Gardening?

[zesty-man]

do any of you do gardening? my parents just spent $400 to get our back yard competely cleaned and california grass pulled out. i wanted to keep the yard like that, weedless, and i figured, the best way to do that is to start a garden of some type. i was wondering, do any of you guys and gals happen to garden. if so, i could use some pointers. this is gonna be my first time trying to garden.

[TW85]

Gardens do nothing to prevent weeds, LOL. Our neighborhood has an area divided into plots for gardening and my dad and sister had five plots for a while. They were out there at least once a week pulling the weeds.

Grass or black plastic are the only two things that will minimize weeds, and I really doubt you want a yard of black plastic.

[zesty-man]

oh no no. i know having a garden wont prevent weeds, but at the same time, it will get me into the habbit of pulling all the weeds out. perhaps maybe ill use that black tarp under the dirt to see what happens.

[Mr. Clean]

Do NOT use any of the "weed-block" materials, plastic, woven, etc. The woven products which allow some air exchange at the surface are largely ineffective and black plastic mess up the natural processes which occur at the ground`s surface. If you aren`t going back in with grass, and choose instead for a flower bed/garden or vegetable garden, use several inches of shredded native mulch. The mulch will help regulate the soil temperature, help to reduce the need for additional watering, retard weed growth, and be aesthically pleasing. Any weeds which to pop up are generally rooted in the mulch and are much easier to remove.

[G35stilez]

My mom owns a creative garden design and maintenance business. She caters to some pretty high end clients.

Think of gardening attention like detailing attention...For an exquisite garden, you need to spend more than once a week dead heading, cultivating, weeding, watering, and other maintenance...plus the inital prepping of soil, delivery of top soil, fertilizing with all natural products, mulch, etc

If you want, I can scan some pics from my moms collection...Just let me know.

[zesty-man]

thanks for the heads up mr clean. sure sean, some pics would be great

wow, that sounds like a lot of work, but i hear that gardening is relaxing. im not quite sure what i wanna grow... maybe vegetables, but chances are good that i wont be eating many of them. i would love to grow an orange tree, but that would take years and years. maybe ill grow flowers... then when i give flowers to a girl, i can say that i grew them myself :)

any suggestions to what i should grow?

[G35stilez]

Zesty: I will dig them up today some time.

Where part are you growing in? Full sun, part sun, mostly shade?

[Mr. Clean]

...plus the inital prepping of soil, delivery of top soil, fertilizing with all natural products, mulch, etc


Rarely is there a reason to bring in "top soil" unless you are preparing raised beds, or trying to bring up a low spot in the lawn. If those are the case then be certain that the soil you bring in is native soil and of the same compostion as your existing soil (preferably from your own site). In most cases you can simply ammend your existing soil with natural ammendments such as an aged and finished compost which will add some volume.

Natural, organic fertilizers are excellent. They help you to build the life in the soil which in turn will feed the plants. They are easier to use because the windows of use are not as strict as with the commercial synthetic products. As you build the life in the soil (micro organisms etc.) you will find yourself using less and less product.

Zesty, what type of soil do you have? I know that there are areas in Hawaii that have high volcanic sand content. That is excellent for moisture management. I add lava sand to my site almost every year. I include some in all of my potted plants.

[G35stilez]

Mr.Clean:

There are areas on my property and some of my mom`s clients in which top soil was needed. When the initial breaking of the ground was done, the dirt lacked any "life". It was very hard and resembled clay. It got soo bad in my front yard, that we asked the people digging for our pool to give it a shot with the jack hammer. The guy tried and tried and then told us that he did not want to break it. In most cases though, the soil was workable.

I agree with you about compost and organic fertilizers/chemicals. They tend to be a lot safer and arguably do a better job.

[zesty-man]

well im gonna say that i have mostly shade because for the most part, the sun is blocked by my house on one side and a fence on the other side. i know a place where i can get free mulch, so thats really good. as for my soil, for the most part, its soft.... not much i can say about that. i dont have voltaic soil however..

thanks for your help guys, keep it comin.