Good Fences Make Good Neighbors...I Need a Better Fence

This is not my garden. It's my neighbor's garden. It is, however, my driveway. Very pretty salvia plants but I wish they'd stay on her side of the fence.

The problem is this is where we park our car. The driver's door ends up right next to these plants, meaning we have to wade through them to open the door not to mention the scraping sounds we hear when we drive up.  Those aren't the biggest problems, though. 

All those pretty flowers attract hordes of bees and wasps. I'm not against bees and wasps in my garden but I do have a problem wading through a cloud of agitated, stinging insects when all I want to do is get into my car. Especially when I'm on my side of the fence.

 

I don't want to sound like I don't like my neighbor. I do. She's a nice lady but she's like a pirate...property boundaries are more like "guidelines" to her. I'm constantly pushing her stuff back over the line when she stores her junk in the crawlway behind my garage and her plants encroach into my space bringing the bees with them.

I've told her my problem with the plants and once in a great while she has her gardener come over and cut them back bu, at least a couple of times a year, I have to take it upon myself.

Luckily, salvia branches snap off rather easily so I can go out and just yank out the branches leaning over my side of the line. Here is the plant by the driver's side door after I did just that.

A cleanup afterward (another chore I shouldn't have to do but I do) and I've got the prettiest yard clipping bin in the neighborhood. What doesn't fit in here I spread over my lawn, then mow it in, and let the grass feast of the finely chopped up organic matter.

Darryl
Copyright 2012 - Darryl Musick
All Rights Reserved

In Praise of Multitaskers - The Garlic Chive

My motto is that it has to provide beauty or nourishment to be in my garden. Once in awhile, you have plants that do both. Now here's one that adds a third category...pest control.

As you can see above, the plant has very show clumps of flowers, almost  like little bursts of fireworks.  It grows readily from seed and without a lot of help from the gardener.

It grows in clumps and will invaribably spread around your garden. 

The plant is pretty much completely edible. Use the flowers as a spice for Asian broths. Cut the long, thin leaves into bits and sprinkle on your food for a garlic flavor. I like to put them in my eggs. 

You can cut the leaves as much as you want without hurting the plant.  You have to uproot it to kill it.

Planted around roses, garlic chives help to keep the aphids off of the roses. I think this is because the aphids are attracted to the chives more than the roses but it's a great, green method of pest control for your roses.

The one drawback is its readiness to grow.  It will quickly spread all over your garden. The pictures here show a planting that came up spontaneously...not from my original planting about 20 feet away. They don't compete with other plants and play nicely with them but they can get to be a bit weedy.

It's easy to control by just grabbing a clump of leaves and uprooting it where you don't want it.

A nice addition to your herb garden. Between this and our basil, it's hard to say which one is used more.  Available by seed at most garden centers, hardware stores, and in the produce department at Asian supermarkets.

Darryl
Copyright 2012 - Darryl Musick
All Rights Reserved

Herbs My Mom Likes...and Bugs She Doesn't

Ok, so I don't know if my mom would really like it but I suspect she would. Her name is Rosemary, which is also the name of this very easy to grow herb that can develop into out-of-control bushes and hedges in warm, dry climates.

Great for mixing in with a lot of different food, just chop up the leaves and sprinkle in eggs, over pasta, whatever you think would be good. Be sure to wash the leaves real good first though...

You'll notice these little balls of foamy goo developing on your Rosemary plants from time to time. It's bug loogie.

Specifically, it's a ball of foam spit out by the appropriately named spittle bug and is used by it as a protective barrier while it eats and lives on the plant. They don't really do it any harm and can be washed off easily with a spray from the hose.

You can also us pyrethrum spray (available at the link on this page), a natural daisy-based insecticide, to kill them if you want.

All in all, it's a minor but slightly gross problem that shouldn't keep you from including Rosemary in your herb garden.

-Darryl

Copyright 2012 - Darryl Musick
All Rights Reserved