I'm learning more than contributing (being a newbie gardener), but I've found that watering everyday helps my plants more than deeply a few times a week. My plants would be drooping (and probably near death), if I went several days without watering. In the warm weather, sometimes I water twice a day. Especially after I put in new plants.
I make my own compost with kitchen vegetable scraps, leaves, grass, coffee grinds, etc. and add that into the flower beds in spring and fall. I also use Miracle Grow once a week through the growing season. Can a plant ever get too much of a good thing?

Its all in the SOIL. I have a good friend who is a fairly knowledable gardener and has a wonderful sense of design. If she hadn't "slept through the SOIL portion of the class" she would have an award winning garden. She has never ammended her soil, doesn't mulch her beds and never puts out any fertilizer. Some of her plants have done very well but she often complains that many of her plants die and she seems to be oblivious to the fact that she has poor soil and rotten drainage in the area where she loses many plants. Moisture, location, etc., are important, however, if you don't have a good foundation you are fighting an uphill battle IMHO. Vikki

Actually, yes...they can get too much of a good thing. There are some plants that really don't bloom well if they are fertilized too much. Ask me how I know. ;)

Steven, there are a few things that stand out for me in what you wrote. First, you are truly blessed to have rich soil. I'm sure you have worked hard to address the drainage issues - I've gardened in California adobe myself! Whew. And second, you are fortunate to be able to invest in those healthy plants (and plenty of 'em). I'm sure it's a matter of priorities to some extent - do I buy the Rolls or the Japanese maple? LOL And third, you figured out that the standard advice may not fit your particular patch.

I'll try not to let this turn into a whine but (1) my soil has extreme drainage (way too good) because it is pure white sand. That also means that it is not rich. To some extent I have to do the same things you do - add organic material to improve texture - but I also have to fertilize often and work on ph. (2)There is no way I can afford to buy those plants from the nursery. Did anyone see my post about the $9 salvia splendens? ONE plant...$9! My income barely covers insurance and gasoline to get to work. Forget about eating out, vacations, movies, or plants from the fancy places. I have located a nursery way out in the country and I shop there twice a year - in spring when he has a sale and midsummer when he sells out before his late summer closing. Not much variety, uneven quality, oh well. Otherwise I am stuck with what I find at the big box stores (and I often can't work that into the budget) or growing from seed. Try that in sand. I'm saving up for a bag of mushroom compost. (3)The frequent watering rule doesn't apply here either. We have had rainstorms dumping 3 inches of rain during the night and the next morning the "soil" was almost dry. In a way it is futile to make general statements like that one about watering because there is such an enormous difference in environments. I also don't grow herbs or tomatoes in direct sun. Regardless of the experts' advice, that just doesn't work here.

Point being...you, Steven, like any good gardener, have figured out what works for YOU. It helps hugely that you also have a great eye for arrangement, color, and hardscape design. There are people with all the advantages in the world who couldn't make a garden look appealing. A large part of your garden's charm is the reflection of your creativity, talent, and taste.

Every one of us is working a more or less different problem because of the variations in soil, climate, budget, physical ability, availability of time to spend, etc., etc. It is hard not to feel envious of someone else's gorgeous results and it's hard not to become discouraged by things like the well going dry or hail storms blasting your hostas. But the more difficult the circumstances, the more meaningful the successes...even if they don't look that way to someone who isn't aware of the battle.

Steven,
To what extent do you start things from seed? Have you found that to be a helpful tool at all in saving money and growing strong plants?
As far as amending your soil, is that something you expect to do every year or is setting the good foundation enough to carry things through?

In a year I decided to ungarden, which has turned out to be a year the garden has to be the last of my concerns, it is better than ever. I planted only tomatoes and a few veggie seeds this year, everything else either self-seeded or was already there. The only thing I did do was add compost to everything. In January I bought and added chicken manure, alfalfa pellets and composted redwood bark in equal quantities to my homemade compost to get a larger amount ($20 total plus what I had on hand). I spread this as far as it would go, two inches on roses and other heavy feeders and one inch in most beds. My annuals, zinnias and cosmos and others, and anything that wants to grow tall are all four or five feet this year. Typically I have used fertilizers once a month and my garden was looking more and more straggly each year. Salt build up from fertilizers is evidently an issue here. So I am chiming in to say compost does make a difference.

