Yardening Spring 2013

We came from here
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1288029

Now that Spring is officially here as the weather warms and settles down a bit most of us will be out side doing some yardening! What are you up to in your gardens these days?

Too late to prune back roses? Too soon to remove some mulch from around our hostas or other plants/ Taking cuttings for self or Swap/ Re doing a bed?

Time to trim grasses and liriope for sure,

Some of those "invasives" may be easier to spot and pull out now.

Thank you coleup!

Here's what I've done so far:

-cut back the roses, summer-blooming hydrangeas, butterfly bush, russian sage, and grasses
-thin out the Dragon's Blood, Autumn Joy, and Angelina sedums and transplant them in another area

Here's what I still need to do:

-cut back on the Japanese forest grass (too pretty to cut down yet)
-spread the corn gluten meal on the grass
-keep weeding
-move a *ton* of perennials and bulbs
-continue digging out the hardpan clay (more on the rain garden thread)
-move the water-lovers to near the down spouts
-pick up more free mulch from Takoma Park
-plant some of the clematis I got from BecNova
-get more Sluggo and spread ALL OVER

Here's what I don't know! When to bring the tropicals out from their dark basement dormancy.

Judy--

We have another Thread that has been ongoing that you forgot---
The Holiday Cctus one--now on part #6. Pretty darn good!

Even though it is not CC season--if I have something to post regarding CC's--I DO go there....
as JB is my main CC connection.

You should check it out....I posted 10 pictures, at the current end of it, of my plants that
I have had forever--and the earliest dates I could find a picture of them.
Many of these plants have been shared by me forever--so it may be of interest to you how old they are.
Most of the dates are from 2005 or 2006, but I know many of the plants are a lot older.
I just think I did not have a digital camera before that.

Go take a look.......you have to scroll a few posts up.... .. Gita

http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1284057/#new

I'd love to do some yardening, everything is too soggy. I def. need to finish suckering my apple tree and spray it with dormant oil and sulfur before the saps running. A rice paddy is beginning to sound more and more attractive.

I have not done much of anything....I go out...walk around...pull a few weeds...and come back in.
Too wet! Too cold!!! Too windy!....

Bought hardwood mulch yesterday--HD sale--5/$10 and 3 bags of MG garden Soil--3/$10.
One bag of Lawn Soil and one bag of Humus manure. Need that to plant my 2 roses--whenever
THAT will happen.....
After the huge rain we had last week--I started pulling out the net-like roots of the white Clover
that was taking over a section of my front lawn. I sprayed it last fall--and it seemed to die....sure????

The net-like roots were just under the grass. it was bizarre--I could just slip my fingers under them
and they were pulling up like someone had laid a fish-net down. There are a lot more to go....
but i don't know if there will be an end to them???? I may just wait and see if the Clover re-sprouts...
then whack them again with weed killer... I DO NOT want it....

So--now i have to fill in the depression where all these roots were--hence the lawn soil.
Then seed over it. THEN--I also need to fertilize my lawn--asap! Got the Milorganite already.

Just the beginning-----so much else to do.....I am going to bed and whine.....Gita

PS--Happy---You should let white clover grow on your hillside. It will hold down the soil like you won't believe!

Hello- Thanks for the thread.
Done my roses, butterfly bush trimming, pre-emergent crabgrass control, some weeding. Using some soluble fertilizer on bulbs.

Edged the Sedum Angelina and used those trimmings to make a pot by the mailbox, along with Red Mustard plants.
Cut a meal's worth Red Mustard, watching spinach grow, waiting to see if outdoor lettuce sprouted.

Still needed-
Burford hollies cut back and thousand other things.
Remove some, or at least rein in, the variegated vinca and yellow archangel to make room for future woodland plants.

No yardening for me yet, but getting real ancy to get out there and get started if and when the weather starts cooperating.

I DID plant Romaine Lettuce about 3 weeks ago in one end of my raised bed. Growing well...

I may plant my Cukes at the other end, where I usually have my Tomatoes, but they had the blight
--so I better not plant them there again. I plan to only grow about 3 tomatoes.
Mortgage lifter (which is VF? resistant. One of my Sun Gold 'sports" (a bigger tomato--=but yummy)
and wanted a Chocolate Cherry--but the seeds did not germinate.

Pansies are planted in the round bed around my KK Hibiscus and my front bed.
My Knockout Rose got a serious haircut also a few weeks ago. It comes back nicely.
Cut back my Butterfly Bushes already last fall--My Roses are cut back--need to plant the two I bought at
Walmart yet.

