i was a little unsure about what time to actually plant things in the boxes this year but i heard from a couple sources it isn't really good to plant anything until may...that means i have about another month to get things ready to go. the large box which has the pine needles covering the bottom underneath the dirt and compost is not growing any weeds so i think i have to get something to mix in to the soil to take down the acidity from the pine needles. i had asked everyone previously to save coffee grounds but i dont think i will have enough to get the soil back to the ph it should be to grow beans and stuff. i also need to learn where i'm going to plant things, as some veggies will need a trellis of some kind.

i think i'm going to take the soaker hoses from the memorial garden and put them in the planter boxes, but soaker hoses kind of rely on gravity to get the water to the right places and i would have to have the hose balancing somewhere it could reach properly. when we moved in i installed a ton of soaker hoses because they were cheaper, but i should have splurged and got the proper drip irrigation as i dont think i can trust the soaker hoses to water everything properly. they work, though, we had fine flowers all summer the first season we lived here, but i had to get up at like 8 and fall asleep on the couch waiting to switch the water from one set of hoses to the next...soaker hoses only move water through like 25 ft of hose at a time which means the water pressure will significantly decrease the further away you get from the hose connection. i dont want to have to force my mom to stand in the sun all summer watering my plants after i've gone to work!!

there is this giant book of "garden wisdom and know-how" i bought that i'm looking through, i was gong to make my own temporary greenhouse using old wood and painter's plastic left over from lining the boxes but i'm not sure what i had in mind is actually going to work...i think it is still going to be too cold. i can't exactly start seeds in my house because of my cat and because it really doesn't get that sunny. i will have to look into what i can do to start seeds and keep them warm because that is what went wrong with a lot of my seeds last year, they all died !!!i have to also figure out what specific kindso f roses i have apparently because this book is very specific in how you are supposed to prune each main type of rose and i have no idea what is what.

what i do know is that it's time to start my seeds, it is time to fertilize the roses, and its time to figure out the layout of the garden.