Hydrangea Horror and New Way to Grow Veggies

Last night we had heavy winds and rain that caused a huge oak to come crashing down. Fortunately, it missed the house. Unfortunately, it chose my three-year-old 'Limelight' hydrangea to cushion its fall. The upper branches also knocked down part of the leather leaf viburnum, bent my copper arch fence out of shape, and crushed the daylilies, iris, Lenten rose, daffodils, and hollyhocks that were braving the cold weather.

On the upside, I will have plenty of firewood for the fire pit. There's nothing better than ribeyes cooked over an oak flame.

Tomorrow I will sharpen my clippers and start trimming away the badly damaged plants. Hopefully the roots of the perennials still have enough "umph" in them to send out more leaves, the hydrangea will come back even fuller than before, and the viburnum will fill back in on the damaged side. It will be interesting to see how things develop in the spring.

I didn't get the chance to add soil amendments to the vegetable garden last fall (I haven't even cleaned it off yet!) so I have decided to try a new approach this year. I plan on purchasing the largest bags of potting soil available. I will leave the bag relatively intact; I'll use a screw driver to punch some holes through the bag to allow for drainage, cut X's in the top, and plant my zucchini, cucumbers, and green peppers directly in the bags. Newspapers will be placed in water then layered between the bags to create rows. I'll use cedar mulch (that's what I have on hand) over the top of the bags to help hold in the water.

I also plan on planting three straw bales this year. I've been reading up on how to "age" them (it takes 10 days) so that you plant directly into the middle of the rotting hay. All of the tomato plants, which have extensive root systems, will go into the hay bales rather than the soil bags.

In the fall I can cut the bags and bales open and distribute their contents onto the garden. It will help to enrich the soil for the 2012 garden.

Years ago I learned to use bags of mulch to plant impatiens. I put six impatiens per bag, watered daily, and used Miracle Grow every week. The impatiens flourished in the improvised planters, filling out so completely that you couldn't tell that they were in a bag. Try it for yourself...I think you'll be extremely pleased with the results!

shel