The biggest challenge in my garden is:

I am lucky that DH agrees that 'lawns' are a waste of time so we only have a small 6 ft strip at the front of the property left from what used to be almost all grass!!

My DH is not in love with lawns. He doesn't touch anything outside the house. He is not an outdoorsy person. I am not sure he even knows we have a lawn. My problem is that my lawn is sitting on top of solid rock. Only something really shallow rooted will grow there. So I maintain it, though it is in no way manicured. It is just a nice spot for the dogs to lie down in.

My hubby wanted lawn for the kitties to play on. They mostly explore the bushes so I get to pull out more and more grass every year. He wants to keep lots in the front but I can rip out more of the back this year. I have been alloted 2 more beds in the front. Whoop-dee-doo. I hope you heard the sarcasm there. ^_^

Pajar, that's funny...your husband doesn't know you have a lawn! (I'm surprised one of my teens hasn't used that for an excuse not to mow: "What Lawn?!") Ha! They are probably glad we are in a drought, as our lawn has only had to be mowed Once all Summer! =)

Kwan, heard ya loud & clear...that Was sarcastic! Don't work too hard fixing up those beds! =)

For me it has been time, but then I've had a big project this year.

For all you with weed problems (like I don't have them) I found an article back a bit by a man who specializes in remediation - Ted St. John, Ph.D. He says that Mycorrhizae will help keep weeds down and references his restoration projects as examples. See
https://www.storesonlinepro.com/files/2214902/uploaded/Dr.%20Teds%20Mycorrhiza%20Fungus.pdf

Space. So, I could try some different plants that need more room. I also need space to get more sun. Then, I would need more water. It goes on and on!

My problem gardening is health related, Congestive Heart Failure.
I've transplanted most of my flowers into containers which makes it easy to handle weeds. It's easy to water without using a lot of water. 30+ Containers are probably my limit on the amount of plants i can handle. I am happy with what i have at the moment. That probably wont last long. LOL

Excellent link, dparsons01! Thanks for posting that. It's the best explanation I've read.

My problem is my soil! We have brick hard caliche, and you literaly have to use a jack hammer to get through it, so all of my garden spaces are in pots, or raised bed, that you have to pay for someone to haul in top soil or buy lots of bags of miracle grow!
Wish we could invest in miracle grow! LOL
LK

~ pajaritomt ~ maybe in NM You live in a weird country where every State can dictate. That may NOT be true in Texas, which might even allow Petalpants' neighbour to shoot her in protection of his property.
Let's be REAL clear on this stuff before giving advice that could lead to/add to neighbour confrontations!!

~ cando1 ~ If we all could do what you can do, even if the weeds won in the end, the effort would have exceeded "valiant".

Potagere

WEEDS!

Weeds here too. Actually, more like Bahia grass and Common Burmuda. Can't seem to keep them out. My beds have completely gotten away from me.

Not sure, potagere. I read in a national magazine that one could do what one wants with tree branches that cover your property. And you can eat the fruit if they drop any on your property. But you may be right that in Texas they can shoot you if you do. I think the name of that law is "Every man for himself."

For me its deer. They are so unpredictable. I have used repellants in rotation, stinky fertilizer, and have planted the deer resistant varieties. A fence is outlawed by covenants, Its crazy this year, its like fall has arrived early and they have begun their yearly foraging for winter. I have a huge border of coneflower, rudbeckia, monarda etc. and ALL I HAVE ARE THE FLOWERS, sticking up on denuded stalks. It looks quite silly. The problem of course is that now the leaves and their regenerating function are gone. I may have to have a border of ONLY russian sage...pretty but who wants ONLY russian sage...not even the deer!

I must be crazy, I still yearn to garden in spite of it all.

Taters55, we DO use a jackhammer to plant!

We try to wait until there is a rain in fall to plant, but this drought is awful. Since we don't water bare dirt, we use the tools that are called for. Sometimes I can get away with wetting the ground the day before, but it depends on whether the spot was compacted or not. Hate disturbing the soil like that! :-(

Keeping moisture, sandy soil drains fast.

I want more space.

I've beaten the weeds by using an industrial-grade landscape fabric rather than plastic mulch.

OK, ducky27, you settled our longstanding argument.
If a deer fence is outlawed by covenant in MONTANA,
there's no way we are moving back to the USofA.
We'll stay in France with free health care and the right to
keep deer and wild pigs out of our yards!

Well I didn't vote cause there was no all of the above. Those all are the things standing against me.LOL

gardening on a single parents salary.. definitely a problem.

DG has remedied alot of that with plant trades, seed swaps, Round Ups and Plant and seed for postage! My garden is definitely a DG Garden.

living on a very tight budget also causes problmes in just minor things for the garden, like soil, mulch, and insecticides. But this is remedied with pine needles gathered from friends and neighbors, using garden clippings and vegetable waste to create compost, reusing garden center pots for repotting, tuna cans, coffee cans, egg cartons. Birdfeeders made from empty soda and water bottles, birdbaths made from terracotta pot bottoms and potted plant stands. For just about every garden need, there is a homemade version.. something i had no idea until I joined DG!

