Garden Projects 3

She still has a member page....

But she's not a "subscriber."

You know what makes NJ people depressed? Seeing the NYers coming through the tunnel headed our way ..... DG NYers are excluded of course!

I like NJ, especially from September to May. I like it even more when it rains. Just to stir the pot a bit...A big brouhaha is forming in NJ legislature to disallow chemical fertilizing of lawns. I wonder how that will play out!!

That's catching on in a number of places. Always finds it's way into the water.

It will put a lot of landscapers out of business, no doubt.

That's not the main thing they do.

I saw somewhere "Weed'n'Feed" was picked as a friendlier sounding name over "Poison'n'Pollute" or something - I can't remember exactly what the quote was or where I read it, unfortunately.

Well that's certainly understandable Carrie! I agree with Victor. I don't perceive landscapers as a fertilizing company, that's the domain of Truegreen and such. They and their employees would be the ones to suffer, so they should be working on organic programs they can sell and are safe for the water. Actually they should have had these programs in operation 10 years ago.

Well yeah that's who I meant, Trugreen.... Chemlawn...I mean really with a name like "Chem"lawn

Hi, thought I'd pop in to see what garden projects are in the works. It's funny you are talking about lawns. I haveno idea what happened to my lawn! It looked so nice 2 years ago, it was all newly grown on loam we paid for and put down. Now it's all dead and sparse and full of crabgrass! Look at it 2 years ago http://davesgarden.com/tools/blog/viewimage.php?did=46960 Is there a forum here that people help with lawn problems? I don't know where to begin....

Do not know much about lawns except how to edge them, that is DH's domain. I do know that the grubs from various beetles specially JB eat the roots of grass and turn the lawn brown. Also this year much the same as last year the drought has made some grass die or go dormant. Raking and over-seeding will be in order for several spots this fall.

mow it high, keep it watered, and kill the crab grass with weed-b-gone............

big clean up weekend here - weeded the whole yard, deadheaded whatever needed it and trimmed up some bushes.

Thanks! I'll try all of the above. We have hardly mown our lawn, and when we do it's to cut the weeds and crabgrass. I think our entire lawn is dormant.

First check for grubs. Have you ever done a soil test? Make sure your treating your lawn with what it needs and not anything extra it doesn't

Meredith I think there are a few good DG articles on lawn care.

http://davesgarden.com/guides/articles/view/1611/

Thanks, I definitely have a somewhat high population of grubs... I think I need to lime too, because we have a slightly acidic soil and I haven't limed in a while. We had Lawn Dawg service for a little while and they said our soil was at a 6.7 then. That was some time ago, so I'm sure it's even lower now. I think I really need to aerate it and thatch it and over-seed it, and all that other stuff other people mentioned. It's just so high maintenance here, because our yard is a sand pit. We actually live right near where the town used to get sand for the roads. We call it the pit. My DH and DSS enjoy riding 4 wheelers back there. :)



This message was edited Aug 16, 2010 12:46 PM

We used milky spore here. It took a few years to decrease the JB population but the last couple of years I have been lucky to pick off 5 or 6 of them. This year all were found on the grapes. If the sun comes out today or tomorrow I will get a pic of the hoops DH and I made for his 6 new grape vines. Worked out pretty well I think. There is a trench along one side of the drive way down by the road end. Made hoops over it to form a platform for each of the grapes to grow over and form a short tunnel. Used coated wire fencing attached to 1" conduit piping fitted over metal stakes, like they do to make hoop house or cold frames. The hoop if laid down flat is 16' long, 3' wide and the ends are bent over trench to make them 10' apart. Not sure I described that very clearly but I hope you can picture it okay.

This message was edited Aug 16, 2010 2:11 PM

Looking at my "lawn" now, I think I might have to rototill and reseed. I'm used to seeing a somewhat brown lawn in mid-August, but this is all I've seen since the beginning of June. It's easy to spot the weeds though, they're green! ^_^

Meredith, I feel your pain about sandy soil. My biggest gardening challenge is water retention. When I plant a rose or hydrangea I dig a 2x2 hole, fill with water, let it drain and then plant. I timed how long it took the water to drain from the hole once. 9 seconds!

Wow! Somewhere in China there is a geyser.

Lol :)

Is that my water retention or the new 3-D?

Should you be sharing your water retention issues, Weeze??

^_^

We have the opposite problem, we have to dig a bigger hole and amend the clay so new plants don't feel pot bound. The veggie garden has been double dug more than once to prevent building a clay pan. Ric

Okay I took the trek down the drive this am and got a few pics of the grape vine hoops as described in previous post.

Grape vines are already taking hold. There are three white and three red table grape vines.

Looking through the tunnel. The ends near the drive can be lifted off the stakes to clean out the drainage ditch when needed without disturbing the vines on top. I would have liked the hoops painted green but maybe later, just glad it worked out so well and is done.

This message was edited Aug 17, 2010 10:56 AM

Are you going to make wine, Pat?

No these are table grapes for eating, seedless. His whole family makes wine so there is no shortage in that category. I am not a big fan of any alcohol beverage, just never liked the taste, but DH grew up drinking wine made at home.

When I was a kid, our neighbors made wine, & gave a bottle to my Dad.....he usually poured it down the sink....guess it wasn't very drinkable. One year, my neighbor across the road asked for my Bosc pears, & made wine....it was very delicious, like a light champagne.

Their wine is very dry but most people like it. Don't need much to get a buzz going. Isn't there a pear wine or liquor that has a whole pear in the bottle?

Yes, I think it's brandy....supposed to be very strong.

Now all we have to do it get them pruned correctly the next three years and then try to get the grapes before the critters do.

Oh, yeah....every critter likes grapes!

When we were in Austria, they served Schnäpse, which was drop and damaged fruit that was fermented with only the fruits sugar to make a must and then distilled. It is clear, strong, and retains some of the fruits flavor. The pear was my favorite. It was often served as a chilled shot or swallow, I preferred to sip to savor the essence, at least the first couple. LOL Ric

Ahhh a people who knows the value of refreshing beverages is a people with heart IMPO