Comments on: Spring Panic

By: nelumbo

nelumbo — Sun, 09 Apr 2006 03:01:10 +0000

Wow, you have certainly been on the cutting edge of garden blogging to get your start in 2002!

By: Kathy Purdy

Kathy Purdy — Tue, 04 Apr 2006 23:06:27 +0000

Laurie–I am always looking under rocks in spring, in case there are bulbs trying to sprout underneath.

Betsy–I wish it were funny. The house is very dusty because of all the dirt that gets tracked in despite vigilant feet wiping. (Well, some residents are more vigilant than others.) And replacing that lost gravel would cost a serious chunk of change. I wish there had been an easy way to get the gravel back in the driveway.

MSS–as much as possible I try to ignore the accepted wisdom and do whatever chore it is whenever I think of it and have the requisite ambition. I believe it was Christopher Lloyd, who, when asked when was the best time to prune, answered, “When you think of it.”

By: Betsy

Betsy — Tue, 04 Apr 2006 16:56:51 +0000

Thank you Kathy! That was so funny. Since this is my first year experiencing this, I said “Um, honey, isn’t there an awful lot of gravel in the yard and not on the driveway?” I wish there was some kind of gravel magnet to separate it all! -Betsy

By: Laurie Gano

Laurie Gano — Tue, 04 Apr 2006 00:44:44 +0000

When to rake? Right before the bulbs in any given bed are big enough to be damaged. Today I was raking scattered spots all around my big yard, trying to remember where I put last year’s new bulbs. Finally had to go look it up. Wouldn’t you know there’s a clump of new species tulips underneath the enormous weathered stump my son brought home last January.Then I looked and looked for somewhere to move the stump; no luck so far.

By: M Sinclair Stevens (Texas)

M Sinclair Stevens (Texas) — Mon, 03 Apr 2006 23:54:31 +0000

I feel exactly the same way. I think there are about 2.4 hours between the time it is either too early to do anything in the garden and the time it is too late to do anything. I’m always making notes…when those narcissus die down, I’ll have to divide them…but when the time comes, I completely involved with other tasks. So I never seem to get to any of the prep work done that would reduce problems later. That leaves me either running around like a madwoman or throwing up my hands in resignation and saying, maybe next year.

By: Kathy Purdy

Kathy Purdy — Mon, 03 Apr 2006 22:10:24 +0000

Betsy, it depends on how long you want your gravel driveway to last. We used to have a gravel driveway, and if I didn’t get around to raking the gravel out of the flower bed and lawn, I didn’t sweat it. The lawn and the garden don’t mind the additional drainage in my clay soil at all. BUT we no longer have a gravel driveway. Over the past 17 years the gravel has gradually disappeared with each winter’s snow shoveling, and, sorry to say, it is now a dirt driveway.

By: Betsy

Betsy — Mon, 03 Apr 2006 20:08:14 +0000

Should I rake the gravel out of my garden? There is a flower bed by the driveway that now has alot of gravel in it from snow shoveling. I was hoping I could leave it in there and it would be OK. Lazy! Thanks, Betsy

By: Alice Nelson

Alice Nelson — Mon, 03 Apr 2006 16:22:08 +0000

Well, we don’t have to panic yet. Here in the U.P. snow is still a foot deep on the beds, so we don’t have to think about raking. We’re beginning to see how much sand and grave has been deposited on our side lawn from the street plowing over the winter. We live on a corner across from a school, and they have to do an extra job to keep it safe for the buses. We don’t rake it; we use a power sweeper, sweeping it to the gutter where the street sweeper picks it up. Fortunately, this does not get into the flower beds, but the same can’t be said for some of the gardens my ocmpany puts in, so there will be lots of cleanup in those. Fun, fun.