What Did You Do In The Garden?

Ridgerunner said:

Welcome back, Red. You have been missed. And congratulations.

Not sure what variety of clover you are talking about or how it might grow in your climate. The clover I'm most familiar with is red clover grown for hay. That gets much taller than 4" so not close to the same thing. The kinds of questions I'd ask are how often do you need to mow it and how will it look after it is mowed? Will it still be green or will it look like brown stems until it regrows? Can you use a mulching mower on it or will you need to bag it? Clover is known to be a great food for several different critters, will it attract critters you don't want? Not just deer, maybe rodents? Will it crowd out weeds and grasses so you don't have to mow anyway to keep them under control?

Personally I'd be reluctant until I saw an example of where it has worked elsewhere.

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clover will not crowd out grasses enough to control them. rabbits/etc will selectively eat it and leave the surrounding grasses/weeds.

i've tried to use taller forage plants to control and keep grasses from doing much but they won't work for long. the wind, birds, the existing seeds in the soil, etc all will try to get grasses regrowing. and it is extremely difficult to weed grass roots from out under things like alfalfa and the larger birdsfoot trefoil plants. it was a lovely garden for several years, but it is being taken over by grasses now too and being mowed until i can turn it all under again and plant it with veggies. the soil there is very nice now after several years of chopping it back and letting the worms turn all that nitrogen rich green stuff into plant food. it was my green manure space where i could use those greens for top dressing vegetable gardens.

things to research and things to share with son. thanks.

Smart Red said:

looked at it from far away. . .
son wants to redo whole yard since big truck traffic has made serious ruts in much of it. his suggestion is to reseed with clover rather than grass.
1. its hardy
2 it grows to only 3-4 inches needing little mowing
3. it looks lawn-green
4. ???
what do yall think of the idea?

when i told son i was getting engaged his first question was, does he like to mow? eliminating mowing as much as possible is something son is going for.

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I think it's an excellent idea, as the grass clippings from mowing that can be used on your gardens with great effect. Try white dutch clover, which is one of the cheapest to buy, spreads well, the bees LOVE it, and it's a low growing kind.

If you plan to free range your chickens, it's also GREAT forage for them. It grows well in shade and/or full sun, it's very hardy for high traffic areas, and it is often still evident and growing in the winter months if you have mild winters, first to grow in the spring and still going into fall and winter.

Every time I get a bare patch around here caused by trucks getting stuck, depletion of a chip or hay pile, etc., I seed it to white dutch clover.

https://www.feedipedia.org/node/245

Harvested some asparagus out of the garden this morning to eat with breakfast....so tender!!!

Will be thinning greens and planting another bed of the same today, also moving some raspberry starts so they can be trellised, as well as building some trellising for the existing row of raspberries. Will also be hauling coop litter to place on the beds that will be planted to corn/squash/cukes/beans and also the pepper beds.

Lots to do in the garden today as it's supposed to rain for the next several days.

digitS' said:

@Gardening with Rabbits , this weed?

Dead nettle

It sure isn't dead in its invasive habits. Spading fork and removal of roots ...

Along with bind weed and quack grass ... part of the reason I resist perennials with their uncompetitive tolerance for weeds and my dismay at a perennial bed's continual need for weeding.

Steve

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It sort of looks like it has purple/blue flowers almost like bells. The leaves grow close to the ground and in your lawn and if in areas not mowed they have long stalks with the flowers. Here is a picture of a leaf.

Looks like purple deadnettle.

https://www.purdue.edu/hla/sites/ma...ner-Guide-to-Common-Lawn-and-Garden-Weeds.pdf

Put 3 large cartloads of coop litter on future corn patch and also future pepper beds, green's bed, and also a dab on the rhubarb bed.

Let the ducklings stay in the garden most of the day and they finally got it...they started foraging like mad! They definitely loved their day in the garden.

going to get the hoses out today because it has finally dried out enough that some plants need water and i don't want to carry watering cans any more. our overnight snow didn't happen (i heard it on the roof for a few moments, but then it stopped and it wasn't enough to wet the ground).

should be a nice day for gardening (sunny, mid-50s and light wind). i can continue working in the N garden. yesterday i moved some of the daffodils (yeah, i know it's not the best time to move them, but we have so many i'm not risking anything) so they will be along an edge (and in the way) instead of up top and sorta inwards (and in the way ). moving them may have taken me a half hour, but it will save me time in future. i need to move a few hundred crocuses - going to have to do those today as they are in the spot i want to work on next. also not the best time to move them but it has to be done and now is when it happens.

there sure is a lot of grass in this garden and it takes a lot of work to remove it when you have to work around other perennials or the spring flowering bulbs. it's going to look like a plow has gone through it. good exercise.

Gardening with Rabbits said:

It sort of looks like it has purple/blue flowers almost like bells. The leaves grow close to the ground and in your lawn and if in areas not mowed they have long stalks with the flowers. Here is a picture of a leaf. View attachment 31344

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I know what that is - it's impossible to eradicate. It has regular roots so when you pull it you think you got it. But lurking farther down in the soil is a horizontal tuber type root that just sends up more plants for every one you pull, and never seems to run out of energy.
I'm trying hard to remember the name...it's a Campanula...
Campanula rapunculoides.
When I had several jobs in the Fort Grounds everyone there just called it the Fort Ground weed. Then I finally discovered it's identity which didn't make it easier to get rid of, but at least I could cuss it better.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Campanula_rapunculoides#Gallery

thistlebloom said:

I know what that is - it's impossible to eradicate. It has regular roots so when you pull it you think you got it. But lurking farther down in the soil is a horizontal tuber type root that just sends up more plants for every one you pull, and never seems to run out of energy.
I'm trying hard to remember the name...it's a Campanula...
Campanula rapunculoides.
When I had several jobs in the Fort Grounds everyone there just called it the Fort Ground weed. Then I finally discovered it's identity which didn't make it easier to get rid of, but at least I could cuss it better.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Campanula_rapunculoides#Gallery

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Yes, that's it. I asked the neighbor when we first moved here what it was and he said something like it is the plant that is going to takeover the world.

Lots of tilling.

This inclusion of the tractor guy in garden only takes work off my back if he is there in the spring. I'll say this: a good deal of organic matter will be lost if it just lies on the ground thru the winter months. That's a plus for fall cultivation.

The soil looks much better with the decay occurring below ground. Rocky trash that this soil is, the organic matter level looks good.

I shared my story with the property owner of doing the entire gardens by hand in the past. I made it sound like this was in the distant past that the spading fork and shovel had such an important role. I suppose that it was. Time moves on ... and, so does a rototiller.

It is hard work because I'm trying to keep it straight and have it do the best it can. It drifts easily on uneven ground. Next area is up and down hill. Running horizontally would be impossible.

Steve
Edit: sowed some carrot and beet seed. Some onions will be transplanted today. Will exchange rototiller for a stool.