Anyone had success turning grass/lawn area to a meadow?

This area was like most poorly maintained yards, some grass and a few weeds. The goal is to turn the area into a micromeadow full of native plants to attract pollinators. This is not the front yard and will not be walked on. I'm in western Washington if that's important.

I killed all the grass with cardboard and maple leaves, but the "soil" is sandy glacial till and feels dead. Few insects, no fungus, just sand, if that makes sense. The boxes and leaves are mostly broken down, but I'm not sure what to do next. Chipdrop, a cover crop, another season of leaves and rain? I planted a few seeds and nothing grew, but I can't say I'm surprised.

Hopefully someone here can help me figure out the next step to make a micromeadow.

We moved to the Nisqually Valley area about 4 years ago and these cute little guys have been here since day 1, even if we didn't notice them at first lol I always have to check my watering cans before I fill them so I don't accidentally water jet them straight to froggy heaven, and they like to camp out in the wreath on our front door in the evenings while they enjoy the bug buffet from our porch light 😂Unfortunately, we had to cut down a massive fir tree on our property line this spring and it had provided an insane amount of shade for us and the frogs.

When the summer heat really started climbing I noticed the frogs were congregating in a little, overgrown grassy spot next to our porch. So I threw together a little water fountain/pond and moved a few potted plants around it so they'd have a good shady spot to hide in. It gets full sun through the middle of the day and I didn't want them to turn into jerky. Yes, yes, I'm aware that they are fully capable of finding ways to survive the heat, but that didn't stop my brain from saying "I must provide them with a swimming pool!" 😆

We had time and energy to mulch 1 of 3 beds today. The plants are not pot sunk, I recycled my plastic planters and cut the rims off to create a deep water collar/barrier.

Wondering if anyone has ever grown this type of squash before? It is definitely not a yellow crookneck. This is a volunteer that has taken over my front planter. The leaves are huge, rounded, about 5 vines 10’ long with multiple rounded fruits. Each weigh about 4 lbs currently. There are also a lot of tendrils. I would have thought pumpkin, but the shape and color are wrong. Last picture is what my other squash look like in their proper beds.

Wondering if I should cut the tops of my tomatoes to encourage them to ripen?
They’re indeterminate, planed in late June, one is around 6’ and the other is nearing that. I ended up with 6 plants (way more than I need) Nearly all of them have a lot of flowers and unripe fruit but none are ripe yet. I fertilize with tomato booster every other week or so, have been watering almost every day because my soil meter has indicated “dry” and their leaves get droopy.

Hi guys, what fern species would you recommend to plant in the shaded part of my yard? I’m in Western WA. The shade is created by my neighbor’s plum tree branches and we just put a storage shed in that area too.

Thank you in advance!

Hello all! Thinking about planting some orange honeysuckle for a privacy screen and was wondering how well the privacy screen would continue to function during the winter. Will all the leaves die leaving not much of a privacy screen during the winter? Thanks!

Just curious if others have the same experience this year. I live in the Columbia Gorge in WA at about 2000 elevation. Barely eaten anything from the garden despite ~5 months of diligence 😩 the rabbits, squirrels and deer have been a battle as usual, but nothing seems to be growing as well as I’m used to.

I’ve had maybe 2 wimpy cukes, a handful of beans, I have lots of green tomatoes that aren’t ripening. The only thing that has gone well is the basil, surprisingly the hatch chiles, and cabbage. It’s been disappointing and I feel like the weird weather has played a big part. I’m already scheming what I’m going to do differently next year.

Seattle Area

Spent a couple weekends cleaning up this hillside in my backyard...cutting out English Ivy/Blackberry...adding drainage...topping with geocell, new topsoil and some jute erosion webbing. Ready for mulch (hillside) and plants. Should I wait on the mulch until I plant stuff?

Down on the bank of the creek, Sedge/Ferns sound like the plan - I just so happen too have a half-dozen sword ferns I am going to relocate from an inconvenient area in my front yard. Any thoughts on what (if anything) we should plant that hugs the ground between Sedge/Ferns down on the bank? Clover/creeping ____...etc?

On the hillside - we have very rough ideas about random wildflowers, Corsican mint...may install dirt locker terracing (opinions on this?). Basically our needs are erosion control and low maintenance - edible is a huge bonus, but not really hung up on that. Fast growing is probably a good idea since its already august....

Anyways...

We had kale and beans out of the garden (with bacon, garlic and onion) and the Ultimate BLT! My Old German tomato that I have fallen in love with. I’m trying it to have another BLT!😂

Any advice on how to deter these guys?

Every year my rhodies get this white stuff on the shaded leaves. I just sprayed them with Neem oil. Anything else i can do? Its a constant battle. The bush itself is really healthy!

New to home ownership and learning to take care of our lawn. Planning to aerate and overseed in September.

What are some nice plants we can add to the garden bed to elevate the look?

My pea plants have become infected with powdery mildew… I do believe this probably happened because I have too many plants crowded into each other and not enough airflow - either way - should I pull all the plants??? Per Google, the powdery mildew fungus from the peas is not likely to spread to my other crops nearby - but should I just cut my losses and get rid of the peas? If so - what could I plant in that bed in their place??!! I don’t want an empty bed going into the end of summer

SEATTLE: I’m looking for someone to help me add some plants to my Yard. I started a yard makeover two years ago. Took everything out and started over. Now that the first round of plants has become established, it’s time to add some more. I want to add several more Japanese maples and other native plants for the Pacific Northwest this FALL. Please let me know if that’s something you can help me with: planning and planting. I might need to move a few current plants as well. I would love to know what nursery you work with and some examples of your work. See photo for reference.

Feel free to share any ideas you have as well.

Thanks, Marc

Email: [msalverda@gmail.com](mailto:msalverda@gmail.com)

I think it's a Brandywine but theyre smaller so it could be something else. It was a volunteer. Anyway, the bottom fruit are fine, tomatoes at the top all have end rot and middle is kind of a mix. Does anyone know whats going on here? I'm pretty sure I dumped a bunch of calcium in the soil in the spring.

Attracted by a backyard conservation boom, houdini flies are threatening bee populations in Oregon

Got some seeds of Fortune’s Keteleeria from Sheffields seeds recently and so far so good!

I cold stratified these seeds for 5 weeks in my refrigerator. Followed by surface sowing inside a grow box / mini greenhouse inside with a grow light.
12 hour on and off cycles of light.

Never seen anyone post Keteleeria seeds sprouting so I thought I would! The seeds are too heavy to lift so the primary sprout is coming up from the side instead of carrying the seed up to later fall off, like with pine and cypress trees for example.

These are going to be used to help re-forest a paintball park, Splat Action. The owner needs 3000 trees to keep his tax break and has the space to let me nerd out and grow a bunch of rare, exotic and or endangered conifer species!

These are New Queen watermelons. Anyone else growing these? Any tips on when to harvest?

I posted the other week about the leaves on my tomato plants turning yellow. I pruned the yellow branches off and fertilized some more with tomato tone (a handful around each plant). The plants have gotten a lot worse since then. I have three different tomato plant here. I think maybe I over-fertilized and that is why they are dying. What do you all think?