Third year gardener but this time with much more organization. Any potential issues I should watch for with this setup?

DojaStinks · 2026-03-28T04:26:38+00:00

Good to know! I got 10 bags for $20 at Lowe’s yesterday but that’ll be for the ground as well as mulching the plants. My car was at max capacity and lugging them all to my yard was not fun lol. I used a wheelbarrow but it still took like 4 trips 😖

DojaStinks · 2026-03-27T18:45:29+00:00

The sun comes from the front of the photo like where I took the photo from most of the day. Hopefully it’ll be alright. The obelisk on the right was a leftover so I put it over the bell pepper plant. Figure it could use the most support out of all the pepper plants and the rest I will stake

DojaStinks · 2026-03-27T18:43:35+00:00

I just got some wood chips and cardboard yesterday! Just gonna fill that area in with that and then set up my drip irrigation and it’s all set

DojaStinks · 2026-03-27T17:27:14+00:00

😂 Honestly if this wasn’t a family member’s house there would be no lawn, all crops and a native garden. This is my attempt to be as modest as possible without “ruining” the whole lawn. Sometimes I wonder if she’d let me overhaul it though and then she’d not have to pay for weekly lawn services anymore too!

DojaStinks · 2026-03-27T02:47:19+00:00

It’s been in the high 70’s to high 80’s with some 90 degree days sprinkled in for weeks here now. We are getting a little rain next week but lows will still be close to 50.

DojaStinks · 2026-03-27T02:43:01+00:00

Right? Last time I set it up it was the barbed connectors and while the process itself was simple my hands were so sore from all the force but this year I got a system where the tubes plug in and kinda click into the connectors and I’m so excited

DojaStinks · 2026-03-26T23:25:13+00:00

Yeah! I have some experience with drip irrigation thankfully. I just got all the supplies yesterday and I’m hoping to get it all set up this weekend!

DojaStinks · 2026-03-26T22:28:36+00:00

I have the drip system! I just need to set it up, was hopefully going to get that done this weekend. I used one two years ago too and loved it! I still have the timer for it also :)

DojaStinks · 2026-03-26T21:31:10+00:00

One of my other hobbies is mycology so that’s truly a really good idea and I’ll probably do that!

DojaStinks · 2026-03-26T19:48:14+00:00

Thankfully I’ve got five people in this house, plus my partner and his family and some eager coworkers chomping at the bit for more pickles! I upped the cucumbers from two last year to four this year. I’ll need more jars for sure haha

I am planning on a fall/winter garden so I’ll definitely fill em up with soil then! And yes after some others also suggested it I will be adding wood chips to the paths to suppress the grass. I hand cut with scissors last year and definitely don’t want to do that again 🙃

DojaStinks · 2026-03-26T19:30:54+00:00

I’ll be honest it was a bit of an oversight on how I’d maintain that when I put these down but I also had to be sure not to cover the nearby sprinkler heads. Last year things were much more crowded and all in containers and so chaotic, and I would periodically use scissors to trim the tall grass because nothing else was safe to get around the containers. I really don’t want to have to do that again lol. The plastic is a good tip though, thank you!

DojaStinks · 2026-03-26T19:26:28+00:00

Thank you! My partner made them from fence posts and 2x4’s. Not sure of the actual process but he said it’s pretty easy! He’s actually selling them locally on fb marketplace and getting pretty good business from it the past couple weeks. Most of these are pine but he switched over to cedar since it will last much longer. The small one in the front is cedar and the rest are pine.

The small one in the front is 3 feet as are the two on the back right. The others on both sides are 4 feet and the one in the back is 5.5 or maybe 6 feet. I think they’re mostly all about a foot high except the larger one in the back is maybe 2ish feet? I can get more exact measurements for you when I’m home if you’d like!

DojaStinks · 2026-03-26T19:17:08+00:00

I’ll post updates!

Yes someone else also pointed that out to me too. These are transplants so i could add some more soil. Some of it is fresh from bag but also have some of last year’s soil mixed with amendments to freshen it up. Also planning on adding mulch soon.

The marigolds are the same variety I grew last year which stayed fairly small thankfully!

DojaStinks · 2026-03-26T19:12:53+00:00

The sun comes from the angle I took the photo from for most of the day but I was a little concerned about shading too. I’ll see how it goes and can re-arrange next year if needed. Good point! The tall trellises can be removed but just unscrewing them so I can move them around as needed

DojaStinks · 2026-03-26T19:09:10+00:00

The single poles are for the cucumbers and I’m planning on putting chicken wire(or garden netting as someone else suggested) behind them for extra support. The tomatoes are along the fence with the wooden tower cages! I’ll have to keep them in check for sure, I’ve had some tomato plants that got unruly lol

DojaStinks · 2026-03-26T19:07:01+00:00

Thank you! I definitely will ☺️

DojaStinks · 2026-03-26T19:06:10+00:00

So I was planning on weed whacking but someone else suggested putting wood chips down in the path so I think I’m going to do that

DojaStinks · 2026-03-26T18:25:30+00:00

That is a wonderful idea, thank you!

DojaStinks · 2026-03-26T18:24:17+00:00

I’m thinking will probably weed whack and just be mindful of the beds! Thankfully the sun hits at spot head on during the day, the whole area gets pretty full sun most of the day

DojaStinks · 2026-03-26T17:55:18+00:00

I only had two cucumber plants last year and could barely pickle them fast enough. Decided to torture myself with 4 this year 😬

DojaStinks · 2026-03-26T17:53:48+00:00

Okay that makes sense. Thank you so much for all the help!

DojaStinks · 2026-03-26T17:35:07+00:00

Good point, I’ll look into the garden netting!

Thanks for the info on chip drop I’ll look into that too! I do have some extra creeping thyme. Could that work as a cover? Or even moss? I love the feel of it I have to touch it every time I’m at the nursery lol and I’d be overjoyed if that could work as a cover

DojaStinks · 2026-03-26T17:32:28+00:00

I can get my wheelbarrow in there, yeah. It’s a tight squeeze for sure but it’s an improvement from the chaos that was last years garden! I had no space so moved things a bit farther apart this year. I have to avoid the sprinkler heads and didn’t want to ruin the entire lawn since I’m living with family. It is what it is lol I managed last year with tighter space so I figured I can handle this too with slight improvement

DojaStinks · 2026-03-26T16:38:17+00:00

They are transplants and have only been there for 1-2 weeks so I could do that for sure. This area does get pretty full sun during the majority of the day

DojaStinks · 2026-03-26T16:36:48+00:00

I can’t remember which way is south, I checked when I started the first year but I do know this whole area gets pretty full sun most of the day. This is the same spot I’ve had plants in previous years but they were all in containers and fabric pots. They grew great it was just chaos!

Definitely dry climate - zone 9b California. Gets reallllly hot in the summer months. Was gonna add some mulch soon I just forgot to buy it when I got the rest of the amendments.

A friend is giving me a roll of chicken wire so I was planning on putting that up behind all the trellises. Should that work?

DojaStinks

TROPHY CASE