Dog Community

Any gardeners out there...?

Posted : 4/20/2006 8:51:56 AM

Ok so this is my first year that I have a house with garden space

really exciting! Except I REALLy have no clue what I'm doing!
First question... what are some suggestions to prepare the soil.. are lime and free compost from the local dump enuf?
Second... I live in northern NH, an hour from the border of Canada.... when can I plant outside? I've started lettuce, kale, zucchini, cantaloupe, watermelon, and baby tomatoes inside... when can they go out? How do I know when the "danger of frost" is over? It's pretty darn warm right now!

when can bulbs be planted?
Finally, can beans and carrots be started inside even if they say... sow outside when danger of frost is over?

Anyhow... thanks in advance to anyone that can help this novice gardener... I've got tons of enthusiasm, so hopefully it can make up for my lack of knowledge lol.

rredbird

Posted : 4/20/2006 10:26:59 AM

I am the exact opposite living in Florida with regards to weather, etc, but my two favorite sites for information are HGTV and Home Depot.

[linkhttp://www.hgtv.com/hgtv/gardening/0,1784,HGTV_3546,00.html]http://www.hgtv.com/hgtv/gardening/0,1784,HGTV_3546,00.html[/link]

[linkhttp://www.homedepot.com]www.homedepot.com[/link] just click on the garden area and sign up for the garden club.

Hope this helps and good luck to you!

outdoorschik

Posted : 4/20/2006 11:02:38 AM

Thanks!!

Those are great links.

magilacudy

Posted : 4/20/2006 12:23:08 PM

Your fruits and veggies can got out in May. I usually plant the long weekend. Bulbs can be planted now. I don't know much about soil, so I can't help you there.

luv_my_3_labs

Posted : 4/20/2006 2:45:24 PM

I can't grow mold....... However, I love the Hydrangea bush or is it a tree? lol,lol Going to try and plant two this year. Wish I could help you...good luck.....

Sandra TH

Posted : 4/20/2006 3:16:16 PM

I had to laugh when I saw this thread. My dad has a Masters in gardening from Cornell University and his gardens are toured my hundreds of people each year. For the past ten years he has been helping me with my yard and, while not garden tour worthy, it was looking quite nice. That was before we adopted Zoey and Roxy. My gardens are completly destroyed. In fact, all my dogs just contracted giardia from drinking from my koy pond and I will be filling it in shortly. Oh well, I love the dogs more than I love gardening!

My advice- fence in anything you don't want trampled! (plus, in all seriousness, many plants are poisonous if injested).

rredbird

Posted : 4/20/2006 3:22:15 PM

LOL! that's why we fenced in the back - that's the dogs yard and the front is my husband's (and sometimes my) garden area!

Even though DH isn't thrilled with the compromise he can live with it.

ron2

Posted : 4/20/2006 3:55:54 PM

My wife is the gardner around here. In this pic, behind Shadow is Canis. It came with the house but I thought it was serendipitous.

rredbird

Posted : 4/21/2006 7:15:46 AM

I could not find this one yesterday when I posted some sites for you but this one is my favorite - it's by the National Gardening Association and they send monthly newsletters customized (I believe) for your region.

[linkhttp://www.ngagardenshop.com/campaigns/show/3041]http://www.ngagardenshop.com/campaigns/show/3041[/link]

Ron - very apropo! More Shadow pics! Hint Hint

outdoorschik

Posted : 4/21/2006 8:58:26 AM

thanks everyone.... and yes, I'll be putting up a fence to block the garden, my 9 month old lab mix pulls up anything at even looks like a plant from teh roots

... he has even chewed on our miserable little tree in the back yard... everytime it grows a new branch he eats it off!!! lol.
So... my garden will be blocked off!

dubilpie

Posted : 4/21/2006 3:46:16 PM

I am in Northern massachusetts and I never plant my garden until right before memorial day week-end. We get some cold nights even in May. If you have a lot of pine trees around, you will need to lyme now and then lyme heavy in the fall. I have had the best luck with chicken poop, they sell it in bags called cock-a-doodle doo. I spread that all around the garden and put some in the hole I plant in.
I love gardening.

Stef w

Posted : 4/21/2006 6:20:26 PM

I'm in Southern Ontario and I haven't started much yet. I just rototilled my food garden tonight and I'm going to put in my peas and beet seeds tomorrow. I believe spinach can go in this early but most things I wait until May-ish.

I understand your excitement. Last year was my first year in this house and I just let everything come up and see what I had. (I HAD a garden in the dog-yard which got moved last fall because they destroyed it! However, they didn't kill my peonies because they came back up this year! *yippee*) So now this year I'm adding things that I love or that I've always wanted. (I bought an azalea last weekend and a bridal wreath spirea ... I want a cherry tree and a lilac.... )

Here's a zone map:
[linkhttp://www.blossomswap.com/zone.html]http://www.blossomswap.com/zone.html[/link]

ron2

Posted : 4/21/2006 6:31:46 PM

Here's a recent one I like. And you can see our lawn, which has been slow to come up from lack of rain. He's already blown coat so he's more naked than usual.

tacran

Posted : 4/22/2006 12:03:03 AM

I lived in apartments my whole life until about 11-12 years ago. Before that, I only dealt with potted plants. Once I got a yard, I gained a bit more gardening experience, but I still feel pretty clueless. My first place to get gardening tips is my neighbor, Fred, a master gardener. Since he can't help you where you are -- I'm in Oregon [

] -- I'll tell you my second resource. It's a website called GardenWeb ([linkhttp://www.gardenweb.com]www.gardenweb.com[/link]). They have forums that are great, all kinds of categories to go to. Good luck!