Stepping stones

Cool!! 5 whole acres and it has woodlands AND wetlands!!! Oh my! I was kidding when I asked about your wildlife reserve, I was MUCH closer to correct than I thought!

I had wondered how many acres you had.

I need to get that ironweed for my yard. Bad thing is it's purple and I am trying to mimize purple here. Purple is everywhere!! lol

In fact I think I see a purple terryr somewhere here too! hahahaaha

I sowed $1200 worth of prairie seeds and only had 1 mexican redhat and a handful of harestails, this is my only wild plant that was here last year and again this year. It had a few babies this year. i mow around it. i doubt if they would grow if i bought seed for them. lol

That sounds like us. We can't grow anything from seed here. It has to be small plants, nurtured for a year, before they stand a chance.

Yes, you were and I've got my nice little plaque from the state denoting this is an acres for wildlife property which is really really really hard to qualify for. There are forest preserves all around this area and we've even got a wetlands demonstration area only a hop skip and a jump away. I allow opossums, skunks, and even allowed a fox family complete with kits to be released here once. I've had Eastern Painted turtles released here and too many herps to count. I'll allow pretty much all North American wildlife to be released here. Got a mole or a shrew, bring it on over! Could you make the mole a star nosed mole please! Come to think of it, if anyone wanted to release a bunch of wolves or a cougar I'd allow it because there's not much to keep the deer population in check these days. I've got more than enough raccoons and coyotes hanging around thank you very much! I used to allow chipmunks to be released here but they started doing their chipmunk thing and to this day I've got sunflower seeds germinating in clumps in every other pot. I love chippies but there are days when I don't love them so much.

I love purple particularly when it is poking out from lush grasses.

Len, one year I hand broadcast native seed in the middle of a mini blizzard to try to keep the European starlings from getting it and all I've got out of about a half pound of special order seed would be two bottlebrush grass plants. I'm waiting a while to do that again. Don't give up. Try again. I'm going to figure out some way to do chicken wire enclosures that cover a 10' x 10' area so that I can plug along seeding one area at a time. I just haven't figured out how to support it properly. Give me time on that.

Equil, on the chicken wire enclosures, use 1x1s to staple the wire on. Make a frame with it. Put wheels on it so you can move it around the property when needed. Basically you are making a cage with wheels.

If you need a pic of an example, I have a chciken pen that you can base it on. It's not as big but it will give you an idea. A coworker friend of mine made one of these for her yard to move her chickens and other fowl around her yard. She loves it!!

I hope the birds didn't eat it all. I feed them in the backyard and one time i put some feeders around side and front but they didn't eat from them. after i sowed the seed, a few went to taste a few of the new seeds. I think i sowed about 30 lbs of various seeds.
I hope they will germinate next year, i'm holding my breath!lol
I have a lot more birds in the winter and early spring than i do now. i am just a stopping off place. I've notice the youngster cards and finches have come snooping every once in a while, and the usual barn swallows but they don't eat the seed. forgot about my owl, i went to get a cup of coffee and noticed he/she is under light looking for mice and snakes.
pepper i think you just made a solution for equil. cage on wheels, you could also use to quarantine dropped off species.lol

Eq, I'd be thinking twice about the cougar. I know I don't run NEAR as fast as a deer and would make a LONG lasting meal! Lets see him try to haul my carcass up a tree for safe keeping!!!

Purple Terry? Wouldn't that be black and blue and red mosquito welted Terry? Eh pepper?

Quarry down here by me Equil. Pick-up truck load of flagstone for 10 bucks. You can't afford that?? PULEEZE!!!

How much does it cost to cut each piece of flagstone into a little round circle?

$10 for a truck load??? Boy do I wish I could get that here! Maybe I need to look harder and I can find a cheaper source locally than what I have been seeing... this might be doable yet.

Why would you want to cut the flagstone in a circle? I've never even seen flagstone in a circle. The beauty of it is natural. They aren't huge. A couple feet by a foot? About 2" thick probably.

You make no sense woman. None. nadda. zip.

Sorry, we were typing over each other. Yes, $10 for a truckload. You load. It's a quarry, so you might look into something like that instead of buying thru a nursery or landscape place.

I have a quarry 4 mi up the road. the rock is cheap it's the transportation that is the expensive part. For a hundred dollars or so you could get a dumptruck load. what 14-16 tons.

I like the stepping stone effect of a circle. It looks better to me with a bunch of little uniform circles zig zagging everywhere. I don't think you would be able to go and get a tile cutting saw to cut these. I'm thinking you'd have to take them somewhere that does this professionally and at that point, why not just purchase poured circles?

*sigh*... Ok, you can have your little cement circle. I WANT flagstone for my project!!!

what do they call that in psych babble??

