Today I replaced the newspaper mulch in one of my veggie beds with ground bark. I like the results a lot better.
I was thinking of leaving the newspaper under then bark, but water didn’t seem to go through the newspaper that well.
Monthly Archives: July 2006
New Show: Urban Outsiders
For all you Matt James (The City Gardener) fans, his new show Urban Outsiders premiers today on HGTV. Check you local listing for times.
Stockpiling and Mulching Question?
I have written entries before how my brother gets pallets of damaged bags of potting soil, garden soil, soil conditioner, manure, bark mulch, river rocks, etc… but I don’t think I ever showed photos, so I took some today to show you how much we have!!!
We have a lot of ground cover bark… and I’m thinking of using this instead of the newspaper in my veggie beds.
What are the pros and cons of using ground cover bark in a veggie bed?
Does it change the pH? Should I add something to the soil if it does?
We have lot of pill bugs and earwigs. Does this deter or encourage pests?
Thanks in advance for all your comments :)
Mo Pots…
I potted up some Coleus pots this evening.
In one (first photo) I planted ‘Peter Wonder‘, ‘Splash‘, and an Unnamed Burgundy. Between the three, I placed the Lamium ( photo ) that I rooted.
In the second (second photo) I planted ‘Dappled Apple‘, ‘Kiwi Apple‘, and half a 4″ pot of Red Fountain Grass. I also placed Lamium between the plants.
I used the other half of the Red Fountain Grass to fill out some of the empty spaces in an existing pot of ‘Amora‘ that was a little leggy and didn’t look so good.
More Gardening (Yesterday)
Sunday, July 9, 2006
I was able to catch up on some repotting today. I repotted the Arguta Kiwi (female), White Genoa Fig, Forsythia and some Taros into larger one gallon containers.
I also repotted my Pink Echeveria, and discovered that the grower didn’t even remove the plastic basket it was originally grown in. I had to cut the basket into pieces so I wouldn’t damage its roots and the baby plants. Here’s the before and after photos.
Here’s a photo of the vegetable bed I been working on.
And finally, as I was done with most of my gardening chores, I got a bag a potato chips and Calli kept chasing me around the garden trying to get some. I gave her a few, but ened up giving her some doggie snacks. Here she is one the other side of the vegetable bed.
My Future Christmas Trees
Back in January, I found some Pinenuts near my work. The rest is history
A Lot of Gardening Be Done…
I was pritty much out in the garden from about 1-9pm, with an exception of about an hour nap. I got caught up in a lot of gardening tasks.
I added more amendments to the veggie bed I’ve been working on. I have more than three quarters filled. The other quarter still has Chocolate Mint, some Columbines, and Hyacinth bulbs which I still have to dig up. I may just leave it like this for now. I added two more trellises and transplanted (more) Lemon Cucumbers, Sikkim Cucumbers and Smooth Beauty Luffas.
There’s a short Calamasi tree in the middle of the bed, which isn’t doing well. My Mom says that we have never gotten any Calamansi to grow well in the back, so she was open to pulling it out and planting it in a 5 gallon or bigger pot. I’m still not sure if I will pull it or not.
I planted two Pineapples that were rooting in water into small pots. I now have a total of three Pineapple plants.
I also potted some Thai Basil that was leftover from a Pho lunch at a Vietnamese restaurant. It really sprouted a lot of roots in water.
I dead headed a lot of the flowers in front as well as collecting some Columbine seeds. Some of my Coleus are starting to bloom, so I removed the blooms so they can focus on growing more.
I also remembered that I bought two of those Message Bean thingies back in December and set them up following directions. After about an hour, I was so curious to see what kind of seeds they were, so dug them out. They were huge beans that I didn’t recognize. Instead of planting them in the little containers they came in I potted them up in drinking cups with potting soil.
I potted up the Kalanchoe tubiflora that grew from leaflets ( photo ) I found into a terra cotta pot.
I also transplanted two Pines that I grew from collected seeds into one gallon containers. These are my future Christmas trees. (see my next journal entry for photos)
My brother got a total of three pallets of damaged potting soil, mulch, etc. bags from Home Depot. Each pallet contains about 10 bags for a little over $5. I can’t remember how many pallets he said has gotten so far. He also go a garden gate on clearance from Target.