Gardening in fertile heavy green areas compared...?

[nao57]

So I was curious to pick your minds on the differences of gardening back east or in really green areas compared to out west. I wonder what its like to garden in these really green areas. Places like Georgia, or Missouri, or the Gulf states where you have lots of water and humidity?

How is it different?

I'm in the southwest. Some of our gardening is basically keeping the soil cool and to try to keep water from evaporating. The soil gets dry extremely fast.

How often do people water in these really green areas back east? Do they have natural groundwater already? How is groundwater naturally? I'm guessing a lot of the differences would come down to natural groundwater and not having too much water where we have instead the opposite... and bugs... You guys probably get hellacious bug problems and spend more time on that right?

In southwest we have zero groundwater. So you have to put it there.

 

[akroberts1085]

From what I keep reading in the thread what did you do in your garden today. They have squash vine bores, Japanese beetles and slew of others. I'm happy not having to deal with bug problems on top of the heat.

 

[Sally PB]

I have heard some people out west say they make raised beds so that they can control the composition of the soil better, and put all the water where it will do the most good.

 

[saysfaa]

I live in the land of green (spring - falls anyway) if maybe not as far east as you might mean.

I spend a lot of time weeding with a hoe or claw or just pulling them. Both right at the plants I want to grow and keeping the grass and such from invading from the sides.

Bug control is not too bad except for the invasive species. Japanese beetles and asparagus bugs bother me the most. Unfortunately, there are a lot of invasive species.

Critters also need to be managed. Deer are a horrendous pressure. A good fence has kept them from my garden a fruit trees. Woodchucks decimated some of my garden last year; I don't have a good way to deal with them so I planted only potatoes in that garden (it is distant from my jouse and home garden). Gophers (or striped ground squirrels) took out all my green beans and some of the tomatoes one year but haven't been much problem since. I don't really know why. Birds will find every strawberry and cherry but don't bother much else - there is plenty for them to eat all around. A scarecrow (my version is cds dangled so the twirl and flash above the fruit) works reasonably well.

In the spring and sometimes other parts of the year, I have to wait for the ground to dry enough to work the soil before trying to turn the soil over, hoe it, or plant in it. Otherwise, it damages the soil structure.

From about mid June, usually, until the frost is about 14 weeks. I can expect rain about ten times in that time - "a rain" might be a brief light shower or a three/day all day soaking rain or anything in between. But not evenly, so I might get no rain at all for four or five weeks or longer or I might get rain twice a week for six weeks or longer. We hope for an inch per week, preferably not all in a single hard downpour. We rarely get that all summer but it isn't uncommon to get it sometimes.

After the ground dries out enough to work it is the spring, it can take from two days to two weeks or so after a good rain (meaning more than a light shower) before we need to start watering at least the most vulnerable plants - the youngest, or species that most need it, or if fruit is forming. The difference is from the type of soil, how dry the ground was before the rain, how much rain it was, how much dew, the temperature, the amount of cloud cover, whether there is ground cover, whether the soil is worked, etc

We can easily see the difference between the dry soil and soil with moisture (initially just below the surface, then gradually lower), but it is hard to tell how much moisture there is by sight. One can tell by making a ball of soil like a snowball then squeezing it and seeing how well it holds together and allowing for the type of soil. For watering purposes, we don't need that much precision.

I hope this is what you were asking.

 

[Florida Bullfrog]

Green doesn’t mean fertile. Florida is very green… and very infertile to most of the typical plants we humans like to grow for food. Most of the state is made up of a kind of nutrient-poor, acidic, sand called “mayakka.” Native woods plants like to grow in it and not much else.

Water availability fluctuates between drought and flooding. Winters are generally dry and summers generally wet, but within the hot months long weeks without rain are randomly common. We just went through a two month drought in north Florida. Now being followed by lots of flooding. You have to garden with plants that can go a long time without water and yet can also live standing in inches of water or slushy mud for days at a time.

 

[AGeese]

I wanted to transfer my Pro Hort cert to Colorado's Master Gardener program, but they said it's best you start from scratch.

It's a constant battle against mother nature who's trying to take over everything. But I can't help, but look around and take in all the greenery.

If I ever do go West, as much as I hate the humidity here I'll miss having an abundance of greenery for the animals.

 

[Saaniya]

i removed some old soil that contains earthworms and clean the area one worms are bad

 

[akroberts1085]

Yesterday I showed the youngest grandson the cushaw pumpkin and found a 2nd one. I found a nice plump strawberry and gave it to him. He was amazed by the taste.

 

[nao57]

Yesterday I showed the youngest grandson the cushaw pumpkin and found a 2nd one. I found a nice plump strawberry and gave it to him. He was amazed by the taste.

That's very precious. Young kids when they see farm and growing stuff, can be pretty fun to see their reactions. Thanks for commenting.

 

[Sally PB]

i removed some old soil that contains earthworms and clean the area one worms are bad

Earthworms are great for soil. Having a lot of earthworms indicates a fertile, healthy soil. They eat organic matter and their droppings are one of the best things you can use for fertilizing plants. People buy bags of earthworm castings (what their poop is called) to put around their plants.

Other types of worms are NOT good. Like wire worms.