The Sad Garden, Part 1
The evolution of a garden, if you can call it that
When we moved into the 1750’s farmhouse now attached to the larger farm, it had a small garden in the backyard. This “garden” was wildly overgrown with weeds. It took a lot of work to reclaim it and I settled on a compromise of using grow bags while I tried to tame the weed situation. It worked pretty well for the first couple of years.
I don’t have pics of the weeds, but please take my word for it that it was a legitimate jungle in there. At the back, I kept some wild blackberry canes that were somewhat manageable, but imagine them filling this entire caged-in area, along with your regular assortment of grasses, weeds, and, for some reason, black-eyed susans which have incredibly deep roots if you’ve ever had to dig them out.
The four blueberry bushes were completely overgrown and took quite a bit of care to recover from the neglect they were suffering.
The first year I just used landscape fabric (which is nightmarish, but it gets the job done) and pine shavings for mulch.
The second year, I used leftover slates and stones I had to make a modest walkway chopped straw for mulch.
The grow bags themselves required minimal weeding, though they do sometimes need extra watering because they are prone to drying out. I basically watered a little every day unless it rained. Overall, I was satisfied with my results from using them, and would recommend them to anyone who wants a simple gardening solution, doesn't want to or can’t dig, has questionable soil, or who is reclaiming a neglected or messy area.
The chopped straw mulch came in bags from Agway and worked pretty well, though some weeds did still come up, even with the landscape fabric, especially after the 2nd year. I mostly pulled these by hand, except around the edges where I also carefully sprayed with 30% vinegar.
It’s not the prettiest thing you’ve ever seen, but it got the job done. The tomato cages are stackable and the different sizes of fruit cages covered the blueberry bushes to keep thieving critters from the berries. The champion crops were the Sungold tomatoes and the legions of green beans, though the peas (out of the shot in the back right corner) and onions get an honorable mention.
Overall, the garden was a success and it could very well have stayed in this configuration for good. There was just one small problem… My mother wanted it torn down. She hated the ugly, half-assed, convoluted wood-and-wire structure and wanted to replace it with something that looked neat and intentional. So, despite my work to reclaim the sad garden, it was back to the drawing board.
To be continued…