A Gardeners Forum Forums Gardening Reference Gardening in 2006 Basic garden up keep?

What do you ladies/gents do in your garden for basic up keep???
I do the obvious, water and weeding but is there anything else I should be doing during this long painful wait?...lol
Like, should I be turning the soil between rows or adding new soil or something? Anything?

What is your basic upkeep routine?

Besides weeding and watering doing a side dress fertilizer is good and I use a natural bug spray and a fungus spray or two on everything. Once all my seeds are up I use Preen to cut down on weeding.

should I be turning the soil between rows or adding new soil or something? Anything?
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Mulching with straw or sugar cane trash etc will reduce the need for watering and weeding.
I give plants a hit of either fish fert or worm juice each fortnight, or weekly at half strength.

Watch your plants closely for any response to the fertilizer and watering that you do. If they aren't growing as you would expect you may need to focus on improving the soil. Several ways to do this. One, learn about using compost tea with horticultural molasses and earthworm castings. Two, do you need to add organic material to the soil such as compost, peat moss, humus, or planting sand. If you have poor drainage after watering or rain then you may need to add sand or organics like compost or humus which you can get by the bag. I Always look for ways to improve the soil. As you may have noticed above in Longy's reply,"The secret is the soil." That is so true. Last, learn all you can about composting and using compost tea for fertilizer, fungicide and other uses. Also, before I forget, invest in some earthworms to improve your soil, their castings (poop) are great providers of nutrients and they help break down plants and manure into useable materials. There is always something to do in the garden to improve your lot. Weeding, feeding, watering may not sound like much to do but it can be if you continue to learn about it. Reading this forum will teach you many many things and can direct you as to where to find information in detail. Hope this answers your question!

I used the trench method of planting my tomatoes this year and the plant has put up leaves/sprouts or whatever where the soil got pushed away from the stem and they are fruiting too. So it's been a nice suprise. I like this method better than the cages but then that's just me. But it does take up more ground space in the garden.

For me because I have herbs I also do a fair amount of pinching back in order to produce bushier plants.

And I almost forgot I have to make sure I have enough seed packets for what I'll havest and need to store for next year. And then as I transplant my seedlings I need to clean the pots so they are ready for my next planting. I never know when the need to plant something is going to strike. Last year it was mid summer and I ended up planting Hollyhocks.

Having a compost pile also requires regular care. Have to add greens and browns as I get them and turn the compost pile at least once a week and then there is the sifting of the compost once it is almost finished.

Did I mention planning where I'm going to put everything next year I have to make sure that I rotate my crops. Even though most of what I have are flowers I still make sure I mix everything up so that the soil doesn't get to depleted. I can't afford a bunch of amendments so I have to take care of what I have.

And of course that means steeping my own compost tea for the garden.

And of course there is always increasing the size of my garden if I have any time to spare lol. I love gardening.

spend 7$ and get yourself a simple hoe. This will help all of your weed problems between rows. also helps to loosen the soil so that your water is deeper when watering. i only hoe the rows inbetween plants. . . i dont dare go too close to the plant as i am almost certian i'd chew up the roots (it usually hoe's round 3" deep or more)