i have slugs

The fluffy part of pine straw is what makes it work. You put a good thick layer around the plants and after you prune back for winter, you put a loose layer a couple inches thick over the plant. I am not sure of your winter ground conditions, but the air caught in the tumble of pine needles captures heat and keeps the roots a little warmer.

I have never seen it at Lowe's or Menard's. You know it is a lot colder up here! The average minimum temperature is 18 degrees but it does get around zero and even lower at times. What do you think would be best?

I couldn't begin to tell you what would be best, the coldest it has been here in the past 8 years is 25 degrees for a very short period of an hour or so. I am in zone 8b, right on 9a. Your winter is actually just a faint memory. I was born in So Ill and lived there until I was 6, then visited a few Christmases/summers.
There is a web site that carries farm and greenhouse supplies www.FarmTek.com that I use to get ideas. they carry all sorts of row cover material and the like.
Call your county extension agent and ask for recommendations or print outs for your area.I am sure there are folks in your area that have found a successful combination.

I just put a lot of mulch around mine before winter, but I notice the last 2 winters we got more ice & less of that nice insulating snow. Crazy weather last winter.

What kind of mulch do you use? I think that is Venice's biggest question .

Moonhowl you read this whole thread;-) Good to see you here as well. There are some nice folk's other than the one's you are familiar with here too. Loved you Brug. picture....keep on adding your pic's here as well if you would like. I will add some plant picture's of mine here as well.

I sure hope and pray jjsgramma son is on a postive note after that accident! Sure hope she chime's in soon or atleast let's you know Jim.

Chezca must still be taking some time off from her P.C.

Cat, I will take the heat any day of the week......the hotter the better for me.

Lynnie, hope your doing good too.

Venice, your plant may have a little too much watering going on. Snail's do not attack the root system of plant's;-) Wishing your plant well.

Rachel

we use both cedar and pine shredded fine...I thought that I read somewhere not to use cedar, but maybe I confused it with cypress...some people in this area put some little A frame wood boards over their shrubs in the winter, too, I can't think what they're called...to protect them from ice, but I would think it would block the sun on the evergreens.
venice our winters are probably similar, I'm in MA. The lows are usually not below zero...used to get a couple of degrees below zero sometimes, but I haven't seen that in a couple years.

where has Cat been all day? They must be working her too hard!

They use temporary cold frames it sounds like. I make tipis of bamboo stakes for bigger plants and wrap them with old white sheets from thrift store. For really fragile stuff I wrap the sheet with visqueen or shower liners from the dollar store.
cedar is supposed to help repel bugs and cypress (which is becoming scarce) does not float.

I use a mix of partially composted grass clippings covered with a pine straw/fine pine bark mix.

Hi back Rachel. Yes Ma'am, figured it was only fair....grin Here is one of my favorite new pictures....he was singing on the ginger

I wasn't sure if cedar repels ALL bugs, the good with the bad?

He is so cute! Is he a baby or full grown?

Only those that would live in the mulch, like beetles and I don't know, maybe moths?

here's the shrub thing

so I don't want those anyway, do I? lol I'm such a newbie..

I haven't been able to find out much about this little one. All I know it by is the local name stone frog. It may be from the Hyla family....I think this one may be close to full grown. I have only seen a few of the and they were close in size.We also have tons of these guys around here too.

Nah, Lynnie, you really don't want a bunch of beetles...grin and there are only two Beatles left.

Darlin frog Moon.....what kind of frog is that? It's a cutey for sure.

Lynnie , I missed something;-) What's up with the shrub enclosure? Look's like a good idea though.

Rachel that's what a lot of people around here use in the winter to protect them from ice & snow breaking their branches. I've never used them, heck I'd have to STORE them the rest of the year, but I admire the determination of the people who do...we get some crazy winds too, so those would help in that case, also. I may eat those words if I lose many shrubs this winter & put these things all over the yard lol

I guess I'm going to have to take a picture of my baby toads. They are about as big as my thumbnail. Don't want you guys to get to far a head of me.

Hope Chezca is okay. I miss the little scamp. Recon the fruit flies got her?

she's huntin' possum...and eatin' peaches...maybe her internet access is down.

That is a southern green tree frog. They are louder than the toads....some folks call them rain frogs cuz they sing in the rain.

Bring on the toads, Jim We have some Cajun Chorus frogs that got to my rain bucket and now tiny tadpoles are hatching out...

Either that or the "booger squirrels" have discovered her chocolate stash and are holding her hostage....see, I did read.

moon we never doubted you :)
cajun chorus frogs, now those sound interesting! One of my friends had a hundred (or hundreds) of tadpoles in her pool cover, her husband wouldn't open the pool till they all grew up & left.