Ok, I gotta chime in and offer support to those of you, like myself, that are lamenting our lack of 'steveningen-success'. You should be in my shoes with him part of the family. And me, with a horticulture degree! Geez. I'm with you this year, Debbie - in 'ungarden' mode. We are having very atypical amounts of rain this year in Central Texas and the hybrid antique roses that I planted because they were ever-blooming and fairly resistent to Black Spot look just awful. The weeds are taking over faster than I can pull and my specimen tree-form Eleagnus is threatening to fall over from the constant wet soil. I have it propped up with a 2x4. I hope it doesn't die because I love it. I mean, have any of you ever seen a tree-form Eleagnus before?

So, one key feature that has been left out of what makes the difference in Steven's garden is that 1) Steven is a little spitball of energy - barely ever still, and 2) he and Brian are perfectly matched and complementary pair in skills, ideas and temperament. Staying at their house is like being at a Bed & Breakfast (and has been since they moved in together). And I must say that although Brian has always been a creative force, I really saw the nesting come out when he and Steven got together. So, looking at what they've done much less going for a visit is not for the weak of ego and self-esteem.

My bro picked good, though, didn't he? BTW, BIL - love the hocks, hon! Muff

Well prepared soil with exceptional drainage.....I have sandy clay, hard as a rock. They don't sell compost here and I have very little material to make compost with. The wind blows any leaves that fall to the four corners of the earth. I add baled straw to my gardens and till it in and wait for it breakdown. I also add aged cow manure. It has to be scraped off the calf lot and corrals each spring so I wait for a year and then dig what I need from the giant piles. Not exactly what is traditionally thought of as compost but it's the best I can do. I'm sure it makes a huge difference over the native soil. We dig worms from the flower bed when we want to go fishing, it's loaded with worms.

Starting with very well started plants from a reputable nursery, giving them a head start.....I drive 50 to 100 miles to get to a nursery of any kind. They are very small and mostly just a single hoop house. The variety is minimal and they mostly carry trees/shrubs imported from larger growers and annuals. Most of my plants have been ordered online which is a gamble at best. The shipping can also be prohibitive when that's the only way you can get plants.

Close planting. The plants shade out any weeds that might navigate the mulch.....I space my plants as suggested by the tags or my own previous knowledge on how large said plant grows. I have a lot of space to fill with few plant resources and also physical disability doesn't allow me the luxury of moving things around. I plan to get a hoophouse of my own set up so I can attempt growing what I want, myself. I have all the materials but need a strong person to assist me in the construction. DH will find the time one of these days.

Faithful watering. What gave you the notion to water for 15 minutes daily rather than deeper watering a few times a week? Must reflect back to the drainage?.....We have drought here more years than not. I water about once a week to keep things living. This has ended up to work for me because if a plant can't take the conditions it must survive in then it's not the right plant for my garden. I loose far more flowers to the cold winters than I do to lack of water. Actually, I've never lost a plant to lack of water.

Do you fertilize on some schedule, or is the soil just that well amended?.....I throw in some Osmocote when planting and once more during each season.

Regular grooming to remove any unattractive leaves or other ugly parts....I deadhead but usually once the plant is done blooming completely not as the flowers fade. I move too slowly to keep up with that and weeding at the same time and weeds are the biggest battle.

Absence of predators: Do you have a spray schedule, or are there enough 'good bugs' to override the 'bad bugs'?.....there are a lot of bugs that are attracted to my garden but I find that there are host weeds near by that they concentrate on. Grasshoppers are the WORST problem and I do use Sevin dust on my veggies to keep them under control but I don't use it on the flowers. Grasshoppers will eat the buds off of the vegetables thereby leaving you no food. Other than that survival of the fittest rules here.

