Garden Projects 3 - 2010

and now that I'm shuffling, I need a few clems too, Victor!

Planted three small cryptomeria and three small gold spirea groundcover.

sounds pretty!

what is the website for Debbie's clems?

http://www.silverstarvinery.com/vines.asp

Thanks!

Any time! Tell her you're a friend of mine!

There's another place you mentioned several weeks ago for clems. I found the website back then (and saw that a bunch of the photos were courtesy of you!) But now I can't remember the name....???

Simplyclems.com.

Off to my uncles to get more brick, another 1000 or so. All I need is time to lay them. LOL Been retired for 21/2 years and still haven't figured out how I worked 50 hours a week. To think my co-workers said I'd be bored to death after a year. Holly has enough ideas to keep me busy for at least a year after the funeral, and I mean mine!!! Ric

like to see a pic of the brick ric :) - i use boston pavers here

LOL, Ric!! I know just what you mean about not having any idea how you worked before! Hank and I retired a bit over 3 years ago and I feel the same way. I just can't imagine trying to fit in work in the equation now! There's just too much to fill the days!

I got back and started to unload my brick and kept wondering why I ran out of weight capicity, I was sure I'd gotten 1000 before, (wishful thinking apparently), and only got 820 on board. Turns out I only got 500 last time. LOL Ric

We have use for quite a few uses for them and want to pave part of the driveway with them. We both like the look of the used brick, so I guess I can't have too many. LOL My cousins are landscapers and some lady had them tear out a large circular brick drive to put down the new brown pavers, seemed crazy to me but I'll take the happily take the windfall. One of Holly's projects is to enlarge the gazebo patio and beds. Ric

love the look of brick - i got the ones i used for around our fire pit from a friend's home who was getting rid of a brick pathway across he yard - it was put down a century ago and had two layers of brick - must have started disappearing and it was easier to lay another layer - i got about 1200 brick - took two trips to load up the back of the xterra and drove with the axles low to the ground.

good luck with the projects! i like the brick design on the gazebo.

Thanks Bill, I went out to see what Holly was up to and found her enlarging the mulched area under the conifers out front. She had said she was going to just lasagna it, rather that remove the sod. So she found a rather novel use for a box of old Playboys from the garage. She said she was playing find the centerfold. LOL Ric

Beautiful bricks, love the pattern. I need to do what Holly's doing. (meaning, enlarge the beds) LOL

This message was edited Apr 11, 2010 10:49 AM

oh goodness Ric ... Randy's Dad is rolling over in his grave.... Randy has boxes and boxes of old playboys from his dad

Nice. I like old brick too.

I really am running out of 'ideal' JM spots - AM sun, dappled shade or light shade. Have to be very careful and judicious placing them in sun.

On the plus side, while scouting locations I found a few areas where I can use a decent sized (up to about five feet) shrub for sun. I'll have to do some research!

What a great way to recycle centerfolds: living person to film to print to decomposition. Clever!
And won't the worms have a great read - it's all about the articles, you know.

Victor - i will oblige you with as much space as possible: lots of room for JMs here, the problem is which?

i will have the day lily bed complete after lunch - dug out the day lilies yesterday and must have lugged off 5 full wheel barrels of rock while turning over the soil - then went at it with the rototiller - dumped about 10 loads of dirt in it this morning and in the process of positioning the three rows of plants - will be moving a couple out from other places in the yard and filling this up - i think i'll put the little new ones from celeste, louise's ru, and flowergarden coop out back to grow up some first.

This message was edited Apr 11, 2010 12:48 PM

Love that old brick. How lucky to get a hold of that quantity Ric, both you and Bill, sounds like a great find for nice old bricks. It looks like they will certainly not be wasted and I like that patio and gazebo area very much. Sounds like Bill has been working hard. Big surprise there, not. Looking forward to seeing that DL bed in full bloom.
Finally got the new bed extension done and ready to plant. Already transplanted some dwarf asiatic yellow lilies 'Butter Pixie'. Also planted two sib. iris and an oriental poppy. Got the lily bulbs planted from Faraway where the dwarf yellows used to be in another bed. Here's a pic from this am.

pat that looks great!

LOL Katye, The cycle of life.
Well I got the whole side done. Lasagnaed the area under the trees and then weeded and mulched the area around the tub and planted the cannas behind the tub. Moved a few small bunches of crocus bulbs that somehow ended up in the Veggie garden. Tomorrow I will start on working on the walkway bed. Ric finished unloading the bricks today, mowed everything and worked the Veggie garden. He painted his potato drums. HOLLY

nice Holly!!!

What do the neighbors say when you take a bath?

here is a picture of the day lily bed from saturday night after digging it up and rototilling.

and here is finished after 10 wheel barrels of dirt and putting the day lily back. This should be interesting since i do not he know which day lily is what - just put the bigger ones in the back - and there were lots of root shoots from the tiger lily that were in the back row that i moved out for good - i will probably be finding volunteers coming up for a while even though i tried to get rid of them.

Thanks Bill. Your beds look terrific already. When things start blooming it will be just wonderful. So much work, I envy your strength and ambition.

Bill, Can I rent you?

New dirt and rototilling just for daylilies, Bill?!! They practically grow in concrete!

they were growing in rock! much of it coming to the surface so had to clean it up - think of how they will grow now!!

it depends on what you feed me jen:)

patti you will need to close your eyes - i cut down an eastern redbud today - it got hit by a falling white pine two years ago and just lost it's shape and it did not have buds this year - have something special to take its place - not a jm.

I see the Forest Pansy branch that was damaged with some heavy rain last year has survived. I had taped it (electrical tape) to a nearby branch for support. I'll have to watch it to figure out when to try to remove the tape.

nice save - i used duct tape on a jm that did not save the branch a couple years ago.

Thanks. Weird shape now, but I can deal with that later.

Wow - what hard work and great results shown in all of the posts above! Pat - I love your extension and can imagine how inviting your path will be when the flowers are in bloom. What will you plant in your extension part? You probably told us up above somewhere, but I'm too lazy to go back and search. LOL

Holly - great shot of your lasagna garden around the tub....that looks great! Many years ago I put an old antique tub in our back yard and we used it as a big ice cooler for drinks when we had croquet tournaments in the neighborhood. Yours looks much nicer! You and Ric have really been working hard and it shows!

Bill - your new daylily bed is going to look great next to the stone wall and border! I wouldn't worry about which daylilies ended up in what space because you can always move them later if short ones get too "buried". Won't it be fun to see how the bed looks with the mixture you'll have?! I sound like a broken record about you, but you sure do nice work and your place looks great!

Has anyone ever met a guy who didn't come up with brilliant uses for duct tape??? LOL

Being an EE, I prefer electrical. ^_^

Thanks DB. I am planting more yellow/orange and blue/purple plants to continue the original color scheme. The plants I have so far are some of the new yellow and orange echies, lavender along the long edge, a couple yellow lilies short and tall, blue and purple sib. iris, campanula, DLs, coreopsis, stokesia, poppies, agastache 'Black Adder', ground cover yellow sedum, and blue delphs.
My DH says with duct tape and vice-grips you can fix anything. ^_^