A Gardeners Forum Forums General Discussion New Members Hello from NJ!

Hello everyone.

I live in Northerm NJ and moved to the suburbs from a city about a year ago. I have my own yard for the first time and want to make it beautiful.

I grew up in rural PA, so I do remember thing or two about gardening, but my experience was in my parents' gardens, not my own, and that's a lot different. Now I actually have to make DECISIONS!

I am so glad that this forum exists and look forward to chatting with you.

I hope I can give a little help as well as receive some!

- New Jersey Ivy

Welcome Ivy! I probably live very close to you - I live in Rockland County, NY on the border of northern Bergen County. I am always shopping in NJ, and have found a few great nurseries there as well.

This is a great forum site to find a lot of information, or to volunteer your information as well. Sorry I don't know the answer to your tree question, but I'm sure someone will come along soon who does.

Welcome to the forum, Ivy. I am sure you will find it very helpful.

welcome ivy. you have found the right place, and lynne is a great one to help you, she's got a beautiful yard and is familiar with the particulars of your climate. something that a southerner like me has no clue about!

Yes - we are located pretty close! I am in Morris County, which is not far from Bergen County.

Do you have a Bergen County nursery you love? (are we allowed to name names here?) I'm always looking for a good recommendation.

I'm sure we'll be "bumping into" one another here due to our location.

Cheers.

New Jersey Ivy

Well, one of the nurseries I was thinking of is actually in Lincoln Park - Gro Rite. It takes me about 1/2 hour to get there from here. It's not far from Wayne, if you are anywhere near there.

I once went to the Morristown arboretum plant sale, but it was farther to drive than I thought, and by the time I got there most of the good plants were gone. Do you ever go to that sale?

I had taken my daughter with me - she was in middle school then I think? We also went through George Washinton's house that was right near the sale - it was very interesting.

What kinds of plants are you thinking of planting for your yard this summer?

I haven't been to the Morristown sale -- but I live two towns over, so I will have to check it out. I've only lived here for one year so I am still getting to know what's out there! And I will be sure to check out that garden center--I'm not far from Wayne--maybe 30-40 minutes.

Last year I started small with my plantings. I really want to develop a clipping garden, so I planted some black-eyed susans, purple cone flower, and yarrow. Deer, rabbits, and groundhogs left them alone until they were in full glory and then ate them all up. I was crushed. I used Critter Out, but I must have not used it frequently enough that week. The yarrow didn't do particularly well even before it got munched. Maybe it was my soil...

One black-eyed susan plant in a different spot was totally left alone, however, and it looks like it reseeded and new plants are coming up now. So I'm excited about that.

I read that bee balm and sea holly are deer and rabbit resistant, so I will try those this year.

I'm not giving up on some of the other lovely cut flowers yet, though. I will try some of the other critter discouraging tips my neighbors have given me. We'll see!

I put in a few iris and daffodil bulbs in the fall and they look great, so I'll be doing more this year as well. And, my father gave me some tiger lilies from his yard. I know those can be invasive, but I'm hoping they will provide a quick fix for filling my bland yard with some color this year. They are very pretty cut flowers, too. And I can always thin them out as I develop my beds. (Right?)

Also last summer I planted some coral bells. The plants were quite pretty and they did well in one spot that I chose but not the other. The ones that did well are not showing signs of coming back yet, but I guess it's still early. I'm a little worried they died, though. As you know, we had a cold, snowy winter!

I'm trying to start some things from seed this year, since buying the plants is so expensive, and they are at such a risk of getting gobbled up.

What are your favorite plants and flowers? What's done well in your garden?

The sun is just poking out now, so I'm going to go poke around in the dirt with my son.

Have a great day!

New Jersey Ivy

hi there,
when is the best time to plant my garden in NJ?

Hi cwi - it depends on which zone you are in - the southern part of NJ, and some coastal areas are warmer than the northern and more inland areas. I am in zone 6 here in southern NY and our last frost date is May 15th, so that means I won't put anything outside until that date.

