Gardening.html

Bob5C

GARDENING

I'm a Licensed Land Surveyor and a graduate of the New York State Ranger School living in Central New York. My present garden layout started in the mid 1990's when my wife and I purchased our home in East Syracuse, NY. The yard was quite a mess but much to our surprise we discovered that under the debris were the remains of what once was landscaping and some flower gardens. I’ve lived and worked around gardens and plants most of my life my first instinct was to identify and salvage anything that looked like it was worth saving. Using my surveying techniques, I set about designing, laying out new flowerbeds and rebuilding the existing ones as outlined below. It has been an on going project and this year I completely redesigned the backyard and built new flowerbeds with more flowing curves and walkways.

Just for fun we started entering flowers in the Cut Flower Show at the New York State Fair. (Show 2000)(Show 2001) (Show 2002) (Show 2003) In the past 4 years we have won over 100 ribbons, 50 of them blue ribbons. We have won 3 trophies for Best Of Show for Tuberous Begonias , which are the centerpiece of our shade gardens, and had multiple entries on the Court Of Honor all 4 years.

Our Gardens consist of a mixture of Annuals; Perennials; Tuberous Begonias; Annual Bulbs; (must be dug up in the fall) such as Dahlias, Cannas, an Calla Lilies; and small flowering shrubs.

Click on any section for a tour and information.

The Basics:

When I started, what few flowerbeds that existed, were in poor condition and the soil had high clay content. Any perennials that we felt were worth saving, we dug up and set aside. With both the old beds and the new ones I created, I mixed large quantities of peat moss with the existing topsoil to about a 12" depth. I then created raised beds over the top of that with a mixture of topsoil and peat moss. I also add peat moss or vermiculite yearly in the areas where I plant annuals and replanted bulbs, tubers and perennials if I feel the soil is too compacted.

Note – It helps to plan your beds using graph paper and laying them out on the ground or use your computer with a landscape program to draw your ideas. You can lay them out and even view what they will look like ahead of time. Take measurements of your yard and design inside in the winter when you can’t really be out doing it. When springs arrives your already to go. There are a lot of great books on gardening, online garden sites, and many companies to order from.

Each spring I test the soil for PH, Nitrogen, Phosphorus, and Potassium. Some very inexpensive home testing kits are available and correcting soil problems early makes a big difference later on in the season. Most gardening stores can recommend what to use for correcting your soil.

I use double ground dark hardwood mulch when I plant. I find it breaks down into a nice layer of near black soil by the following spring and it helps keep the moisture in and the weeds to a minimum during the growing season. Mulch tends to absorb some nutrients from the soil as it breaks down; I use a time-release fertilizer before I spread the mulch. Random applications of Miracle-Gro especially on new plants throughout the season also helps.

As you can see from the photos, all this work has had spectacular results. Every year seems to improve from the last.

We hope this site will help and provide some enjoyment to all our friends and visitors interested in flower gardening. We would like to hear from you.

(Updated February 2004)

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