When we bought our house a little over two years ago there was a wisteria bush growing up along the back fence, but it was pulling the fence down with its weight so it had to go. We finally got rid of the last of it this past winter and were left with a barren section of dirt about two feet wide all along the length of the fence. Instead of trying to make the grass grow back there we decided to plant some herbs and vegetables and flowers and have ourselves a nice little garden.
Unfortunately Mother Nature had different ideas. We bought some seeds and seedlings from a local nursery and planted tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, carrots, peas, mint, basil, thyme, parsley, rosemary, and some vincas, for color, two weeks ago. The basil was the first to look sick, but now almost all the plants are dead. Well, except the peas. They actually look pretty good! I don't really know what to make of it. We've been watering every day or two, and it hasn't even gotten all that hot here yet. I have a sneaking suspicion that it's the soil. My mom told me that sometimes other plants, such as oak trees, can leave the soil surrounding them acidic. So I'm wondering if the wisteria changed the pH of the soil in that section of the yard. We did plant some of the leftover vincas in pots with potting soil, and they seem happy and healthy.
Part of me thinks I need to figure out the problem and fix it. But, then, part of me doesn't care. I do like having fresh herbs with which to cook. And no store bought tomato can compare to one you grew yourself. But I'm starting to think that I don't really like gardening. I feel like I SHOULD like gardening. My parents are serious gardeners, and our friends have successful herb and flower gardens. But when I think about gardening it just makes me feel overwhelmed. And I don't really care enough to do the research to find out about different plants that thrive in the dusty West Texas plains. Maybe I just need to cut my losses and move gardening into the "tried it but didn't like it" column.
2 comments:
Oooh, I cant wait to start my (winter) garden this spring/summer. I too know nothing about planting, but my DH does. As soon as things turn for the worse it will be his garden. "Fair weather" gardener I am!!
OMG I have so many of those "I feel like I SHOULD like this" moments in my life. Gardening is one of them. We have this amazing garden out front, and DH does all the work in it. He loves it, but I always feel like I should be helping or something. ??
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