The biggest challenge in my garden is:

Climate!

It gets very hot for long periods and extremely dry. Humidity levels are frequently in the single digits. It sucks the life out of any living thing!

If I didn't garden in raised beds I would have to add very poor desert soil to the list too. Totally void of organic matter.

I voted Budget but its really alittle of verything.. lol

We just moved so Im challenged by the difference in soils (Florida to Ohio) There is a TON of clay in my yard and what dirt there is , well its just not dirt.. Its hard and when its wet its like clay mush.. lol So Im composting and getting top soil to add to each bed as its done.. I even go collect rabbit poo from my MIL house for the beds and garden. The garden we also layered with Hay from a local farmer at $4 a bale.. Not cheap but ges a long way in our lil garden..

Weeds.. well tree babies.. I have hackberry, walnut , mulberry, maples and some other weird tree along the fencline.. We are slowly trimming them back but the chainsaw broke so its all with a pole or hand saw to get them on the ground.. All along old wire fence that is riddled with honeysuckle and other weeds.. Buhes, tree babies.. lol

Im working full time and my ubby is working doing construction work when he can and theres just not enough time.. I get cuttings and row from seeds. Request it on freecycle or craigslist and go dig them out for someone .. Budget and only spend on what you absolutely have too.. Heck I got 4 bags of Miracle grow soil at Krogers for $1.03 using coupons.. They were on sale for 1.99 and I have a $5 coupon on any sale and a $1 coupon so all I paid really was some tax.. Got my purple coneflowers the same way..

I definately don't ahve enough space. That's why I do landscaping - I get to play in other peoples gardens!
I also have a friend who just bought a new house. Hardly any gardens and the ones that are there only have ligustrum or loropetalum. Oh, the plans I have......

Funny, pirl!

Weeds, weeds, weeds, weeds, and more weeds......a vast assortment, all thriving in the Florida rain and heat and doing everything in their power to choke out my valuable investments! Round-Up is great, but since it can't be used IN the flower beds, I spend hours upon hours hand-pulling them. Will it ever end?

I voted for not enough time. Of course, if I had more time, I'd fill up my present yard and complain about not enough space. :)

The Texas heat and black gumbo soil of our specific area in North Central TX also provide huge challenges and a constant learning experience. But that's part of what makes it all so fun!

My, everyone sure has lots of gardening problems...good thing we have DG to vent our frustrations on! =)

Budget was my answer. I plant seeds from the year before, but I also have a nursery near by that gives me a deal on things when they are nearly sold out! They all but give things to me. They're 'good ol' boys. :)

Weed control. I hate chemicals and manual weed control is killing me.

After reading all your posts. I am ashamed to have any complaint. I have it easy with weeds being my main problem this year.

I am going to chill and enjoy,

Irisawe

This message was edited Aug 27, 2009 4:23 PM

Gorgeous, music2keep!!! What is it?

Hmmm, that kind of looks like a scabiosa, but it's certainly prettier than the ones I have. Me, too: what is it?

Overall, over the years, the biggest challenge has been soil. We have hard gray alkaline clay locally called adobe and for a reason. After years of working it (months of Blooms' time!), and dozens of bags of inorganic/inert amendments and organic top dressing -- most of the beds are somewhat better, I even find occasional small worms(!). But it's still alkaline, which affects plant choices, and the drainage is still very poor; no deep soaking here for fear of drowning things to death.

But I have to say, I am as happy with my current plantings as I have ever been.

~'spin!~

My biggest problem is not enough time. I'm still a beginner and find that I always want to be in the gardens. However, I have a two hour round-trip commute each day. I leave at 7am to go to work and don't get home until 6p. And due to the long days, I do a lot of errands on the weekends. 2nd in line to not enough time is not enough money. I could do a whole lot more if I had more money LOL but if I did a whole lot more, I'd have even less time... lose-lose LOL

