How does your garden grow?

[toys]

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Strawberries along the north side.
Tomatoes along the east side - 3 big plants plus one cherry
White eggplant along the north side but a couple feet in from the strawberries - 3 plants
Zucchini on the west side - 6 plants
peas and string beans in front of the zucchini so they climb on the fence
cantaloupe north-west center - 2 plants
broccoli north-west center - 2 plants
English cukes - 2 plants
Asparagus by the herbs - 20 spears / plants (they grow close and tight)

If anyone has a better planting suggestion please suggest away.

Any of your gourd / melon type fruits & veggies prefer big mounds with well-drained soil. I can't tell how deep your rows are (under the landscape cloth/plastic). But it looks like no where near enough for these (cukes, zucchini, cantaloupe, etc.). I usually plant them separate (from the rest of the garden) on their own huge circular mound.. maybe with some sunflower, catnip or marigolds. When conditions are ideal, they will tend to grow wild in every direction. As much uninterrupted space as you can offer, the better. And, they will grow too much, if you let them… especially if not on raised beds tall enough to restrict full access to water. Then, they lose flavor.

Broccoli and Tomatoes are not good companions.

Both Dill and Rosemary do well near beans, broccoli, and asparagus.

[Twitchin Kitten]

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Thanks Toys!

We have very good soil for drainage, all sand since we're near the ocean. We had disease hit the "farm" last year with white mold and anthranose (not sure of spelling) on the tomatoes. This year we may not plant and just clean up and treat the soil. We may extend the garden another 12' toward the right (south) and have more room.

Without that plastic we will have weeds galore. More than I can handle to be honest. The old man next door does not keep his yard nice and I get a lot of crap creeping in, worst of them is the wild roses and virginia creeper. I may go and salt the alley between the yards so it kills his weed trees (sassafras and choke cherry) and the creeper.

[toys]

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Virginia Creeper is salt tolerant, meaning it will have little to no effect.

Have you discussed the Creeper with your neighbor? Is it a weed, or did he plant it on purpose? If it's a weed, he might appreciate if you offer to help kill it on his property.

If you require an organic method for Creeper death... they make herbicide soaps. Those are marginally more effective than using salt or vinegar to kill it (both of which act like a desiccant and merely suck out all of the water).

The easiest chemical to find is Glyphosate (common name Round-Up). Unfortunately, that will kill every plant it comes into contact with. My preference (which can be a bit more difficult to locate) is Triclopyr (common name Brush-B-Gone). It's designed to kill plants like Poison Ivy... which is very similar to Virginia Creeper. Triclopyr will not kill grasses or conifers, just woody broadleaf plants. And yes, that means it would kill your garden... but not your lawn.

Killing merely the leaves and vines on Creeper plants is ineffective... you have to find the roots. If you can't gain access to the neighbor's yard... locate the biggest root you can and cut it close to the ground (but leave it intact). Use a foam brush to delicately apply either the Glyphosate or Triclopyr or both directly to the main plant stem. Do this on a hot dry day with no chance of rain for 48-50 hours. You may have to do this a few times, for a couple years... but eventually, the Creeper should get the idea. Alternately, the chemical-free attack would be to remove rip up every vine and root (main stem) you can find... again, for a couple seasons before you'll see real results.

[Twitchin Kitten]

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There is no talking to this guy. I've no more garden due to his neglect of his yard. The choke cherry tree has dropped so many berries in the garden it's downright slippery. He has been talked to but his only response is, "I don't care anymore." I even paid my brother to clean up the heavy stuff.

I salted and it helped. 10 BIG bags of rock salt. Salt the earth and nothing grows. Laid out like snow in the spring and let the rain do the rest. Sandy soil ensured that the salt went straight down and not spread out sideways. He had no clue.

There is a doubled up fence and am 18" gap between his property and my fence. Shit and crap grows in his double fence and is just killing everything in my yard. He's got a Mimosa tree that I'm waiting to start falling from lack of care and it's own weight. Same for the Choke Cherry. That will fall on my roof. He refuses to let me cut it down.

My only salvation this summer was that I called the township anonymously and complained about the filth which was causing lovely breeding grounds for mosquitoes. So they fined him and he cleaned up the yard and has a service come to mow the lawn weekly. they don't bother with the trees though. At least I can sit in my yard and enjoy the pool now.

[toys]

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[Twitchin Kitten]

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Very nice

I'm surprised they let you do it out on the front yard. They'd bitch like mad here. Plus the little fuckers in the neighborhood would steal all the veggies.

[toys]

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The adjacent melon mound...

I'm surprised they let you do it out on the front yard. They'd bitch like mad here.

It's the side yard. I don't live inside city limits, so there's nothing resembling code enforcement here.

Plus the little fuckers in the neighborhood would steal all the veggies.

I had a bit of trouble with the rabbits... but not the locals. If it doesn't come ready-made in a Mcdonald's box... I doubt they'd know what to do with it.
Also, it's a cul-de-sac... so, not many neighbors and minimal drive-by's.