Why Can’t I Grow Things Here?

In this Southern garden, where I have recently moved. That is a little exaggerated, okay? I do grow some things, mostly what was already planted and survived on my property. But I am not having success with many of the new things I am trying to grow in this North Georgia garden. So let’s start describing what I am working with…

Metro Atlanta Garden

This part of Georgia is “the Piedmont”. The Piedmont is known for its oak and hickory forests, with yellow poplar; it has hills and valleys and red clay soils. Basically that describes my little plot. The soil here is sandy loam, which theoretically should grow things well. Why am I having trouble?

The Deer Eat Everything

Except English ivy. This area is overloaded with deer herds. My little neighborhood regularly has herds of six to eight that go through every day. I have seen up to 14 running through. Every shrub has been eaten. In a short time I lost a peach tree, a plum tree, a clematis vine, Callicarpa (beautyberry) shrubs, every annual, almost every perennial planted- you get the picture.

Deer fence protections worked for a short time until they were pushed through, broken down or figured out a way under. I retrieved the fencing from across the street one time.

They ate through the vegetable garden.

Neighbors sometimes feed the deer here, which puts me on the salad buffet as the herds move through.

This Is the South

There are so many plants I am not familiar with, yet. The soil is acidic and the sun is more intense. The topsoils are shallower and less fertile than Ohio. The seasons are similar, but I have not yet learned about planting times and know nothing about insect and wildlife work-arounds.

So far seeds are not 100% reliable. I had some beet which managed to come up, but I think they disappeared to the birds, or it might have been chipmunks.  I did have some Nigella flowers, but Candytuft, Iberis umbellata was a no-show. Cosmos grew, but did not flower. Usually a sign of soil that is too rich, but that doesn’t seem to be the case in my garden.

I am not familiar with timing of seed and harvest in Zone 7-8.

I Have a Woods

Finally, after my years of living and gardening on a plain in Ohio, with acres and acres of soybean and corn fields as far as the eye can see, I now have my own woods.

I love the oak trees and the leafy forest floor beneath them. The birdlife is fascinating to watch and so much more close and personal than the large and windy garden on the flat Midwestern plain. I have Cardinals, still, and Goldfinch, but also Wrens, Red-headed Woodpeckers, Titmice, Bluebirds, Blue Jays, and many small birds are here.

Of course, city woodland means many gray squirrels and chipmunks. Something is digging up and disappearing strawberry plants and muscari bulbs; I suspect them.

The South also has the Copperhead snake as a common occupant of oak woodland. I wear hiking boots when walking through the leaf litter and ivy. It also has king snakes, which eat them, and I have regularly seen these black snakes in my yard.

The woods surround a small meadow-like area, so deep shade covers the majority of the place. In the front yard is the only opening for enough sunshine to grow many perennials and vegetables. I don’t have enough money to fence the entire yard, so the deer have made a shady garden impossible: trees and a few tall shrubs out of reach of their grazing are the only things that grow.

My Present Garden Situation

What’s does grow? As mentioned, lots of English ivy, some poison ivy, some Virginia Creeper. The first few years I spent all my gardening efforts tearing down the ivy from trees. (Some vines had tree-trunk-like growth) and clearing pathways.

In the front yard is a bed area with ground covers. I think one former owner had made some good choices in this space. It had Red Roses (Knockout, I think), Goldsturm Rudbeckia, Liriopes, Oenothera speciosa that came up where I disturbed the ground, and a purple German iris. Ajuga grows into the “lawn”, but I love it. It is the dark leaved type and I regularly move wayward plants to along the driveway, in an effort to reclaim the soil from erosion.

Along the walk to the front door are plantings of what I believe are Trachelospermum asiaticum or Asiatic Jasmine (although it doesn’t bloom), Lamium galeobdolon aka yellow archangel

For now, that is the report on my new gardening venture. I use the word “gardening” loosely because it doesn’t come near to my former efforts, nor will it. This new yard will be “gardened” in commensurate results to my age allowances. It is now more of a wildlife refuge, providing many hours of watching entertainment.

Thans for visiting with me while I shared a bit of my life with you.