Garden Projects 3 - 2010

impressive operation Patti

they should have a show on discovery channel for those guys in the bucket truck - i had the town remove a huge white pine at the end of our driveway and they guy had to be 60 - 70 feet in the air - practiced getting out of dodge in the bucket before cutting down each branch even though they were tied off - couple came real close to sending him flying. i have pictures of it with the old "film" camera if anyone remembers those:)

curious about the math patti - i ususally look and say it needs to fall THERE and rope it off to go in that direction:)

Wha, The math is in your head. Like pool. I can never get the angles correct. Maybe I should drink more beer as it must come naturally to you. Patti

LOL...I'm with you, Patti! Our son took down a huge Norway maple from the front of the house.....missed the well, the house, & the garage...said he knew just where it would land...not me!

The faith of a mother! Patti

made a major score today and now have two granite posts - they are more light color flecked with orange and lots of quartz!!

jealous, here...

Those granite posts sound gorgeous, Bill! What is your plan for them?

As to the pups.....no, they aren't 24/7, but there is a lot of competition for my time when they are secured and napping in their crates - which is about the only time at this stage that they aren't susceptible to chewing on things or eating things that make them sick. I can't wait until this teething thing is over! When they are sleeping I do all my bill paying, laundry, DG etc.. We have found that having two going in different directions requires both of us to keep up with them when they are "on the loose". It has paid off though and they are doing very well and are happy, healthy little girls. This stage is temporary according to our vet, just like it was with toddlers, and now grandchildren toddlers. It's pretty much the same deal when they are visiting. We are preparing to have 4 little ones and 2 puppies in June. That's why we'll be "preoccupied" with putting some things in place before that happens. I'm sure I'll figure it out somehow though!! LOL

funny about the doggies - i am going to give Cesar a call and see if he will do a show in NH:)

the posts are already set in the ground replacing two small posts made by nature i had leading into the veggie garden - moved the other two to the entrance of the fire pit.

i hear you katye - around the corner there are six laying on the ground - i am tempted to go up to the owners and offer them $$. although in scouting the area i found these there are more although all seem to be bigger

i put an old blanket over the back seat of my Taurus - laid down strips of plywood and slid these in the door - got them to the car with a heavy duty two wheeler - they were way to heavy to pick up and i almost gave up trying to get the first smaller one in the car - 4 ft long and 10x10" - heavy!

Wow...I would have given up, Bill....I just about got the leaf bags loaded into the truck today! Louise, I know just what you are going through....after our sedate, well-behaved wolfhound died we ended up with airedale twins, 4 months old....I don't know how we survived...you've got to have a sense of humor!

Now I have post envy too:-( LOL Ric

come on ric i saw those huge rocks by the river that you got home and in your backyard! good thing i do not live closer:)

i could not sleep last night trying to figure out how to get them home - knew i could not get them in my wife's suv or in my trunk - way too high to lift - the way i did it worked out ok - and besides a 2000 Taurus with 160K who really cares.

i found more in the area - need to get my pry bar and see it any are doable.

Bill,

There is a place in your general area that sells discarded granite for $20 a ton. That was probably 3 or 4 years ago - I assume they are still there, but I'm not entirely sure where "there" is (maybe Tyngsboro?). My husband might remember. Anyway, have you heard of it? It's pretty much a dumping ground - ripped up curbstones, etc all tossed in giant heaps. I believe they crush most of it, but they allow people to come in, pick through the piles and load up trucks with whatever they want. I now have two granite benches, several granite stairs and a granite mailbox post - all for $20 :)

Edited to say, maybe Gardside Granite Products in Westford....

This message was edited Apr 2, 2010 7:58 PM

Bill how much will you pay me to steal Ric's rocks?

;)

thx soj i will check it out!

allison i think the threat is pretty cool:) ric?

I have a granite post, brownstone post, & large brownstone step courtesy of our cemetery...when son was working there summers, these were stones they were tossing, so they were free.

nice!

Christina - that granite dump place sounds like a very cool source! I'm sure Bill will be looking to buy a used dump truck or tractor trailer truck very soon! And yes, Bill, we love Cesar....we have gotten to where we are with the girls through his advice. LOL

Marilynn - You either have a sense of humor or you go under! LOL I think we have been pretty lucky compared with horror stories I've been told by people with singular puppies who have done some pretty hefty destruction. Thankfully, they have chewed on each other more than on household things. It is nothing to see one of them pulling the other around by the ear or tail. They do keep us laughing!

Now, on the subject of garden projects...here's the final shot of the puppy yard gardens project taken from the new door in the sunroom. Next year the rug area will be the second phase of patio.

Hope you got some work done this past week, Bill! I'm too lazy to catch up on the thread. Like with carousels,m cable cars or s*x, best to just jump in. ^_^

Victor, Glad to see you back from DC.

Our projects are finally getting done, as the weather was perfect today. I potted up some more stuff that had come to hold in the Greenhouse until May. Our GH is getting rather stuffed with stuff and there is way more stuff on the way.

I final did a major pruning on an old Ilex glabra (inkberry). It looks horrible now and will for some time, but had to do it. I attacked another big stand of it by the deck to take it down to 4 feet from 5 or 6 just to keep the view open. I made a butch of cuttings from annuals that I had wintered over in the GH and set them in Perlite to root. I did some cleaning and weeding along the stone walks. And, she admits sheepishly, I potted up two bowls with paper whites that I had forgotten about, but I think they will bloom fine in May.

