Taming the Spring Garden

     Our main garden has slowly grown over the years. Tended by three people: John and I and our friend José. Three people with different priorities and temperaments, but we work together and respect one another's special projects. This year, I have a little more time to give the garden, so I'm excited to be part of the planning and maintenance. Spring is a busy time - lots of cleanup to do from winter. It's the most hopeful time of the year for gardening, so we also tend to get overambitious. 

    One thing our garden needs is a fresh layer of woodchips for our non-growing areas. I started clearing the weeds section by section. I'm also adding brick edges to define our planting areas and circle our trees. 

    A priority, now that the rains are becoming scarce and the temps are rising, is to reset our watering system. We have four lines on timers, so I decided to focus one set on all our planted trees. They will only need once a week deep watering, so I want them on a separate timer than the veggies that will eventually need daily watering in the heat of summer. On Sunday, John redid this whole line, connecting it to a new second garden that has only trees so far.

    The next thing was to check existing lines and adjust current lines to our plans for gardening this year. We settled and drew out a plan. Connecting those lines will be next. I made some adjustments to the layout to keep the lines on the perimeter of the garden as much as possible. This is my touch. I like to organize things.

    Another thing we accomplished on Sunday is getting the Nopal garden all cleaned up. I have wanted to put a border on it for years! So I'm really happy with what we got done. One more step is to add a pretty pea gravel mulch.

    Maybe I'll even decorate the garden this year! Whismy isn't my strength, but I love the look of it in other gardens. I'd love to add some of that to this garden, now that it's coming together so nicely.