Garden Projects Two - 2010

Victor, make sure you visit Abe at night. Inspirational.

Wha & HollyAnnS & Victor, Sent along to DH the grub suggestions, thanks. Patti

I know, Patti. ^_^

Victor, I should have known! Patti

Now when I see him I think of the pigeons from Night at the Museum 2!

saw that the other night victor and my wife almost took away my choosing privileges - pretty weak movie.

as far as grub-x - it takes a few years for nematodes to be in large enough numbers to work - i would not have had a lawn by then.

the yard is all raked!! more importantly my arm is feeling much better - was even lugging rocks around for a while

This message was edited Mar 10, 2010 8:16 PM

Wha, so what do figure was wrong with your arm? Just a strain? Patti

maybe - could be old age:) - i use one of those large two wheeled trash containers that trash pick-up companies leave at homes - i use it to haul leaves and stuff out to the back (previous owner here left it behind and no one came to get) - i carry the leaves using my left arm under the rake and right over it so i don't drop any when i dump them in there - big loads with wet leaves can get heavy - that is all i was doing so it must be it - i'm still using the ace wrap and icing it when i get inside - monday i would not have been able to pick up the large rocks i was moving today - just glad it is getting better i have lots of shoveling and rock stuff to do!

Bill, You've got rocks alright! LOL Take care with that arm.
Victor, I think bacillus t. and milky spore are one in the same, I haven't applied any for years and really should redo. Nematodes are disastrous to Prunus. I believe I read somewhere that working a little DE into the soil will result in there demise, it also does the same to earthworms, unfortunately. DE powder is very effective against beetles also (it gets under the caprice and cuts them), but I personally think It's better to deal with them in other ways, such as pet chickens! LOL. Ric
Talk about organic gardening, our girls do a good job, eat beetles and weed sprouts, leave fertilizer, at least till the "maters start to ripen.

hope your arm feels better Bill

Yes, Victor, I was going to mention milky spore for the grubs. I'm not a big fan of harmful chemical pesticides, as they tend to kill other beneficial microorganisms and earthworms and such.

Take care of your arm, Bill. I know you have lots of rocks to move! LOL!

Karen

i am a firm believer that rest is over rated - exercise if the cure!

Jen - I checked to see if I could get a local weather forecast for Easter, but all it gives me is the historical temps. 83 is the average historically. This year with all the wacky weather.....who knows!!! Will you be coming down for Easter?

Thanks hopefully it will be that warm, trying to figure out if I need to go up in the attic and get my shorts.
Flying down Easter Sunday.

big moving day here - viridis moved 3-4' - forest pansy moved - grey dogwood moved (also found that a large hickory branch fell and clipped another almost to the base, bummer) - big crab now moved for the third time - katsura planted in its place - endless summer hydrangea moved 3' so it is not too close to the shirazz, won't have to listen to patti and victor complain about it:) - and while doing so a pretty good hunk fell off with a nice root system:) - also moved around several large rocks and boulders for better positioning.



This message was edited Mar 11, 2010 4:03 PM

This message was edited Mar 11, 2010 4:10 PM

Did the music stop yet?? 'Learnt'?!!!

:) i'd still be out there if i had dirt

Wow, that's a lot of moving.

Jen, where will you be? I'd pack a light jacket for the evenings, but the days are warming up into the high 70s and low 80s, and by Easter, I'm pretty sure it will likely be in the 70s and 80s too. Definitely pack your shorts! Hank has been wearing them all winter! LOL

Whoa, Bill.......that's a lot of hefty work you're doing there. Hope your back cuts you a break! It must feel great to be out there doing that though.

Has anyone ever heard of a Bolivian Glory plant? Supposedly a shade plant with beautiful red-orange tubular flowers. Hank bought it at the great Pine Island plant sale we went to. It had no tag, just the grower's advice. I have looked on Plantfiles and can't see anything like it and I can't even find it on Google. It didn't look good where we put it, so we just came in from moving it to my back garden where my Brugs moved to. I hope it makes it.......Hank loves it!

thx lousie, it has been great to be out there all week - itching to get 20 yards of dirt delivered to begin the real work

also moved a pretty large forsythia for the crab apples new home - knew i would miss something.

is it this Louise??.. maybe they have the name wrong.. Chilean Glory Vine

http://images.google.com/images?q=Eccremocarpus+scaber&oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&um=1&ie=UTF-8&ei=zX2ZS4u_Ho-0tgf5_pywCQ&sa=X&oi=image_result_group&ct=title&resnum=4&ved=0CCUQsAQwAw

We'll be in Orlando.