Hey ~ Potagere' ~ maybe in Montana, they don't need no stinkin' fences. Maybe they just shoot 'em! LOL

My comment about the weeds being better than the drought... it is refreshing to hear the gardeners from GA complaining about 'anything' growing this year, even weeds. Thanks for the rain.

Now ~ podster ~ Montana ain't Texas. One is not allowed to carry a concealed AK47 without a carry permit!

About the drought : I can hear the thunder rumble in the distance. Rain? Well, maybe.
I'll believe it when I feel it. Hoses until then.

Cimate, DEFINITELY! It's raining and people are out in the street whooping and hollering. Heat, humidity, high night temps and no rain, it's amazing anything is alive. Trees are dead all over.

I saw on that show where the UH Prof/Lawyer answers questions, that you CANNOT CUT THE BRANCHES OF YOUR NEIGHBOR'S TREE IN TEXAS even if they hang over your property. Get permission which would only be the polite thing to do anyway. Would you want someone whacking at your tree and potentially introducing disease by pruning incorrectly? or making it lopsided so would fall on your house in a storm?

Finally, I have more space than I need, but it's a little late. I am really too old and challenged with health problems so I have to hire my neighbor to help me. We put down cardboard and put on a good amount of compost and follow up with almost composted bark mulch. There is no
digging so I can plant away and make a new bed any time I want.

This is the first time I have tried it so I will have to wait and see. By next spring the cardboard should have been devoured by the worms, and I will have a rich planting medium. That's the theory anyway.

Definitely CLIMATE!

It creates a unique challenge to grow things in 110+ heat in summer, and freezes in the winter! We get two short growing seasons, spring and fall.

For us it is lack of time.

We are busy tending and nurturing the young garden of two busy sister peas in a pod and there is rarely a moment to get into the yard. I've wasted hundreds on plants in the past year only to have them die before I get around to them. So from here on out I give up. I will keep a clean yard but not indulge in overwhelming myself to garden the garden I envision in my head.

There will come a day for that :) and in the meantime I'll tend my tots.

I voted critters because the deer, rabbits and voles (my nemesis) are big problems here. But after reading Potagere in France, I would almost change my vote to weeds. I live in the country too and he's right, they are amazing out here since our neighbors are not well-manicured lawns and shrub beds -- but pastures and woods.

Space is always too tight here--1/3 acre on a suburban lot doesn't leave a lot of open spac once you subtract the footprint of our house. I, too, am confined to border beds because I do like some lush green grass, and need some for our 2 golden retrievers. Every year, I try to find a little more space to carve out, and get creative with pots and planters. I'm always sad to have to pass up beautiful plants I know I don't have room for (or proper sun/shade). Have to be careful too, to not offend our homeowners association. I try to hide my veggies in amongst the other flowers, and fortunately my nearest neighbor that can see into my yard is also a gardener.

Deer, time, energy, rabbits, weeds, too much rain or not enough, plants that grow too fast, plants that grow too big for the spot where I planted them (my fault), and the desire to have more time enjoying the garden.

Jim, I think men here hold the perfect manicured lawn in too much esteem but there's no talking some of them out of it. At one time I guess it was a sign of either luxury or wealth (or both) but now it's a labor of love.

The manicured lawn mystery eludes me, too. I have a friend who ran over and dug up part of her husbands precious grass with the truck tires. He didn't speak to her for days! LOL

In some households that might be a blessing but not here!

I voted for space, but I forgot about weeds. The owners before me planted Ivy on two of the banks around the house and it is now filled with more bindweed than I can keep up with. When one area is cleaned it takes over another. And the neighbors have been ill, so their yard is another breeding ground for noxious weeds to be born and build up the strength to attack my yard and garden. Add the heat and i have grown more weeds than flowers this year.

Lawns are like your own mini meadow. A nice open space that is green and peaceful. Doesn't have to be grass.

I'm still mystified by the "Lawn Thing".
So far, I like pirl's suggestion best.
Of course, if it meant a lot of work on Saturday or Sunday,
that would mean a stop at the pub,
which would mean a phone call home, which would mean ...

Drought doesn't stop weeds here. Those tumbleweeds just keep on coming down the hill!

Bambis, bunnies, squirrels, groundhogs, and this year, aphids were esp. bad.

Like Charlie Brown says in "The Great Pumpkin"..."I gotta rock"

Indeed, to many rocks in the dirt I am trying to turn into soil. To steal a qoute from above, "You can pratically hear them grow."

Here we have to buy rocks!

Jim:

...which would mean go sleep on the grass tonight, sweetheart.