good idea.
COTTAGE GARDENS, who has and who wants to start theirs?
makes sense
thanks for that one mulchmania, when i put in the bulbs today, i was smart enough to mark them and left the possibility of making ssmall depressions for each open if needed when it gets hot again. I'll keep this in the frontal lobe when spring arrives and I have to set those seedlings in.
thanks again
I need cages for my bulbs so I never planted them. I always plant them in late Dec., early Jan. after forcing them in the frig. the first year and then never touch them again and unless they get crowded, they always bloom. I need to fence them too cause of rabbits. sigh
no wabbits or any other critters here, well who knows what's lurking in the so called soil.....
ugly and hungry evil creatures
Blood meal has worked for me at keeping rabbits and deer away. I have used pine or other conifer boughs too, they worked but its not pretty. In my vole infested areas I plant all my lilies and tulips in plastic pots and plant pot and all. This has worked really well for me, and thank goodness because I can't afford enough cages for all these bulbs, lol.
Neal, the plastic pots is a good idea. i hate those voles.
hey I have a million of them that is a great idea. thanks
do you think it will keep out those things my kids used to call pill bugs? they curl up in a ball but to me they're not bugs they're more like slugs but in the ground, not on top.
roly pollies?
aren't those the ones with sort of hard shells? the ones I get here are soft bodied and chomp on roots.
no bueno and yes.
hell, I love your sense of humor, but does that mean the pots will keep those things out of my roots or not?
thank you mucho, I `m glad I can amuse somebody besides myself. I bet if you put diazanon or some other granular insecticide in with the bulbs and pots, that would work and being granuals it would last longer and on top of it if we could leave the pots slightly visible,then we`d always be able to find them and easy to reapply granuals too,now on to world peace.
Good idea about lilies in plastic pots! LOL, and to think that I just popped a few lilies *out* of their plastic pots that they were in this summer to put them into the garden...
I don't think rolly pollies generally damage plants unless you have them present in huge numbers or something... I'm pretty sure they usually scavenge dead plant material. I know somebody posted this spring about seeing them munch on healthy roots of something or other, but I have never known them to do damage like that. In my garden, they're just part of the clean-up crew.
actually what I had wasn't a rolly polly it's shown here in this pic......... it was quite blue when first removed from the soil then . . .
http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/658280/
yep, that's a grub.... quite different from a rolly-polly, and definitely not beneficial! There are granules you can put down (grub-ex?) to cut down their populations if necessary, but if you only found one of them while you were digging you probably don't have a problem.
thanks critter, I was a little woried but then have only seen the one so fat.
The pots have been a real life saver, and they last for years. Even when the plastic gets brittle and starts breaking (if you dig into it), it still does the job. I don't think they have any effect with bugs though. Another good thing about the pots is it saves so many bulbs from my forgetting they're there and digging into them- don't you just hate it when you hear that biting an apple sound!
yep and gopher proofing a little easier
when you all refer to gophers, are these real gophers (I've never seen one) or chipmunks?
When I was young (a very long time ago) chipmunks dug tunnels under the flagstone patio and my mother had a hissy fit. If it had been possible, she's have gassed them or used dynamite. I would toss them peanuts when she wouldn't catch me. I love those little buggers, they're so cute.
My FIL refers to his NC chipmunks as "ground squirrels," but they're chipmunks. On the other hand, I believe CA has real, actual gophers! :-)
yuk to gophers, chipmunks are too cute.
Trust me they eat everything and kill your gardens, they just ate our electrical to our detached garage, we think...Nothing cute about the vermin.
gophers? or chipmunks?
GOPHERS!!!! There was a thread once that had a picture of one in a trap and it looked big, but they seldom leave the tunnels and go above so I never see the buggers, I try to poison them but It just dug a new hole 6 inches away an I swear I saw his ugly paw flip me the bird. Caddyshack, thats where I live.
Are Gophers tougher than groundhogs (woodchucks)?
they're smaller, anyway....
Groundhogs are my worst garden pest!
Thank god we dont have anything like that in the UK................................
Critterologist: You have groundhogs in Frederick? I didn't realize they were in this area. I struggle with chipmonks, but didn't realize groundhogs were a local threat.
I have no clue Dave
Happy,
Phil, the most famous groundhog, can't live all that far from MD, right?
Dave47:
Good Lord, Dave47, you are so right! According to Mapquest, he is a mere 235 miles from my front door. I can imagine him now, bandana on head and thumb stuck out, hitching a ride to our place. I really had never put 2-and-2 together -- I've seen a million (and I mean that literally) deer on my street -- even though my house is only 3 doors from the District of Columbia -- but never eer a groundhog. Henceforth I will blame all my garden's shortcomings on the invisible Phil who I must assume has taken up a very quiet and secretive residence in my backyard -- because, believe me, I need someone to blame!
Happy, They are quiet and secretive! I see them and they are always skulking right up next to the house and foundation of my backstore neighbor. I'm sure they're here, too, but my dog probably scares them, a little bit, anyway, and I doubt they've taken up residence in my gardens, although in the woods I have a couple of hollow beeches where they are welcome -- at least until they eat something I really, really wanted. I also have a big cement culvert which houses all kinds of wild families, so it's a pretty good place to live. Of course, I've given up vegetables because of the wildlife, but I wasn't much of a vegetable gardener, anyway.
Suzy
Happy, Do the deer have a representative in Congress?
We saw a skunk and a deer near here recently and we just don`t have that kind of road kill here. They were alive though and mr. skunk tried to skunk our motorcycle. Road kill here are pets and coyotes and rabbits. I was like a little kid when I saw the deer and the skunk next to the road. Isn`t that funny? I haven`t seen stuff diverse much from the afore mentioned animals besides a bobcat and a mountain lion once in 30 years, since I left Ohio.
Dave47: I'd love to talk about whether we have any deer or skunk in Congress, but I'm sure this thread is best left apolitical! Might just sing the Apolitical Blues!!!
lol hmmm Maybe they should do a pole on DG as to the oppinions on this matter?
Well, I'm not sure about deer but skunk, boars and sheep are certainly well represented.