Edible Garden

I am green with envy!   Here's the entrance to the kitchen garden at Lara Plantation outside New Orleans. 

I want my poor little edible garden to be more attractive and am looking for inspiration!   This is definitely inspiration!   Maybe I can emulate some of this - but on a smaller scale!

Love how the fruit trees line this annual bed!

 

And what a pretty cucumber support!   Check out the bottle edging. 

  More bottle edging around this peach tree.   This star design would fit any Texas garden!

I think this little bromeliad (?) is strictly for looks.   But mixing edible and decorative is what's happening these days.   I've tried to include a few herbs in random spots of the garden - tomatoes too, but without much fruit success. 

 Pumpkins on this short 'pillars' just for fun!

 

I do wonder if they grew their food in raised beds when this was a working plantation - talk about ahead of their time!   This is the only 'banana' picture I got.   See the banana plants in the back left?  The bananas were planted in small circular beds - about 6'.  More trimming around the beds but easier harvest of the bananas.

I have shyed away from separate beds in the edible garden - I think I was afraid of getting a wily-nilly look.   But I think I'll try to mix things up a little bit now. 

Saving water without creating a desert landscape

Water – or the lack thereof – is the main topic of conversation lately. Given the need for water conservation, we should all be prepared to adjust how we garden. We want to focus on choosing plants that are appropriate to the site and creating a landscape that can be maintained with little supplemental watering. Don’t be fooled into thinking we are talking about barren landscapes full of cactus, agaves, and other thorny plants. Water-wise gardening can be applied to any type of garden.
Today lets go over the seven principals to water-wise gardening.
1. Planning and Design - Look at your garden’s topography, exposure and soil. Don’t fight your site but create planting zones and group your plants by their needs. For example, place drought tolerant plants in areas exposed to full sun and give more tender plants some partial shade or place them near a water source.
2. Appropriate Plant Material - Select plants that thrive in your area during low water conditions. Most, but not all, will be native plants. You may include a few plants that need to be coddled but don’t overdo it. The staff at your local nursery can help you with plant selection - but I love to drive around and see what is thriving. We all see those landscaped that look abandoned but have plants and trees that still look healthy. Give them a try
3. Soil Improvement - Great gardens start with great soil. A great soil is one that water penetrates easily but that also retains moisture. It is loose and full of organic matter. Compost and other organic matter should be worked into a planting bed prior to planting. If you have heavy clay, you may want to add expanded shale. You can find detailed information on soil improvement by googling Earth-kind.
4. Mulch - Mulch will moderate the soil temperature, hold moisture, slow erosion and suppress the weeds that compete with your plants for water and nutrients. Apply about 4 inches of mulch at planting and replenish once or twice a year. As your mulch decomposes, it feeds the soil. Our high temperatures cause organic matter to decompose quicker so we must replenish more often. Mulches can be wood chips, hay, leaves, or any organic material.
5. Appropriate Turf Areas - Most of us still want some areas of lawn in our landscapes. Where you place your lawn should be part of your initial plan. Take into consideration what you plan to use the lawn for. Most lawn grasses require more water, fertilizer and maintenance than other groundcovers.
6. Efficient Watering - If you followed the planning step, you have probably already grouped your plants by their water needs. Drip irrigation systems are often recommended for efficient watering. Time of day and length and frequency of irrigation are also considerations. .
7. Appropriate Maintenance - even a water-wise garden requires maintenance. Watering, weeding, pruning, and pest management will all factor into the quality of your landscape. Pests and disease first attack plants that are under stress. Don’t deny fertilizer or supplemental watering when needed.

Whether you're creating a new garden from scratch or updating and existing one, keep in mind these principals. Built plants will love you for it!

Water-wise Gardening

With water shortages and restrictions implemented all over the state, it's always a good time to talk about water-wise gardening.    If you've heard the term xeriscaping, it's the same concepts.   The term, "xeriscaping" made people think of desert plants with rock mulches so many gardeners didn't think it was for them.   But water-wise gardens can be lush and opulent.  Check out the design below from Cactus Jack Designs.  

All the plants used in this landscape are low water users - well, with the exception of those Boston ferns in front bed - with or without those few ferns, this planting is both lush and welcoming
There are seven principles to a successful water-wise garden
1. Plan - determine where the dry and wet areas of the project are and group the plant material accordingly.
2. Prepare the soil - add organic material to sandy soils so they will retain moisture and add expanded shale (or similar small rock) to clay soils to loosen it and add cracks and crevices for water to run into
3. Plant selection - choose plants that can survive and flourish with natural rainfall. All plants will need additional irrigation at planting and while they are becoming established in their new home. They will also need supplemental irritations during extreme heat and winds. Of course. Native plants will work but so will many that have been cultivated from other areas. You need not worry about a lack of choices.
4. Mulch - bare soil wastes water through evaporation. Mulches conserve water for the plants use. My favorite mulch is native wood chips but you can use hay, rock, seashells, or groundcover plants.
5. Turf areas - lawn grasses are heavy water users. There is a movement to remove lawns but i cant imagine my yard with no lawn. It cools the ground and gives the eye a place to rest as it moves across the landscape. Make sure your sodded areas have a purpose (playing and picnics?) and that they are maintained in a responsible manner.
6. Efficient watering - not all plants need the same amount of watering. Group plants with like irrigation needs together. Like the ferns in the top photo - they would not be a good partner succulents, most palms, or native south Texas plants.
7. Appropriate maintenance - all gardens need care from time to time - pruning, dead-heading, mulching, watering - an hour here and there and you'll have paradise in your own backyard.

