YOUR GUIDE TO THE TWIN CITIES
How do you un-garden?
Posted on April 25th, 2006 – 5:33 PMBy Jaime Chismar
My tomato seedlings sprouted their second leaves and are almost big enough to transplant into larger containers.
While I wait for the final frost date, I’ve been checking out the sunnier locations in our yard.
In the back yard, shade creeps over my raised beds around four o’clock. Last year, it worked great for beans, greens and cukes, but not so great for tomatoes and peppers.
In the front yard, we have a sad little butterfly garden (eh hem… thistle patch). Planted by a previous homeowner, it is woefully neglected by the current residents. The coneflower has overtaken the sedum. The decorative rocks have sunken into the ground. This spring, one tulip popped up — vividly orange and hopelessly lonely.
Obviously, a garden makeover is long over due. Plus, it gets full sun all day long, perfect for my heat loving veggies.
Should I try to interplant some tomatoes, peppers and herbs with the current landscaping? Or should I rip out the neglected plants and start all over?
What do you do with unwanted but perfectly healthy plants?
Is it worth the twenty bucks to get my soil tested?
What other resources do you recommend?
Basically, how do you un-garden?
16 Responses to "How do you un-garden?"
Rip them out and start over. Do you like the current plants? It doesn’t sound like it. I think sedum is one of the ugliest plants in the garden (I’m in the minority on that one), but everyone has plants they don’t like. Lots of European gardens have veggies in the front yard. Why not here, too?
Give the plants away. Tell your friends and coworkers that on a certain date you’re getting rid of perennials, and invite them to help. This is a great time of year to transplant most perennials. Compost what’s left over. The plants aren’t really wasted that way. Don’t put daylilys in the compost, though. Those things can live for years in there.
You can buy a soil test kit for $5 to $10 and do the test yourself. I don’t really think it’s neccasary. My grandfather was an amazing gardener. He naver tested the soil. Everthing grew for him.
I love the Mrs. Greenthumbs books. She wasn’t a big fan of vegies, but the ideas can be used in any type of garden. Her section on removing overgrown bamboo is amazingly funny. Have a machete and a mai tai ready.
My neighbor knows people that have an annual plant exchange. Ask around & see if your neighborhood has one or just wants plants. Try schools, churches etc. TC Free market. Or if you know anyone having a yard sale ask if you can set up a table & sell your flowers. Might as well try to make the flowers pay for the veg. I’ve also seen people try to sell them through the thrifties section in that other paper. My front yard is turning into a no mow flower spot but this year, I,m adding a salsa garden. So what if the mailman nabs a few tomatoes, at least they have a better chance of growing there.
I really think that all you have to do is take a few bucketsful (bucketfuls?) to work. Folks do that at our school and things either are taken or some industrious soul plants them on the school grounds. Once in a while, in our neighborhood someone will just put a few things out at the edge of the lawn with a “take me I’m free” sign. I’d probably go with this route if you were going to be working in that area just in case some thought it would be fun to take them and throw them around and make a big mess.
I’d probably take out all the plants, then replant what I liked and give away the rest. I think a combo veggie/flower bed in the front yard is a great idea.
At our old house, I had to grow all my vegetables in the front yard because the back was completely shaded. I was always conscious of keeping it looking nice. In my current fenced-off area, I can use kooky contraptions as plant supports (like my old round tomato cages strung up with twine for the peas). However, in the old front yard garden I had a nice tutuer for the beans and those cool-looking spiral tomato supports.
An added bonus is that when you work outside in the front, you meet a lot more of your neighbors (as long as you can put up with a lot of well-intentioned gardening advice).
As for the soil test, I’ve never done it and things seem to grow if they have enough compost and water. I think the soil in the Twin Cities is generally pretty good, not too acid and not too alkaline. Most other soil deficiencies will eventually be taken care of by the compost.
BTW - Thanks for the add to your links list!
GO FOR IT!!! Utilize what you have. I think it would be great to final see something other than just flowers in someone’s front yard. Think about it, most people hide the bounty of their gardens in the back yard. Why not bring some of that bounty out front for the whole world to see?