No Rain this year red Alabama clay, I have tried to make raised gardens since I am disabled.I took the top of mountain and back yard with garlic,leeks,onions.The garden is so full of weeds my hubby was sick he has copd and was afraid to walk because of snakes.I got chiggers all over my legs.Being disabled it is also a big problem.I got sick and ad to move a big beautiful home with all the landscaping I had done for 10 years and the land was all woods so I had to start all over. Roses 's I really miss and my Amaryllis(they r so expensive) I told my hubby I would be ashamed to call it a garden...LOL The raise garden cost because I buy pro-mix which is nice and loose but drys out fast.Thank the Lord for Daves..It may cost a lot with postage but not as much as buying new,Plus you get to meet new people that are most of them real helpful and nice.Just got ripped a few times..So anyone want to trade when it cools off and I get over my daughr's wedding,Let me know..I do take charity I am not proud.....LOL Porsha

My problem is energy--at age 74 it is gone. While the weeds have been much worse than usual this yr, I could deal with them if the energy is there.

I marked time on this survey. Never enough of that for weeding, planting, shopping for new plants, tending the plants...

~Sharon

Climate--as those others from Southern AZ have attested! It freezes in the winter, it's well over 100 deg F for days on end in the summer with not even a hope of rain, and overnight it's still above 70F so it never cools down to even remotely comfortable. It's hot, it's dry, and our summer rainy season appears to be a bust this year. And then the wind starts!

But boy oh boy do we celebrate if it does rain!

WEEDS- and a rheumatologist who said I can't weed anymore. Oh well, what he doesn't know won't hurt him, but boy does it hurt me!

Susan

Gosh everything but space is an issue here. Calcium in water, wind, cold, extreme heat, alkaline soil, Caleche (Hard pan and clay) soil, rabbits and Gophers from H e double toothpicks and desert weeds, abundant.

I am trying to go with more natives now, amending soil, and trying to compile plant list that rabbits and or gophers don't like, and more raised beds and pots, that are raised out of rabbits reach. Ho HUM!

I can not stop trying till they put me in the ground.

Any of you got ideas, seeds or plants to send my way, please H E L P> (*^%$#$# I'M IN THE ADDRESS BOOK HERE. LOL

For me the toughest task is getting my manual wheelchair up into the raised beds so I can do what's needed. Long-handled tools are a big help.

Potagere thanks, I can't remember what it is...I unfortunately didn't get a tag w/ it. But it was nearly dead when I got it. I do know that it is a perennial.

Oh, too bad! I does look like a scabiosa, as woofie said, but I've never seen one like it! Have you ever saved seeds from it?

I have a VERY STEEP back yard. The only flat spot is where the the drain field runs for the septic tank (no planting there!). We do have many beautiful old Cedar trees (which I would never cut down), but they have depleted the soil to death (not to mention they are water mongers). Make a new bed and amended up nice......and once you start watering (in about 2 months) it's choked full of Loofah like tangled feeler roots from the trees.

I'm saving my pennies to have the back yard terraced with raised beds and small gravel paths so I can grow veggies there. Dang...if it's been raining and the grass is wet I have crashed and burned out there more then once!

What I wouldn't give for a FLAT level back yard! The trade off is I have an unobstructed water view of Canada which is gorgeous. I just never thought the back yard would be such a HUGE frustration.

Highmtn,
I'd've guessed that a name like "Cliff Dweller" would have been the first clue! But I know what you mean. I have a steep back yard, as well. The only flat space is down at the bottom, and my neighbour's hazelnut trees spread their roots in and suck up all my moisture and nutrients. On top of it all, a hill that was easily climable 14 times a day 5 years ago is now a pain just a couple of times; especially when the weather is hot, as it has been lately.
So, where, exactly, IS "Cliff Dweller, WA"? I can't find it on any map, but I'm thinking along the edge of the Peninsula, where I once almost bought "cliff dweller" property!

Spider mites recently killed half my impatiens(the other half survived with heavy treatment, but for the others it was too late) aswell as mealy bugs which attack my citrus plants every year. Luckily I found a treatment in the shop for them. We have a silk tree in the garden which is heavily infested with little insects.