The rest of us live in the wrong microclimate.....extreme heat and humidity in summer and extreme cold and heavy snow most winters. I only buy whats hardy to zone 4 even though the experts call this zone 5. Everything I've tried that's rated for zone 5 has died. Choices for zone 4 are pretty limited so I will be using a lot more annuals once I get the hoophouse going. The only flower that has grown for me with direct seeding is zinnias and winter sowing has been a total waste of time because of the early spring temperature swings (90 one day, hard freeze the next).
I'm sure there are other 'tips' that I've not thought of.....LOL don't try to garden if you have goats or chickens in the same space. Chickens scratch to no end. They will bury small plants with mulch and they mix the soil with the mulch so badly that mulching for weed control is a joke. I now have to weed the mulch. At least the weeds are easier to pull now. And goats, well, they think my garden plants/trees/shrubs are a tasty dessert compared to the acres of weeds that they could be eating. Makes one wish they had a neighbor who picked their flowers instead LOL!

I think everyone has their own battles that are never addressed in the garden books or magazines. You just have to take the knowledge you've read over and over again and take from it what you can, improvise on the rest and enjoy what fruits the earth will allow you in your own garden. While I love looking at pictures of Steven's garden and I find it incredibly beautiful, I honestly can't say that I love his more than mine. All the hurdles that I've come to and then overcome makes each and every blooming flower that much more special to me. My situation has forced me to learn more, work smarter, and try things I never would have tried before. Ultimately it's been far more satisfying than simply throwing money at it which is basically what I did when I gardened in the city.

MeMo

I'm with Vikki. For years (forever?) my mantra has been compost, compost, compost. The source can be from many different things but as long as it helps retain nutrients and water, you're on the right path to a beautiful garden. I'm also a huge fan of composted manure. All my roses get planted with a mix of it and our native sandy soil, plus a handful of alfalfa meal. The beds get dressed with it, too. A light mulch on top and regular watering keeps everything happy.

This has all been put to the test for many years in my microclimate (that Sunset has FINALLY given a zone), but especially this last week. We are having record temps for this time of year, mid to high 90s, and hot dry winds from the east. Still, most everything looks good with the exception of some seedlings I set out before knowing the heat was coming. I've given them extra water the last few days and they seem to be bouncing back. Roses haven't missed a beat and some are actually doing better than usual for this time of year.

And I agree, you can have too much of a good thing, especially some of the synthetic fertilizers. I never use them and haven't seen a need to do so. I have used them on annuals in containers where the water quickly leaches out the nutrients. I'm also a frequent deadheader on plants that need it to continue blooming, which applies to most. If I didn't want blooms I'd have a totally different style of garden. YMMV.

I grow from seeds, cuttings, and nursery plants - it's all good. : )

Diana

Garden soil
My soil in clay. When too wet its gummy when too dry its like rock. I have added lots and lots of compost over the years. I've also added some peat moss, steer manure, horse manure and mushroom manure. Basically what ever is available to improve the soil. The back part of my property is fill....filled with sand. I have treated it with the same ammendments and that soil back there is quite nice now. There is also the area where it slopes down into a gully....this area is where we compost. We have gained back quite a bit of flat land from doing that...and that is now my holding bed for plants. The soil is good in this spot.

Ferilizer.
No fertilizer is used...just the soil ammendments. I am going to try alfalfa pellets around the bearded iris though and see if this gives them a boost. The pots and barrels...get fertilized supposedly twice a week...but are lucky to get it once.

The plants.
Well, I start a lot of plants from seed every spring. Part of the fun is watching them sprout and then mature in the garden. And yes that is perennials, biennials and annuals. It doesn't bother me to have to wait a year or two for the perennials to flower...most are well worth the wait. I have started hostas, peonies, daylilies and martagon lilies from seed.....so it can be done. I buy bulbs, and bareroot plants mostly. Occassionally, if I find some small 2 or 4 inch pots of something, I would like to try in the garden, I will buy them. I never buy large established plants. For me the fun is in the accomplishment, not really the final view. Oh ya and I buy plants at the big box stores..as long as they grow...I don't care. Oh and I also take cuttings...right now I have cuttings from my bridal wreath spirea and john davis roses sitting in the greenhouse.

