Bluebonnets

About a week ago, I planted bluebonnet seeds in a sunny strip along the fence in the backyard.

I used seeds from Native American Seed company. The pack cost about 20 bucks, and the label stated it was enough seed for 50-100 square feet. I had read that it's a good idea to get seeds inoculated with rhizobium. As I understand it, rhizobium helps the seed fix nitrogen from the air, helping the plant grow. When I emailed them, Native American Seed told me their seeds aren't inoculated:

Our Bluebonnets have not been inoculated or scarified.  We sell them just how The bluebonnets go to seed in the wild.

I don't really know what to make of that, so I just decided not to worry about inoculation.

I started by weed whacking the planting area down to the dirt. Then I tossed the seeds out over my area. I stomped my feet up and down the area to push the seeds into the dirt. And finally, I hung some twine (barely visible in the photo) to indicate to our yard guy not to mow there.

Here's the before photo, taken from our porch. In the spring I'll post the after photo. The area is definitely larger than the 100 square feet on the label, but I hope the flowers come in well from my top-notch planting job.

Bluebonnet seeds are planted in the dirt strip on the left.

EDIT March 2017: Here's an updated on my planting: http://eastaustingardener.blogspot.com/2017/03/bluebonnets-in-bloom-and-in-seed.html

My Composting Setup

This summer I bought a used composter off Craigslist. I have never composted before, but I've learned that it's pretty fun.

I am going to start a veggie patch in the backyard in the spring, so right now I'm making compost for that.

My setup is pretty sweet. In the backyard, I have my 2 chamber composter off the side of the deck. Currently it's kind of an eyesore, but I need it in the sun to get heat. When I'm better at getting my compost hot, I'll move it to a less conspicuous spot.

My composter as seen from the side of the house. I need it in the sun for heat, but once I'm a better composter, I'll move it back into this unseen pocket of side-yard which has become my work zone.

The leaf silo is long-term storage. The leaves drop in fall, but I'll need them all year to make compost. To make a big enough container, I bought this welded wire stuff. I cut enough to make a tube of about 3.5 foot diameter with plenty of overlap to help keep the shape. I used plastic zip ties to hold it together. I cut out a little opening on the bottom so that I can grab the oldest leaves from bottom, rather than grabbing the fresh leaves from the top.

My DIY leaf silo in the back corner of the side yard. I might make another one because I already filled it up with just 5 of those brown paper yard trimming bags. 

To fill my silo, I take the paper bags of leaves that my neighbors put on the street for pickup, and I dump those bags into the top of the silo. I have permission from my neighbors to take their leaves. They always see me working in the yard, and they are happy to give me their leaves. This being Texas, I don't recommend taking random leaves from strangers. I like not having to rake my leaves, and it's good for my yard to let the leaves break down into the soil.

My first batch of compost is almost ready. I think starting during Texas summer was a nice cheat that let this batch achieve the hot temperatures needed for quick breakdown. I'm getting better at mixing the compost to the right proportions and moisture levels, so I'm looking forward to see how my pile does now that it's getting colder.

Ben

Solarizing My Lawn

Our entire front yard was bermuda grass. I decided I wanted to get rid of the grass and install a garden. In doing research, I learned that bermuda grass is hard to get rid of. It is extremely persistent. And even if you get rid of it, a grass seed will just blow in from your neighbor's yard into your yard and bermuda's back.

Whatever. Bermuda grass has never met a challenger as dogged as me.

I got started a little late, toward the end of July. I did my research by reading articles published by various extension offices and by calling my local master gardener hotline.

Our front yard is west-facing with no shade and a ton of sun. I decided to solarize the grass. What you do is till up the grass. Then you get the soil wet. And then you place a clear plastic sheet over the grass to let the sun steam the roots and seeds until they die.

Solarizing in full swing

In Austin, late July was probably a little late. The days start getting shorter toward the end of summer, so you miss out on sunlight. I'd recommend starting early July and letting it go through September.

Anyway, I started in late July, and things were going great. It was hot and the grass was turning yellow. But then August hit and we had a very wet and mild month--not enough heat. In September, my plastic started to get tons of holes. I think the holes were due to the heat and the UV from the sun breaking down the plastic over time. Another cause is that when I put down the plastic, I stretched it kind of taut, removing wrinkles. I think the plastic was stressed by that.

Because it was breaking down, I pulled the plastic mid-September.

A disappointing start to my solarizing.

If I do it again, the main improvements I'll make are:
-making a much tighter seal between the plastic and the ground. (I used rocks to keep the plastic on the ground, but next time I'll dig mini-trenches and then bury the plastic in them, creating a super seal)
-starting earlier in the summer and going later
-not stretching plastic, allowing some slack
-possibly buying thicker mil plastic that would last longer in our hot Texas summer (I used 3 mil from Home Depot).
-mowing the bermuda grass down really low before tilling, then clearing clumps of dead grass after tilling and before laying down plastic. Then raking soil pretty flat. That's because some clumps of dead grass became very brittle and poked holes in my plastic. A couple dried out clumps of soil did the same.


When I pulled the plastic, the grass was pretty much dead in the bulk of the yard (at least at the surface). Shortly after, I put down compost and mulch.

Several weeks later, there are many green leaves of bermuda grass that pop up through my mulch. I have decided that solarizing was a great start, but it was just a start. Now the next phase is to just pull every single leaf that I see. My hope and plan is that if I pull every single leaf of remaining bermuda, then after a couple of years the root system will run out of energy and die out.

I will pull every single one of these for the next several years until the roots are dead. I will succeed.

First Post for a First-time Gardener

Welcome to my blog. I am a first time gardener in 78721, Austin, TX.

The story is that in November of 2015 I moved out of my south Austin condo and into my fiance's house. In my condo I didn't have a yard, but in the house, I do. The front yard was basically bermuda grass with a few large rosemary bushes, a dying red oak (planted during 2011 drought), and one huge and awesome flame acanthus.

I didn't know anything about gardening. In the beginning, I just wanted to cut the oak and replace it. My research into trees led me down a rabbit hole, and eventually I decided to redo the entire front yard.

It is October 22, 2016. My work on the yard really got started in late July. I tilled and solarized the soil. Then I bought compost/soil mix and spread it over the yard. Then I bought mulch and spread that. And finally, I got most of my initial wave of plants in the ground in early October.

It was a bunch of work during the end of this summer, and I realized that I should have been better at documenting it. Well now I am starting.