Hummmmmm .... well I would call EQ "resistant" LOL!!!

Flagstone is just so much more natural in the shape it's quarried at. I don't have a clue why anyone would want flagstone cut in a circle. That takes away from the whole feeling of having flagstone.

Len, you can't take a pick-up to the quarry to get how ever much rock or flagstone you want? A carpenter I know has a dump truck. He only charges me for the gas, nothing more. Last year he got me a load of rock....no clue on what you'd call it, but it was orange in color, about 1" and it cost $6.99 a ton, I know it was a little more than $60 for the load and he asked for $20 for gas. But, here the last few times, for 5/8" washed rock for under the porch and the back deck, I borrowed my dad's pick-up. It's $7.89 a ton. I over loaded, but of course, and got almost a ton a half. Oooops! Need any mushroom compost? He charges me $30 for a dump truck load, about 8-10 yards in his dump truck.

a p/u truck load isn't much, not to mention the wear and tear. dump truck is the way to go.

i don't know how we got on the flagstone topic because equil has already put in the round tree stump type stepping stones. I guess if she run out she might be better at using real trees?? a big log and saw off 4-5" pieces? it would come closer to matching step stones than flagstone.

I'm sure living in the wrong place for landscape bargains! Compost is $18 per yard (delivered), and we've had several of those 10 yard trucks come here. If flagstone were even $100 for a pickup truck full, I'd not have hauled all those stones last spring from a local construction site! East coast vs. midwest, I suppose. :-)

It's called hi-jacking Len123 and I'm one of those people who loves it when topics stray because I get really good ideas that way. It's also fun to get a feel for what other people find attractive. I had a girlfriend over here who wanted to know how come I didn't use stepping stones that were dyed green so they'd blend in better once plantings started filling in. She thought what I put down was too plane jane. Another one wanted to know why I didn't use real slices of wood for the stepping stones because mine looked fake. Mine are fake. They've got a stamp on the back of them that says made in China.

I like my fakes but flagstone would probably appeal to more people.

Ohohoh, remember that garden walk (in Utica) I went on with my best friend? At one house, they did use real logs, cut into about 4-5" slabs and then the lady used a Marine varnish or poly to protect them. They'd been down about 5 yrs now she said, and they looked awesome!

Len, if you wonder about the banter between Equil and me, you should hear our phone conversations.....lol......also, to not have to pay anyone for anything, a pick-up is the way to go for me. That way too, I have to get it off the truck, it's not being dumped where I don't want it. Mushroom compost and the rock for the little bit of drive and the part on the street side for parking is completely different.

critter, it is Midwest vs. East coast, but it isn't Midwest Chicago. I can't believe the prices they charge, and get, up there! I'm about 100 miles SW of Chicago, so those prices aren't down here for us poor people ;)

I lived in Hyde Park while in grad school, so I'm familiar with those Chicago city prices! I remember looking for smoked ham hocks to use in stewing up some southern style lima beans... well, in that neighborhood they were considered a "gourmet" item and priced higher than boneless chicken breast. That was not happening on a budget! I learned that the beans were just delicious cooked up with a bit of polish kielbase. :-)

I'm sure I could've found them at better prices in other neighborhoods on the south side, but I was car-less and a bit timid about wandering around some parts of the city.

I can also get a truckload of rock from the quarry for $10. In fact I am trying to talk my dad into it since my grandma is making several rock walls. She is currently using rock from an old homestead on the property but it won't be enough. And that is saying something cause she has alot of stone.

(Sigh) I'm in that Chicago Midwest price market she talks about. Gas is still way over $3 a gallon around here.

I bought 18 more stepping stones today. You know the type... the little round poured concrete ones! They are down in price even lower than what I was paying before. Tee he, love em! You flagstone lovers are just jealous that mine are stamped made in China on the back. Admit it, you all have concrete tree ring stepping stone envy (CTRSSE for short). You won't find any flagstone stamped made in China no matter how many times you flip it around to look.

I have to brag. Gas is $2.60 here.

I just filled up and it was at $3.27 this morning and that was regular not ultimate or premium.

WELL *sniff, nose in air* I might have CTRSSE but I don't have GAS price envy!! *snicker*...

Oh happy day! I called my friend and the people I loaned my cement molds to have found them. I will hope they are all together and still in good shape, if not, oh well. I loaned them to the family to help the Mister to beat his depression. I thought he would enjoy the project as they had beautiful gardens and he was very handy with cement.

If I tell you that I am clinically depressed will you loan them to me for a few years too?

Gas out by the interstate is at $2.17.

You're kidding right? How come we're more than a dollar a gallon higher? Is this for the luxury of living near Chicago? Ridiculous. Absolutely ridiculous.

