Especially here, where I never did get a handle on the torn up mess in the backyard. (Septic work.) I tried a few things, including a pumpkin patch which thrived for quite awhile. The squirrels tore some of the plants up, but left others. In my front patch, they destroyed most seedlings. But here they left a bunch of plants, which covered the mess pretty well, along with the herbs and tomatoes that popped up here and there.
But now the growing season is over, and the vines need to be pulled out. The real problem, besides the squirrels, is the soil. Being lawn, I never supplemented it, as I did with the garden areas. It is fill, and lots of rocks. What it needs is compost, loads of it and as soon as possible. I removed as many rocks as I could, over the months, but they never, ever stop coming. I set them aside for the finished area. I am now covering the bare spot with newspaper, 4 sheets thick. I put some rocks on them, so they won't blow away. Then chopped up leaves 3 or 4 inches deep. The weeds and grass seeds will die over the winter, the leaves and newspaper will break down, and I'll have a new garden, lined by plenty of rocks. To help this brand new bed get a jump start to better soil, I also plan to empty most of my containers over the leaves. I just wish I didn't make it so big. I always to that to myself, but as time goes on I've learned that setting it up right in the first place makes it as low maintenance as you're realisticly going to get. Now I need to plan an anti squirrel strategy for next season.
No comments:
Post a Comment