Cleaning up the Back Yard

More yardwork today. Manperson dispersed the rest of the big load of compost we bought way back when. My friend T and I went through and got rid of all her dead plants and moved the ones that need water closer to the patio. My first hugelkultur bed is almost ready for planting, though maybe should refer to it as a lasagna type bed, just needs to be smoothed out. It is filled with pecan leaves and shells, though, which will limit what I plant.

Manperson and I dug holes of blackberry plants. Sadly just figure out two of them will have to be moved because they are too close to the pecan tree. Pecan trees are part of the black walnut family and produce juglones that will eventually kill the blackberry. I was so excited too to have something that I thought would grow along the fence.

T gave me her Brown Turkey Fig tree which is supposed to form a guild with Blackberries, so maybe it is time to start digging the huge hole I will need for the fig, so I can plant my newly purchased blackberries next to it.

The the list of vegetables /fruit that I might plant that cannot grow near juglones  are

• Cabbage, Brassica oleracea capitata
• Peppers, Capsicum species (some)
• Tomatoes, Lycopersicon esculentum
• Blackberry, Rubus allegheniensis
• Potato, Solanum tuberosum
• double-flowered cole vegetables
Granted, I can't help, but wonder since Privet/Ligustrum supposedly can't grow near juglones and I have two next to the Pecan Tree, granted as the Ligustrum got bigger and closer to the Pecan large sections died and fell. Maybe it just took that long to hit the root zone.
What I will be growing in my new garden bed then is Squashes, Melons, Beans, Carrots. I think I will start with melons and squashes. I'm thinking Babby and I will be off to Natural Gardener tomorrow for seeds and some cutting of plants that I want to get ID on. I guess actually that is now today.

I'm starting to realize that what I thought was mostly ligustrum regrowing is actually chinaberry and hackberry/sugarberry. Hackberry/sugarberry also has juglones that inhibit the growth of certain plants. Joy. Sugarberry trees will do great with the pecan tree. I'm thinking of just letting them grow.