Dreaming of Spring Gardening in the Middle of a Wisconsin winter part 2

[21hens-incharge]

Gorgeous flowers gorgeous gardens. I always wonder how long they stay nice. Do people that are bad at creating gardens just as bad at taking care of them?

They do gardens for people in a bad way....old, disabled, injured. That sort of thing. At least in that series they do. That older lady had issues with bending a lot.

As far as well those bad at creating gardens being bad at tending them........
I have seen mine.

 

[tripletfeb]

I would love to do rhubarb too. I do my own strawberry rhubarb jam and pies. My mom has a huge rhubarb plant so I usually just take from her. Going strawberry picking then back to her house for jam making has become a nice tradition for us. My 8 year old son helps too. It gets messy but we enjoy it. And have lots of jam to eat for a year after! I haven't bought store bought jam in years.

 

[21hens-incharge]

I would love to do rhubarb too. I do my own strawberry rhubarb jam and pies. My mom has a huge rhubarb plant so I usually just take from her. Going strawberry picking then back to her house for jam making has become a nice tradition for us. My 8 year old son helps too. It gets messy but we enjoy it. And have lots of jam to eat for a year after! I haven't bought store bought jam in years.

Good stuff all the way around. Fun memories, traditions, and yummy preserves for a whole year!

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

I would love to do rhubarb too. I do my own strawberry rhubarb jam and pies. My mom has a huge rhubarb plant so I usually just take from her. Going strawberry picking then back to her house for jam making has become a nice tradition for us. My 8 year old son helps too. It gets messy but we enjoy it. And have lots of jam to eat for a year after! I haven't bought store bought jam in years.

You should be able to take a root chunk off your mom's rhubarb and plant it in your yard. Of course the tradition you have is probably too good for you to want to plant your own. Your jam sounds delicious.

 

[tripletfeb]

You should be able to take a root chunk off your mom's rhubarb and plant it in your yard. Of course the tradition you have is probably too good for you to want to plant your own. Your jam sounds delicious.

I never thought of using my mom's plant to start my own! But you are right, the traditions matter more! Man, this thread is really making me miss warmer weather. Even though it's been a mild winter, wonder what happened to the bad winter we were supposed to have? Hope I didn't just jinx everyone!

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Here our worse weather comes in February and March. I'm not counting winter out yet.

I have forgotten what warm weather feels like. I miss the smell of fresh cut grass, and thunderstorms. Won't be too long and I'll instead be missing the quiet of winter.

 

[21hens-incharge]

Up early and decided to research xeriscape plants for my area. It looks like I have a few already.
I will lift those and improve their drainage. I can split a couple as they have grown enough to do that.
I found a medium sized shrub that is semi evergreen and not a juniper. I found it is available at a nursery about an hour away. I will certainly ask at my local nursery.

I need to stop fighting my icky soil and work with it....at least in the flowerbeds.

https://plantselect.org/plantstories/fernbush-fantastic-fernbush/
A rather interesting plant really. Not as spiked as I usually end up with.

Edited to add this is another interesting little plant.

http://www.thetreefarm.com/poppy-mallow

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Those are both nice options. It is easier to just go with the flow than fight to get upstream. You can than plant other stuff in containers or raised beds if you want more exotic, or touchy stuff.

 

[21hens-incharge]

A couple things I want to accomplish with redoing the front beds....

Our driveway is quite narrow. I want to add big flagstone as a path....not exactly NEXT to the drive but more from the front sidewalk.....reasons below...
The water meter is in ground next to the sidewalk and the meter reader has tromped through my flowers when his scanner is not working.
The water meter cover gets buried by mulch as the wild bunnies play.
The side mirrors on the truck have clocked the mail man when he is not paying attention.

I guess I want it more "planned" looking.
I despise weeds. Bind weed in particular is a pain in that area. Maybe wider spacing will allow easier weeding.
I want my plants to thrive not just survive.

I do have a cheesy metal fence to keep dogs from peeing and pooping in my flowers.....I hate that cheesy fence.

Anyone have suggestions on a fence that is 3' maximum, allows air flow, can be seen through and looks attractive?

I have a wood privacy fence down the side yard. Maybe if I did that but left out every other upright???

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

I can't stand bindweed either. Grows like crazy here too.

I use a green wire fence here to keep chickens out but husband says it's not attractive. We did buy some metal push in fence panels for one bed, but it ends up kinda pricey.



I like controlled gardening too, but it often gets away from me.