Planting.
When I started out, I planted everything pretty close...it DOES NOT CHOKE OUT THE WEEDS!!!! As the garden has gotten larger.....I just find it easier to thin plants and leave space for getting in to weed. About every 3 or so years...it gets a good thinning. Of course last year...it got thinned by the mice...so now there is even more space than what I would normally allow. But it will grow back in time......

Pots and barrels...get planted crowded.....I just like the look better.

Watering.
I use soaker hoses in the garden, haven't really gotten into the routine this year, because of the strange weather....but normally the soakers are on once or twice a week depending on the weather. We also have water restrictions so can only water every second day. Pots and barrels get watered by hand....with the hose not the watering can. LOL. 2 to 3 times a week...depending again on the weather. The hanging fushcias soak in buckets at least once a week.

Bugs.
Yup lots of bugs...good and bad. This year aphids are a big problem. If you walk through my garden, you will see bug damage....but...I also have lots of birds and butterflys and bees.....and that is why I don't spray anything unless I really really have to.

There are many of the challenges here that you all have, plus I have the danger of wildlife going through my garden. This year, I have seen 2 black bears in my yard. Lets hope the deer and moose stay away, my garden isn't a salad bar! LOL!!! There are the mice in winter as I found out last year. And the weather, frosts and hail.

"Choices for zone 4 are pretty limited"
MeMo, LOL! My dear you have more plant choices that what I have. I can understand the frustrations, but you can still have a beautiful garden with zone 4 plants. I live kind of up on a mountain.......so I am zone 2...there is a garden I am working at that is down the mountain...its really not that far...but yet things will grow there that won't grow in my garden. I figure zone 3 or almost 4 there. I have learned to just be happy with what grows.

Sierra

Lol - I'll have to admit to a bit of envy at the difference between Steven's 2007 garden and my own. So...
"Let's examine what makes the difference..."

Well prepared soil with exceptional drainage. - I can definitely tell the difference between the areas we did lasagna gardens vs the existing borders I just threw a little bit of compost on top! We have clay soil here - I can tell it will help as I add more amendments to the existing borders. (The flower border is semi-lasagna - I didn't dare add too much since it was near tree roots.)

Starting with very well started plants from a reputable nursery, giving them a head start. - A combination of moving stuff from the old house, Bluestone, seeds (started inside or directly). The larger plants I moved didn't necessarily do too well - I probably should've cut them back more.

Close planting. The plants shade out any weeds that might navigate the mulch. - I couldn't afford to do that with the area I wanted to cover and still have the big stuff in about the right place eventually. So, I do have a lot of empty areas.

Faithful watering. - I'm trying on this one. The rear border seems to be doing ok with one overnight soak per week (soaker hose on really, really low drip). I probably ought to set up a short one for the shade border - I've lost one astilbe already, and stressed my columbine a couple of times.

Do you fertilize on some schedule, or is the soil just that well amended? - I try for mainly amendments - this is one of the things I am bad about keeping up with.

Regular grooming to remove any unattractive leaves or other ugly parts. - I'm *definitely* bad about keeping up with this! It doesn't help that I seem to have misplaced my pruning shears...

Absence of predators: Do you have a spray schedule, or are there enough 'good bugs' to override the 'bad bugs'? No spraying, except for horticultural oil on the shrub roses in February which seems to have helped get rid of the buggies that were munching the leaves (I forget the name). I'm sure the new house has some different ones than the old one, but I try for diversity and attracting good bugs.

Oh, and apparently, the catananche really *did* want sandy soil - it hasn't done too well. The one that didn't get munched is looking pretty poorly. :(

And, Muffy Jane, I think you are right that being a spitball of energy helps! I get exhausted just *reading* Steven's project weekend posts!

Of course, it doesn't help that he got to start a month or two earlier than me! And I wasn't able to splurge on annuals to fill in my gaps other than some seeds and a couple of hanging baskets - and I'm still waiting for blooms from the seeds. Next year I want to try winter-sowing and see if that helps...

