My big shade garden has gone to pot. How hard would it be to Round up the whole thing except certain plants? Like avoiding hostas or ferns, but getting the weeds right next to them? Is there an easy way to do this?
Right now the biggest hurdle is forsythia and raspberry canes. If I got rid of those and the Lamium, it would be really nice, I think.
Suzy
Big shade garden gone to pot.
I saw this on Rebecca's Garden and it works very nicely:
Take a plastic gallon milk jug, cut out the bottom, cut a 2" hole in the shoulder, keep the lid screwed on - then you can plop the jug over your weed and spray through the hole. Wait a few seconds before pulling the jug up to let the spray settle.
Works very well and even has a nice handle.
Sterling
Oh, Sterling, you are soooo cute! The closest I could get to that is some 5 gallon buckets over the plants I want to KEEP.
I realize after reading what I wrote than it sounds like I just have the raspberries, forsythia and lamium to get rid of, but actually I meant I have to get rid of them before I can get into the garden to get the weeds! I was just in there again, and I also have big branches about 6" in diameter, too. All this stuff sort of grabs at me and my clothes and I trip over the hidden logs and strands of lamium.
Just talking about it sort of depresses me.
Suzy
"Just talking about it sort of depresses me." - well remember about how to eat an elephant - one little bite at a time.
I spent last winter pulling ivy out of my backyard. Knee deep, tenacious, all over the trees ivy - plus briars and weeds and other vines. I only got about half of it done before it got too hot to work but now I can go out and wander through my ferns, hostas, beauty berries, trilliums, epimediums, etc and wonder at the glory of it.
I weedeater the ivy to ground level, pulling out old dead limbs, rake the debris into a pile and then cut and pull and cut and pull... stuff the vines into leaf bags and cut and pull... It does take time but only do a bit here and there and you will be amazed at the transformation. You CANNOT look at the whole thing at one time. It is just too much.
Cooler weather is easier to work this pulling and cutting. The ground is more friable and things pull up and out more easily. So I'd say do what you can while you can and then start in again in the early spring.
I am a woman, 5'3" and well, ...over 60! so I know how hard this work can be!
Sterling
Oh, man, do I have some ivy I'd like to get rid of! That's a good ideas about the weedwacker on ivy....bet it would work on some other things around here, too! I'm not too good with those weedwacker things, and they get really heavy after a while, but I bet I could do it a piece at a time!
Hmmmm, you have experience....you like Indy car racing? Wanna come up here for the Indy 500? You get the tickets and I'll give you and a guest room & board. You can stay as long as you like as long as you work on my ivy part of the time!
Thanks for the idea...I have a feeling the applications around here could be numerous!
Suzy
Ha Ha!! I've still got a good size plot to go in my yard. I may - or may not - get it finished this winter. A bite at a time you know.
I did just remember - I got a little mp3 player to keep me company while I cut and pull. I really fell in love with it as the music is a wonderful companion. I've never had one of these before and I ended up buying an iPod but I don't like to take it out in the garden with so much dirt flying from the weedeater so I still use the little cheap one there.
I also got one of the weedeaters that has an adjustable handle on the front - you can slide it up or down for better balance. I can't use it too long as they do get heavy but when it gets too heavy, stop and cut and pull for a while.
Be sure to take pictures of "before" and it will really inspire you!
Thanks for the ideas -- and I remembered something else...have you ever heard that English Ivy can be killed if you mow (or weedwack it) in March-April, right when it's starting to grow? I think that's the right timing. It doesn't kill it, exactly because there is always more right next to it that will recover and take off, but it stops it from growing a foot a week. The thing is, it also looks like hell while you are working on it.
Well, Chsitmas is coming up and it looks like an MP3 player will be on my list. Funny you should mention an iPod being too good to take outside. I have murdered more cell phones than I care to admit by leaving them somewhere and running inside from the rain only to forget my phone outside.
Suzy
Sponsor an alien riddance roundup like they did by our local arboreutum and you might be surprised how much help you can get. My friend and I went because we hate Privet and some other alien species and we will assist almost anyone who wants to rid themselves of it.
How does one find people willing to do this? Sounds good!
We can't be the only people in the world who voluntarily work for a cause, Check into your local garden supply and they might can give you ideas. Sometimes people will just show up who like to garden. Unfortunately I have undertaken to grow plants to support our food pantry. so I personally cannot come to assist you or I might have.
Good luck.
Good luck with this. I agree that it's best to tackle a little bit at a time otherwise it just seems to be too big a job. How about taking some before and after photos to inspire you?
Comment on the Enlish ivy...I don't think weed wacking will do much of anything...I have found that the only way to get rid of it (and save neighboring plants) is to just pull it everytime you see it which is what I have been doing for the last three years. Climbing up trees with huge roots that have to be cut with a chain saw. Then when it starts growing agian hit it with roundup. And that Lamium...believe me I planted it thirty years ago thinking it was wonderful My husband calls it ground cancer. LOL As said above is the very best advice...a little bit at a time. There is no end to weeding....seems there is always something you don't want.
