In Focus

It is garden season—the hobby that consumes a ton of time, leading to a neglected house, and it seems there’s always more to do.

I finally got the rest of my herbs planted in planters because I’ll need the roots from these plants. I found some cute stackable planters, and I’m hoping they work well and take up much less space.

I put down some weed barrier in the walking areas of my garden, but everywhere else the grass and weeds are popping up. I need to tackle that and invest in a thick layer of mulch—definitely a project for another day.

I’ve learned that pumpkins don’t like to be transplanted. I started a bunch indoors in large pots, but when I moved them to the garden, half of them died. That was disappointing. I planted more seeds, but who knows if they’ll have enough time to actually produce pumpkins.

My regular cucumbers also died—too much rain. I guess next year, I’ll just plant them in pots or a raised bed. Interestingly, the lemon cucumbers seem to be doing okay.

Unfortunately, my summer squash also died, which is a first for me. I planted more seeds, so here’s hoping for better luck the second time around.

A few of my herbs also didn’t like being transplanted, so I planted more seeds for them as well. We’ll see how that turns out.

The perimeter of my garden needed some extra reinforcement. I dislike how weeds grow up the fence, plus rabbits are always looking to get in. My boyfriend had some unused pavers, and my wonderful neighbor helped by trailering them and my new fire ring (which my boyfriend lovingly made for me) back to my house. I was able to place a row of bricks around the outside and almost all of the inside of the garden. This should help to keep the weeds and bunnies out.

I had an idea involving my unused clothesline. Last year, I planted morning glories at the base of the poles. They started to grow and climb, but then the deer turned it into a buffet, so they never made it to the top. This year, I took some large old planters, cut down through one side and part of the bottom, and placed them around the base of the poles. I glued them together with silicone, spray-painted them in different colors, and let them dry overnight. I added weed barrier to the bottom, filled them with potting soil, and planted seeds for various vining flowers like jasmine, clematis, morning glories, passionflowers, black-eyed Susans, and roses—because why not?

Well, the plan nearly failed because the seams were pulling apart. I ended up wrapping them all in jute cord, and they seem to be holding now.

Next, I plan to add some of my three-foot garden fencing on top of the pots to keep the deer from munching on the plants. Hopefully, this plan works out. I think it would be amazing to have a giant arch of colorful flowers to enjoy.