My sympathies go with you. That’s some deep bites. The side buds might shoot up though? I use a deer and rabbit repellent made from diluted big cat pee gathered in zoos as a waste product. I spray it on between rain, every 3-4 days, to protect my plants. We have deer, rabbit, raccoon and rat issues in my neighborhood. I’m trying to salvage blackberry and raspberry canes, so I feel your pain! 
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I’m so excited some of my asparagus has come up for year 2. Not nearly as many shoots as what I planted but I hope what has established will spread.
Also irises!
In about 2 weeks I will go to the garden center, buy a lot of drought tolerant perennials and tomato starts, and let my husband and MIL watch the child while we all go ham planting.
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Bought soil for Greenstalk and, hopefully, all the pots and cloth pots. 170 litres, or roughly 45 gallons of soil. If that’s not enough I need my head examined! It was $120 CAD, including 15% tax.
It was two big bags - 55 pounds each! The greenhouse staff piled it into the car. Hubby rolled it out and just managed to carry it to the raised beds. Looks like we’re filling up the Greenstalk tiers on the ground, and then carrying them, one by one, up steps to the deck.
As soon as the weather clears we’re planting strawberries and digging dandelions!
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that’s what i did, too. husband carried the bags up from the car and i filled them in the shade, then carried up to the deck.
today i’m planting dahlias at the top of the hill at the front of my house and it is kinda scary!! but i havent died yet.
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We have so many dandelions this year. I have filled a lawn bag with them already! And there are so many more
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I have 600ish sqft of grass in the front yard I want to turn into a perennial/maybe veggie garden.
Will this plan work?
Cut the grass really short, cover with paper and cardboard, cover with 3-4” of woodchips (considering a chip drop). Wait until next year, add compost and plant and add more wood chips on top.
Do we need to sod cut? (Really would like to avoid) or use chemicals (are there suggestions for not terrible for the environment ones?)
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That’s basically what I did six years ago! Chip drop is GREAT.
I’d recommend next year, when ready to plant, rake away the wood chips until it looks like dirt, then put down the compost and plant into it, then put the existing wood chips back. Mixing wood chips that haven’t broken down into compost/dirt can cause your plants to struggle.
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We do this method! We do get some grass that comes through, but way easier than trying to sod cut. Wet the cardboard down before putting the chips on. You will need a LOT of cardboard 
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Fwiw I got a chip drop a few years ago that covered the entire front yard with about that square footage maybe 6"-12" deep in some areas. No other prep and the front yard has fantastic soil and has almost entirely smothered the grass and I have only had to pull the very rare tuft 5 years on.
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Yes same with us! two years ago my husband got soil delivered, covered the grass with it, and put bark chips in the places between the “beds.” Grass comes through but tbh not that much. We didn’t have to work to kill the grass iirc.
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i really wish i could get chip drop! i need a lot of wood chips to create and mulch some beds. the only access to our house and yard is up a full flight of steps from the street, though, so i’m stuck buying bags.
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Chip drop has been requested!!! Ahhhhhh
This is going to be wayyyyy easier than our original project and this way we won’t have to turn on the sprinklers in the front this year. Yahooooo
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How long should you let snapdragons get? And how do you know where to pinch them?
Some of these are nearing 9” tall and when I try to harden them off they blow over.
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ooh that’s big! i planted mine out very small this year, like 1-2" high, and it seems to be working ok?
maybe you can harden them off very tenderly. like 1 hour in a shaded spot. then 90 minutes in a shaded spot. etc. then 1 hour in dappled sun. repeat.
i would probably just yolo and plant some of them out and see how they do!
you don’t have to pinch of all of them but the ones you want to pinch, just take off the top set of leaves. since yours are so tall, you could pinch a little lower, and that might help them be less floppy, but you want to leave no fewer than 3 sets of leaves after pinching.
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Perfect! I just snipped the tops!
Might do some yolo gardening! We have the dirt and now I want to plant! I’m gonna screw up so much and by that I mean I’m going to learn so much!
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this is the way!!! 
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Everywhere says in CO I should wait until Mother’s Day or Memorial Day so I might wait for the peppers and tomatoes but I think I can plant the brassicas, flowers, and herbs!
This next weekend I want to get my trellis built and plant the squash!
I saw a method for vertical zucchini and I grabbed some rebar from the shop and might try it with that.
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oh cool! i’m not sure if my husband is doing any zucchini … maybe just one!
snaps will actually love these cooler temps way better than the horrendously hot shit you guys get in CO 
i am a temperate humidity lover and colorado summers without AC almost ended me!!
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The summer without AC would be brutal! Sometimes you can get away with a swamp cooler. The fall in CO is my absolute favorite ever and the first crisp day after the summer heat is unlike any other feeling.
I can’t wait to see your garden flourish!!
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