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Oct. 22nd, 2008 12:18 pmIt's October, which means actually that I had ought to start planning next year's garden. (That way I have time to research, prep the soil, and order anything I need to order before planting time next spring.)
The back yard is not bad-sized, fenced on all sides, but pretty darn shady -- between the high fences and the big trees in the neighbors' yards, some parts of it are almost entirely shade, while some others are largely but not entirely sunny. I have no idea about the soil quality -- I'll need to dig around and see how much fertilizing I might need to do.
The yard layout right now is sort of a square, maybe.... twenty feet to a side? I'm bad at estimating distance; I'm probably totally off. Maybe a quarter of the side close to the house is tiled, and I'm going to leave those tiles be -- might expand them a little, even, so there's room for a grill. On the back fence, stretching from the inside quarter along the fence for half to three-fourths of its length is a raised bed, maybe three feet high and four feet deep. It's currently full of low-maintenance plants; I should get a book and ID them. So that's ten feet by four feet of plantable soil to work with. The rest of the yard is flat, packed down and covered in woodchips. Our next-door neighbor has a yard with no lawn -- hers is a series of rock-lined terraces, interspersed with lanterns and tiled footpaths, which I rather like. Eventually, I'd like to get rid of the woodchips, put in some decent soil in the rest of the yard, pull out the raised wooden box and replace it with larger and more attractive terraces. But that's way too big a project for one year (unless I hire someone to do the big landscape work and just handle the planting myself, which would require, well, money), so perhaps next year I'll just replant the raised bed. Hm.
I'd like herbs for sure (my window garden died, I think because the season changed altered the angle of light and suddenly they weren't getting enough, which I should have thought of), some vegetables, and the rest ornamental. Ideally the ornamental stuff will be native or largely native, partly to avoid the problems caused by non-native invasives and partly because native plants are often easier to care for. I don't want a lawn, although I do want to preserve the tiled semi-patio area in case we get a grill.
Obviously I'm not going to plant everything I want the first year, or I'll go mad, but I've started thinking about the types of things I'll ultimately want. Herbs are my first priority; I know I want parsley, basil, sage, tarragon, chives, thyme, lavendar, cilantro, rosemary, and oregano, depending on what I can get to grow. My thus-far minimal research says that the following veg will grow reasonably well in Seattle: broccoli, leeks, chard, carrots, snap peas, green peas, beets, lettuces, onions, garlic, peppers, radishes, turnips, asparagus, and spinach. And melons. It remains to be seen which would grow well in my yard -- I'm pretty sure tomatoes will only do on the balcony, because they probably need more sunlight than I can give them -- but that's a good variety to look at and decide what to plant.
The back yard is not bad-sized, fenced on all sides, but pretty darn shady -- between the high fences and the big trees in the neighbors' yards, some parts of it are almost entirely shade, while some others are largely but not entirely sunny. I have no idea about the soil quality -- I'll need to dig around and see how much fertilizing I might need to do.
The yard layout right now is sort of a square, maybe.... twenty feet to a side? I'm bad at estimating distance; I'm probably totally off. Maybe a quarter of the side close to the house is tiled, and I'm going to leave those tiles be -- might expand them a little, even, so there's room for a grill. On the back fence, stretching from the inside quarter along the fence for half to three-fourths of its length is a raised bed, maybe three feet high and four feet deep. It's currently full of low-maintenance plants; I should get a book and ID them. So that's ten feet by four feet of plantable soil to work with. The rest of the yard is flat, packed down and covered in woodchips. Our next-door neighbor has a yard with no lawn -- hers is a series of rock-lined terraces, interspersed with lanterns and tiled footpaths, which I rather like. Eventually, I'd like to get rid of the woodchips, put in some decent soil in the rest of the yard, pull out the raised wooden box and replace it with larger and more attractive terraces. But that's way too big a project for one year (unless I hire someone to do the big landscape work and just handle the planting myself, which would require, well, money), so perhaps next year I'll just replant the raised bed. Hm.
I'd like herbs for sure (my window garden died, I think because the season changed altered the angle of light and suddenly they weren't getting enough, which I should have thought of), some vegetables, and the rest ornamental. Ideally the ornamental stuff will be native or largely native, partly to avoid the problems caused by non-native invasives and partly because native plants are often easier to care for. I don't want a lawn, although I do want to preserve the tiled semi-patio area in case we get a grill.
Obviously I'm not going to plant everything I want the first year, or I'll go mad, but I've started thinking about the types of things I'll ultimately want. Herbs are my first priority; I know I want parsley, basil, sage, tarragon, chives, thyme, lavendar, cilantro, rosemary, and oregano, depending on what I can get to grow. My thus-far minimal research says that the following veg will grow reasonably well in Seattle: broccoli, leeks, chard, carrots, snap peas, green peas, beets, lettuces, onions, garlic, peppers, radishes, turnips, asparagus, and spinach. And melons. It remains to be seen which would grow well in my yard -- I'm pretty sure tomatoes will only do on the balcony, because they probably need more sunlight than I can give them -- but that's a good variety to look at and decide what to plant.
