Garden Experts?

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nascarchuck USER_AVATAR
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Garden Experts?

Postby nascarchuck » Thu Mar 15, 2007 6:02 pm

So, who are our resident vegetable garden experts?

I'm in North Texas and wanting to put in a raised garden with tomatoes, onions, jalapenos, squash, zuchinni and maybe some things like cilantro, garlic, etc...

Is it too late to get a garden started? If not, I am going to try to run to Home Depot this weekend and buy the lumber and supplies.

Can I till the grass/soil below the garden or do I actually need to remove the grass? If I need to remove the grass, how is the best way to do so? I'm sure that you will say with a shovel and hard work... :wink: But remember, I am lazy!

I read that you need full sun, but in this part of Texas, does that hold true or should I give as little evening shade?

Any suggestions would be appreciated!


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Postby Rich777 » Thu Mar 15, 2007 6:57 pm

Chuck,
I'm not an expert or anything close, but I have raised a few mators. I think you should be ok planting all the stuff you mentioned. Being a bit on the lazy side meself I wouldn't worry about the grass under the garden, just pull it out if it shows up. I used to plant habs and japs in my wife's flower beds so they got watered real good by someone other than me. :D I would mix in some potting soil and a little humus with the dirt in your new garden. Wal-Mart has a potting soil called perfect-mix that is supposed to feed out up to nine months. Don't know what that means but wife said it was good,so that is what we got. We have been putting in new flower-beds(mini chile gardens)so I know what she wants and her flowers look good. For tomatos I always used some miracle grow and lots of water. You will probably get alot better advise and alot more knowlegable to. I kinda wing it. Good luck!
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Postby desert rat » Thu Mar 15, 2007 9:11 pm

i think the point of raised beds is to have a deep root bed. if you are just gonna add 6 or 8 inches of soil and manure on top of the unworked ground then you are not getting the intended results of a 2 foot deep rootbed, however they do do look good and will grow plants. as far as the grass if it don't git any sunlight it won't grow although i would turn the soil over a little before i built the bed. the seed packs should provide info on your planting times. i like to mulch with some newspaper and hay, then the weeding is pretty much taken care of. i think gardening is kinda like cooking if you want good stuff you gotta work at it.
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Postby Big Mike » Fri Mar 16, 2007 6:53 am

No, it is not too late to put it in.

I am not a real experienced gardener but I have put in a garden the last 2 years and they have done pretty good. I have been planting tomatoes, bell peppers, jalapenos, cayenne, banana peppers, cucumbers, cantaloupe, onions, broccoli, onions. The only place I have to plant is not a full sun area. Actually, half of it is full sun and half is 2/3 sun. If you can plant where you get morning and afternoon sun with some late afternoon to evening shade you should be fine. You don't have to remove the grass, if you are going to cover it with a couple feet of topsoil there is no need.

Spacing of the plants is important. I found I need to leave 2' between tomato plants and about 18" between the other plants. Your squash and zuchinni are vine plants, so they will spread out. For my cucumbers I actually have them climb my fence to save on ground space because my planting area is small. Not sure how many tomatoes you want, but we put in 4 plants and 2 plants would have been plenty. We had tomatoes coming out our ears.
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Postby copkid » Fri Mar 16, 2007 11:17 pm

Also, remember that you can also grow anything in containers if you are on the lazy side, and I can relate! :D
Pots, buckets, old wheelbarrows, just make sure it has holes for drainage at the bottom.
When my stepmom starts a new flowerbed, etc, she sprays the area with weedkiller, covers with a couple layers of newspapers, and after a week or so, plants thru the paper. She has a gorgeous yard, and worked for a commercial nursery for years, so must know what she is doing!
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