I don’t often do it but I got a ‘second wind’ today. The temperature was so nice compared to the day’s heat. And, the mosquitos were not even bad; no bug baffler. I watered basil seed bed, the re-sowed parsley and a few other plants.
Watered and fertilized
Then, I noticed the poison ivy growing right next to my Fir/Hosta South Garden. I knew the stuff was in that general area but maybe I was in denial. I want to use bad chemicals on it but I just can’t do it. My vegetable garden is less that 30 feet away. I grabbed my black/green tarp, laid it out, weighted it down with tires. Ugly, indeed! It is a dark ‘corner’ of the garden but I’m disappointed in having to do this. I know the tarp will wipe out the poison ivy; I’ll leave it down for two growing seasons and try to swallow my pride. I might find pleasant rocks to weight down the tarp but that would be a waste of rocks. I think we might cut back a bit of the woods right there, cut the sapling trees right down to the ground and tarp the whole area, once and for all. But, that might shed sun on my hosta garden there. It’s turning into a constant battle and I feel I’m loosing. Stop thinking about it, stop thinking about it…..take a deep breath.
This entry is about
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Day 30
Beta vulgaris var. cicla
Watering
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Day 25
Ocimum basilicum
Watering
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Day 25
Ocimum basilicum
Watering
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had to lay tarp on poison ivy |
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Comments
HollyBee wrote:
Some days are just so frustrating, aren’t they? The nice thing is that we gardeners are an eternally optimistic bunch. Maybe you could cover the tarp with mulch? That way it wouldn’t be this big blue or green or black or whatever square. I use a blue one to smother weeds where I want to plant a garden and we pile our grass clippings on it so they’re handy for me to use as mulch in the vegetable garden. Thankfully we have a big lawn which never gets ‘treated’, so there are lots of clippings to hide the tarp rather quickly.
Posted on 21 Jun 12 (11 months ago)
rosemarieGardener wrote:
It’s so nice to have another gardener understand these minor woes. Your suggestion is great; I just might do it especially if I can determine that it’s level enough.
Posted on 21 Jun 12 (11 months ago)
Bojickwoman wrote:
I have a major problem with weeds. I say HAVE instead of HAD because even though I’ve come a long way, weeds are still popping up. The people who owned the property before me had let the whole yard go to the weeds. It has taken me 5 years to transform the property. For the area that I knew we weren’t going to grow anything, we abandoned the weed fabric and put down plastic, then mulched cedar chips over that. So far, that has worked great in that area. I’m still pulling weeds in other areas. They grow up through two layers of weed fabric and 3 inch layer of mulch. So, i feel your pain!
Posted on 21 Jun 12 (11 months ago)
Matriarchy wrote:
I had that little second wind last night, too. I got a whole lot done in the lasts 2 hours before dark. And I also feel your pain with weeds. I previously had a tiny 10×40 urban yard full of weeds that I battled without chemicals, mostly successfully after 2 years or so, even the Canadian Thistle.
But now I have a quarter of an acre that my mother was not able to manage well for the last 10 years. Invasive everything. You can only do so much in a season. I am working through it bed by bed. Seems each kind of weed requires me to dig deeper. Mugwort root system was in the top 8". But the pokeberries have deeper roots the size of your arm, and send out muscular runners to evade tarps. The trumpet vine supposedly goes down 6 FEET or more. Ugh.
Posted on 21 Jun 12 (11 months ago)
rosemarieGardener wrote:
Bojickwoman……black plastic or a black tarp is my best tool for this problem and thank you for validating. I’m just happy I have one on hand to use. And, it’s not all that ‘ugly’ though, when and as I find time, I will cover it lightly with wood chip mulch I have on hand. If I decide to permanently use plastic, I’ll mulch enough so that no one would ever be able to tell.
Matriarchy….little by little that’s how it’s got to happen. Aren’t we fortunate we are gardening lovers or the chore would be hellish!
Posted on 22 Jun 12 (11 months ago)
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