6 box and a small 18″x18″ for a tomato box. We left a nice walk way in between the raised garden beds and will put DG around the beds. Now I have to call Oxborrow and order the double or triple mix of topsoil/grape compost/organic lite.

Now the beds are 5′x12′x1′ and 6′x6′x1′ ~ Soon to be planted ~ tomatoes, peppers, sugar peas, bush beans, potatoes, onions, garlic, corn, zucchini, yellow squash, pumpkin, lettuce. Near the corn I’m going to plant a couple of rhubarb plants and maybe some asparagus.

Raised Garden Bed Box for Backyard ~ Finished! Well…it’s made.

Yesterday after buying a new bed for upstairs I dropped my husband off at Savers and I went to Lowes to shop for the garden lumber. Taking with me the directions from Sunset’s Western Landscaping Book (below) ~

I bought 6 2×12x12 redwood planks and 2 4×4x8 treated fir posts, and one box of 3-1/4″ galvanized nails. Looking back…I should have looked for 2×8x10 or 2×8x12 as now I have LOTS of back-fill to look for! Luckily I have oodles of river rocks and can place at the bottom of the bed and then fill with some dirt then mix in some top soil/manure. Off to Craigslist to see if anyone has any free dirt I can go get.

The finished container is 2×5x12 (2′ high x 5′ wide x 12′ long). I’m thinking I’ll put a wood sealer on the redwood as I opted out of the treated wood. I may staple plastic sheeting along the insides too. Not really sure about that. And Boy-Howdy! If you make the size I did…you’ll want two extra hands on flipping that box over! It was a struggle with the two of us, but we did it.

And ladies…find the roll of duct tape as your husband will probably want to cuss up a blue streak. I about threw my hammer at mine, no patience at all that man! I would have much rather had my mom and sister helping me than my husband. I’m very handy with a saw and hammer…which I don’t think he has gotten used to, even after 13 years of marriage. LOL!

Here are before and after shots of our back area. We’ve finally decided to find some decomposed granite for the the rest of the yard. Got lots of that around Northern Nevada…just back your truck up to any road side cut and filler up!

Soon to be veggies ~ Onions, beans, sugar peas, cucumbers, lettuce ~ red leaf and spinach, radishes, carrots, corn (outside the box next to the wall), garlic, potatoes (I have two tires for them to go into), zucs, tomatos (outside container), pumpkins (actually in front side yard), peppers.

Vegetable Gardening in Northern Nevada & How to make a Raised Garden

After just about killing ourselves over those bloody junipers and planting the lilac and weeping cherry, I’ve turned my sights to the back yard and making my raised vegetable beds!

In the very back of Sunset’s WESTERN LANDSCAPING BOOK, pages 404-405, in the Materials and Techniques chapter, there is a section on Building A Raised Bed.

Raising your garden above the ground can solve some of the most frustrating problems gardeners face. An easy-to-build bed makes it possible for plants to thrive where soil is poor, wildlife is hungry, or the growing season is short. And if you need easy access to your plants - due to a disability or simply to eliminate back-bending labor - you can sit on the edge of the bed and garden in comfort.
Fill the bed with the best soil you can. Good soil means that plants can be placed closer together, making a small area more productive. Line the bottom of the bed with wire screening to keep out pests, or fit it with a PVC framework for bird netting.
A raised bed can be any size, but if its more than 4 feet wide it will be difficult to reach the middle from either side. If the sides will double as benches, build the frame 18-24 inches high.

We have a small backyard ~ with a huge front and side yard. So much rearranging of the landscaping to do! OY! Here’s what I have to work with out back ~ The soil that has been turned was going to be sod…but I’ve decided to put pavers there instead. The compacted ground area behind will be where the raised garden bed will go. Behind those rocks is a an area of about two feet wide to the fence…that will be where I plant the corn.