Enjoyable thread everyone-thanks to Steven for starting it ! I just wanted to comment on a couple of things , first the soil issue.I agree that this is everything-the type of results I had as a new gardener 25 years ago or so vs. what I have now, I feel is very much relative to the health of my soil.It is something I work on constantly.

As far as watering goes, what Steven is doing (15 minutes each day)is a tecnique espoused by many drip irrigation specialists--the idea is to replace the water that is used and transpired by the plants each day (evapo-transpiration) and you adjust your timing accordingly. We are at peak watering time right now in Nor Cal. The tricky part is to group plants with like water needs together. I'm horrible at this since I plan things based soley on design considerations. I use soaker hoses too, which are a poor relation to a well designed drip system -but they work ok for me right now.

Fertilizer/bugs..I am an organic gardener and use no chemicals.It is surprising how the garden seems to balance itself once you do this for a few years. My biggest problem is snails..hate 'em !

Kathy in the Napa Valley

Everyone had definitely zeroed in on the most important feature of a garden - healthy soil=good drainage, balanced pH, lots of earthworms, compost and last but not least, mulch! Now, do I practice what I preach - not consistently but it's amazing what happens over the years of working at it so even though I'm moving to the Texas Hill Country where most of the land is rocky and you have to fight the deer for plants (I feel lucky, Sierra, that I don't have the Black Bears and Moose or Meece or whatever they are in plural), I do believe that over the years, the persistence pays off.....except in Steven and Brian's case and they definitely have a winning combination of micro-climate, soil and energy (or synergy). It is no accident that more than a handful of my horticulture collegues in the '70s high-tailed it to the Bay area after graduation. Ok, that and most of them were gay and SF held attractions other than just the climate. So, let's all agree to not compare ourselves to Sirs Steven and Brian. But they should at least get Garden of the Year in the Heritage District of Vallejo!

Muffy Jane :-)

LOL! Said like family. I love you too, Muffy J.

This thread is one to print out. I did it twice today. Seriously, look at all the quality advice. This should be put in a book with fancy pictures (anyone up for a project?).

Steven

Muffy knows the key: Persistence over the years. I'm looking at 15 foot dogwoods planted from a seed 15 years ago as I tend tiny 1-year cornus florida seedlings.

I'm not capable of a book with purty pictures, Steven, but I did blog my part.

Nell

Here is a link that might be useful: Secrets to Success

Steven, you're right, there is a lot of quality information and insight in this thread!

IMO, the most important thing you can do is research your soil and growing conditions thoroughly. Find out what is growing successfully for others that live in your immediate area. You may not always love what grows successfully in your area, but if it grows well you will more than likely develop an affection for it. Initially I was not a lantana fan but after buying a couple of plants and seeing how hardy they are, and how much the butterflies enjoy them, I fell in love with them. They are now a must for my garden.

After having lived in the northeast, midwest and now the southwest, every location has had a very different planting schedule, watering schedule, fertilizing frequency etc. Through trial and error you learn what works well for your location.

The standing joke around here is that when a plant label says "Full Sun", they're not talking about Texas Full Sun, which depending on what you are buying, could actually fry it to a crisp!

Zones are tricky too. Nell is zone 8, I'm zone 8 and there are PNW gardeners in zone 8. All of us have such different soil, rainfall amounts, humidity levels and summer high temperatures but we are all still technically, zone 8.

All I can say is research what you have and work with it! :-)

Marilyn

Another question: When you say compost compost compost, where do you get that compost? Besides making your own, which I do but don't have enough, do you buy it from somewhere specific? Is it just those big generic bags at Home Depot of "compost?"

Other than make my own, we do have a composting plant up here one can go to to buy finished product. They get their raw materials from many sources, restaurants, garden waste, tree services etc. If you want to be strictly organic I think it is best to stick to the stuff one makes themselves.
My garden has evolved into a tangle of roses, plants, vines, shrubs and trees, giving that overgrown effect that suits me just fine. I have 6 compost bins going and still have to take at least 14 trips to the garden waste bin at the city dump every year. If I had more room I'd compost the lot, compost is worth it's weight in gold. If one invests in a GOOD shredder it makes composting much easier, everything breaks down that much faster.