Hot, summers with only brief thundershowers for rain maybe once a month, and then not enough to help, cold dry winters, lots of wind all year, and hordes of grasshoppers! On the plus side, I have an unlimited supply of manure, lots of sun, and water available from a spring and a well. It's still the best place I have ever gardened, just has a different set of challenges.

Potagere, check out the picture in the PF of scabiosa caucasica.

in an apt! 5yrs, going on 6! SPACE, SPACE, SPACE! ...and budget, which is why we don't have a house with said space.

How much you ask?
I was happy in a row home: (2 yards, each 14 ft sq, fences for vines).
I could manage up to 6 acres with right equipment: (former job - did it b4 can do it again).
I wouldn't want much more than that!

Potagere, I only got it this year from the 'good ol' boys', but I'll see if I can get some seeds...

I saw that, woofie, but when I check my local seed catalogs, THEIR S. caucasica look nothing like that photo!!

I voted time but it's really all of the above. Of course, if I had all the space I want it would require more time and money and water and have more bugs and weeds and I still wouldn't get to plant the lovely tender things I really want to grow.

Lately I have an extra day to work on the garden each month but that's only because my employer is suffering from lack of cash flow and can't afford to pay us as much. But an extra day off in the middle of the week is rather nice.

I don't know that the word climate completely covers it. We live on a sandhill and it is - you guessed it - sand. And even when I finally get a handle on the sand, we still have too much sun, too much heat and not enough rain. (On the plus side, though, we have no slugs, snails, japanese beetles, roly-polys, voles, or gophers.) Still, though, it's worth every minute.

All these comments about not enough rain from places that get LOTS more than we do. How do the native plants cope?

dparsons, I think the problem is that we are spoiled from years of "more rain than lately" so our gardens reflect the adequate rain of years in the past. Now, we have a traditional drought every summer, and sometimes more often. So we aren't prepared!!

I know what our problem is cedar18. We've planted plants that want lots more water than we normally get (lawns for example) and then decided we didn't have enough water for everyone to do that. We normally get 8.5 inches a year. I look at a place like Florida that gets 40 to 60 inches a year depending on the specific spot in the state. I just wonder how you plant things that want more unless you are growing Orchids. I suppose if you live on a high spot of Florida sand then perhaps the drainage will leave you wanting more water.

If we had actual soil here, we probably would do fine with the water that we get. There are places in this very county, like my workplace, that stay wet for days after a rain. Unfortunately with sand, it's here and gone, leaving it dry two days later. I understand that nature's purpose for the sandhills are to replenish the aquifers. Sandhills were, as I've learned, the "worthless" land according to Florida settlers. I guess we all learn to cope as best we can with what we have and there is always someone down the road who has it worse. I was in no way implying that my situation was better or worse than anyone else's. My drought is microscopic compared to some parts of the country this year. It is just my habit to examine both sides of the coin.

Native plants have tremendous taproots and thrive. Low water plants (except for a few succulent that have received too much water) do reasonably well. I've got some fantastic Agave and Aloe. I've learned to handle average water plants with heavy mulch and a lot of soil amendments. It's just the high water tropical beauties like Elephant Ear and gingers that my mother brought here when she moved in with us which still elude me. I don't make a plant purchase without considering proper placement in regards to sun/shade and water, so it's not that I'm being foolish or careless in my plant choices. I'm just learning that I'll have to grow okra and peas instead of corn.

space ...is there ever enough space...of course followed by time and energy..LOL

Space - I'm currently gardening on a 60-sq.ft balcony in Virginia, large planters, shelves & flowerpots everywhere, and my collection of hardy orchids, Sarracenias and botanical irises is out of control. Climate challenge comes second, specifically the humidity creating a blight of damp-off among the irises, Kniphofias and more this year.
Oh well, everything changes - a few years ago I gardened 3/4 acre in Ireland - zone 10, cool wet summers, could grow loads of awesome plants but the weeds grew even faster and I had to surrender half the garden to willows, blackberries and nettles for the wildlife. It's all a continuous learning experience, with lots of enjoyment and some disappointments along the way.

I bet you could grow a number of herbs and Mediterranean type plants Pillita.