Gardening Diary – April 30, 2021

 Sharon fertilized all the plants in Straw bale beds #3-4, 7-8 and sprayed diatomaceous earth on all the plants in straw bale beds #3-4.

Straw bale beds #7-8

Picture taken April 30, 2021.

Cut the drip hose on straw bale beds #7-8 at the place where the hose leaves straw bale bed#8. Attached a piece of the irrigation hose to the drip hose at the latter cut and placed the irrigation hose in 1 inch PVC pipe of sufficient lengths so that the irrigation hose and the PVC pipe spanned the walkway between straw bale beds #7 and #8. Attached the irrigation hose to the rest of the drip hose which can now make a double loop on straw bale bed #7.

Original Spice bed.

Picture taken April 30, 2021.

Weeded the original spice bed and mulched the plants, Chinese Fringe-Flower [Loropetalum chinense var. rubrum], Millennium Allium Ornamental Onion [Allium ‘Millennium’], and what is hopefully a Sentimental Blue Balloon Flower [Platycodon grandiflorus ‘Sentimental Blue’].

Gardening Diary – April 22, 2021

 From the website of WBIR 10News:

We set a new record low for April 22nd with a low of 30 degrees at the McGhee Tyson Airport (the old record was 31 degrees in 1993).

There is only one other year where we’ve been this cold this late in the month of April… That was in 1986 when we had lows in the 20s on the 23rd and 24th.

The plants in the yard were affected. In the straw bale beds:

Celebrity Tomato

Picture taken on April 22, 2021.

Golden Bell Sweet Pepper

Picture taken on April 22, 2021.

As all but 1 of the plants in straw bale beds #3-4 looked as above, we decided that we would need to replant these plants.

Other plants which were affected by the freeze of this morning included:

Aucuba-Hosoba Hoshifu

[Aucuba japonica]
Picture taken April 23, 2021.

Gardening Diary – April 21, 2021

 

Sharon and the covered Straw Bale Beds #3-4.

Picture taken on April 21, 2021,

In preparation for the predicted lows (near freezing), Sharon and I covered the Tomatoes and Peppers in the Straw Bale Beds #3-4.

Moved the pail, that contained the Hosta [Hosta sp.] plant dug up in the front, to the backyard near the Dappled Willow [Salix integra ‘Hakuro Nishiki’] and covered it with a piece of insulation which had been left in the yard by the workmen who worked on the crawl space.

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The following is a copy of the freeze warning from the Facebook page of the National Weather Service:

Gardening Diary – April 20, 2021

 Weed-eated all but 3 walkways (walkway along the original bed, along the left fence and along the Sedum/Iris bed) in the backyard along with part of the walkways in the back bed.

Sharon fertilizing the Tomatoes.

Picture taken April 20, 2021.

Sharon fertilized the Tomatoes with (a tomato fertilizer) and the Peppers with MiracleGro. She put slug bait around all the plants.

Both of us weeded the straw bale beds; weeds were sprouted grains and the maple seeds.

Watered all the straw bale beds and the unplanted plants we had purchased in the past week. We haven’t planted these since the predicted lows on Wednesday and Thursday nights are in the mid 30^o's.

Gardening Diary – April 19, 2021

 Spent the day pruning the Dappled Willow [Salix integra ‘Hakuro Nishiki’] which is next to the right fence. Placed the refuse in the ditch on Dave’s property.

Dappled Willow before pruning.

[Salix integra ‘Hakuro Nishiki’]

Picture taken on April 19, 2021.

Dappled Willow after pruning.

[Salix integra ‘Hakuro Nishiki’]

Picture taken on April 19, 2021.

Dappled Willow after pruning (view from backyard).

[Salix integra ‘Hakuro Nishiki’]

Picture taken on April 19, 2021.

Gardening Diary – April 16, 2021

 

Connector on the drip hose.

Picture taken on April 16, 2021.

Added the hose clamp, that was purchased yesterday, to seal the cut in the drip hose. Had to use pliers to tighten the clamp.

Part of the original bed that was weeded.

Picture taken on April 16, 2021.

Continued to weed the original bed.

Minnie Pearl Phlox

[Phlox x ‘Minnie Pearl’].

