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Ugly Gardens

Gardening by the Yard : Episode GBY-718 -- More Projects »
What do vegetable gardens, wildflower plots and mass plantings of spring-flowering bulbs have in common? At certain times of the year, they can all be really ugly, and there's no avoiding that awkward stage in the garden.

"At this very moment," says master gardener Paul James, "my vegetable garden is really, really ugly because it's in a state of transition. The spring stuff has faded, and the summer stuff is just coming up."

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Figure A
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Figure B
James points out his withering potato vines (figure A). "These potato vines look really awful," says James, "but I'm curing these potatoes in the ground so they'll last a lot longer in storage. To do that, I need to let the vines fade completely."

The lettuce has started to bolt (figure B). However, this is an open-pollinated, heirloom variety of lettuce, which means that after it flowers and sets seed, the seeds may be harvested, saved and sown later during the summer for a fall crop of the very same lettuce. If this were a hybrid lettuce, it would still set seed, but chances are it wouldn't produce the same plant, which is why you hear the phrase "won't grow true from seed."

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Figure C
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Figure D
"This bok choy is pretty yucky-looking (figure C)," says James, "but I can harvest the stalks for a tasty stir-fry, so all is not lost." The damaged foliage on his carrots looks like they have become rabbit snacks. Rather than taking the chance that they'll mature into unhealthy carrots, James harvests them immediately as baby carrots. When the foliage on the shallots in the background and garlic in the foreground shows signs of fading fast (figure D), it's almost time to harvest.

"So, when your spring vegetable garden starts to look kind of ugly, don't fret over it," says James. "Make the most of the situation, tidy up where you can and get those summer veggies in as soon as possible."

Also in this Episode
Gardening by the Yard : Episode GBY-718
•Getting Established
•Island Beds
•Coastal Gardening
•Ugly Gardens
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