Annette

I don't think there is an easy answer to this. I believe it's a combination of many of the factors pointed above:

- Growing the right type of plants for the type of soil you have
- Growing the right type of plant for the climate you have (zone 10 Portugal, with its dry Mediterranean climate, is different from zone 10 Florida; same as zones 8, like Marilyn states above)
- Perseverance over the years, as stated by Muffy and Nell
- Hard work. And did I say hard work? Once you're at it, throw in some more hard work
- Faithful watering (for my climate)
- Protection from wind (as in Scotland's west coast)
- Compost
- Good plants and seeds to start with
- Achieving the right balance of bugs and predators, by organic methods or not

I could go on and on. What works for one person/zone/climate doesn't work for another. Technically things can be similar, but when faced with reality there is always a random component which we cannot control, only react to - it's called Nature. In the end, for me it's an art form and an ultimate mystery. Some people can do it, others can't. Steven and Brian obviously can.

Eduarda

This whole thing is a huge big deal to me. I think it's going to take a good five years to even begin to get a handle on it. I can't really afford, nor justify, sending off for soil tests, so I just have to use what little intuition I've gained. I try one thing with a plant and if it works, great. If not, I try something else. I've mexperienced a lot of disappointment, but by the same token I've experienced a huge amount of joy. The joy has outweighed the despair (heh), so I keep trying.

I can't afford to go out and buy a bunch of great compost, either, nor do I have the space (nor permission from management) to compost. The good news is that I am blessed with what I think is halfway decent soil in the majority of my yard space, with loads of worms, but some parts are lacking in iron, judging from some plants having yellow leaves (not a watering problem). The place is over run by snails, earwigs, cutworms, and Jeruselum Crickets. Persistence in getting rid of them is very slowly starting to pay off. I doubt I will ever get rid of all of these buggers, but the balance should get better. Bags of $.98 manure and $2 "compost" from Walmart, coffee grounds and alfalfa pellets to offset the woodpulp compost, and epsom salts are what I use to amend my soil. Not perfect, but it's what I can do right now.

Something I've been very surprised about has been the fact that those of you with clay soils don't mention the use of gypsum. I think Steven's the only one I've read of using it. Wouldn't that stuff help to create better drainage in a natural, non-toxic way? My dad used to sell ag chemicals, but the two things I vividly remember hearing him say to his farmers, over and over again, are "you've got nematodes" and "you need to add some gypsum to your soil." (sidenote: I once got a graphic design job because I knew what a nematode was!). So gypsum-- are all y'all just so used to using it on a routine basis that you forget to mention it here on the board.... or do you just not use it?

Nancy

Okay, so I went off on a tangent and now I'm back for more. Here are the rest of my responses:

Starting with very well started plants from a reputable nursery, giving them a head start.
Nope, I can't really afford to do that. It's Walmart or Home Depot if I buy any plants. Seeds I sow, otherwise. I'm fine with this for now.

Close planting. The plants shade out any weeds that might navigate the mulch.
This doesn't really work for me. I've got five or six weeds that do just fine in this environment. In fact, they thrive on it. The good news is that most are super easy to pull and I don't mind doing it. The bad news is that one of these weeds is the mutant bermuda which also thrives. It's not easy to pull and I have a difficult time keeping up with it, especially this time of year.

Faithful watering. What gave you the notion to water for 15 minutes daily rather than deeper watering a few times a week? Must reflect back to the drainage?
Steven and Brian's setup would be ideal for me. As it happens, I don't mind hand watering and do at least some of that every afternoon. Sometimes, when it seems like they need it, I will spend a few hours doing some really deep watering. Drainage is such that I have to move the hose a lot, because the water won't spread to other sections. I don't think my plants are over-watered at all, but it's weird to see my neighbor's garden thriving when she does *no* watering whatsoever. I think the difference between her place and mine is the amount of wind she gets hit with compared to where I sit. It's very weird.

Do you fertilize on some schedule, or is the soil just that well amended?
I fertilize a couple of times a month. It feels good to think I am doing something, but honestly, I've never ever seen a difference. ;-)

Regular grooming to remove any unattractive leaves or other ugly parts.
I do some of this every single day, but I've never been able to get all done at the same time... meaning that parts of my yard usually looks pretty scruffy.