Still need to do an overall cleaning up of beds and amending here and there--and, of course,
digging up and re-planting the Iris. Lots and lots---can't think of everything...

***Need to rattle Paul's cage to come soon to dig up my Wintersweet shrub....YOOOOO HOOOO Paul!!!!
Lets pick a date.....

Gita

Some pics....last one is the ruffled hellebore. It has grown well!

Still too cold here, hopefully next week will be a little warmer and I can get out there and start cleaning up some beds
and it had just looked like this

I'm hobbling around in a soft cast so I can't do everything I need to do :( But I have planted some pansies, viola, sweet peas, and set out some lettuce, brocolli, kale and sugar snaps. This weekend I hope to assemble a raised bed kit I got for Christmas and get some soil for it, and maybe plant my tomato starts in it.

Mostly I am watching the creeping charlie and other weeds take over my beds and am pretty much unable to do anything about it.

lol Ladysoth, none of the plants I give the 'evil eye' to seem the least bit phased. I do think plants respond to positive vibes though.

I grow most things in raised beds or containers. Nice gift. Is yours wood ? Will you be able to assemble it? Are you considering putting out your tomatoes soon?

There is a local source of compost, worm castings and worms etc called Veteran Compost - from Combat to Compost Thinking of getting some worms from them.
http://www.veterancompost.com/our-services/

I got the apple suckered and pruned, but I hate to spray it just yet as it looks as though it could rain at any minute. I think instead I''ll start preparing my strawberry bed instead. Any one need horseradish? I'll probably have plenty. That stuff is like rabbits. LOL

Ric I have one from the fall. From what I've heard one is enough? True?

I divided and planted out some daffs that were potted and done blooming. Hard to throw them away, I would rather put them in the ground and give them a chance.

I also moved a bleeding heart intwined with a hosta in an annual bed that seems to escape me year after year. Well I got to it finally! The poor hosta was engulfed by the BH. Speaking of which I had two little guys I potted up last year that have showed life. Much to my surprise as the 4 inch pots were sideways and broken in the woods. Will bring to swap.

Yea, Finally got some yardening done. Cleaned up the small bed by the pool and moved over to clean up around the 2 (practically dying) nandina bushes & the skunk cabbage. Going out to work in the Secret Garden next, I have been dying to get out there.

I am heading outside as well--as soon as I finish my breakfast here...
Can't waste a day like today doing inside things...

Sally----I am typing this leaning over my plates of food......:o)
G.

Pruning shrubs, urg. Time to cut back many shrubs and conifers.
Its hard to keep on top of. My Gold Mop cypress has gotten huge and needs heading back type pruning to make any reduction, Sigh...

Sally--
would this be a food time, already, to spray down my Butterfly Bushes (stubs leafing out)
with Neem? Remember?, last early summer, the spider mites got them both. Ate up all the leaves!
This happens every year!
This SOOOOO interferes with them blooming! The flowers look like crap.
I realize last summer was like an insect and bug smorgasbord, as we had no winter..
Hope it is not so bad this year.
The pic is from June of last year.

Thanks, Gita

G- my science brain says that as soon as it is into the 50s certainly 60s that bugs will start to move. Clean out under the bush if you have not done so since fall, to take away bugs hiding there. Sounds like a good idea to spray with Neem now. Or start the bush with a dose of Bayer Rose care food plus insect control.

I will do the best I can w/the cleaning...those corners are so tight--i have nowhere
to put my feet to work in there. May just have to drag out my Blower/Vac and
blow away--or suck everything up. Need to do that anyway--as all the deeper corners
of the patio are FULL of sunflower shells and all the rest of the wasted bird seed shells.

Right next to it is that clump of Stinking Iris. Not doing anything yet...I keep checking...
How about yours?

I planted my two new roses today--a bit of work--digging up the area a bit and amending the soil--
and then, digging out one of the old roses to make room for one of the new ones.
That was not easy! When i saw the thick, wooden roots, with just one cane alive and one stem growing from it
--I potted it up in a big pot to let her bloom anyway.

While i was out there doing all this, I fertilized 3 of my roses as well. A bit early (forsythias NOT in bloom yet)
but..while i was at it......some Epsom salts also on each one. Suppose to stimulate growth
of new canes from the base. It has always worked.....

That was all--but I was out there a couple of hours... G.

