Planning Ahead

~ By Jus Kuntree ~

As a rule, I start planning, or at least thinking of spring just about the day after Christmas. I just can't help myself. This winter, it has been no different as I began browsing through seed catalogs, making wish lists, and considering where I would put all these things should I be able to get them. Unfortunately, in my years of gardening, I have yet to find any kind of seeds, bulbs, or starts of that mysterious thing called a money tree. So somewhere along the line, I end up whittling down my lists a little, and then a little more.

One thing I try to do, is tackle at least one yard project each year, and add at least one new plant. Last year I started on a little water pond, using a recylced garden style bathtub. I did get it together, and even managed to get the pump working, and water recycling through another large recylced platstic tub, so that the water ran through pea gravel to clean it. A sister gave me some pretty water plants to add, and I was set.

It wasn't long before I realized I had two major problems with the plan, one being my dogs. They loved to remove the plants and anything else they could get ahold of, and they decided to make it their local watering hole, which not only wreaked havoc with the plants, but created a bit of a mess.

Secondly, the water gets way too much sunlight, and the algae growth was more than could be controlled. Which by the way, a little Rid X as a rule works well. It won't harm the plants or fish, but it will help keep the algae at bay.

So, my big project this year, is to add an arbor of white lattice over the top of the tub, then plant morning glorys, or some other vine to climb it. That should add enough shade to help control the algae problem, I hope! The tub is situated as such that is should receive some sunlight, but not a constant, nearly, all day supply. This little water pond project was going hand in hand with a deck project at the same time, as the tub sits against one side of the deck.

Now as what to do about the mischevious dogs, that actually presents a bigger problem, that I'm still mulling over, as I try to decide how best to solve the dilemma. I'm considering using some additional lattice as a fence to keep them out.

Once those problems are solved, then comes the planting. Rather than have just a plain old tub with pea gravel sitting there, I plan on adding some water loving plants, such as watercress. Besides making it more attractive, the plants too will help in cleaning the water. And surrounding the big tub, once the arbor is in place, I want to plant some hostas and columbines.

On the opposite side of the deck is another area that I'd like to develop this year. My son came bearing gifts of large rocks last fall, and let me tell you, I was a happy mother! I loved them! He kindly unloaded, and placed them where I wanted them, which was some hard work!

I have in the far back corner, a climbing rose that I had planted last spring, one of those new additions, and it has done beautifully so far. It has the sweetest fragrance, and lovely color. It bloomed a couple of times during the summer, just the usual sized blooms, and then surprised me the day before Thanksgiving, with one huge bloom that smelled heavenly!

Now, the grass in the area is a problem, I think it's crabgrass maybe, but whatever it is, it sends out long runners that get into everything, and is near impossible to get rid of. It even crawls up through between the boards of the deck. And it's not shy about choking out other growing things in the process. I do not like to use chemicals, so this stuff is really problematic. Something else I have to think about, is the fact that there is the buried phone and power line going to our house, that runs through there at one side. I do have two forsythia bushes towards the front that I planted last year.

What I'm thinking at this point, is that I'll lay down black plastic, tucking it around the forsythias, and rose, then go in on top of that with some decorative pebbles or landscaping material of some kind. Hopefully that will help solve the grass problem, plus not have to worry about digging where lines are buried.

My thought then, is to create a container garden, and add assorted sizes and kinds of containers planted with flowers and vegetables. I think that, with a few garden decorations thrown in, will create a pleasant little spot.

Lastly, is finishing up the deck. That too was a project done from recycling materials, including white lattice. We have one more piece of lattice to attach, then it needs to be repainted with a special paint for plastics. I'm very much looking forward to some nice weather so I can begin playing!

         

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