The Early Spring Garden....

[mdehners]

Where on the Florida Panhandle the Equinox was when most of the trees were sprouting leaves here in East Tennessee the Maples are blooming and the Dogwood buds are swelling. Only the Grape Hyacinths are blooming of those I planted but the Daffs, English Bluebells, Tulips and Dutch Hyacinths have all broken the surface. I've put the seedlings of the hardy Perennials I started earlier in the coldframes and will be replanting the tray Friday with more tender fare;>.
Last week I started 4 kinds of Heirloom Tomatoes which I'll pot out in 20 gal containers when the nights are regularly over 60F. I also have started some Pellitory, a medieval medical herb which is supposed to boost general Health. Hildegard of Bidgen's Herbal has a pinch of it added to pretty much every compound!
I've given up the idea of planting fruit trees in the ground due to my brother not being a Gardener and so let the Contractor cover the whole property with clay and rock infill. We'll see about containers since where I'd put them there is no irrigation. There IS the lake but with my health issues I don't see hauling buckets a reasonable choice;>....
Cheers,
Pat

Comments

Thoughts

[ysabetwordsmith]

>>Where on the Florida Panhandle the Equinox was when most of the trees were sprouting leaves here in East Tennessee the Maples are blooming and the Dogwood buds are swelling.<<

I'm in central Illinois. Maples are blooming, forsythia, snowdrops, snow crocus, giant crocus, and the first of the daffodils.

>>Last week I started 4 kinds of Heirloom Tomatoes which I'll pot out in 20 gal containers when the nights are regularly over 60F. I also have started some Pellitory, a medieval medical herb which is supposed to boost general Health. Hildegard of Bidgen's Herbal has a pinch of it added to pretty much every compound!<<

Cool. I have comfrey planted around some trees. It's a great miner plant that brings up nutrients from the subsoil. It can be slash-and-dropped several times in a growing season, or just mowed. The leaves make great fertilizer.

>> I've given up the idea of planting fruit trees in the ground due to my brother not being a Gardener and so let the Contractor cover the whole property with clay and rock infill. We'll see about containers since where I'd put them there is no irrigation. There IS the lake but with my health issues I don't see hauling buckets a reasonable choice;>.... <<

Options for dealing with clay/rock infill include but are not limited to:

* Buy topsoil to spread over it. This the fastest, easiest solution but the most expensive.

* Various places sell wildflower or native grass seed blends for drainage fields, infill, claybuster, etc. Shop around and look for things that suit your soil and climate. Not a lot will grow in rock/clay but some of the ones that will are quite colorful and will attract wildlife. This is a more affordable solution.

* If you want a cheap low-effort approach, consider sheet mulch aka lasagna gardening. You pile together sticks on the bottom, then layers of things like grass clippings, fallen leaves, compost, etc. ending with compost or topsoil as the upper layer. It can be planted immediately if you wish ... but you can also just sheet as much of your yard as you can cover, top with branches to hold it down, and let it rot down a while. This works especially well if you have neighbors willing to give you their greens and browns.

* Fruit trees can be grown in less-favorable conditions by digging a pit and sinking a few logs to hold water, then backfilling most of the pit with a mix of soil and compost before you put the tree in. That gives it a headstart.

* For low-maintenance water-handling, see permaculture. It uses things like hollows, swales, and buried logs to direct and hold water so you don't have to haul water.

* Any native species will tend to thrive on your local conditions. Make sure it gets enough water and food to establish in the first year or two, then after that it should take care of itself.

* For poor soil in Florida, the best fruit I can think of is called a beach plum or sand cherry. Fruit comes in all colors, varies widely in quality (because they're usually grown from seed) and ranges in size from cherry to plum. Some are quite tasty, and as the name implies, they can survive salt, sand, clay, and other challenges.

* If you have lakefront property, you can just plant things near the lake that need more water. Anything with reasonably deep roots should do well there, and you won't have to haul it. Again, permaculture references have a lot of information about figuring out your water flow and how to plant accordingly to minimize work.

* For health limitations, containers are a great choice. They minimize bending, and you can put larger pots on a trolley to wheel them around. But they do need more frequent watering, so you'd need a way to do that.

Re: Thoughts

[mdehners]

I'm basically going to do a version of Lasagna Gardening where you act like you're planting a raised bed....without the sides;>! It esp works well on clay where it ends up creating a number of moisture levels; well draining, moist and damp. For some reason this yr my orders are arriving easier here than they did when we lived in Florida. Nurseries in one case for more than a decade....
Cheers,
Pat

Re: Thoughts

[ysabetwordsmith]

>> I'm basically going to do a version of Lasagna Gardening where you act like you're planting a raised bed....without the sides;>! It esp works well on clay where it ends up creating a number of moisture levels; well draining, moist and damp. <<

That sounds like a great idea for your situation.

Just remember: It takes nature about a century to make an inch of topsoil. An industrious human can do it in about 2 weeks. A lazy human can do it in several months to a year. \o/