Only 20, Bill?? Wow, you must be getting old.

Wha, I am exhausted just reading your epic day. I spent mine in planes, airports, and car.

Glad you moved the hydrangea. Your garden has such ebb and flow of color, texture, size but that one spot was just not right. I am sure it is now, or you will hear about it. Patti

a day of travel can be just as exhausting!
well i hope it meets with your approval:) - i widened the bed and moved it down a bit and out - at least there is good separation and i still have the entrance way with the other across on the other bed - will still need the shirazz and bloodgood to grow some to make heights work better.

Wha, Sounds perfect. I think it was really fine before, if it were in any normal garden, but yours is not. I know you demand perfection, so I was just trying to help. I had to complain about something, which was darn hard to do. Grow a weed this summer, that would be easier to move. Patti

That's it, Allison!!!! Good work! Thanks so much. They just had the wrong country! Wow, we didn't know it was a vine....now it will have to move again. That is so helpful and Hank also thanks you very much!!!

Bill - Hank and I are looking forward to seeing the fruits of your labor! It sounds like you're changing your entire property all around! LOL

not really louise just tweaking it and a few additions, that is what happens when you order 15 jm's and then realize they need to be planted somewhere - i hope this is the last year of 20 yards of dirt......................although i doubt it, there is room out back:)

you guys are welcome anytime as you know - if it is early enough bring a shovel and wheel barrel:)

I'm a little late to the thread, but I'd buy Bill's birdhouses and Patti's pots (how's that for alliteration?) in a heartbeat. Let me know when they go on sale!

looks nice Louise... good luck with it

Thanks, Allison! The search is on for a new location!

I now have DH on the mole, vole and grub case. He is hooked with all the information I have gotten from you all and has come up with a couple interesting sources too.

Thanks SongofJoy, but they aren't even close to being ready for your amazing terrace. I can't wait to see how it will look this summer after all your hard work. Patti

http://doyourownlawncare.wordpress.com/2007/01/06/how-to-treat-grubs/
http://doyourownlawncare.wordpress.com/category/moles/

The Chilean Glory Vine has a new home - in full sun on a small trellis up next to the new lattice fence just outside our sun room so we can see the flowers first thing in the mornings! Photo at some point soon! Thank you, Allison!!!!

glad to have helped!!

Jen, you might want to bring shorts and pants. I did that when I went down with Dad. Mostly was wearing the pants, but there were a couple of days warm enough for the shorts. When it hits the 70's, them I'm in shorts for sure.

That is some big moving, Bill. I need to get out and plant some trees and shrubs I never got planted last year. With all the rain this weekend, I will have to wait till next weekend. So far the long range forecast has predicted good weather for Sat., at least.

Louise, that was a good find! I look forward to seeing pics of it.

I would love to have this someday: http://www.amazon.com/Neuton-Cordless-Electric-Discharge-Removable/dp/B001S059OS/ref=cm_wl_create-landing

Karen

I considered that a few years ago. 14 inch width is puny. Would take forever. Fine for very small lawns.

no more bird houses for a while - was able to finish the roof of one from last week yesterday - today was going to make two more and the table saw acted up and might be a goner - still turns on although runs very rough and the nut holding the blade on loosens - very strange - tightened it as much as possible and it happened again - nothing in the manual about this problem, think the brake stopped, or some gears are doing something screwy to cause this.

will give sears a call tomorrow and see if there is a fix possible - have saved this once before - have been wanting to get a better one on a cart for years - almost bought one a few years back - until the part cost $3.00 for the fix - hard to justify - this might be a different story.

Hope you can get that table saw fixed, Bill.

Victor, you're right, that would take a long time to mow a big lawn with that. I am considering going with gravel on all my garden pathways, either that or wood chips. There's a lot of them to do, though. I'm just sick of mowing so much.There's always way too much to do.

Here's a great article I found on organic lawn care, which I thought was really great. I knew most of these things, but I learned even more, and it's good to review now and then.

http://www.richsoil.com/lawn-care.jsp

Karen

Hee hee - they say dandelions love pH of 7.5. Mine is very acidic and they thrive! So much for that.

Well, personally I think dandelions are really not too picky about soil ph.

Karen

I like to do the lawns every so often with my 20" bagger and do a diagonal pattern as an accent, of coarse at her current rate Holly will have all the lawn gone in a few years. LOL The old pasture I mow with the lawn tractor and then re mow a 15x60' area with the bagger for a more formal bocce court. Ric