DIGGIN鈥� IN
Looking for a meaningful garden gift for Mom?
Q: It being Mother鈥檚 Day, we want to get Mom a rose bush to plant in her yard. How do we go about getting just the right one? 鈥� F.L., sa国际传媒官网网页入口
A: A living reminder of just how much Mom means to you? Cool!
Don鈥檛 make choosing a chore. Do you know her favorite color? Has she ever mentioned whether or not she likes to look at single roses on a stem? Or does she prefer the riot of blooms a floribunda will offer?
Or best yet, take Mom with you rose shopping.
It鈥檚 the absolutely perfect time to be planting roses and most of the nurseries will have a great selection. However you choose the rose, it鈥檒l be perfect.
Remember to include a 鈥渃ertificate of labor鈥� so that she knows you鈥檒l be doing the planting with her guidance.
Truly, you can鈥檛 go wrong choosing to get Mom a living rose, as long as you鈥檙e confident that there is room in the landscaping for a plant that could easily live for over 20 years. Enjoy the day!
Q: We鈥檝e just bought a home and are so excited about getting the front yard to be a lot more appealing. It seems that most of it was used as off-street parking for a long time. The soil is extremely compacted, more like dirt concrete. How do we get the yard back in shape to maybe start landscaping it? 鈥� B.P., sa国际传媒官网网页入口
A: The first thing I want you to think about is a plat of the property. Do you have one showing where the house鈥檚 utilities run through the property? If not, get one.
You can reach out to NM811, a service that will identify where utility lines run through the property. I strongly suggest you do this so you won鈥檛 be hampered by accidentally running into a line that could be dangerous and costly to you.
Now that you know where the lines run, have you made a plan on what part of the yard you want to get back in shape? Making a blueprint could save a lot of miscommunication down the road.
You say the soil is like hardpan, having been used as a parking lot for years. Are there lots of spots where vehicles dripped fluids, changing the color of the soil? If so, I鈥檇 say you need to aim to dig up and remove those spots first. This will be paramount in keeping the rest of the area healthy, as plant life won鈥檛 grow well in that sort of stuff.
If you鈥檙e lucky enough to have a relatively clean area and are ready to rough it up, here it goes.
The size of the area you鈥檙e aiming to rough up will decide which tools to employ. If the space is smaller, use a pointy-ended shovel. In a larger space, consider a rototiller.
First you鈥檝e got to get the space moistened so that turning the soil will be easier. For several days, several times each day, give the area a spraying of water. Not a spraying that will have water coursing off the area, just enough to wet it. You want it to get absorbed.
Then comes the manual labor part. Start to dig.
Your aim will be to reach down at least 12 inches and with the soil being that compacted, it鈥檒l be tough at first. That鈥檚 why you want to sprinkle it with several waterings, even while you are doing the digging. The moisture will help decompact the belowground soil and it will eventually become loose and airy once again.
Depending on how big an area you have and how much muscle you鈥檒l have helping with this chore, it could be an all-summer project. Remember, the more you turn and rough up the old parking area, the healthier the space will become by reincorporating much-needed oxygen to the soil.
That鈥檚 the goal 鈥� loose, oxygenated soil for landscaping to your heart鈥檚 content.
Remember to respect any marked utility lines and be mindful of the plan you鈥檇 decided on.
Happy Diggin鈥� In 鈥� literally!
Dear readers, I wanted to remind you again about the upcoming New Mexico Orchid Guild Show and Sale at the sa国际传媒官网网页入口 Garden Center on Friday, May 22, and Saturday, May 23. You learn more about the sale at nmorchidguild.org.
Tracey Fitzgibbon is a certified nurseryman. Send garden-related questions to Diggin鈥� In, sa国际传媒官网网页入口, 7777 Jefferson NE, sa国际传媒官网网页入口, N.M. 87109, or to features@abqjournal.com.
