Strong enough for landfill, pH-balanced for raspberries

Much of our tabula rasa of a back yard is landfill; our oil tank was buried until a couple of years ago, when it was dug up and replaced with a basement version. The hole it left behind was filled with gravel + soil from who-knows-where.

Still, I'm going to try raspberries. I read one raspberry enthusiast's page that made growing them sound akin to raising orchids (or particularly sensitive children), but I figured that I would just dig holes, water, and cross my fingers.

The one concession I made (mostly out of curiosity) was to do a pH test of the soil. So, I bought the kit (four multi-coloured vials, a bunch of pills), dug up the dirt, picked out the rocks, debris, and indignant bugs, let it dry overnight, mixed the dirt with water and a pill, and compared the resulting colour to the chart:

 

My best guess is that it mostly closely resembles the yellow at the bottom left, which is pH 6 -- my bleary recollections of 8:30 am lectures in Chem 102 with Dr. Farmer (as close to waking coma as I've come in this life) tell me that that is just about neutral. The raspberries should be ok.

Grass clippings on veggie beds

Having finally bought a lawn mower (grumble, grumble - don't get me started) we now at least have a source of mulch before the fall deluge. I've seen people 'round town using various forms of coverings (including grass clippings, straw, what appears to be tar paper, etc.) over their vegetable patches and so I did a little internet research on the topic.

According to this page, peat can do the trick nicely, along with grass clippings. Bark and sawdust (!) are less desirable. The justification for using mulch boils down to:

• Pest control
• Water conservation
• Control of "soil crusting" in hot weather
• Control of soil erosion

... and so, we're giving it a try. Here is the partially-mulched rows of artichoke and pepper:

The above link suggests an interesting approach: newspaper (which is ugly) covered by grass clippings:

Moistened sections of newspapers sometimes are used as mulch between the rows of vegetable garden plants. Never use color print sections of newspaper as the color ink is detrimental. Although they are a means of controlling weeds and grasses, they tend to be rather unsightly. A friend uses the newspaper under his grass clippings, that way the clippings do not take root. It works great and the newspaper does not show!

Nasty little critters

I'll never be able to read "The hungry little caterpillar" without grinding my teeth again. We have an inchworm infestation on one of the front trees and they took out two columbines within a day. They've also gone after one of our new lilacs.

What to do? Jury seems to be out - - sticky band around the trunk, metal band around the trunk, forget the metal band and just go straight to pesticides.

Here are some websites:

• Those awful inchworms are back!
• Q: How do I get rid of inchworms? A: A metal band
• Spring and Fall Cankerworms

Plant profile: Angelica

At the Mansfield garden sale, I picked up a shade plant that promised to grow to 4 - 6 FEET (!). Who could resist? It may be the beginning of my woodlands paradise.

Here's the description on the label:

Angelica
Biennial - reseeds
4-6 ft tall
partial to full shade

During its first year it only grows leaves, but during its second year its fluted stem can reach a height of two meters (or six feet). Its leaves are composed of numerous small leaflets, divided into three principal groups, each of which is again subdivided into three lesser groups. The edges of the leaflets are finely toothed or serrated. The flowers, which blossom in July, are small and numerous, yellowish or greenish in colour, are grouped into large, globular umbels, which bear pale yellow, oblong fruits. Angelica only grows in damp soil, preferably near rivers or deposits of water.

Last weekend on the cape I ran across a garden with a group of angelicas, and they were amazing; huge with fascinating bulb-growths that unfurled into leaves and flowers:






Well, a couple of weeks since I planted it, our angelica is hardly towering, but it is alive and well:

Hyrangea on the side of the house

Just planted our first bush on the West side of the house.

Put it in a hole twice the diameter of the pot; soil appears to be ok but full of ash (?).

Here's the write-up on the plant:

Limelight- hardy Hydrangea - Hydrangea paniculata
Exposure: Full sun to partial shade
Season: mid-summer to fall
Hardy to: -40 deg C
Heat zone: 8
Size: H 6 - 8', W 6'

Extraordinary color with exquisite bright lime-green flowers. The flower fades to white adn in fall, matures with hues of pink.

Add nitrogen to the soil to intensify the bright lime-green blooms.

East to maintain and care for. Great cut flowers. Bloom size increases with age.

USPP#12874, CPBR #2319

Brand: PW - Proven Winners

The lay o the land

Here are our challenges (that we see so far):

• Lots o shade - we are blessed by a lot of trees, which is great, but there's not much light to be had
• The garden is divided into 3 areas; a strip along the house on the east side, a back yard to the south, and a sort of sandy, shady area to the right
• There is nothing currently planted, aside from a few hostas by the driveway
  

Our garden blog

This is the official blog of 97 East Street in Mansfield, MA.

I'll take some photos, record where I planted stuff, and develop some planning ideas here.