And wouldn't you know it......I've had trouble getting some varieties of lamimum to grow. I keep trying and have a lovely patch of yellow archangel next to the driveway and amongst the roots of a huge old white pine. I've tried another variety (red nancy?) again last year, in different spots. Let's see if I can find it in the spring. I think that our much colder zone keeps many plants from running wild.
I like the weed whackers to do the first part of the job. Get it whacked down to the bare vine level and then pull the vines. You HAVE to pull the vines out. I am clearning a good bit each winter. It is so pretty in my back garden now!
The Lamiastrum is different than the Lamium red/white Nancy etc. It is far more aggressive.
Ahhhh.....thanks for the info. I'll have to check out the other lamium....
Illoquin, I have to do everything is small increments. I laughingly tell my husband that I am going to write a book called the 15-minute gardener. I go out and dig a hole, come in and rest, go out and mix nutrients, come in and rest, go out and stick the plant (or bulbs) in and water it, come in and rest. Finally I go back out and mulch the plant and finish watering deeply. Took about an hour but it's the only way I can be sure that I have done a good job and not rushed in the soil preparation because I get too tired or hot. Actually, as the season moves along, I find my stamina improves and I go at least a 1/2 hour before a break. This may sound silly, but I garden at home, at the community center and at an historic site. Granted I try to plant easily maintained plants, but I still aim for continual bloom throughout the season.
Woodspirit, you remind me of me about a year ago. Most jobs I need to do in the yard are overwhelming right now because I didn't do much of anything for atleast a year. So now I have to convince myself that I'm only going to do just one little part and then stop and come in. However my stamina has increased enough that I actually start feeling better as I work, so I wind up doing several hours of work before I start feeling tired. But by the time I realize that I am tired, I am really tired and have to go in and rest. It's wonderful to have energy again.
Well, I'm on a diet, too, so I hope between the lost weight and walking the track at the near-by community center (where I do some gardening), I'll build up a bit, too.
yes losing weight does help. I started at 155, went down to 130 and now back up to 142. I felt so good at 130. Trying to get back. I should walk everyday, but it just hasn't happened ... yet.
You don't have as much cold weather and rain as we do here so you should be able to walk nearly every day. Remember, if you miss more than 3 days, you begin to lose what stamina you gained.
I should be able to walk every day, but I'm a total wimp in cold weather. My teeth start hurting when I'm outside. Sometimes it's warm enough at lunch to walk, but I always find an excuse. I'm soooo bad.
I know what you mean. the skin on my face hurts a lot during cold weather. Maybe you need a treadmill in front of a t.v., lol.
DH and I talked about that, but there's no money for it right now. Maybe if we get a decent tax return. DS moved out, so we a bedroom we could put it in.
I used to be a total wimp about walking outside in winter, but now I do it all the time. The trick, for me, was mentally dissociating the cold sensation from pain - there are times, here, though, where it literally hurts to breath outside! When it's just regular cold, I just try to relax, take a few deep breaths and think of something else. That, and dress in layers. Peg
I don't even know how people survive in climates like yours Peg. We lived in Germany for 6 years where it was colder than it is here, but not as cold as where you are. I was much younger then and I guess in better shape. My teeth would hurt some after being outside, but now if I go for a walk when it's 50 degrees outside, my teeth will hurt for hours afterward. So I'm very much looking forward to warmer weather.
Well, I wear so much the native Minnesodans just laugh at me! Anytime it gets above freezing, my kids will ask if they can wear their shorts, and I'm still bundled up so much that I'd have a hard time righting myself if I fell down. It's all what you're used to.
Yes I guess you're right Peg. Where are you from originally?
Missouri - colder than Texas, but not really enough to prepare for a Minnesota January.
Ahhh. We heard a lot about Mo winters for the 2 years DD was in Nevada at school. Very interesting place. She said the weather was very much like Tx, only colder. Sunny and warm one day and the next snow.
Missouri has too many ice storms - I'd rather deal with being stuck in the snow than not being able to stop on ice!
We're way off topic from lloquin's original. I guess the approach to cold is the same as to a ton of garden work - take a few deep breaths and do as much as you can. The rewards are greater with the gardening, especially if it can be divided into managable tasks where you can see your progress.
Yes we are off topic. Sorry Iloquin.
silverfluter, have you tried any of that toothpaste for sensitive teeth? It would be interesting to see if it helped.
I'm going to try to do some yard work tomorrow. I'm going over to the community center and clean out the long plants across the front, too. My approach to spring is to pile on the Black Kow to nearly everything. I hope I can find some bone meal at the local store. I like to put that on first, then the Black Kow.
Illoquin, is it possible to practice the lasagna method is some of your garden areas?
When it's really cold out, keep you mouth closed and breath through your nose. In addition to keeping your teeth from hurting, it warms the air a bit more that is going into your lungs. I was born in Wisconsin, and have always been cold. (DM & DS as well.) I live in layers from top to bottom from October thru April.