Good on him. Toads eat* slugs* (thread topic reference) and we all know how helpful that makes them.....grin

The Cajun Chorus Frog is a considered a new species that was was discovered in the last year here in LA.

This is a neat link as it works for any state....See who is croaking in your state! Hear what they sound like! Step right up and click on your state.

http://www.nwf.org/frogwatchusa/frogs_state.cfm?showstate=la

morning Moon! I've been up for an hour & 1/2 wondering where you guys are! LOL
Been drinking coffee & testing out my subscription.

That's a cool link, Moon...none of those frogs look like what was hanging out on my front door in a thunderstorm...I'm close to CT I'll check that state..

Nope, not there either..shoot when I get home I'll post the pic..don't have it on the laptop.

Good morning Lynnie. Got up and discovered the coffee cannister was empty.....nothing on the shopping list...grrrr. Do you have any idea how strange the grocery store can be at 6AM when you have not had the daily caffienne fix? grin

Amazing what $20 buys around here, eh? There are more places to poke and peek and get caught in a time warp (just a jump to the right) than you would imagine. The first time I had a chance to play, I looked up and 3 hours had slipped by.

oh I HATE when we're out of coffee! It doesn't happen too often because I don't move without it lol
I hope my frog isn't endangered or dave (metro) will make me build a frog sanctuary lol

Well, if it is, hope that it likes alpine areas and you can move it in with the boulders....grin. I went by the place here that sells stone...wanted to get an idea what it would cost to get a load comparable to the ones you got....Lynnie you have no idea how lucky you were to get those free.....large lichen covered stones started at 19 cents a pound and went up from there....almost $200 for a 100 pound rock....sigh....maybe I need to think poultry wire and cement....grin (Ayer's Rock, Uhlurhu, Au)

oh my gosh, Moon, my heart just went pitter patter at the sight of that rock! Now that's rock!
I guess the bigger rocks are close to 1,000 lbs...yikes I better get back to the gym! lol
Moon I think you missed a decimal point, $20/100 lbs, no? The problem is a 100 lb rock is pretty small, as big as my rocks are they're not huge.

Not a decimal point, a zero....200 for 1000. Sometimes the fingers go faster than the brain...grin. Ayer's rock and the Olgas are just breath-taking, Lynnie. I was fortunate enough to see the sun rise at Ayer's for my 56th birthday....it is truly fascinating. My daughter and I sat in the car bundled against the cold and watched as the surface changed as the sun rose...faces, strange creatures and strange formations appeared and disappeared as the sun rose higher. My daughter commented that that was absolutely not a sight for the chemically altered brain....some of the "faces" were so real looking it was almost scary. GRIN

a typo...rocks just start getting to a decent size at 1,000 lb range
Moon one man's illusion is another man's deity...Mother Nature loves her parlor tricks ;)

Hi Everyone,
First of all I want to say Thank You for all the prayers and well wishes.
Son got out of hospital late yesterday( against my advice). They said to keep an eye out for fever and more bleeding from the ear so I wanted him to stay at my house, but no way ( he's 27 and knows it all). All he wanted was to get his motorcycle. Believe it or not all it has is a broken turn signal.

As soon as I no he is well into recovery he will be back in the hospital getting my foot removed from his A..!!

Well I gotta go . I am keeping the grandson ( little Dill) for a few days and he is using this time to get into everthing. ( He is 3 today). Even the poor dog can't find a place to hide.

Oh and Welcome Moon.

Thanks again Everyone

JJ! I'm so glad to hear that! He must be just fine if he's managed to raise your ire like that. Farmer Dill is a cutie. Get some rest now so you'll have plenty of energy to kick that foot up later ;)

Thanks JJ's. I am so glad things worked out so well for your son. Jim kept us all in the loop and lots of good thoughts went your way. Happy birthday to your little one....need to eat your Wheaties to keep up with him...he's too cute.

Lynnie, the Aboriginal folk have names and stories for different aspects of the Rock. Could almost believe some of those spirits living in the Rock. In the summertime, it absorbs so much heat that is glows well after sunset....truly one of Nature's gifts.

that is SO cool! Australia is one place I've always wanted to go but didn't get to yet!

It certainly helps gear you up to have a child move there...grin. I had a friend when I was a kid whose family immigrated to Australia....we wrote for a few years, and I always wanted to go, but life got in the way....grin. Lost touch when her mom passed away and one day, I am going to track her down while we are in country....hopefully.

Out of coffee or peanut butter, grounds for divorce.

Out of coffee...grounds for divorce. Too funny Jim. DHJim said he was "sure there was more Community in the pantry" asked him if he looked and his response....That's your job, sweetie.....a vindictive woman would have brewed enough for one cup.....grin