The rest of us live in the wrong microclimate.
I have to think on that one, because I really believe I have about six separate microclimates in my yard. Steven lives in a super area for sure. Fairly temperate winters, great springs, some good heat during the summers (not too over-the-top heat), really nice falls. The summer heat during the summers are the biggest difference between his area and mine. The other difference might be the wind I get, which appears to be playing a big part of what I can/can't grow.

Nancy

Well I have horrible clay soil but I have never heard of gypsum. I will look into it!

It's probably not something you'd find at the box stores, but I think for some of you, it would be well worth tracking it down. It's a naturally occuring minerals and totally non-toxic, so you don't have to worry around kids and pets.

Nancy

Field Roebuck who once posted here had some great thoughts on gypsum and they were similar to mine. I tried gypsum, which is recommended to be done in small amounts over a period of years. Well, I did it as recommended and my result was ? Not sure it did anything but consume a lot of time and energy, and money.

How did I turn the clay into great tilth (friable soil)? We purchased 22 yards (yes, 22 yards) of mushroom compost to try on half the garden. Wow, what results. We did 22 yards on the other side and we are there. Do I leave it like that? No, we buy from 11 to 22 yards each year, sometimes 11 in spring, 11 in fall or sometimes just 11 per year, depends on what we need. I put all my corn meal, coffee grounds, tea grounds, left-over brewed coffee, lettuce, tomatoes, potatoes, fermented bananas, peels, peaches, etc., in our garden and we haul in several truck loads (pick-up truck loads) of composted horse manure almost every spring. We also get pine grit from the paper mill to use for mulch. I use alfalfa meal in the garden spring and fall (200 pounds). Now, not every garden is as large as mine and not all are as small as mine. I have about an acre of garden with approximately 300+/- roses and hundreds of perennials and annuals), cherry trees, crabapples, azaleas, hydrangeas, gardenias, tea olives, privets. In rainy years, we need more compost, alfalfa, etc. In dry years, less. I also get cottongin trash from the cottongin each January and I let it outgas until I prune roses first of March and apply it to the beds then. Apply 8-8-8 at least twice per year. If foliage start looking yellow, I apply some liquid fish or liquid seaweed and some chelated iron.

Yes, that sounds like a lot of work but if I had purchased 300 roses and just set them out in clay and all the perennials I have, how much would be alive today? And most of the roses I buy cost me minimum of $20 each because I buy on the internet and pay shipping. So figure the costs --- good soil and some water, or lots of dying plants with guessing about the soil. No, it's soil. Soil, soil, soil. We have worms, bees, ladybugs but we also have aphids, thrips and Japanese beetles. Who can blame them? The garden smells good. There is no perfection, but do the soil, watch out for the chipmunks, moles, voles, rabbits and deer.

(OK, I already posted this once, but don't see it so I will try again...still trying to get the hang of this...)

Regarding "Starting with good plants":

I buy all of my plants at basically two places:

1. Target
2. The good, expensive nursery here in town.

Is it my imagination, or do the plants from Target do better than those from the nursery?

And I have tried many, of the very good (and very expensive) nurseries in the Bay Area.

I'm just so confused, b/c it seems I consistently have better luck with the plants I buy at Rite Aid, Target and OSH (my other favorite place).

So am I crazy, or what?

Thank you Nell for your response to my whining on Steven's picture thread. I took to heart what you posted and put it into action. I now have an irrigation system *woo hoo*. Thank you dear Nell for the motivation.

Thank you Steven for the pictures which also motivated me. Well, actually it motivated DH when I showed him your garden and cried. Now that I have water I can see a drastic change with all my plants. I used to spent an hour every morning watering in vain. The soil wouldn't absorb the water, it was so dry.

After all these years of organic gardening, trying to attract beneficial bugs and stay pesticide free...I broke down and bought insecticidal soap and sluggo. I couldn't take it anymore. They were winning despite my efforts...it was a war and I had to take tactical and defensive measures.