My yardening to do for today: corn gluten meal. The forsythia in my area are blooming (finally!), so it's time to spread the CGM. It's supposed to rain tomorrow, so I don't have to water it in.

SSG, Thanks for the reminder, I must get out there and preen the beds I cleaned yesterday. I always forget till I see more weeds growing.

Soil is just right for pulling up vines and ground covers that have over grown their bounds like vinca major, english ivy, virginia creeper, honey suckle and that dry shade favorite lamium. May crank up the mower and try trimming a number of areas rather than clip by hand. Miss having a shreader to shred up the vines etc I've pulledto make them more compostable rather than small pieces of the same plants somewhere else.
Four weeks ago I found the main stem of wisteria and pulled up 3 wreath s worth. Unfortunately,on my last big pull it broke off suddenly and I punched myself full force in the ribs. Ouch! Also heard a crunching sound so went to ER to check for broken ribs. This week is first week without pain upon deep breaths or certain motions.

Happy, glad you have hired out that white oak tree work. We have always done our own, but our 40 foot ladder no longer reaches! Have to write a letter to neighbor informing him (again) of dead branches on his oak overhanging my yard. At least the widow maker fell last year, hurting no one and missing my Japanese Maple.

Let's be careful out there people.

Coleup, Hope you are getting better so you can dig in again. Feeling a bit sore in a few places from the little I did yesterday. There are some muscles I must only use while gardening. Need to get back into gardening shape.

Paul, one apple will usually still set fruit, maybe not as good as two, but keep in mind "one is the loneliest number".

Today was just glorious!!! I was outside for hours!

Fertilized my lawn with Milorganite. Need to mow it any day now--but haven't gotten to it yet.

My work centered mostly on my "YUK" bed. Did a lot of clean-up there...Dug out
a clump of small daffs.--in full bloom and, immediately, potted it into a 2gal pot.
It was growing almost out of the center of my New England Aster.
How on Earth do they get established there? Will offer it up to my daughter...

Dug up a big clump of Autumn sedum that always interferes with my Heliopsis daisies there.
Potted up sections of it as well as the bigger clump. Pink one. Any takers?
Pulled up as many weed onions as i could--I KNOW it is a lost cause!
Raked up a lot of stray leaves--mostly from the YUK bed and around the edges of others.

Convinced my Pakistani neighbor to allow me to prune back all her roses she is growing from cuttings.
She has NO clue about pruning anything...so i kept telling her she will thank me later on.
She roots every little twig of her roses--and they grow so leggy. Must be floribundas.
Hybrids do not root that easily from cuttings. She tried last year on mine. None of the rooted.
That took about an hour. I will just call it "community service"...

Found some weed killer and sprayed it on all my "onions"--everywhere---after I crushed them with my shoe.
We will see---we will see.....Also on some Clover that is starting up on a spot on my back lawn.
DO NOT want it!!!!

Need to, seriously soon. cut back the top 1/3 of my two BIG Burning Bushes.
They always grow these tall, new shoots. Yeah! I prune them every year....
I like to keep it at a manageable height. It is, kind of, a personal, visual bush-boundry .
Once it leafs out--it is hard to see where to cut any of the branches....
Maybe i can talk my back yard neighbor to come over with his chain saw and just go
"whirrrrr" straight across. Will save me a lot of pain in my hand to hand-prune every branch.

After all that--sat down on my porch swing and had a beer and read up on care of some of the
plants I acquired last year.

My S.E.M. (Stupid Earth Machine) composter is FULL to the top. I cannot put any more in it....
Will have to trash all my veggie scraps. Do not want to...No activity in there during the winter months....

I NEED SOMEONE TO BUILD ME A 4x4x4COMPOST BIN!!!!! A paid job...reasonable...
Don't want to use pallets...too unsightly in an open area in a development.
Have to bug someone... maybe check for "handyman ads"--- Must be someone who wants to earn a couple bucks!

The S.E.M. has to go! Dysfunctional--old--cracked--can't turn anything over---can't get the
"good stuff" our without unloading ALL the contents inside. BLAHHHHH....HUMBUG.....
It is time I did that--but NOT going to put the un-composted stuff back in there.
That is why I need the new, open one.

OK! Enough bitching! Need to smile....today WAS actually SPRING!
Gita
S.E.M.----That black "thing" by my shed......

