Posted on 01/06/2024 6:43:23 AM PST by Diana in Wisconsin
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Love that meme. :-)
New Year, New Garden: 7 Resolutions for 2024
The best laid plans for the garden are usually made in the dead of winter, when short days give us long, cozy evenings to dream up a new project or pore over seed catalogues in anticipation of next summer’s borders. In a similar way, it’s a good time to make some resolutions and to implement changes to not only what you’ll plant but how you’ll maintain it all, too. Here then are some of my garden resolutions for 2024.
1. Keep a garden notebook.
How many times do you make a mental note and then very swiftly forget all about it? In the garden it’s all too easy to forget six months later, say, the exact position where you wanted to plant a swathe of spring bulbs, or the spot you were hoping to relocate a plant, or the name of the shrub you wanted to buy. A notebook is arguably the most underestimated tool for the gardener; making notes, lists, and sketches through the gardening year, both in your own garden and when visiting others, will keep plant names and plans all in one place.
2. Ditch the impulsive plant shopping.
In my garden there is always a table through the growing season of plants that have not yet found their spot—a collection of impulse purchases, bought during over-excited, under-planned visits to the plant nursery, that are then neglected there was never a set plan for them. As the season comes and goes, those plants stay on the table, an embarrassing reminder of my failure to properly plan. So this year I’m vowing to eradicate this habit and buy only the plants I already have a spot for.
3. Make more space for messiness.
As my garden margins have become messier—with nettles, brambles, wildflowers and weeds—the insect and bird life has boomed. It doesn’t take much to create habitats for wildlife: Undisturbed corners, dead hedges, log piles, fallen wood, leaf mounds will all provide useful hiding places and habitats for the creatures that are fundamental to the health and life of your garden. By leaving a variety of weeds to grow, you will also boost biodiversity too.
4. Boost the soil.
I can get a bit lazy in my approach to the annual mulch, but this past summer, while comparing my borders to pictures taken a few years ago, it became clear that it needed a significant boost come winter. I expect a lot from my garden, which features borders planted successionally so that there is something always in flower from late winter right through until November, and a rich mulch with organic matter will give it much needed nutrients for the growing season ahead. As I have very sandy, free draining soil in my garden, I prefer a rich mulch, either manure or Dalefoot’s Double Strength compost; both, of course, are peat-free.
5. Invest in naturalizing bulbs.
Of all the purchases we make as gardeners, there’s nothing quite like the sweet-shop frenzy of the spring bulb catalogues—the colors, the variety, the delicious smorgasbord of flowers that usher in spring. But tulips, perhaps the most popular of the spring bulbs, are one-hit wonders for most of us, even when planted in the garden. After years of one-season relationships with them, I’ve vowed to be more sustainable in my bulb choices, favoring naturalizing bulbs like narcissi and crocus (which are great for early pollinators) that will not only flower year after year but will also naturalize too, multiplying over time.
6. Maintain tools.
The best laid plans for the garden are usually made in the dead of winter, when short days give us long, cozy evenings to dream up a new project or pore over seed catalogues in anticipation of next summer’s borders. In a similar way, it’s a good time to make some resolutions and to implement changes to not only what you’ll plant but how you’ll maintain it all, too. Here then are some of my garden resolutions for 2024.
7. Take time to sit and stare.
Looking after a garden is hard work and it can become a tough task-master in the peak of summer when, despite all the beauty, there is always something to be weeded or watered, dead-headed or pruned. But make a restful corner to sit and take it all in. The weeds can wait but those moments are fleeting.
https://www.gardenista.com/posts/new-year-new-garden-resolutions-2024/
What did you learn from your 2023 garden?
Morning all! Expecting a little snow today, we have not had any in December. Just watching our 7 amaryllis bulbs and a pot of paperwhites. It will nice to see some flowers. Thanksgiving cactus still has a couple of buds left. It was my most precious gift this winter. We did some garden planning yesterday, decided to buy from a local good source most of our tomatoes. This will be a sauce year and we want to double our V8 quantity, we are doling out one quart a month of this precious nectar. We’ll have some tomatoes for eating but want to have room for more green veg. We put up so many shishitos last summer we are having them regularly with many dishes. We love them. Between the meat and fish and veg we have put in the freezer we are doing well having lots to cook. I started a capicola a few days ago. After Tuesday it will be 6 more weeks. I used to make a lot of cheese with our goats milk and even waxed some, but we found a guy who took two blocks of mild cheddar, brushed them lightly with vinegar and then vacuum sealed each one. Had one after 4 months and one about 4 months later. He said they aged beautifully. So we are trying that. Not much else going on. I wish it was spring already!
