Guys, how many times have I said…”The garden is finished!” only to come back in a week or so with another project or update we’ve done out there? I’m probably starting to sound like the girl who cried garden, huh?

(Here, here, and here for examples of this nonsense.) 

But, here I am again…with another garden update…this time, it was the raspberries who got a little help.

The little berry area of our garden had turned into a big mess.

Weeds everywhere (because we didn’t mulch that area) and the raspberry was crawling all over and coming out the front of the blueberries!

So, we lifted everything up, weeded it, and then set to work giving the raspberries something to climb on. In the process, Hubs found this cool bug he wanted to show everyone. Anyone know what this is? We like that it’s all shiny and metallic. What a stylish, trendy little insect!

Also, since there are no more berries on these plants (blueberries or raspberries) for the birds to peck at and steal, we removed our bird barrier.

 

Which meant that we had to tie up the tomatoes that had been draped across the top of the netting.

My dad graciously provided a free (from the farm) fence panel. (Actually, it’s a partial fence panel) and two metal posts to stake it up with. Hubs took care of the rest and soon, we had ourselves a nice little trellis!

Hubs used some random wire (probably from an old clothes hanger) to attach the fence panel to the posts. It’s a little pokey, but the raspberries are also thorny, so I don’t suppose we’ll be frolicking nearby anyway and the chance of injury should be pretty low. We can always cover the ends if we ever have kids or clumsy adults (us!) clomping around in the garden. (He did trim these ends, so it isn’t this pointy now!)

 

I carefully wound the canes up into the trellis.  (Notice how concerned my face looks as I tried to not break or strain the branches at all?)

Wear gloves if you do this…raspberries have thorns! And I went with using a horizontal versus vertical approach…unlike what we did with the cucumbers earlier in the year.

Then, we added weed barrier to prevent the return of all those weeds…

And finally, the last of the mulch! The garden is finally finished…for now.

We used ceder mulch for the garden (and the front) in case anyone is interested. It costs about a dollar more per bag than the cheapest kind, cypress, but I don’t like to use cypress for several reasons. One, it’s often said to be a hardwood that resists insect infestation…although only mature trees have this quality and very little cypress mulch comes from mature trees nowadays…partially because the cypress forests are taking a hit because of all this cheap mulch. Also, a few years ago, bagged cypress mulch from the gulf area had some hurricane related issues and I just choose to stay away. I also dislike the dyed stuff because of the chemicals (seriously, look at your hands after spreading the red or black mulch and you’ll see the residue I’m talking about), especially around food, and the ceder scent has a natural tendency to discourage insects…plus, it smells nice and looks pretty, right?

I can already tell the canes are a lot happier to no longer by laying on the ground, getting all dirty and messy. But, still no berries. After a little research, I’m hopeful we’ll have a harvest next year since ours appear to be a summer producer, not an ever-producer, and it takes two years for the full life cycle. So, fingers crossed next year will be the year…especially if I buy another plant to help these pollinate. (They should self-pollinate but a lot of people say you’ll get bigger, better berries with two bushes…)

I like that they ended up in a little bit of heart shape…

Don’t worry about the wilted-looking leaves, it’s because they were flat on the ground so long that they aren’t used to their new surroundings and they haven’t turned their faces to the sun yet. Also, I’m excited the blueberries are starting to turn red. They should have some pretty fall leaves soon!

 

You’ll also notice we cleaned out from around the fence again. The giant shrubs in our neighbor’s yard tend to want to climb over through our side of the fence so we have to trim them every so often.

Doesn’t it look better?

Do you still believe me when I say the garden is finished? Do you have any projects like this that just seem to grow and grow, or are we the only ones with never-ending projects taking up time and space on our list?