Getting Our Hands Dirty in the Garden
We got cracking on our garden this weekend. Our contractor had removed the old tool shed that was in the yard when we bought the house. Other than that, this was unchartered territory. A few hours and a few aches and pains later, we had generated six contractor bags of leaves and garbage and two…
We got cracking on our garden this weekend. Our contractor had removed the old tool shed that was in the yard when we bought the house. Other than that, this was unchartered territory. A few hours and a few aches and pains later, we had generated six contractor bags of leaves and garbage and two large bundles of vines that we had carted away Sunday afternoon. We suspect that we weren’t the only ones working in our garden this weekend.
I would LOVE to see the garden progression documented here…we can all dream a little dream vicariously through you, can’t we? Can’t wait to see how it turns out. If you don’t document the whole process, I’ll at least look forward to a before and after.
petunia- do you know if the city test for lead? i got a soil test with the cornell coop extension in long island and they test only for ph and soil type. although i guess if you want, you can mail it to the university for more extensive minerals testing.
i am also just beginning to work on my garden, which was also a dumping ground for years and i want to grow vegetables/herbs but i am afraid to eat anything grown from it b/c it was such a dumping ground. i was thinking of growing my edibles on flower boxes of all new soil. it would be great if mr and mrs. brownstoner could post their garden renovation.
Trees require a bit more forethought for these small Brooklyn backyards (though Brownstoner’s yard looks a lot bigger than ours!). I love big maples, willows and oaks as much as the next person, but their leaf canopies will blot any sun from reaching your yard or that of your next-door neighbors.
also, I believe the city will do a soil test for you – you have to mail it in and wait a few weeks to get results. A friend of mine in Clinton Hill did that before planting her vegetable garden.
The first thing to decide is where to put the hot tub. Once that’s figured out, move on to the gardening. I’d plant some trees on the borders and leave room to party in the middle.
Good to know.
Also–throwing leaves away is okay, buthave you room for a small compost bin? The city sells them cheap in May. However, be careful when you throw away pruned or fallen branches–some neighborhoods are under restrictions because of that Chinese beetle that could potentially destoy our forests. Please call 311 if you have branches or tree parts–they make make you wait 3-4 weeks for pickup and I know that’s a nuisance, but the spread of the beetle has to be checked.
We found a very nice rubbish removal man-with-a-van service to take it away. In fact, we’re swapping him a little advertising for his services so you’ll see him pop up on the forum page in the next week or two.
We did turn up a bunch of flowers in the back right corner that look like they are ready to bloom…
Our biggest concern is making the yard safe for our young children. God knows how much lead has run off into the soil over the years with the crap that was piled up there for years before we bought and then stuff that was piled up out there during demo. Think we need to remove a few inches of soil and get some fresh soil put down.