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Ilona's Garden Journal




garden chores

What I’m Weeding Out

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Catching Up With Summer

Working Away At the Frontline
I swore to myself I wouldn’t do this, but I miscalculated how much I wanted to spend time with grandkids (even though it meant numerous 9 hr. trips). I am now playing catch up with the garden weeds, long grass, and a veritable jungle out there.
So in the spirit of “making lemonade”, I thought I would let you know the status of the weeds around here. Maybe you have some of them, too. I’m pretty sure you do.
I make piles to gather up after weeding session is done.
What are the main weeds of July in my Ohio garden? It will take a list.
  • Poison Hemlock, Conium maculatum
  • Poke Weed, Phytolacca americana
  • Burdock, Arctium
  • Canadian Thistle, Cirsium arvense
  • Poison Ivy, Toxicodendron radicans
  • Red Mulberry Trees, Morus rubra
  • Bush honeysuckles, Lonicera

These are the worst of them, I have many others.

–Purslane,  Portulaca oleracea, loves this time of year for filling in the cracks in my fieldstone pathway. They are quite nutritious edible leaves, but I haven’t made use of them except for the compost pile.
-Ground ivy, Glechoma hederacea, has become so ubiquitous I only try to keep it out of cultivated areas; it is taking over the “lawn”.
-Hated Bindweed, Convolvulus arvensis, is very difficult, but I occasionally wage war on it.
–Garlic Mustard , Alliaria petiolata, is more of a problem earlier in the summer, but a new crop of seedlings starts to make an appearance this month.
This is the short list, grasses tend to top the work list around here. They are my worst weed, and I go to battle all the time, never really winning. The early summer is deceiving- it looks like I have achieved a nice clean area for the month of June. Then the onslaught.
For all that I don’t hate weeding, at all. I only hate being overwhelmed by it. If I go out leisurely each morning, devote and hour or two to meditatively pulling weeds, it is a peaceful and restorative occupation.
Pokeweed

Do you wish to identify weeds in your yard? Ohio State has a picture gallery of weeds that is quite extensive. Ohio State Weed Lab

My Weeding Methods

My daughter helped with these
Yes, I have methods. I don’t use chemicals, which means I must develop a certain tolerance for some weediness in my garden. That, or find a hireling.
Poke weed I simply cut off at ground level.
Poison Hemlock and Burdock are removed at the crown with a shovel ( an old farmer showed me that: no need to remove the entire deep and difficult taproot).
Red Mulberry are grubbed out below soil level with a spud bar; depending on size, lopper severs the top part from the root.
Same method is used for Bush honeysuckles as for red mulberry. Although I get them smaller and usually loppers are sufficient.
Ground ivy is pulled by hand and then roots are dutch-hoed out.
Canadian thistle pulled straight up, grabbing near ground level with gloved hand in soft earth. Levered out with long trowel or Dandelion weeder in drier conditions.
Bindweed? You try to loosen soil with fork and then pull out. Yes, its a lesson in futility, but keep at it.
Morus Rubra Removed

Poison Ivy

This merits its own page, actually, but I will try to condense.
I used to be entirely immune, but now I must always wash up and be very careful. If I am smart I wear long sleeves+ gloves+long pants+socks and shoes. In hot weather I am not always smart.
First, I cut off the most offensive long parts to get them out of the way. I lay all parts in a separate pile to get rid of later, preferably in a sunny spot for dessication.
Then, use a claw tool to loosen up the creeping roots, pull out those. Some roots are entrenched, pry those up with a garden fork and remove.
Don’t throw the poison ivy on the compost pile, don’t ever, ever burn. Bag up the dried out plants and get rid of them.
 
I devote an entire afternoon to this job periodically. And I am presently way behind.
Flowering pots for sanity. You’ll be glad to know I weeded this spot after taking photos.
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© 2014 written for Ilona’s Garden Journal by Ilona E. An excellent blog.

Garden Chores For March, No Digging Yet

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Viburnum x bodnantense ‘Dawn‘ buds on ice

No real attempts at garden chores yet, but not everyone is like Ohio, still in the throes of winter. There were some blue skies, yesterday, however!

I will likely remember this winter for a long time to come.

On Ilona’s Garden some new pages were posted (1) a chores reminder for this month, along with (2) a new page on daffodils. 

I love daffodils, they are so easy for me to grow and propagate. And nothing bothers them! ( Unlike the tulips, which deer nip off, or crocus which suffer attrition to the fattening rodent population).

Today I plan to make the rounds in the garden, checking on things: to see if bulbs are pushing up through the ground, still snow smacked, or how the viburnums bud look. Such activities rejuvenate my mind, and it feels quite mothballed after being cocooned inside all winter long (this was not the best season for my health, and I hope time spent outdoors this spring will restore me).

As always, spring and hope go hand in hand.

Normally I would be viewing this, but not in 2014

When spring is crowded, it was my experience that we had a veritable burst of bloom as everything seemed to be spring-loaded to flower. Maybe we will have such a celebratory entrance of spring this year, once it finally decides to arrive.