EQ, you wouldn't even have to tell me that you are clinically depressed and I'd loan them to you. Just a warning, they are not cheap to mail! Just give me a few months to use them myself a little while again, OK?

Oh dear, I was joking and you little sweetie pie you... you took me seriously. No way would I want to be responsible for hundreds of dollars of molds. I've got this one dog that has a thing for paper products and wood. Not to mention the risk of shipping them to and from. Thank you so much but I guess I'll have to stick to my made in China clearance specials. I would like to see what you make though.

If I ever get this digital camera and loading the info to the computer figured out, I'll post some of work AFTER I get my molds back and start casting stuff again! I bought my first mold from EBAY for about $100 for a garden bench. I figured by the time I made two I would have recouped my expenses. At the time I had a secretary that was as into gardening as I was. I liked giving her something special for her garden for Christmas and Secretary Day, etc. I've always been a sucker for homemade gifts.
'

OK, I can wait. Not long though ;)

Hi Equil, I decided to check in & I'm glad that I did. I enjoyed seeing your photos of "exotic" stepping stones. LOL I like the wood stump pattern. Never would have thought of that though I have a few real wood stepping "stones" that I found discarded where I get my free wood chips. Your wildlife garden looks so natural & inviting. I bet the critters enjoy living there.

Not much time lately to hang out on the forums. My youngest daughter is a HS Sr & we're beginning the college open house & grant/scholarship kind of research stuff right now. She's wanting to major in biology; specialize in foresty. She has a 3.75 gpa & ranks 3 of 56 (top 10% anyway), but her ACT score -- 20. She's in 3 AP classes (calc, english, & biology). Hasn't taken her SAT yet. Any advice is appreciated -- just send me a d-mail with links whatever--please! The sooner we get all this settled, the sooner I can start hanging out again on the forums & spending time gardening. Is there a forum for this kinda thing?

Take care & I'll be checking back sometime in the near future--I hope! "tiredbrain", but still thinking green. ; )

Hey greenbrain, we got rained out this Tuesday when my husbands showed up so they're coming back next Tuesday again. I think they got all of 20 set before the high winds and the rain came.

Glad you liked my "Made In China" stepping stones. I picked up 60 more either yesterday or the day before. I should have a labyrinth out there in no time flat.

Would you tell her to hurry up ang get that specialization in forestry so she can come on up and pay me a visit. Seriously, I'd talk to the school counselor and ask for help applying for grants and scholarships. There are also services out there that provide assistance or at least there are services out this way. I understand a real quick way for a young lady to get a scholarship is to be a hockey player. I guess they can name their school. Come to think of it, there's another interest that can help them name their school and that would be to play a tuba. I'm told not too many kids are interested in the tuba any longer and college bands need tuba players. Any chance of her donning blades or taking up the tuba? Just kidding but I know this gal who has a daughter who plays hockey and they've got recruiters contacting them all the time offering full scholarships. Go figure. Now I do feel the need to point out to you that the female hockey players are every bit as aggressive as the males and her daughter has been knocked unconscious and stitched up quite a few times so I'm thinking the tuba might be the safer route.

I don't know that there is a forum for this kind of stuff but we've got-
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/f/general/all/
and
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/f/parking/all/

Greenbrain, One thing I learned is TALK to the school your daughter wants to attend. There are usually special scholarships available direct thru the schools, especially since she is a "female" in a dominantly male field. Don't rule out private schools, they cost more but the available scholarships are usually more generous.

Don't pay money to one of those scholarship "finders". Most are hoaxes. Work closely with your high school counselor. The squeaky wheel gets the grease in this case. I can't stress enough - WORK with the school counselor.

Your daughter might want to improve her SAT score potential by taking the time to brush up on test taking skills. There are programs out there designed to increase your scores. If you don't find what you need send me a d-mail and I'll ask my sister if she KNOWS the best links. She is a math teacher.

When I took my GRE (Graduate Requirement Exam), there were tutorials available and I feel they helped. When I took my NCE (National Counselor Exam) I studied THREE different study programs to increase my chances of passing. Only about 70% pass it (and that includes those taking it for the 2 or 3rd time). I scored a 138, I needed only a 102 to pass and I am NOT a good test taker.

I hope that helps and GOOD luck!

Equil, thanks so much for the links & advice. I love your sense of humor. You really know how to lighten things up. I'll send her your way if you send me some rain. My backyard is a dust bowl. ; )

psychw2, Some good solid advice. Just the kind I was hoping for. I'll make sure my daughter reads your post. She's looking @ Blackburn College which is 1 of 7 work colleges; also with scholarships & she does plan to apply. Otherwise, the community college is free to her because they have an A+ program & she can transfer later. The school counselor talks with her daily.

I'll keep you all posted. Yeah, just what this world needs -- another female forester. Thanks for the encouragement.