Edited by Cathy Tylka, for Let’s Talk Plants! May 2022.
Question…
… What is your favorite thing to do in your garden now that it's spring! Is it easy or is it something you have to work at, but is worth it?
Suzy MacGillivay, 92024 stated…
... Arranging my many different Cymbidiums front stage and center to be viewed from my kitchen window after being tucked away for their R&R period during winter. I have about a dozen big plants. I cut a few various ones each week to bring in and enjoy with all the freesias that are popping. Beautiful! Mother Nature does such a lovely show in April.
Jennifer Clarkin, 91906, declares…
... Just being in the garden is a blessing. Work too, planting, watering, weeding, tending garden is work and pleasure.
Leslie Nelson reports…
… My favorite thing to do in the garden now that it is spring is to decide on new additions to the garden and plant! I also enjoy adding new mulch and weeding. I love digging in the dirt so these come easily to me. I am still learning design techniques so this takes a lot of visualizing, researching and some experimenting. I enjoy this and feel that I have made progress and learned a lot along the way.
Jennie Burgess said …
My favorite spring thing is planting my vegetable garden and going on garden walks. Maybe it’s my sticky beak but I love looking at other people’s gardens.
Charlotte Getz of 92024 replied…
... I walk my yard every day or two to check on plants that are blooming and look for signs of trouble or an infestation of disease or a pest problem. My most enjoyable discovery is that my holiday amaryllis bulbs are now blooming again - all red and vibrant! The amaryllis bulbs want to be planted in sun, but I have ignored them since transplanting them outside after the holidays. There is a drip system behind the bulbs and the Veteran’s Honor rose.
We have all irrigation turned off since our recent rains. As well as we live one mile from the ocean and get a “marine layer” many mornings for a few hours before the sun shines.
Fertilizer for my roses - Gro Power every five to six weeks. Roses have only had one feeding so far this spring season.
Lisa Wang replied…
... I live in an apartment; I don't have a garden. So, I like to look at other people's gardens.
Ida Rigby, 92064, shared . . .
... Now (late March, early April) my first favorite thing to do in the garden is listen to the dawn chorus as the birds celebrate spring and announce their presence to one another. A few hours later I enjoy walking the garden to see what is making the most immediate demands; weeds that have gone to seed overnight, tough, landscape roses that nonetheless need fertilizing, tomatoes that need planting, a rock garden that wants its portulaca, and year old own root roses that the wood rats find the perfect diameter for their construction needs and have been perfectly pruned. I enjoy setting to the work; constructing mesh or chicken wire protective cages seems the first priority and on we go from there. I enjoy getting deeper and deeper into gardening, whatever the tasks. I am accompanied by two males who sing long into the morning after the dawn chorus ceases; a house wren and a spotted towhee. Then I settle down later in the day with a gardening book. Any form of gardening in the spring is glorious.
Susi Torre- Bueno replied…
... My favorite thing to do is to add new plants to the garden. I only plant when we have rains, which this year meant starting in late December 2021. It is now April 2022, and I will stop planting by the end of May. I've noticed that almost anything (except succulents) that I plant from June through November dies, no matter how much I try to keep it well-watered, so those are the months that we do projects in the garden like adding edging to garden beds, applying mulch, building fences, etc.
Linda Canada, of 92122, converses …
… My backyard garden abuts Highway 52 property and unfortunately, the State of California years ago planted some very messy eucalyptus which I am hoping they will one day remove. My spring gardening involves lots of cleanup, especially following the high winds we've had in the last few weeks.
I actually find this mundane work to be quite gratifying as I transfer buckets of leaves, twigs, and even branches to my green recycling bin! My garden is planted in mostly succulents and California natives, so as the layer of leaves is removed, the new shoots and buds are revealed, I gather the unwanted materials by hand, and am able to let my thoughts drift as I accomplish my seasonal cleanup.
Steve Zolezzi of 92021 adds...
… We are more fortunate than gardeners in most of the US in that we do not experience a hard winter. This affords us the opportunity to continue to work our gardens through the winter. So, with spring comes new growth from the fall and winter work. So my favorite thing to do is just sit and enjoy it all - then it's back to those weeds.
Eva Maze …
… loves picking snap peas!
Cathy Tylka, 92026, adds …
… Here’s my favorite thing to do at this time of year - go for a walk and watch things grow before my eyes.
This is a beautiful yucca. History tells us that the Native Americans used it to make baskets and weave other things. And they use the root for soap! Interesting tidbit!
Mary and Mark Zombek, 92646, shares…
…We are getting our "black gold" out of the compost bin. To see leaves, grass and kitchen scraps turn into the best, most nutritious, and free compost is the best reward! We cold compost for a year and then use the compost in raised beds and around fruit trees. Definitely hard work but so worth it! We hand pluck grubs out of the bin and use to feed the possums!
Next month's question for Sharing Secrets, May 2022:
What is your favorite nature walk? Is it in San Diego County or somewhere else in the world?