I am one happy camper!

Thank you Nell and Steven!

Ed-

ps...Hi Muffy and welcome to Cottage. So happy you decided to come out of the shadows :-) We adore your brother.

My plants are bought from all over. The big box stores are fine because I usually know what I am looking for and what will do well in my garden. I have my favorite mail order places for unusual stuff and for old garden roses that I can't find around here.

I tend to plant things fairly close together only because I am a plantaholic who has NO willpower. I figure I can always fit in one more plant. I just have to be creative about it sometimes. I try to leave a bit more room for my roses.

I have an automatic sprinkler system that I would love to convert to drip. Right now I can't afford it. Maybe next year. My watering schedule seems to do fine. Sometimes I have to go out and hand water a few plants and that is just fine with me.

My soil was pretty darn good to begin with. The areas where I dug up the lawn were pretty compacted but on the whole I can't complain. It is deep, dark, easy to slide a shovel into and teeming with worms. I add stuff to it continually. I do have my problem areas that I am amending via lasanga method. My MIL has horses so I get all the manure I want. I have a small compost bin and I amend the soil with coffee grounds as well. I also started adding alfalfa tea to my roses this year. WOW! That stuff is great!

I have been pretty good at pruning and keeping things clean. A little here and a little there. Some prima donna plants get more care than others.

I live in the same town as Nancy and the wind here pretty much sucks. It is not a gentle breeze but a strong wind that makes it miserable to be outside at times. Our summers are cool. Maybe too cool sometimes. However, on the whole I think that my climate is great for gardening. I can pick lemons off a tree at one end of the yard and raspberries and blueberries at the other. I can gather an arm load of roses and cosmos for the table centerpiece and stop to inspect the bougainvillea on my way inside. How great is that!

As for the bugs. I have the good guys and the bad guys. Usually, as soon as I see the aphids I start seeing the ladybugs. There seems to be a pretty good balance. I also have birds GALORE in my garden due to six mature Toyon bushes that are planted in the common area right behind my backyard fence. It sounds like an aviary in my back yard. The birds nest in the bushes, eat the berries in the winter, and the bees work the flowers heavily in the summer. The birds come down from the bushes and feast on all the bugs in the my garden and I get to watch from the window. Of couse they also feast on my raspberries but that is another story.
~Melissa

Katherine, interesting you mentioned Target-we have 2 i Napa and only one of them has a garden center. I've had really good luck there with mostly color and succulents-oddly they have one of the best selections of succlulents in town. I think they must turn alot of material quickly so the plants are fresh. They have a markdown table in the back and anything that looks marginal goes back there with a big discount.I still however , buy more at the two local 'expensive' places- thats where all the variety is.

Re Gypsum, you can add that stuff all day long but if you don't add organic material such as forest products. mushroom compost etc you'll just still have teeny weeny soil particles that are mostly mineral and maybe don't sick together as badly as they did before you added the gypsum. So I'm with Patricia on that. I thinks it's useful in conjunction with other things if you indeed truly have clay soil.

Me too Melissa on the cramming and jamming !-I had to use almost herculean restraint last year when I ripped out my front lawn ---a new bare space ! I tried hard to repeat plants instead of going and and buying one of everything !

Kathy in the Napa Valley

I did a bit of reading on gympsum last night. Turns out that if you don't have sodic soil, then it's not going to do you much good. Fresno County, where my dad's farmers were, has a lot of the sodic soil

There was nothing in there about adding it in small amounts at a time, but I did see that for sulphur. Then I saw that for home use, sometimes gypsum has sulpher in it. I don't know, but maybe there's a connection.

So now my curiousity is appeased. It was something that I'd been wondering about every time I read a post about clay soils.

Melissa, you have bougainvillea growing? Oh man, that gives me hope. I've killed TWO of those, but still want one in the worst way. They're so pretty!

Nancy

Both of my bougainvillea are new this year. I have them planted against walls to get reflected heat and positioned so that they are out of the blasting wind. Keep yer fingers crossed. I planted both of 'em for my mom. She fell in love with them when she was out here visiting. I hope they do well.
~Melissa