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Friday, April 18th, 2008
Operation Backyard
Today was somewhere around 80 degrees in Hartford and beautiful!!! I don't have classes on Friday and while I should of been studying I became distracted with my backyard. My roommates and I have been talking for a couple weeks about making our yard nice and fun for the summer. I don't think the people who lived in the house before us made any use of it for awhile. My goal is to make it all fun and snazzy for the summer....but I don't think it'll be done for awhile.
So this is the before photo:
My roommate made this first improvement on Tuesday:
I'm trying to see how many meals in a row I can grill!
Back to today...I made my first attempt at fixing up the backyard. I have this dream of gardening...I've never done it before...but I gave it a shot!
Here is the spot I picked:
It took forever to clean out all the brush because I didn't have any tools... so I got it all cleaned out and then planted the three seeds that it said on the back could be planted in April. Snow peas, sunflower seeds and carrots. I think a lot of the vegetables I got won't grow...but I just picked out anything that would be awesome to eat if it did grow.
So it's not snazzy yet....but a first step in the operation was completed!
Operation Backyard
Today was somewhere around 80 degrees in Hartford and beautiful!!! I don't have classes on Friday and while I should of been studying I became distracted with my backyard. My roommates and I have been talking for a couple weeks about making our yard nice and fun for the summer. I don't think the people who lived in the house before us made any use of it for awhile. My goal is to make it all fun and snazzy for the summer....but I don't think it'll be done for awhile.
So this is the before photo:
My roommate made this first improvement on Tuesday:
I'm trying to see how many meals in a row I can grill!
Back to today...I made my first attempt at fixing up the backyard. I have this dream of gardening...I've never done it before...but I gave it a shot!
Here is the spot I picked:
It took forever to clean out all the brush because I didn't have any tools... so I got it all cleaned out and then planted the three seeds that it said on the back could be planted in April. Snow peas, sunflower seeds and carrots. I think a lot of the vegetables I got won't grow...but I just picked out anything that would be awesome to eat if it did grow.
So it's not snazzy yet....but a first step in the operation was completed!
Great start on the project and I admire you for tackling it!
If it is really prevalent, you might need to spray with Roundup (or a generic where the only ingredient is glyphosate) on a regular basis (monthly during the growing season). First cut it back as closely as you can, then spray the remaining leaves or paint the ends of the cut vines. You can use a large piece of cardboard to protect your other plants when you spray. I say glyphosate because the ingredients break down rather quickly into non-poisonous, inert elements in the soil. It's the safest chemical herbicide - takes two weeks to be absorbed into the roots and begin to kill it. Don't use anything with added ingredients, they negate the safety of using glyphosate. I don't use any other chemicals in my yard except glyphosate, and that's because of english and poison ivy and other really persistent perennial weeds.
If you are growing edibles you may want to wait until the end of the growing season and spray the hell out of the ivy a couple of times, then again next spring 2 - 4 weeks before you plant.
English Ivy is finally beginning to be classified as a non-native invasive plant and is not being sold in some states. It is a beautiful ground cover, but it requires constant maintenance to keep it in check - sort of like wisteria in the south - it destroys trees, masonry, etc.
OK, I am a horticulturist and I love this kind of information sharing -- sorry if i went on and on. Maybe a new humzoo gardening site?