French horticultural beans impress me as craftily designed to beautify any garden. The pods are bright and impressionistic; the splashes of color on the beans complete the package.
Beans are easy to grow, but they are a pain to pick. When I grew them in the past, Little Ichabod and Mrs.
Ichabod picked them fresh, eating them raw.
Pole beans do not produce that much and bush beans are low to the ground. However, if we are hungry, they are close and convenient.
Some people quit gardening early because they start out too big. One small patch is much better than rototilling a quarter-acre, falling behind on weeding, and giving up. I started this year with eight bare-root roses ($8 each, shipping included) and now have at least eight hybrid tea roses ready to cut for this evening's service.
I follow the Ruth Stout method of mulch gardening. If a weed grows through the organic mulch, it goes on top to add to the pile. Leaf, grass, or wood mulch will improve the soil, hold moisture in, reduce topsoil loss, and feed the soil creatures that make a garden productive.
In other words, mulching is composting in the garden, saving one back-breaking step. I still compost, but after one of those Labors of Hercules, I decided not to wheelbarrow a ton of it uphill again.
Cherry tomatoes are easy to grow and fun to eat outdoors. I also grow larger acid-free tomatoes or anything I can get cheap. Cherry tomatoes volunteer (grow easily) from their seed, so I toss extra fruit in various places in the garden.
If you want to be an annoying plant expert, point out to everyone that tomatoes are a berry, not a vegetable. Tomatoes offer almost no nutrition, but they remain one of the most popular plants to grow.
Many herbs like poor soil and grow well anywhere. Some have escaped gardens and become weeds to the unknowing. Dandelion is the best example. Although I am not about to eat dandelion greens or make dandelion wine, the plant is an herb with a long taproot that helps the soil.
If pulled weeds are not used for mulch, they make good additions to the compost.
Other plants are misunderstood. Those who venerate a plush lawn seem to hate clover, which fixes nitrogen to help make the lawn green. Bees love clover, and kids love the bubblegum aroma from a small bouquet of clover flowers. Clover is a beneficial plant that seeds itself.
Our lawn improved this year with frequent mowing. Many of the groundcover weeds were still there, some quite attractive when blooming. Keeping everything short and mowed made the lawn look great without additional labor. The best time to feed a lawn is lat in the fall, and that might happen - not big on my list.
The only truly evil plants are the invasive ones - bamboo and mint spread from their roots. Feverfew will seed itself infinitely, so I have crossed that one off my list too. Those are three bad mistakes I have made in the past.
Plan Ahead and Plant Ahead
One way to clear an area for gardening is to cut off the sunlight. The Springdale Water Department did that by not picking up my large pile of tree branches for the longest time. When they finally took them away, the soil was bare in that spot, free of weeds and grass. I did the same for one spot by storing evergreen branches on one spot.
A future gardening spot, now in grass, can be prepared in the fall by storing all the leaves over that area. I have sycamore leaves, which defy rot and decay.
Some people pile up leaves and use something to keep them in place, such as more bags of leaves. A soggy layer of compost will work well too.
An area can be planted and left to finish in the spring (spinach) or left to freeze and fertilize the soil - beans. When someone begins to improve the soil with organic material, more opportunities arise and interesting networks form.
I gave my Midland neighbor all the horse manure she wanted for her roses, since I finagled free truckloads. She was overwhelmed as I delivered wheelbarrows of it to her garden. "Are you sure?" The next winter, her husband snowplowed our front sidewalk all winter - without being asked. In fact, it took me some time to discover who was doing it.
Garlic is easy to grow anywhere, healthy to eat, and great for rose gardens. I like garlic chives for roses, since they spread and have the potent effect of garlic.