A couple of weeks ago The State of Nevada Employees Council had an Open House at The Joe here on campus and I signed up for a lot of information from the University of Nevada’s Washoe County Cooperation Extension office. I used to be in 4-H out in Washoe Valley…so I knew they were loaded with great information. I highly recommend them for all us in Northern Nevada and the Eastern California area! I posted a link to all of their free publications below.

Here are some of the pamplets I asked for:
Vegetable Varieties For Northern Nevada
A Quick Guide to Composting
Nevada Soils - Worth the Toil
Urban Forestry Tree Planting Practices for Nevada
The All Seeing, All Knowing, Lawn Care Manuel for Northern Nevada
Roses for Reno and the Northern Nevada/Eastern Sierra Area
Spring Planted Bulbs Boast Beautiful Blooms
Hardy, Drought-Tolerant and Moderately Salt-tolerant Shurbs and Vines for Northern Nevada
Seven Ways to Make Your Trees and Shurbs Drought Resistant

LIST OF PUBLICATIONS FOR FREE

The Vegetable Varieties for Northern Nevada is four pages long and gives a list of all veggie varieties that are great for planting here with the planting dates. Great comments on which are better for canning, yields, rust resistance, maturing, indoor growing, storage values, disease resistant, most popluar, etc.

ps: For all of you in the Reno/Sparks area…or those of you who will be in town on May 17th ~ at the Washoe County Extension Office on Mill Street there will be a plant sale that morning.

Never Fear….JERRY’S HERE! Garden Tonics ~

LOL! That was in my mail last night when I picked it up from the post office ~

Moles Driving ya’ Nuts? Weeds Gone Wild? Sick of Slugs? Never Fear…Jerry’s Here! Inside: 28 of the BEST ard and garden troubleshooting tips, tricks and tonics - and 2,168 amazing backyard problem solvers in all - and they’re all yours to try, FREE!

Ok…So ole Jerry peaked my interest and I opened up the flyer.

Jerry Baker, America’s Master Gardener. Special 40th Anniversary Issue ~ It’s amazing! It’s awesome! And best of all - it’s yours to preview - FREE!

TERRIFIC GARDEN TONICS (Free Look) and GARDEN MAGIC (FREE BOOK!).

You know what??!! I think I’m going to order it! LOL! If even 1/4 of the stuff that is in it works…it’d be well worth the price, me thinks.

Terrific Garden Tonics! In this Special Preview Issue, you’ll discover how my latest and greates all-natural mixers and fixers can give you…

Lovely Lawns - all it takes is a little beer, dish soap, and cola…
Fabulous Flowers - yours will bloom their fool heads off if you use wine, ammonia, and steel wool…
Towering Trees - you’ll have it made in the shade with these bourbon, coffee, and Epsom Salts tonics…
Incredible Edibles - enjoy mouth-watering cukes, tomatoes, and melons with baking soda, chive tea, and jello…

I’m either going to have one helluva great looking yard…or one in rehab! Did you see all the alcohol in the tonics?! ROFL!

The Suspects ~ Billbugs, Mole Crickets, Moles, Bark Beetles, Gypsy moths, Squirrels, Aphids, Cats, Scale, Lilac borers, Rust mites, Cabbageworms, skunks, bean beetles, squash vine borers….

The Solutions ~ Awesome Aeration Tonic, Hot Bug Brew, Mole Chaser Tonic, Peppermint Soap Spray, Orange Aid Elixir, Spicy Squirrel Stopper, Amazing Aphid Antidote, Hit-the-Trail Mix, Crazy Daisy Spray, Double-Punch Garlic Tea, Knock-’Em-Dead Insect Tonic….

Key Indgredients ~ Beer, dishwashing liquid, peppers, garlic, onion, hot sauce, chili powder, orange peels, peppermint oil, baby shampoo, cloves, mustard, Murphy Oil Soap, alcohol, vegetable oil, bleach, vinegar, flour, milk, instant tea

A Whiskey A G0-G0 Elixir!

My Seed and Soil Energizer will give your veggie seeds as much pep as go-go dancers - they’ll just keep on going and growing!

