Garden Maintenance

[Victor]

Once a garden is established, I would imagine that periodically you would re-till it, re-mulch it and re-fertilize it. Can someone share any light on this? Or does this vary depending on what you're growing? I'm working on a rose garden and I'm trying to get an idea about this for future maintenance.

Thanks

[Green-Moo]

There is a school of thought who believe you should never till your garden. Look up the 'no-dig method'.

Sheet composting is where you spread your compost on the surface of the soil and wait for nature to mix it naturally.

[SageMother]

There is a school of thought who believe you should never till your garden. Look up the 'no-dig method'.

Sheet composting is where you spread your compost on the surface of the soil and wait for nature to mix it naturally.



This sounds like the better method. It not only saves time and effort, but you also don't risk damaging the roots of your favorite plants.

[Serenity]

I don't know anything about the no-till method but we till ours every year after planting season to rough it up. We like it to be ready for any nitrogen rich snow that might fall in winter. Then we do it again just before the growing season.

[tater03]

We do the same thing. We always have tilled it every spring. I have never heard of the no till method either till now.

[SageMother]

I don't know anything about the no-till method but we till ours every year after planting season to rough it up. We like it to be ready for any nitrogen rich snow that might fall in winter. Then we do it again just before the growing season.

Are you turning under existing plants that have gone dormant?

I guess there are many ways to take care of a garden.

[Sam Reeves]

We till ours every season. Although we are trying to use more mulch and less chemicals.

[msmeg]

a vegetable garden and a rose garden are two different things... In the rose garden you need to make sure you do a bang up job preparing the bed with lots of organic matter before you even plant the roses because that is the last chance you have... you can't till around the roses..

After that all you can do is mulch, put compost around the roses, keep all the leaf litter cleaned up ,weed ,prune and keep an eye out for fungal diseases and bugs.

[justontime]

a vegetable garden and a rose garden are two different things... In the rose garden you need to make sure you do a bang up job preparing the bed with lots of organic matter before you even plant the roses because that is the last chance you have... you can't till around the roses..

After that all you can do is mulch, put compost around the roses, keep all the leaf litter cleaned up ,weed ,prune and keep an eye out for fungal diseases and bugs.

Confession time, I have lived at my house for 17 years and I haven't done any of those things except pruning (once in a while) and spraying for blackspot, but my roses look fantastic.

[mbtaluka]

We till it every year as it would provide some enrichment to our plants. As far as for the weather is concerned, all year long it is most favorable and once done with planting it only requires watching it grow.

[Mickie31]

Yes you have to keep on top of a garden or it becomes over grown. Some flowers and plants require different levels of care, but they still require looking after and if there isn't any rain then you will need to water them. Roses will need to be cut back and the dead leaves taken off. There are other things you will have to do and you may need to feed them and treat them if they have any insects on them or diseases or anything.

[mtrent]

I don't know anything about the no-till method but we till ours every year after planting season to rough it up. We like it to be ready for any nitrogen rich snow that might fall in winter. Then we do it again just before the growing season.

For years my grandparents always re-tilled theirs with great success.

[debrajean]

Confession time, I have lived at my house for 17 years and I haven't done any of those things except pruning (once in a while) and spraying for blackspot, but my roses look fantastic.

I do the same as you, I let my roses do their own thing and it's amazing how fast and big they grow. I weed around the base of them and in the fall clip off the dead branches. So far, so good.

[Rose White]

I turn over my vegetable garden soil in the fall to add new organic growth to the soil and some more peat moss. Then, in the spring it is soft as butter to dig in for new plantings. My roses, bulbs and perennials I leave alone, though. I am definitely into no-maintenance and low-maintenance gardening!

Rose White, author
"Easy Gardens A to Z"