I have a confession to make. I… am afraid of my garden.
We moved here last summer, you know, and so I waved my hands and declared it too late to plant anything. Fiddle dee dee, I said! (Well, not really.) Next year, I said!
But now it’s next year and I don’t know if you’ve ever been to Georgia, but I find myself pining for the nice sandy loam I had in New England. The ground here is made of clay. Weeding requires a Herculean effort. I’m not sure I have the stamina to actually plant anything. And don’t even get me started on what this lovely red clay is doing to my children’s clothes.
Nevertheless, every March my thoughts turn to all the wonderful things I could plant, and I find myself thumbing through the nursery catalogs with a glint in my eye. Here—maybe I could plant vicariously, through you! That’s it! Go check out the Spring Hill Nursery One Cent Sale, why don’t you. Every plant in that category is buy one, get the second for a penny. Perfect. Plus, you can make it even sweeter: through March 26th, 2008 (that’s tomorrow), use coupon code 414465 to take $20 off your $20+ order. Order $20 worth and just pay shipping ($7.95).
And then send me a picture of your garden. Please.
A fellow native new englander, huh? Yeah, gardens scare me, too! We did manage to (against all odds) get a sunflower to grow on our window sill. It needs transplanting at this point, but I’m pretty scared to even do that! LoL Happy Tuesday!
I live in KY, and we also have clay soil, although not that lovely shade of stain-inducing red that you have in GA. My only hope for a somewhat productive garden is raised beds that I can fill with decent soil.
Of course we built them ourselves, inexpensively.
Back when dinosaurs roamed the earth, I lived in Virginia with the clay soil. I used to tell people that we didn’t dig holes, we just dug ‘inground clay pots.’
But I’m afraid of my garden too — But that’s more from the fact that it is over planted and over grown and there’s tons of work that could be done, but alas the call of ice cream and cookies is far greater than weeding and digging.
Thanks, pretty Mir! I could use some ground cover. (We were going to use mint, but apparently, that grows into one’s foundation. BAD IDEA!)
DO NOT BUY FROM SPRINGHILL!!!!!! They are the McDonalds of garden catalogs only worse. Their plants are scrawney, and usually mistagged or die a quick death. http://davesgarden.com/products/gwd/c/188/
Um, thanks for sharing your opinion, Heather. I have used Spring Hill plants in the past without a problem. They were neither mistagged nor did they die. I’m sorry you had a bad experience.
I live in Georgia and have had to get used to the red clay, too! I moved here from Florida. The best thing – get some really big strong man to pour a whole bag of nice soft black dirt where you want to plant and kind of toss it all together like a salad. Then it is possible to dig.
I’ve used Springhill many times and love them! Sorry you had a bad experience Heather… the plants are sent bare root, but always acclimate quickly and flourish once in the ground…
Here’s the secret to gardening in Georgia – raised beds. It’ll get you through the first few years. 🙂 You’ll eventually ease into working into the hard clay ground. 😉
Check out squarefootgardening.com for some great ideas–basically, gardening on top of your existing soil with very little weeding.
I like the raised beds idea. We have a lot of clay, too, due to living near a river and in a former glacial lakebed. I deal with the clay by adding compost (homemade, of course) to the soil every year. I think I’ll check into this site! If the snow ever melts, I’ll start planting.
I posted pictures of my … um… we’ll call it “landscaping” last week, since the very thought of “gardening” makes my black thumb twitch with glee.
Mir – I feel your pain. I’ve enjoyed gardening in Washington state and in Alaska, of all places, but have been stumped here in San Antonio, Texas. We have clay soil, too, in various depths on top of an impenetrable layer of limestone. Plus the killer heat of summer. . . . My strategy is to look around at successful plantings here in town and copy them. I’ve had to accept that many of the plants I know and love just will not make it here, no matter how much we compost. I’d like to try a raised bed for veggies if I can get my husband to build the frame for me. . . . and container gardening works as long as I keep up with the watering. Off to Spring Hill to look for drought-tolerant plants!
I, too, suffer from the black gardening thumb. I’m determined to try to grow a few things every year though! (No, I never learn.) Herbs and maybe a few veggies are planned this year. I’m going to do a raised bed, too, as our Arizona soil is pretty hard, too. Thanks for the Springhill coupon; I’ll have to check out the deals. We used them years ago for bare root roses that were great.
yeah! I got four calla lilies for $7.95. I can’t wait to see if those babies grow. Thanks!
Or maybe I’ll just give them to my gardening neighbor as a gift. Most everything I touch dies. So at least I will get to enjoy their beauty. Unless she plants them inside or in the back yard. I will tell her it is a requirement of receiving the gift that she has to plant them somewhere I can see them. 🙂
Despite the Good Friday Blizzard (Hey, have I mentioned the FIFTEEN INCHES OF NEW SNOW we have?), I am going to try and get some cheap flowers. Those negative reviews are worrisome, though. I’ll let you know how it goes, after the snow (FIFTEEN INCHES OF IT!!!) melts.
Hey, thanks. But how did you all get shipping for 7.95? Mine says 9.95 and I am in NC not too far from you, Oh BEAUTIFUL Mir. Just wondering if I missed something?
Mir,
Thanks for the great gardening offer. I’ve ordered some shade plants I’ve been wanting and with the 1 cent sale will have twice as many. I too paid 9.95 for shipping….but what a deal…..free plants!!
Thanks! We’re getting a blueberry kit for the cost of shipping! My 4 year old will be thrilled!
Pssst… Emily gave me a great idea—I’d totally forgotten that they carry berries. Strawberry kits headed our way! Woo!
Mir:
To plant in Georgia clay, try lasagna gardening (pat lanza) /sheet composting (ruth stout)/ InterBay mulch for a season first to attract earthworms and loosen up your clay. (You’re internet savvy, so I’ll let you look up those terms and authors.)
Clay is actually full of minerals, etc. that are great for plants. Once you learn how to improve the soil a bit, stuff’ll grow for ya, I bet.
I too live in GA (Alpharetta) and if you get WSB 750am on the radio (you should- they have a pretty big signal) check out Walter Reeves on Saturday mornings. He is kind of a goob but he is a fountain of information. I have a black thumb but I’ve managed to keep several things alive by following his advice.