1 tsp of whiskey
1 tsp of ammonia
1 tsp of dishwashing liquid
1 qt of weak tea water

Mix these ingredients in a bucket, then pour the solution into a hand-held sprayer. Shake it gently, then apply a good misting to the surface of all newly-planted seed beds or plant containters.

I’ll let you all know how it works at the end of the growing season!

If you have already tried some of his tonics ~ let me know if they work!!!

Saturday Afternoon Yardwork ~ Monday’s Aches & Pains

AKA ~ Die Juniper Die!

LOL!  Boy am I sore today! 

While the husband went to the UNR Wolf Pack double-header against the New Mexico Aggies with his dad…I worked on the front yard.  Needless to say, I didn’t get to work on my raised garden beds in the back. 

We inherited some Devil sent Juniper bushes out front when we bought our house.  I hate them.  I HATE THEM.  I WANT THEM DEAD!  Errrr….ummm…sorry about that rant.  Pssssttt….stickery ugly bushes?  DIE!!!!!

I pulled out my 17″ electric hedge trimmer (yes…woefully under-powered for the job), clippers, hand saw, wheelbarrow and box of trash bags and went to work. I must have looked like cross between Edward Scissorhands and Sweeney Todd ~ as whenever I did look up from my work, I saw worried and amused looks from my neighbors ~ some even kicked back with a beer in hand to watch. And I’m glad for the church next door, their choir practice drowned out my swearing. My arms and legs look like a demonic cat attacked me!

These bushes have been trimmed…but I want them out. I’d like to plant OLD ENGLISH ROSES and some peonies that came from my Grandma’s house in Nebraska. But that will be another day as I’m still working on the OTHER side of the yard….Stage RIGHT!

That sad looking brown thing in the corner? That is the same stinking bush that’s on the left side of the yard…only it was a lot taller. I’ve got it down to fence level…now we can take a chain saw to it and haul it to the transfer station. In the very corner I’m going to plant a lovely lilac bush/tree. And next to it, on the right, I’ll plant either Old English roses or Flutterby bushes. More Columbine, Foxglove and Delphiniums.

This is what the corner looked like last year in July ~ the vine over the bush is a Virginia Creeper. I let it take over so I didn’t have to see the bush…was very pretty in the fall when it turned all red.

Oh yeah…and those dang Day Lilies will be yanked too. Will give them away to the lady across the street. Stupid things are growing in the grass now.

Luckily our trash management people send out a free dump voucher every spring…those bushes will be heading to the dump today. I “free-cycled” all the stuff my husband was going to add (couch, chair, army chest and dvd/cd tower)…we live on an alley with lots of “creepers”, so all you have to do is set something outside your fence and in 5 minutes it’ll be gone. Now I have lots of room in the truck for those dang bushes.

Oh…and tonight? I’m borrowing my FIL’s chain saw. Then I’m drilling holes into the stump and pouring nitro down the holes and blowing the thing outta my yard!
 

Back-yard Garden & Yard Design Ideas

It’s almost April and I probably should have been thinking about this much earlier (actually the thinking was being done…just not the action!), but I really want to put in a garden this year.

We bought our house in the Fall of 2006. It was built in 1915 ~ we have a very large front & side yard, but a small back yard. There is a covered patio and an area that was full of rocks. We removed the rocks last summer and I started prepping the dirt for sod. My thinking at the time was for half sod and half raised garden. But then I started thinking (very bad thing for me sometimes)…we have a crap-full of grass out front, maybe I’ll lay pavers and still put in my raised garden. And along the side fence (next to the church) ~ plant berry bushes!

(yes…I know I can rent a tiller ~ but I really need the exercise!)

My garden at the old house looked something like this ~

I don’t want the box so big this time…thinking of at least two long thinner ones, with room to walk in between the two.

These are pretty cool…only not squared ~

So I guess the question is ~ to sod or to pave? What are your thoughts?