“Say, those woodchips look much better than those weeds!”
I know our house used to be a rental property, but it isn’t condemed, geez.
A big, beautiful veggie garden in the front yard would surely peek their curiosity.
Go for it greengirl! If the garden is tidy and visually interesting most people passing by will be pleased and probably curious (so, what is that?).Might be a opportunity to feature some object d’ arte that won’t fit in the veggie space out back.
As for the overage of plants: I have had good luck with potting them up and lining them up on the sidewalk with a sign ” homeless, please help” I include a popsicle stick with identification and they get new life somewhere else. Any leftovers that start to look bad hit the compost.
Do you have a hot part of your driveway that you don’t use? I have had amazing success growing tomatoes in 15 gallon “grow bags” on the driveway. They love the extra heat.
I agree with most everyone else. Rip it out and start over. People will love you for giving away your extra plants. I now have a nice little herb garden where some ferns used to be.
What containers are you going to use to transplant your tomatoes? I started my plants from seed this year too. I’ve been using half gallon milk containers and to say the least am not wild about them. I cut them in half and cut holes in the bottom of them. Any suggestions?
Make newspaper containers. Cut a sheet of newsprint in about six strips, wrap a strip around a can (I used tomato paste size cans), crimp the bottom edge shut, and secure with two pieces of clear tape. Fill with potting soil and add a plant or seeds. When you transplant them outside, all you have to do is tear off the bottom of the pot and plant it. Newspaper breaks down faster than peat pots, and is a lot cheaper. For the price of one Sunday paper, you can make enough pots to cover your neighborhood. Well, maybe just your yard.
Use whatever you have for pots. Our dog needs yogurt for a dietary problem so I use the containers by punching holes in the bottom, if you use ice cream, use the box. Don’t forget the pots that you saved from your last greenhouse purchase. I still save good ones and recyle the ones that have had it. This also gives me something to give away some of the children of the overacheiver plants.
I agree with the rip ‘em out and plant what you want crowd. Our herb garden is 1/3 of our front yard and we’ve grown tomatoes there in past seasons. You gotta go with where the sun provides.
We had a big garden move project this spring so we moved a lot of plants around. We gave some away by putting a free-please-take sign in our front native prairie plot.
Longfellow is having a plant swap on May 10th and here in CARAG we’re having one on May 20th. It’s a little late, but we’re really going for the freebies - hosta, daylilies, coneflower. Here it’s part of an effort to get more boulevards off the grass and into plants.
If anyone has extras of this stuff, we’ll take ‘em here in Uptown. We have limited public gardening space so we’re trying to get the boulevards to green up as we explore optons for community gardening.
Stephen, I live really close to longfellow and some daylillies that need a new home. Do you have more information on the plant swap on the 10th? I would love to give them a new home, my raspberries have taken them over and they haven’t flowered in 2 years as a result (but they are still happy, healthy plants!)
If you think you need to hide the view just get a 4 x 8 sheet of lattice and some 1 x 2 x 3/4 pine boards.
Cut the lattice into 4′ x 2′ sections. Use an old saw blade and eye protection. The saw will cut through the brads.
Frame with 1″ x 2″ x 3/4″ pine. In other words make a U; the lattice goes inside the U frame.
Screw two hinges per frame so you can adjust to the curve of the bed and paint the whole thing white or maybe the color of the house trim.
Place the screen towards the street. Border in front with dwarf marigolds. These will also keep the rabbits away.
You may have to put in long 12″ nails to hold it against the wind. (About .75 cents each at HD)
patg
I learned something here! Thanks!
My question is “Do you cut off the leaves of the Day Lillies when you transplant them?”
Thanks,
Frank
Greengirls Connie Nelson, Robyn Dochterman and Jaime Chismar are dishin' the dirt from the backyard garden and beyond. Whether you're a greenthumb or greenhorn, they're eager to learn from your misshaps, mistakes -- and most importantly, your sweet successes -- all growing season long.
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