a possible solution to that pesky spot where grass just won't grow?

So every gardener has that one spot in their yard where they just have a terrible time trying to get anything to grow. Whether its too much sun, terrible soil, or too much shade, there may be a solution. I have a section of my house that is deeply covered by both sugar maples and silver maples. Not only do they zap the soil of moisture due to their root structure, they also block out most sunlight thus preventing grass to grow. Last fall, I started to combat this by expanding a flowerbed with shade loving plants. I tried re-seeding in the fall, but a few weeks ago, heavy rain washed away the grass.

I need to look somewhere new. My attention turned to mondo grass. Dwarf Mondo grass to be more accurate. The stuff looks like real grass, grows in the shade, and never needs to be mowed. Lets see if it can do the trick.

The summer that could have been

Well Summer definitely showed that even when it rained half the time, its a challenge keeping up with a blog when you want to be outdoors all the time. I hope to do a report on my garden so that I can learn for next year but what I will say is the weather really put a serious dent on things this year. I've seen bugs this year I've never seen before, and unfortuntately, my tomato's experienced diseases I never experienced either. More break downs to come, but with the cooler temps. on the way, that means there are still some odds and ends that can be done before the leaves come down.

the challenges of starting your own plants from seed

So I haven't blogged in awhile and part of that is because I have busy outside instead of on the computer. But I also will admit I've struggled with some of my plantings. In essence, nearly every plant I started from seed did not work out with the exception of the wave petunias. However, even they are not as big as they are in the nursuries. Oh well, its all a learning process and I will definitely use what worked and didn't for next year.

Flip flop weather is here!

Wow what a weekend! Time to bust out the rainbow sandals from storage and head outside. The past few weeks I've worked on garden maintenance and the general layout of my vegetable garden. I'm going to break my own rule today (don't plant before Mother's Day) and start planting today. I know, we will come back down to reality next week but hey...its worth a shot...

Wall O Water

So now that I have the time, I'm trying out a new device in my garden this year, the "wall o water." Pretty simple, its a plastic circle that goes around your plants. You fill each chamber with water and it creates a tee pee effect. This keeps the plant warm to around 10 degrees, or so the box says. I've decided to test it out and planted my first tomato (cherry variety) today. This is crazy because the earliest I've ever planted a tomato is a few days before Mother's Day. Will it work? Time will tell. But I have two more to set up later this week and will report back on the results. If it does work, I should have tomatos in 60 days, not bad.

Eastern Red Bud Tree

So I have this barren corner on my property that I was not sure what I was going to do with it and then it hit me, plant a tree! The nice thing about planting a tree compared to flowers is the different heights you get as well as the texture in all seasons. So function and privacy, that's what I was looking for. I stumbled upon the Eastern Red Bud and I was sold...long lasting flowers, interesting shape, perfect for a small yard. I'm terrible with uploading photos, but I promise I will have some uploaded, including photos of this tree, hopefully in bloom.

Outdoor odds and ends

Haven't posted in a few days, but since it just turned spring thing have been a little slow. I'll try to post an update later this week on the progress of my seedlings. It was a busy weekend as I raked my yard and thatched the lawn to help in the lawn bouncing back. I tried to pick up as many leaves as possible, but Im actually going to let a few stay where they are so they can decompose into the yard or be mulched into the ground during the first cut.

One other project I worked on today was resetting the flagstone wall/flower bed I created 2 years ago. When I first created it, I had no idea how large my property was and made the mistake of just laying it out on where I and the realtor thought the property line was. However, I had a survey done and realized I had a few more feet of property...in Bergen County every inch is a welcome addition! So the stones are reset and I the ground is level so next weekend Ill probably lay some grass seed for my new lawn. One thing that I did discover today was my long time nemesis, Japanese knotweed. Japanese knotweed is a terrible terrible plant, and if I ever find the person who planted it on my property or surrounding neighbor's, I will make them some roots so they can deal with the pain this plant creates.

To offer a brief description Japanese knotweed is sometimes called the godzilla plant or false bamboo. It looks like bamboo, but its not...its much worse. Apparently it was brought to america in the 19th century as an ornamental, but no one realized the harm it would do. You may see it along the roadside along streams, thick stands of cane like structures that offer zero redeeming qualities. I didn't realize I had the plant because when I first moved in, it was the spring and it was not up yet, but when I realized what I had I knew the war was on.

See Japanese knotweed is not one battle and its over. No, its a long protracted war and whoever gives up first is the loser. You can cut it down, it will grow back. You can spray it with weed killer, it grows back. Try digging it up...only it needs less than 1/2 in" of root to create a new plant, and the roots go deep....so you see what I'm up against. I actually employed a multi pronged approach. Year one, hacked down the stands, bagged them for disposable so they wouldn't contaminate a landfill. Next, took a pick axe and axe to the older root structures to dig them out of the ground. As new shoots came up, I hit them with Round Up. I also employed a technique I read online where it was suggested I tarp over the area and eventually the plant dies....DO NOT DO THIS. I did this for over a year, when I pulled the tarp back at the end of last summer...the plant was growing in completing darkness. Granted it looked pathetic, but it was growing. I proceeded to dig out what roots I could, threw everything out and used weed killer. One approach that I may have had positive results with was cutting the canes and pouring weed killer directly into the canes. This gets to the roots quicker, which is what you want to do. I understand I may be doing this for a few more years, but I hope this will also become a tool to educate as there are not a lot of resources out there that discuss this topic. As more shoots come up, Ill take photos and post...and the ones I saw today? Those were dug up and disposed of.