As you know, I’m deep into my end-of-season garden assessment. This week I’m ready to wrap things up (as far as the assessing goes; the gardening will continue) with my final notes for 2023.
Assessment, Part 5: The 2023 Garden Post-Mortem
I’ve talked about this before, but I’ll mention it again. . . I keep a little “garden journal” that I use to document All Things Garden each season. It’s just an inexpensive little journal I picked up at Office Max (or is it Depot? I can never remember. . .) that can fit in the back pocket of my overalls. It’s not lovely (although I do stick washi tape in it sometimes . . . because what else am I going to do with all my washi tape, y’know?). It’s dirt-smudged and water-stained. It’s stuffed full of receipts and random notes and and coupons. Sometimes I attend (or watch online) gardening seminars, and I use my little journal to take notes. I use the same journal until it’s full, so often I end up with 6 or 7 garden seasons in one little journal. I love it!
My little journal is quite handy to have around as I’m buttoning everything up for the season and doing my annual garden post-mortem. If I didn’t make my lists of what-worked and what-didn’t . . . and then top that off off with my reminder for the next year . . . I’d forget all about everything by spring.
So. What did work this year? And what didn’t? You can check the photo of my list at the top of this page if you’re really interested. There’s a bit of this and a bit of that.
What worked?
Generally, it was a really good garden year. My bulbs are multiplying. I had lovely surprise blooms. I got ahead of the weeding and mulching this year – which helped all season long. No deer in the back! Our weather wasn’t terrible. Lots of wildlife. Did a lot of transplanting. Loved my patio ferns. NO external house projects! My new greenhouse.
What . . . didn’t?
There are always . . . problems. It can’t be helped in any garden. For me . . . we can begin with my herb garden. This year, my herbs had a slow start because it was too wet. And then, well. I had a lot of bunnies Taking Advantage! (Especially when it came to the parsley.) The deer continue to decimate my unfenced areas in front. (Sigh. It’s bad.) My pollinator garden (the right hand photo, above) . . . is just a disaster. The deer eat all the buds, so nothing actually blooms anymore. It’s hard to attract pollinators when there are no blooms. (Just sayin.) This will be one of my major thinking-through-the-winter projects: What To Do About the Pollinator Garden. (Early thoughts: move everything to the back; plant more decorative grasses up front.) (In other words . . . Give. Up.) (The deer in my neighborhood are Out. Of. Control.)
My end-of-season assessments – and keeping track of them in my journal – help me to hit the ground running . . . come spring. My little journal helps me keep track of my current work lists and reminders for the future, too.
It’s a system that works well for me.
And there you have it: Assessment 5 (and actually . . . the entire season) in the books!
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How do you assess/wrap up your gardening for the season?
Very thorough, and more things worked than didn’t. I think your possible pollinator garden plan would work; it’s no guarantee, but I’ve never seen deer munch on decorative grasses. I wonder what you will replace the coiled hose by the front door with?
Having seen an indoor (greenhouse-like) butterfly garden, I wonder if you could acquire a mini-green house with a small open pane in the roof for the bees/other pollinators to get in. Would that work? Would the deer knock down the small structure (insert cartoon of pawing, snorting deer here). Do they even make such a thing? Is it even worth it? I don’t know. Just a thought. I hate the idea of the deer winning without a fight (even though it’s not their fault we have shrunk most of their habitat. Still, don’t they know how to share??). Good luck, either way!
I gave up years ago on an “in the ground” herb garden. I keep them in pots on my back patio. I can control much more that way (and the bunnies can’t reach them in the pots!) I dug out some things that just weren’t working (The Lamb’s Ear’s just fought being “contained” on one area) I did not have deer issues until this month…. while we were gone they came and ate all the mums I had in pots. Sigh.
Thanks for sharing your little garden journal! I have gotten some great ideas from you! XO
I love watching you garden! The deer have totally won in our neighborhood. There’s a lot of decorative grass, and it’s really pretty right now. Good luck!
You have good insights and with all your experience you end up with a great look throughout the year. Some years one thing will work and the next year, not so much. The little moments you have that shine in your garden are magical. Here’s to a great year next year!
I love this. What didn’t work for me this year? Spending the summer with a broken foot 🤣. I need to take some time and write out what I want in my garden for next year because it will almost be like a new start. And of course I love that you have a garden notebook 😊
This is just so smart! Years ago when we dug out a bunch of buried bricks & reclaimed the back yard to make an herb garden, I drew “the plan.” And then I had another baby and for several years it was referred to as the weed garden… and then it became some other type of hodge-podge garden… but the drawing w/notes was fun to do and I think it’s time to resurrect that idea! It’s never too late. ha.
What a great system you have! That little notebook is such a handy way to keep a record of everything over the course of several years (and then of course after you’ve filled a few of them, there’s a record of your garden over a longer period of time). I share in your frustration over the outdoor pests. We don’t have deer — yet — but the bunnies did a number on my hostas and dahlias. And they ate every single sunflower I had. They didn’t touch the salvia, though, so that is at least one flower I know I can plant and actually have bloom.
Your garden journal is so wise, colorful, and inspiring! I make a few notes on my calendar/next year’s calendar, It’s basic…practical…and works well for me. For example, in late spring when my peonies were practically on the ground, I wrote on my May ’24 calendar: “peony cage.” And I see a note I wrote last winter on my Nov. ’23 page: “trim dogwood limbs near house.” (So I guess I’m doing that next month!)
You capture such nice pictures of your garden over the course of the season. Great blog series!
In the words of a former co-worker…I love it when the system works! Love your garden entries Kym…I give Doug all the info!
I am trying to assess–but it is so highly weather dependent here, and weather is so unpredictable on the Oregon coast.
I keep a garden journal but with less detail than yours. I like to make notes about the date I planted stuff, the first harvest of a cucumber or tomato. This year I did make a sketch of the new pollinator garden. I swear that next year I’m taking it outdoors with me when I plant tomatoes so I can record which varieties were planted where. The love and care you lavish on your garden shows. I love to watch your garden grow.
I do keep a gardening journal, inspired by you. It’s not nearly as detailed or thorough but I do have notes about what I liked and didn’t like this year. I’m so grateful that (so far) we don’t have a deer problem! I never saw a single monarch butterfly all season but I do have lots and lots of bees of all varieties, which I’m reading is even more important than just helping the honey bees. It’s hard to believe the season is already drawing to a close, our unseasonably warm weather this week has everything still blooming.
Re: deer and the pollinator garden. Put the garden on stilts. High stilts. Keep a step stool handy for checking on the garden status.