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Our first garden and I feel lost-please help!
My company gave out free garden plots as part of a community garden initiative, so DH and I signed up for one. Since we've never grown a garden before, I asked the guy in charge what we needed to do. He said the ground had been turned over enough and we didn't need to till it and to have at it. So we planted different veggie seeds and have been going out to water every other day. Our garden looks like crap compared to everyone elses.
I think we have bermuda grass sprouting more than anything and our ground is clumpy with lots of clay (we live in OK). But I'm not sure if what's sprouting could be plants??? We planted corn, radishes, onions, pumpkins, watermelon, squash, and zuchinni.
It looks like grass. Is there something I can do about the grass/weeds without damaging what we've already planted? I've looked online and it seems like bermuda grass is a PITA and just pulling them won't work. Is there something I need to be doing besides watering? I see people with tools out there, and I'm not quite sure what's going on.
Thank you!
Re: Our first garden and I feel lost-please help!
Weeds will always outcompete and outgrow your seeds.
I say use Roundup, then start over with plants, NOT seeds.
i'd stay away from round up, personally, especially in an area where you want to grow food. that sh!t is evil. i second amending the soil with things like compost, potting and/or top soil, worm castings, etc.
you should find a good gardening book, one that has information on your particular location would be idea (if you can find one). i use some of the sunset books (western gardener, edible garden), but they probably wouldn't completely translate to your area. find a good nursery in your area and ask for some recommendations for books for beginning gardeners. also... don't plant things too close. we planted our first real garden last year and planted things too close. the garden still grew like gangbusters and was a lot of fun but it was more work because things were too close and crowded. this year we are giving everything a lot more room.
I agree with PP I would not use Roundup especially in a community garden where people are growing food.
Many plants take several weeks to germinate (peppers and tomatoes need the soil to be fairly warm too) and I've never had much luck with direct sowing, but this could be due to my bad luck. At this point I would get a few bags of compost and rake them into the soil, buy a roll of weed blocking cloth, and buy some plants from a nursery.
It's your first year everything is not going to go perfectly! This is my first year starting a lot of plants from seeds and my success rate is pretty low, but I'm learning a lot!
Good Luck!
I'm not sure what is "evil" about Roundup, but bear in mind that Roundup has no soil activity. You can plant whatever you want (including food crops) 24 hrs after using it. It kills plants by inhibiting a specific metabolic function that is not present in animals, only in plants.
The only concern you should have about using it or other spray chemicals is wind drift taking the chemicals to non-target plants.