Picture taken April 17, 2021

Noticed that the buds of the Minnie Pearl Phlox had black spots on them. Need to find out what this and see if there is a cure so that the Minnie Pearl Phlox will bloom this year.

Gardening Diary – April 15, 2021

 

Straw bales beds #1-4 with modifications in irrigation system.

Picture taken on April 15, 2021.

For years, we have been concerned that the water from the drip hoses between beds containing the straw bales has been flooding the area outside the beds, especially, in the walkways. Thoughts of various solutions had been rejected. Last week, came up with the idea of using PVC pipe between the beds.

Today, cut pieces out of 10 ft length of PVC pipes of diameter 1 in. depending on the distance between the straw bales in 1 bed to the straw bales in an adjacent bed. Had no problem moving the pieces along the drip hose on the left side of the straw bales in the above picture. Unfortunately, the connector of the drip hose along the right side had a diameter of 1 in. (I should have measured these connectors before we purchased the PVC pipe since there were PVC pipe with diameter 1.25 in. available!). Cut the drip hose close to the connector and then was able to install the pieces of the PVC pipe as on the left side of the straw bales. To rejoin the 2 pieces of the drip hose, used a piece of pipe (of length between 2 and 3 in.) that fit snuggly in the 2 pieces of the drip hose. Installed a hose clamp on one side of the cut. Went to Lowe’s to purchase another hose clamp which I will install tomorrow.

We also had purchased the PVC pipes from Lowe’s.

While doing the above, watered the straw bale beds #7-8. Will have to do something about the drip hose between straw bale bed #7 and 8. A lot of water poured on the ground from this section of the drip hose. While we were watering these straw bale beds, put one of the plants that we had purchased under the latter section so that it would be watered.

Covering of the straw bale beds #3-4.

Picture was taken on April 15, 2021.

It is predicted that the low for tonight was going to be 37^o . Sharon and I covered the Tomatoes and Peppers which Sharon had planted in straw bale beds #3-4.

We took the other plants which we had purchased but not yet planted and placed them on the porch.

Gardening Diary – April 13, 2021

 

Golden Jubilee Yellow Tomatoes, Roma Tomatoes, Celebrity Tomatoes

[Lycopersicon lycopersicum ‘Golden Jubilee’], ...

Picture taken on April 9, 2021.

As can be seen in the above image, the drip hose does not enclose the 2 left Tomatoes. Unfortunately, when we watered the beds, the water did not reach these tomatoes.

Moved the top hose so that the hose encircled the Tomatoes. Unfortunately, the number of bales uncovered in bed #1 increased to 2. These 2 bales will be watered by a Mister Landscaper system.

Original bed

Picture taken on April 17, 2021.

Started weeding the original bed behind the Walker’s Low Catmint [Nepeta x faassenii ‘Walker’s Low’] and the Minnie Pearl Phlox [Phlox x ‘Minnie Pearl’].

Gardening Diary – April 9, 2021

 

Straw bale beds #1-4

Picture taken on April 9, 2021.

Installed a 50 ft drip hose that was purchased from Amazon. Unfortunately, it was about 1 bale short. Thus, added a Mister Landscape hose to cover that bale.

Straw bale beds #7-8

Picture taken on April 9, 2021.

Installed a 25 ft drip hose on straw bale beds #7-8. The hose is suspended between the back of the beds; will have to do some to do something to avoid the loss of water. Again, the hose did not cover 1 of the bales.

Sharon planting Peppers in straw bale bed #3.

Picture taken on April 9, 2021.

Sharon planted Tomatoes and Peppers in straw bale beds #3-4:

Marglobe Tomatoes

Picture taken on April 9, 2021

Golden Jubilee Yellow Tomatoes, Roma Tomatoes, Celebrity Tomatoes

[Lycopersicon lycopersicum ‘Golden Jubilee’], ...

Picture taken on April 9, 2021.

Golden Bell Sweet Peppers

Picture taken on April 9, 2021.

California Wonder Sweet Peppers, Big Bertha Sweet Peppers

Picture taken on April 9, 2021.

While Sharon was planting the above, I planted:

Fennel

[Foeniculum vulgare]

Picture taken on April 9, 2021.