At least something will drag me away from pinning. Being cooped up all winter has done wonders for my inspiration lists.

What’s it like in your garden right now?

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Visit Ilona’s Garden Journal on facebook: Click here
© 2015 written for Ilona’s Garden Journal by Ilona E. An excellent blog.

Mid July Chores

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It finally heated up and this is what we expect in July: hot muggy weather.

It is time to keep up with the weeds, hoeing them out in the morning means that the hot sun is killing the weeds and not you. Afternoons are made for sipping lemonade in the shade of a tree.

Look for bargains beginning in the garden sections of the stores.

Keep your tomatoes and other veggies watered, either in the morning or evening. Keep water soaking the ground and spare the leaves, to avoid diseases. Fertilize.

You still have time to pinch the asters and the chrysanthemums, but do it right away, don’t wait until the second half of the month.

If you don’t have chrysanthemums, consider planting some. Small plants should put on good growth in the next month and be ready to bloom their heads off in the early fall.

Sow your cool season vegetables for your fall garden.

Time for annuals to get their haircuts; they will look renewed and refreshed if given a chance to put on new growth after you have trimmed back the seedy, floppy, spent growth of their first flush of the summer. Just trim away with sharp shears and then lightly fertilize and water.

For more July garden tasks, see the July calender page of tips and chores and the Summer garden pages.

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© 2011 written for Ilona’s Garden Journal. An excellent blog.

Emerald Ash Borer

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I wanted to comment on the emerald ash borer news, but procrastinated. Apologies.

Anyway, I read an article in the paper that reported Ohio was going to implement some drastic measures to eliminate the ash borer that has been located in Northeastern Columbus area and in the Northwestern part of the state. Cut down lots of ash trees in the the problem areas. All of the trees in a specific radius.

It is too bad, but it really seems the only remedy. The insects have been moving faster than originally predicted.

Wish I could find that article…… Ok, here it is Emerald Ash Borer report.
Update

I had to find a different article, as the original report went missing, as often happens on the internet. I thought we should list list a few helpful articles now that Emerals Ash Borers are firmly established in our state.

A list of articles on the insect

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I have not yet

  • pruned any trees
  • ordered anything (although I made out the form)
  • worked outside
  • made definitive garden plans for 2004

What I have done is look at the Farmers Almanac prediction. ):(
Supposedly it will be a dry summer. I don’t know how truly accurate those predictions are, but I don’t want to have to try to water lots of new baby plants. If you knew my conditions here with strong, sometimes searing, summer winds, and how difficult it is to keep things watered in the summertime across spread out gardens you would commiserate.

I know you would. But I hate to be too invested in the predictions. The gardener sows in hope:)

Maybe I will go with the middle of the road plan of planting some things, but concentrating on the bones and structure of the garden. Making sure the edges are clean, pay more attention to weeding and renovating, improving walkways; those are the sorts of things that use drought in ones favor.

Nothing like those horrid weeds all shriveled in the sun…….. heh, heh, heh.

Garden Wisdom

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Garden Wisdom

Today I discovered that I left the hose going all night and flooded the area around the pond. Glad I walked around the yard early!

Yesterday I moved some plants out of the main garden to make room for the campanula, ‘Blue Clips ‘, in the front.

I have no idea whether the mosquito problem is due to the wet summer or the huge drainage ditch the county put in ajoining the property. But no one can stay outside for more than a short time without swarms around your entire body -no matter what the time of day or amount of sun. >:( Really puts a crimp in my gardening…not to mention swellings and annoyances.

Thoughts on Attitude

Oh well. I was thinking this morning about whining, rants and complaints. The world is not a better place for their proliferations. Say it once, if you need to, create a campaign if it is of importance, work on solutions if it is nagging you.

… But spare the world if all you are doing is polluting your own mind and those around you with your foul inability to handle the “small stuff”. I was thinking in reference to myself and these blogs.

It is easy to fill them up with mind litter. Sorry, just getting started… making adjustments in focus.

Homeschool and Garden

The school time this last week was ( apart from the usual math time, etc) beginning a unit on ants. I decided to use the Proverbs 6:6 admonition to sluggards as a jump-off point.

We got an illustration with the garden when I started work in an area that -unbeknownst to me- had a thriving colony of tiny biting ants. Kids got to see mom with ants in her pants. -Actually crawling quickly up my legs biting the ankles.

So after brushing and smashing… hurried inside to shower and change clothes when the swatting proved insufficient.

Then when we had our discussion time after the presentation of some initial research by my son. I folded the experience into how a group can work as a team to protect something and gain respect…even though the individual members are tiny and unmatched in power to the adversary.

Now we go into the study of kinds of ants, and lessons we can get in teamwork and in diligence. Vocabulary is on overseer, ruler, and captain. The nuance of difference and the illustrations in the live of Moses and Joseph in the Bible.

It sort of grew on its own. The garden has many things like that. Lessons and observances, wisdom for those who wish to see.