Good morning! A bit of snow for us today. Sounds like a more serious snow for Tuesday.
Have a question for you, are there any Hellebores that do well here in southern Wisconsin?
Been seeing them in my “gardening” searches on X. Mostly they are pictures from gardens in England where the arctic cold usually stays away.
From what I have read, they need some shade.
😊
“What did you learn from your 2023 garden?”
No more borage in the mixed flower pots. It did add a lot to the compost pile but grew so huge it shaded some tomatoes and peppers. I think we got it all (famous last words).
Meanwhile, it's time to cut back the roses - hate to do it b/c some are still blooming like this Henry Ford yellow rose:
And these iridescent blue/purple irises that decided to bloom early this year:
And, our Christmas visitor - kitty managed to hold her own and intimidated the large dog.
Thanks! :-)
That I’m getting old. Turn 80 in a couple weeks. To be 75 again...
> 1. Keep a garden notebook.
This. I took notes last year and they’re really useful. I just need to add more detail and organize better.
Think 90...... at a minimum!
I have some Lenten Roses that I found at a local nursery one year, and planted them under a Japanese maple. They have flourished! Very reliable. I’m in central Indiana. It has always gotten some shade there but it’s not full shade. I don’t know which variety they are.
What did I learn? Less is more. This year I tried really hard not to overbuy. I did pretty good, and was better at maintaining what I had purchased. Part of it was because our daughter was getting married, and I knew I would have a hard deadline on getting plants in the ground. It meant I didn’t spend as much time doing all the chores that go along with over-purchasing.
Also, hiring help has pluses and minuses. They can get things done quicker, but don’t do it to my standards either. I guess that makes it a draw. So I guess my plan will be to get help when I need it. Then do my detailing work after they’re finished.
Boston only recorded 7 completely dry weekends since June 1st.
aside from all of the rain. You might remember June being one of the cloudiest Junes on record and we couldn’t get a break from the humidity either. But in the rare event we didn’t have clouds or we didn’t have rain or we didn’t have humidity, then it was the smoke! Coming along with a record setting wildfire season in Canada, t
In calendar year 2023, Boston picked up less than a foot of snow, making it the 4th least on record!
The hottest year, however, doesn’t mean there was NO cold. In fact, one of the notable events was the arctic blast in early February! Temperatures fell to -13° in Worcester and -10° in Boston. Wind chills were in the -30s! For Boston it was the coldest low temperature since 1957!
On average, Massachusetts gets 2 tornadoes every year. This year gave us 8! They were lower end on the EF scale,- https://whdh.com/weather-blog/top-7-weather-stories-of-2023/
Now:
- https://whdh.com/weather-blog/storm-brings-snow-mix-and-wind-saturday-evening-through-sunday/
But glory be God, for His mercy endureth.
What I have learned is not to plant things that cabbage loopers love, and when I do, to plant them late, but not TOO late! (Which I did last year.) If you do plant them do not plant really tall plants, but short ones that you can still grow under covers. (Which I did.)
My winter broccoli is still growing under cover. I fertilized it again 2 days ago. Some heads are 3" across. I do not expect any rapid growth but I am not going to pull them up at this point. I dug up and used some leeks last week. They are perfectly happy with our 20F to 30F current low temperatures without any cover in the garden.
Garlic and multiplier onions are in the ground for next year. I think I will be cutting back my total plantings. Turnip and beets to the extent I can protect from squirrels. Some tomato plants (Thorburn's Terra Cotta and and a few other determinate varieties I have yet to decide on.) So maybe some bet alpha cucumbers that can grow without pollination under cover, some lettuce too.
Might start a pot with leeks soon. (Medium in larger size pots, sprinkle with leek seeds, water, put some hardware cloth over it to keep the squirrels out, put them outside in the garden in the shade look at them again in the spring.)
Your garden tableau is enchanting.......worthy of an art exhibit.
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