A few weeks ago, I went to check on my apple tree and found this!! The apple tree was (and is) growing like crazy, and so were the nasturtiums...they were growing a little too well. I couldn't even find the strawberries anymore lol. Before I planted them, I read the packet and it said they would grow 12"-16" tall and to plant them 6"-12" apart...what I got was quite a bit more!! They are around the correct height, but the runners are more than 15' long in some areas (You can see the orange flowers reaching all the way to the far post it the picture, and they went that far in every direction) - this is only 4 plants!!
Unfortunately, as pretty as they were, I needed to be able to get to my strawberries and onions. I also needed to prune my apple tree and plant more onions and garlic for the fall. So I spent about an hour pulling all of the nasturtiums out :( Then I pruned the apple tree (after a few How-To videos on Youtube and a little anxiety) and pulled all of the surviving onions (I only got 6). So now I'm all ready to plant Fall onions and garlic in this bed. I also need to go out and add an additional wire guide - that top branch is in the center and grew so well that I decided to train it into a new row (hopefully another branch will grow and I can have it go the other direction to even the tree out).
I really liked how well the nasturtiums did as companion plants - they helped keep the soil cool and kept unwanted bugs away - so next year I might try growing them on a trellis or maybe find a dwarf version. As you can see, the strawberries really liked them too!! Sadly, I forgot you can eat them - and they were already ruined before someone reminded me.
Anyone else getting ready for Fall? I missed out on planting some of the things I planned to this year - there was just too much going on! Luckily, Spring planning starts in 4 weeks - according to my Week-by-Week Vegetable Gardener's Handbook!!
Have a great day!
Beth
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