Salem Rosemary

[Rosemarinus officinalis ‘Salem’]

Picture taken on April 9, 2021.

Plain Parsley

Picture taken on April 9, 2021.

After planting the Fennel and Salem Rosemary in pots, added drippers to these.

Watered all the beds except #5

Gardening Diary – April 6, 2021

 

Part of the right fence bed, left of the shed.

Picture taken 6 April 2021.

Continued pruning of Ferguson’s bushes that were hanging over the right fence.

Gardening Diary – April 5, 2021

 Last week, we had several nights when the temperature dipped into the middle 20’s. The following plants suffered damage from the freeze.

Semmes Beauty Oakleaf Hydrangea

[Hydrangea quercifolia ‘Semmes Beauty’]

Picture taken April 6, 2021.

Wintergreen Boxwoods

[Buxus microphylla var. koreana ‘Wintergreen’]

Picture taken April 6, 2021.

Icicle Short Top Radishes

Picture taken 6 April 2021.

Ground Orchid

[Bletilla striata ‘Alba’]

Picture taken 6 April 2021.

Continued pruning in the backyard.

Butterfly Bush

[Buddleja davidii]

Picture taken 6 April 2021.

First, pruned the volunteer Butterfly Bush [Buddleja davidii] in front of the left side of the back bed.

Wild Yellow Indigo

[Baptisia sphaerocarpa]

Picture taken 6 April 2021.

Second, remove last year’s growth of the Wild Yellow Indigo [Baptisia sphaerocarpa].

Part of bed along the right fence.

Picture taken 6 April 2021.

Third, started pruning the plants from Ferguson’s yard that were hanging over the right fence.

And, fourth, reinstalled the manifold and the backflow for irrigation in the garden. Watered the straw bale beds #7-#8 and the Aphrodite Sweetshrub [Calycanthus L. ‘Aphrodite’] which was recently planted in the Hydrangea bed.

Gardening Diary – April 2, 2021

 

Sharon at uncovered Straw Bale Bed #7.

Picture taken April 2, 2021.

Sharon and I took the cover off of Straw Bale Bed #7 at about 11 AM. The low temperature for last night appears to have been about 28^o F.

Tonight, according to the Facebook note from the National Weather Service, Morristown:

the low temperature is predicted to be 26^o F; hence, we put the cover back on the bed at about 7 PM.

Gardening Diary – April 1, 2021

 

Covered Straw Bale Bed #7

Picture taken April 1, 2021.

Since the forecast low for tonight is 26^o F, checked the literature to see if we needed to cover our Oregon Sugar Pod II Peas [Pisum sativum var. saccharatum] and/or Icicle Short Top Radishes. 

From Oregon State University Extension Service [1]:

According to Myers, the hardiest vegetables that can withstand heavy frost of air temperatures below 28 include spinach, Walla Walla sweet onion, garlic, leeks, rhubarb, rutabaga, broccoli, kohlrabi, kale, cabbage, chicory, Brussels sprouts, corn salad, arugula, fava beans, radish, mustard, Austrian winter pea and turnip.

Semi-hardy vegetables that can withstand light frost of air temperatures in the range of 28 to 32 degrees include beets, spring market carrots, parsnip, lettuce, chard, pea, Chinese cabbage, endive, radicchio, cauliflower, parsley and celery.

Since this information was confirmed by several other sources [2], [3], we decided to cover the straw bale containing the Oregon Sugar Pod II Peas and not cover the straw bale containing the Icicle Short Top Radishes.

Bibliography:

1. James Myers (Story Source), These cold-hardy vegetables may stick it out through winter, Oregon State University Extension Service (September 2013). https://extension.oregonstate.edu/news/these-cold-hardy-vegetables-may-stick-it-out-through-winter (Accessed 1 April 2021).
2. Cyn Reed, Does Frost Damage Pea Plants? Garden Guides, (21 September, 2017). https://www.gardenguides.com/info_8738674_frost-damage-pea-plants.html (Accessed 1 April 2021).
3. Heather Rhoades, How Low Of A Temperature Can Peas Stand? Gardening Know How, (This article was last updated on 02/11/21). https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/edible/vegetables/peas/how-low-of-a-temperature-can-peas-stand.htm (Accessed 1 April 2021).