Have you ever noticed that every adage has an opposite? Look before you leap; he who hesitates is lost. Nothing ventured, nothing gained; better safe than sorry. Absence makes the heart grow fonder; out of sight, out of mind. Et cetera. Garden advice is the same - a bundle of contradictions. You could go this way. It's pleasant down this way, too. Of course, some people do go both ways. With gardening, the more I read the less I know what to do. Take fall cleanup. Should I rake out the debris (leaves and dead plant matter) or leave it in place? A. says rake it out, since it can provide hiding places for insects and harbor disease. B. says leave it: it will provide insulation and improve the soil as it decays. I usually go with B., but this brings up another question. Is it necessary to chop the fallen leaves? I shredded a slew of them weeks ago, but more have fallen and I'm feeling kind of lazy. Will it be fatal to leave them in place? Isn't that what happens in nature? And while we're at it, how do I know that what's stewing under the debris is a bad thing? Might it not possibly be a good thing? I thought that's how you got compost.
I'm always looking for tips on planting in solid clay. A. says dig a hole and backfill it with amended soil, a mix of the original clay, some shredded pine bark, and some compost. B. says that this is the worst thing you can do; all you are doing is creating a soggy bowl that will eventually drown your plants. Never dig down. Instead, build the soil up. That will give your plants something decent to sink their roots into. Of course, that won't work if your garden scheme involves planting on a steep hill. Back to A. Speaking of clay, tilling is a hot topic these days. A. says go for it - it will loosen and aerate the soil, help mix in nutrients, and all in all create a more hospitable environment for planting. Back in the day, my mother was Queen of the Rototiller, and she had a gorgeous garden. But now I understand that tilling is an ecological no-no. B. tells me that it depletes soil nutrients, disturbs beneficial insects and organisms, and encourages weeds to germinate. Apparently my weeds are very smart, because they germinate just fine with no encouragement in my untilled back yard. All of which raises an important question: is sauce for the goose really sauce for the gander, or is there more than one way to skin a cat? I have no idea, but I'm getting a headache worrying about it. Oh well. The proof of the pudding is in the eating, and since my garden seems to be sputtering along, I can't be doing everything wrong. So put that in your pipe and smoke it.
16 Comments
12/11/2012 11:37:38 am
You are absolutely right - what one gardener says to do, another says not to. It's hard to figure out sometimes, especially if you're new to gardening. Eventually, though, you figure out your own system. (My system is pick the laziest way to go. ;o) If your garden is getting along good, I wouldn't change a thing!
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12/11/2012 01:18:41 pm
I'm totally on board with the laziest system! And trying to figure out what I did wrong (if something does go wrong) is no easy task.
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Ian Bowater
12/11/2012 02:11:10 pm
One year I tried mulching down the leaves from just one large California sycamore. With individual leaves spanning 12-14 inches plus I couldn't simply leave them. When piled up behind the garage they amounted to approx 1500 cubic feet. I decided mulched them down through a reversed leave blower into its bag. Great mulch and good brown stuff for the composter, right? Just 500 cubic feet in, I had chronic severe tennis elbow - at 1000 cubic feet the motor blew on the leaf blower. What to do with leaves that can't be left alone? Burn baby burn!
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12/11/2012 11:48:25 pm
Oh, I've been there! There may be an apartment in my future.
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It is this sort of dilemma that can bring the ship of state to its knees. I think the answer is this. Don't sweat it. Gardening boils down to an art not a science.When you choose an approach, you are choosing an array of potential benefits and problems. If you're lucky, the benefits are the ones you want and outweigh the problems. The only way to find out is through experience - your own and others'. And even experience is not a perfect teacher since some years play out differently from any others. So the only way forward is to assume some things will work out, some won't, and not to get too worked up when they don't.
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12/11/2012 11:52:26 pm
Sometimes I'm sorry I even asked the questions, because the answers are so confusing and/or impossible to implement. Maybe it's time for one more adage - A little learning is a dangerous thing.
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Anne Himmelfarb
12/11/2012 09:43:48 pm
Sarah, as someone who believes in getting second and even third medical opinions until the doctor tells you what you wanted to hear (no, that surgery isn't necessary; a wait-and-see approach is just fine), I can tell you that you should always follow the advice that is in keeping with what you wanted to do anyway.
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12/11/2012 11:54:29 pm
I was thinking the same thing as I wrote the post. The solution is to look until you find someone who gives you the okay to do what you were planning to do anyway.
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Great post!
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12/12/2012 05:44:52 am
Now that's garden advice I can get behind! As for the no-till approach, I think it would work fine if a.) you don't have solid clay and b.) you aren't in a hurry.
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12/19/2012 04:18:06 am
If you think gardeners are bad, try beekeepers! Bottom line for me is to do what is realistic for me and my situation, then hope for the best.
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12/19/2012 10:30:43 am
I think you're right, but somehow I keep trying to find the "right" answer. Thanks so much for visiting my blog. I look forward to spending a lot of time on site - it looks wonderful!
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When I had my first baby, my mother-in-law (I adored her.) always thought I dressed him too warmly, while my grandmother (I adored her, also.) would say, "Did you bring another blanket?" My son survived the whole thing and grew up just fine. I think the garden is like that. Maybe some ways are better than others, but it's all pretty forgiving. Isn't it really all about what makes you happy, anyway?
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1/2/2013 09:19:41 am
Child-rearing advice is even more contradictory than garden advice, I think! Then there's dog training advice, health advice, cooking advice, relationship advice ... it never ends!
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AuthorThe Galloping Horse Gardener is a native New Yorker who packed it in in 2005 to live under the radar in Cary, North Carolina. In 2014, she removed to a new secure location somewhere in Raleigh. Archives
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