Tree Topping

Just wanted to reiterate once again that topping trees is a VERY BAD practice.   Tree topping is when someone goes in and cuts big branches off leaving no folliage at all.    It leaves you with large wounds and weak branches.   The large wounds make your tree vulnerable to disease and pest problems.   I mean, what great entry points for them!   The weak branches (when they finally do grow back) are likely to break in high winds.    The trees below were topped months and months ago!   This is how they look today.   I don't see much beauty there.   How about you? 

October in the Garden

October finds south Texas in the middle of its second growing season.  It's a great month for planting!

If you are planting spring wildflower seed, you will want to get it into the ground before November 15th.   A bluebonnets hard seed coating breaks down slowly with rain and heat.   When purchasing bluebonnet seed, look for “scarified” or treated seed to ensure quick germination.  Bluebonnet seed germinates in the fall, grows a rosette of leaves and lots of roots during the winter, and blooms in the spring.  Natural rainfall is usually sufficient to grow wildflowers.    Nastursiums should be treated much like bluebonnets.  I never could grow this lovely bright annual until a friend told me to plant it by Halloween.  Like magic, we had an abundance of nastursiums the following spring.   Both the leaves and flowers are edible.   The leaves have a peppery flavor and are a good substitute for watercress.   Use them on sandwiches or in salads.  

Back to gardening . . . .   Divide your spring-blooming perennials (Shasta daisy, daylily, amaryllis and iris). When clumps grow thick and don’t bloom well, it’s time to divide them – about every 2 to 4 years. Large clumps can be divided with a shovel. Add organic matter and compost to the planting bed before replanting your newly divided perennials. 

Your shrubs will benefit from a light pruning and fertilizing right now.   In particular all lantanas are probably pretty overgrown and leggy.   Mine were covered with mealy bugs so I trimmed them WAY back to remove the pest - probably overdid it a bit, but at least I don't have to mess with the mealybugs . . . .

Cold weather crops can still be added to your planting beds:  broccoli, brussel sprouts, carrots, cauliflowers, eggplant, lettuce, onions, and spinach are some staples in our winter vegetable garden.  Carrots are the only thing I'll plant with seed -  Tomatoes aren't considered a cool season crop, but we should have enough warm days ahead that we've added some new plants.  We've also kept three tomatoes and a couple of bell peppers from the spring garden and have pruned them back.   We'll see how they do. 

Pick your vegetables and flowers to keep the plants producing. Likewise, trim your herbs will keep them growing. Encourage leaf growth by removing the flowers. Plants won’t use as much water during cooler months so reduce your watering.

The fall is the best time to plant trees.  We've FINALLY planted a lime tree this morning and have spots picked out for six new live oaks to line the back of our yard. 

Don't you love Fall?   Get out there and grow something!

Walk With Me

What gardener doesn't love to begin the day with a stroll through the garden? Years ago we had an open patio surrounded by planting beds that was my favored spot to begin my day - I'd course, I was almost always drawn into the lawn to survey other garden areas. Call me prissy, but I have an aversion to walking through grass before the dew has lifted. Damp grass clippings stuck to my feet just ruins a nice stroll for me.

Paths and sidewalks are such an important part of a garden plan.

Of course, the most basic of sidewalks is the one leading to your front door.  Almost every home has some type of hardscape here.   Ours is concrete with outdoor tiles.   There is some great looking stamped concrete that has this very look. 

In the back, you will find pavers laid in sand. We didn't want grass here and the sidewalk not only gives us access to the patio but also divides this deep planting area into two more managable beds.

Leading out to the firepit are large stepping stones.   These require a bit more maintanence than a fixed sidewalk but the cost is minimal, the look is inviting, and the plan can be changed as I change my mind.

And lastly (at least, for this post), is our newest and my current favorite walkway - a "boardwalk" through our shade  garden.  This is a low area that sometimes stand in water when we flood irrigate the yard.   We had talked about installing a "bridge" over a large bed of asiatic jasmine, but then, went ahead and built our bridge the entire length of this garden.   A major bonus is that instead of one huge planting bed, we now have two small ones - so much easier to design and maintain! 

Garden Crossroads

I find myself at a gardening crossroads concerning our vegetable garden.    Twelve years ago, we chose this sunny spot for herbs and vegetables.   Hubby brought in some nice light soil.     A few years later we lined it with some old, old, OLD  railroad ties and then subdivided the beds with some large salvaged square posts.    Those bed dividers also serve as paths and work spaces.   We can reach any part of the planting beds from one of these paths.   This all worked fairly well until the wood began to rot.   Now there are spots where I really don't want my grandchildren - or my mother - strolling.

This is what the garden looked like at the beginning of this spring growing season. 
You can see that land just outside one edge slopes down to the pastures.   The two closest beds contain herbs and the farthest bed houses the asparagus.  I think we planted the asparagus in 04 or 05 and are now getting a pretty steady supply of spears.   The compost bins are housed in another bed behind a small trellis.   There is a keyhole garden directly behind the bench.

  As much as I love growing herbs and vegetables, I have found that I work really hard getting things planted and then forget (i.e. ignore) this edible garden.   Which leads me to my big dilema - what direction do I want to take here?  

• This fall, we will be installing live oak trees along the pasture fenceline -  should we extend the shade tree planting and make this a nice shady space?
• Simple rectangular raised beds?  
• Something a little more naturalistic.  I was reading another gardening blog, Hoe & Shovel, and her edible garden is as beautiful as the rest of the landscape.   We have been ammending this soil for the past twelve years - I hate to waste all that effort on sod . . .

Thankfully, it's just to darn hot right now to take on any big projects - so, I'll just mull this over a bit longer.  Guess I need to begin a pros and cons list of the options. . . .