The Compost Bin

Meet the newest members of my yard. My Plant Delights order came in the other day. With a newly built 5 foot tall retainning wall now circling my pool area, I needed some green to soften them up a bit. I chose Colocasia gigantea Thailand Giant Strain (Giant Elephant Ear), Musa Basjoo (Hardy Banana) and Stuttgart Variegated Canna. All of which should grow taller than my walls and definitely green up the stone dominated area.

At this point the Musa Basjoo looks like a stick in a pot but it could grow up to 12 feet tall if I can get it in the ground. But my yard is on hold for a week or two while we wait for the new pool liner to come in. That means I'll have workers stomping around my yard for at least another month. I better stick with the pots to keep these guys safe.

For the first time I was able to overwinter my Hibicus standard indoors so I figured I'd make my fall chores a little hardy with this purchase. If I keep these plants in pots, I'll have to bubble wrap them and store them in the garage over the winter but the Musa Bajoo may make it into the ground. That will mean that I have to cut it back and heavily mulch it and put a tarp over it to keep it dry. I have fond memories of helping my Grandfather build a giant box to overwinter his fig tree every year so maybe it won't seem too much like a chore.

Wow, my house must have a sign on it that says, "All Critters Welcome!" With all the rain that we got over the weekend a snapping turtle decided to venture out of the nearby lake and visit my house. This might be normal for people who live out in the country but I'm in Bergen County, NJ (throw a rock in any direction and you'll hit a mall) so this was big news. The police even showed up to say that they received a bunch of calls from people to report that a runaway turtle was crossing the road. Why did the turtle cross the road? It wanted to get in my blog, that's why. Apparently it was a mama turtle who had laid eggs in a dry creek bed across the street so the police said they weren't allowed to move or relocate it but not to worry because she'll eventually leave and return to her eggs.


So stuck with a giant snapping turtle near my front steps I hid the kids in the house and tried to be a good host and make her more comfortable. She wasn't too impressed with my garden art though so mama turtle left after about an hour.

I'm a big believer in watching for garden signs. For example, I know that once the Azaleas start blooming, the Rhodos aren't far behind. And I always wait until the Rhodos bloom to set my seedlings out in the veggie garden.

I had better start cleaning up my raised beds!

I know this guy is going to grow up and cause havoc in my veggie garden but right now, he's just too cute!

... before they eat everything in your veggie garden.

And why must they take a bite out of 9 different veggies instead of eating one or two whole ones?

Two of my favorite garden blogs, Dirt By Amy Stewart and Angela's Northern California Garden Blog are having a gross out contest by showing off the worst of their gardens. They really aren’t holding back and have shown us neglected spots in the yard, children’s toys thrown about, their trash cans, etc. I definitely think it’s some of the best garden blogging I’ve ever seen and judging by the comments on their sites, other people love it too.

Other than a few times a year for the occasional BBQ party, my yard always has some ½ finished project or just plain old mess that’s an eyesore. And even then the mess is still there. Just don’t look in the garage or the tool shed. I’m sure a lot of gardener’s yards are like this too because unless you’re Martha Stewart or someone else with garden workers at your beckon call, there’s never enough time to get everything that you want done.

Right now I’ve got both of them beat because my yard looks like a nuclear bomb testing site. I’m expecting Doc Bruce Banner to get belted with Gamma Rays any minute now. But for once it’s not my mess. We’re having major work done on our pool so I have an excuse. It’s the team of guys that I’m paying a ton of money (don’t ask) that are destroying my yard. But eventually it’s all going to look great.

At that point I’ll be able to mess it up myself again.



Here's my front lawn. I'm a big fan of garden art so the Bobcat and the broken pallets create great focal points.








This is where my landscaping contractors leaned my old fence sections to hide the giant mess they're making. Note the artistic use of the fence posts.










Is this a close up of my compost bin? No, it's actually my front lawn but it's hard to tell the difference.








Drainage is a serious issue. It's smart to stockpile large quantities of hose. The bigger then better.











And this is the veggie garden. My main crop right now seems to be broken pallets. They must be volunteers because I don't remember planting them.







And here's the reason why I'm not so upset about this giant mess. The contractors are doing such a excellent job building these stacked stone retaining wall around the pool that I'll put up with this disaster area for another month.

Hopefully my next garden tour will look at least a little better.

Gardening with Children can be a challenge. You want to make it fun but you also want to get some of your garden chores done. This year I can forget about planting the Sunflowers or Pumpkins that all the books about Gardening With Children recommend. They're recommended because they have large, easy to handle seeds and they grow pretty big. But at ages, 3 and 1, my children just don't have the attention span yet. I’ll still grow them but the kids really aren’t too interested. I got to plant about 5 seeds with my son last year before he asked me if I wanted to have a race and then he took off across the yard. And that was the end of my gardening with children.

This year my wife came up with a much better idea. The stick garden.

When I found a box of leftover seed packets in the garage I got excited. Not only would I be able to plant some things that I had forgotten all about but I could take one of those pictures that are pretty popular with Garden Bloggers. You’ve probably seen one before, where a plant shipment box is carefully opened or the old lay the seeds out on a table shot. I obviously decided to go with the seed packet picture as my plant shipments haven’t arrived yet.

Feeling great pride that I was not only a dedicated gardener but I was also getting my feet wet in the world of Garden Blogging, I called my wife to watch the photo shoot. Sure I was laying the seeds out myself and I was taking the picture with my little camera but in my mind I was feeling like Paul James – The Gardener Guy on HGTV. She didn’t see it that way.

"Did you buy all these seeds? You are not a farmer!"

Ouch!