Did a preliminary clean up on two of the beds, just to see what was going on underneath. Not much except bulb activity. Only half of the Hellebore look OK. I did feed my rose bushes, Clematis and flowering bushes with Aggrand 4-3-3 and their Bonemeal. Sprayed some Daconil on them until my order for Bayer 3 in One gets here. Used the Bonemeal on the bulb areas also. When all the beds are cleaned I'll top them with another couple of inches of amended topsoil before I put in new plants. I'll use worm castings in the hole before I put the new plant in. Good nutrition without burning the roots.

Oh D@#& it!

I was wondering why my Knockout roses had such pretty rings on the stems. I don't remember them from last year.

It turns out all the stems are infected with black spot! AARRGHHH! I'm beyond frustrated with all the fungal disease issues I'm having. :(

What do you all recommend? Should I prune *all* the stems down, since they're all infected? Should I use Daconil?

ssgardener -- I'm sorry -- your roses were so beautiful last year!

Gita: Your shed is really cute!

Happy--
My shed is one of a kind---built by my Ex. I call it his "folly"....
It is 8'x12', has a concrete floor, and storage-wise not too practical.
Why? because it only has 4' of upright sides to put any shelving on.
One side of the shed's shelving is ALL empty pots. Straightened it all out last year...
BIG job!!!
The "A"-beam supports are strong-so I have a lot of things hanging all over--
including 6 webbed lawn chairs hanging from the ceiling.

Right side--left side....

SS, are you sure it's black spot and not just "die back"? I've never noticed Black Spot on anything but the leaves. It's still early enough to cut the plants back and still get a good growth on them. It's kind of early to be spotting black spot, but you're in a much warmer zone than I am.

Gita: Very organized you are! You should see my garage (sigh). It is on the list for clean-up very soon.

coleup, my husband got me this bed for Christmas:

http://www.amazon.com/Gronomics-RGBT-48-48-48-Inch-Unfinished/dp/B004N7UNEO/ref=sr_1_15?ie=UTF8&qid=1364772598&sr=8-15&keywords=gronomics

I have 2 others so this is my third. These are very easy to put together all the peices just slide into place - no hardware is used at all. I did get it together and filled with dirt, got my irrigation hooked up to it and set out my tomatoes in Wall-O-Water insulating teepees. I was in severe pain after doing all of this, but at least it's done and I can sit back and lick my wound now.

My I have had some lovely Yarden time yesterday and today. I love the sunshine but it was quite cool out this afternoon.
Cutting back Burford Holly bushes that are threatening to eat the house. THis is the time to cut back hollies and they will fill out again soon. These were loaded with berries, why the birds never ate them is ?? I couldn't wait forever. I wonder if I would get seedlings if I threw a bunch of cuttings with berries somewhere...maybe I should try it.
Also hacking back on Gold Mop juniper even though I am not supposed to, it's eating the house as well.
And cleaning out under the Euonymus hedge and cutting back some of that too. Nice to have cool weather for that, so bugs are not active.

Re: apples -- one nice thing about them is that since crabapples are awfully common ornamentals, even a non-self-fertile apple tree has a good chance of getting pollen from somewhere.

I bought a new house late last year, and need to get cracking on setting up some raised bed. I've started a sixteen cell pack of tomatoes and eggplants (trying out Burpee's self-watering system), but the three week old seedling (DD) and two year old sapling (DS) are taking up most of my time. At least DS loves digging; I just need to figure out how to channel this into useful work.

medlarman: Sounds like a wonderful garden you are growing!

Straightened up some of the shed today. Taking all the hoses off the floor made enough room to get started. Luckily I was able to reach the nursery type planter pots, because my long awaited little tree arrived and needed to be potted up. Whenever I drive to my daughter's house I pass a tree that I fell in love with. It has large very shiny dark green on the top of the leaf and a beautiful bronze color that looks like suede on the under side. I search pictures for trees with these leaves and came up with a "DD Blanchard Magnolia". The little doesn't have leaves with these colors yet, but I'm hoping that it will soon.

Oh medlarman how precious, seedling and sapling...good luck confining the digging to your recommended sites!. Grow lots of flowers and flowering weeds and expect her to pick them at random for mom.

Roses that leaf sounds trademark Magnolia all right.

Precious, medlarman!! A bounteous yarden indeed!

Why not hack back gold thread, Sallyg? I did some, too. It's not the time of year for that?

Jan if you go too far you risk bare branches that will never sprout- unlike deciduous shrubs which usually will sprout from bare wood.