Ivy - I have the same critter problems that you do - everyone here has heard me complain about the deer and woodchucks for YEARS!!! The deer have already eaten most of my tulip leaf tips, and all of my tiger lily leaf tips! The only thing I have found that works somewhat, and I have tried almost EVERY deterrant, spray, granules, soaps, you name it - is milorganite fertilizer - it is granules made from human waste I was told, and it does STINK! But that does keep the deer away for a little while. I do need to re-apply it after heavy rains though, but I also think that the fertilizer helps my plants as well. We usually buy it at Home Depot.

My coral bells are iffy too - some come back, while others don't.

I found a new to me plant last summer that bloomed from the moment I planted it, until after our firt frost. AND... the deer DO NOT eat it - it has some small prickers on the underneath sides of the flowers so that it probably why - it's gaillardia, and it comes in many different varieties. My favorite was oranges and lemons - such pretty flowers!

That said... my determined deer DO eat any roses that I plant down to the ground - thorns and all!!! I simply cannot grow any roses because of the deer, and that frustrates me very much!

Tell us more about your garden areas? Shade? Sun? Dry? Wet?

Hi Plants 'n Pots -

I just looked at some pics of gaillardia. Gorgeous! I will try those for sure. Thank you for telling me about those.

I also ran out and sprayed my tiger lily leaves with critter repellant as soon as I read your post. I didn't realize those got eaten, too. I'm glad to know it.

That's interesting about the fertilizer with human waste. A friend's landscaper told her the best way to keep away the animals is to have her husband pee on her flower beds once in a while. Kind of funny. My husband said he'd be happy to comply if it means I'll stop spending money on so many little spray bottles of repellant.

I planted just a couple of tulip bulbs last fall that had been given to us potted as a housewarming gift when we moved in last spring. They came up but have been eaten down to the ground. I should have sprayed them right away and didn't. Darn. Do you think they'll come up again next year, or is that the end of them now?

My garden areas---I have two areas that are full sun (pretty much). They are both narrow strips - one along the edge of my deck which faces east, and the other along the side of my house, which faces south. The south facing bed has almost nothing in it. There are some unattractive plants of some kind, which I swear are large weeds that were planted to look like desirable plants. If I can figure out how to post a picture, I will once they start getting green again. Either of those beds would be perfect for my clipping garden that I hope to have one day.

Then I have another strip along a fence in my backyard which gets dappled sun all day, so I guess that counts as part sun. There is rose of sharon growing there and one very tenacious wild bleeding heart plant that I thought was a weed and tried to get rid of last year but it just grew right back and then bloomed its white blossoms and it was quite pretty. That bed needs some serious work, too.

Finally, my front yard faces west and gets part sun. It's shaded by my house all morning and by my neighbor's house and a japanese maple for part of the afternoon. The previous owners planted some shrubs in front to improve "curb appeal", and it looks cute, but definitely needs flowers. I had a potted hydrangea from my city place and I transplanted it in front on the shadier side and it was quite happy all summer and is sprouting now - so that's a big success if it continues to be passed over by the deer. A neighbor right across the street had her hydrangeas completely eaten while mine was left untouched.

I think I have good soil. It makes a ball when I squish it in my hand, but then crumbles when I rub it in my fingers. It may lean a bit toward clay. The previous owners of the house were elderly and had been neglecting raking leaves, etc. --seems like for a couple of years. I think that actually worked in my favor by enriching the soil. We are very close to a large river, so we have a high water table, and the earth gets quite soggy in spring and stays that way through the end of May at least. That didn't seem to interfere with anything I planted last year, though, and the earth was not wet all summer - I had to water frequently. All of the garden areas I mentioned are raised a little bit, except the one along the deck--so maybe that helps with drainage.

So - tell me what kind of gardening you do and what you plant in your areas?

New Jersey Ivy

It sounds like you have great potential there for some very pretty gardens, Ivy! I'd love to see pictures when you figure out how to post them - it's very easy once you get the swing of it.

By the way, there's a forum in Banter Hall called "gardener's chat" where we discuss all kinds of gardening and flowers, etc, if you'd like to pop in there - I think more people would read what you write there, and you would get more responses too.

You could even copy and paste your last response from here if you like and bring it "down" there.