DH finished the new bed and then got out the chain saw to cut a few annoying branches down here and there that I had on the "Victor List" We will be doing some big projects after the 9th, but all of them are out of sight of the gardens. It will be major clearing which I love doing. Just hope the weather is good

We have to replace a big timber retaining wall and fix the stone stairs going down to the walk out basement.....that will put a big damper in the garden budget. Good thing I have so much already coming. I would have loved to have done it with stone, but we would have had to sell the house to afford the stone and a mason. Wha would have done it himself. Patti

Louise, very pretty photo of the patio area....and I like the stonework, Patti. My first project was going to the dump, but I have many others, but think I'm going to hire someone...there's just too much for me to do alone.

Did my first planting today - finally planted my JM Katsura. Kept it potted since getting it from FW last year.

Almost done with the cleanup. Pool area, pond and one other area.

Expecting my first shipment tomorrow - clems from Debbie.

None of my orders have come yet..that's because we usually still have snow around at this time! I'm transplanting my JM tomorrow, because son is coming to till garden, & he's getting the rhodie where I'm putting the JM...the rhodie has had about 2 blooms for me in 5+years...time to go!

Boy, you guys are getting way ahead of me up there! I can hear my DG flowers popping through the soil up there at the farm. WAIT!! WAIT!!! WAIT FOR ME!!!!

Bill, She can steal any of the ones by the driveway that she can pick up and put in the back of her truck"-}LOL. Ric

you got it!!!!

funny ric!

my dirt is being delivered tomorrow and i can not wait!

You all are getting a lot done. I have started to cut out the new bed extension out back. Slow going as I have to wait for things to dry out after I turn out the grass. About half done. Rain showers today have stopped the progress for today but I am going to get out to nursery and HD to get fertilizer, planting mix and some stepping stones so all will be a go when the sun returns tomorrow I hope. Everything is way ahead of schedule around here. Only things that worry me are the hydrangeas. Long way to no chance of a freeze and they are all leafing out already. Most other perennials can deal with late freezes but the lacecap hydrangea will get nipped in the bud if we are not lucky. Here is a pic of work so far on extension.

lots of room there pat!

moved about 25 wheel barrels full of dirt today and finished re-arranging two beds and filling holes left behind when i was playing musical chairs with bushes/trees earlier.

and one correction - happy the dirt is here - forgot how much effort it is to mix the compost and dirt in the wheel barrel - the light rain did not help as everything was wet and heavy

i'll post a couple pictures tomorrow morning before i go at it again.

Would have been easier with a garden cart.

:) - wheel barrel is the way to go

Bill, I'm with Victor on this one, garden cart. Mine is about 32x40"s, with 16" sides, and 26"mountain bike wheels. Nothing like it for soil mixes and ease of movement.
I've a couple pics of a local project I thought you'd enjoy. This guy has been working on this for maybe 10 years. Ric

I believe all the stone came for his or adjacent properties. Ric

Since he finished the house he has moved on to other projects: walls, BBQ, and terraces. If life gives you lemons, make lemonade, if you get stone build a house! LOL Ric

I like the round part of the house. What is that called an alcove?

Wow nice stone work. Some people are so talented.
Bill I need a lot of space for all the plants I ordered over the winter. Went a little crazy so had to extend the extension. Picked up stepping stones and other necessities yesterday. Don't know how much I will get done today if it gets as hot as they say it is going to get.
Victor glad you are making headway on the clean up. Me too, only a little more to do. I feel so far behind but really not so much when I remember it is only first week in April. We have had years that snow was still snow here so I think it is all this unusual weather that is making it seem like I'm getting a late start on things.

nice home! could do without the heart fence though:) here is my pile of dirt - hope there is enough

and if here is one of the beds i filled in yesterday which can be compared to the one at the top of this thread.


i moved the burgundy hearts redbud to the right along with all the stuff surrounding it - moved up the tamukeyama jm more towards the front of the bed away from the radiant rose dogwood and surrounded with aureola hakonechioa grass - moved the alberta spruce back along with the dianthus.

i will not bore anyone with the rest of what happened here

Wha, no holding out, I must know what happened to the 7th shovelful of dirt on the left side? I actually really want to know how you get such good dirt and how much did you order. I am sure you told us, but we just ordered some and I hope it is not that much Your garden is going to look even more amazing this year

I am in Vt Lots of cleaning up to do, but snow is finally gone except a patch in the woods, a tiny patch Yippee Off to see if any nurseries are open and to Agway for supplies DH. picked up the rabbit fence yesterday and more bird seed and suet. We finally have a couple of regular wood peckers working them this spring, a downy and a hairy so we will try to keep them around Patti

i get 10 yards of processed compost from the town - it is a mix of the storm drain cleanings, wood chips, plus dirt that is processed at high temp and is like gold! then i have 10 yards from a place in brookline nh called nh rocks and mix them together. i need to do the because of the clay/stone base we have here.

it will will be a weed fest that will take two massive crawling on your knees weed pulling and then everything is pretty much gone.