Jenn,
You are definitely a zone 7. Not sure which direction the a and b go....
For your tomatoes--if you shop at Southern States, buy a couple of bags of "Chesapeake Blue" (a crab compost). There is NOTHING better for tomatoes than that!!!! It, supposedly, eliminates all the blossom end rot, is rich in calcium and recommended by Alan Summers of Carroll Gardens.
He has a Radio call in show every Saturday from 7AM-9AM on 680AM (WCBM). You can learn a lot from him--as I have over the years. You can also call in if you have a specific question. He has all the answers!
Can't help you on the Blueberry question. Someone else will, I am sure.
Glad you have joined us! I live 5 minutes from White Marsh Mall in Perry Hall....
Gita
Mid-Atlantic Roll Call
If you look at this.. http://images.meredith.com/bhg/pdf/gardening/hardiness/hzm_Maryland.pdf
AA County is not in zone 7 on that. UGH... I get so lost with this stuff.. lmao
Thanks Gita
Jenn- before I hijack BADLY< I'm writng you on a new thread Sorry, elf!
Name: Patti
Location: Center of VA (formerly FL)
Family: Married to DH 39 years in 2008. Daughter, son-in-law, four grandchildren living in NH. Soon to have a kitty from the rescue center and hopefully a dog in spring.
Retired in 2003 from multi-national corp-international human resources
Focus: currently is trying to understand the soil and climate here in VA and dare I say, improving it--the soil, not the weather
Gardening Level: Would have to consider it beginning again
DH and I moved into our house in July 2007. With the drought and the soil compaction of new construction, we could not get a trowel or shovel in the ground, and so resorted to containers planted in colorful annuals, and with two birdfeeders, we had hummingbirds, goldfinches and a couple of black and yellow swallowtail butterflies, too many yellowjackets (ewww) and deer. We put up two bluebird houses and have had a series of "lookers" we hope will settle in this spring and raise a family. We need trees! We're on 10 acres of field that I believe had cattle some years ago and has been in grass (switchgrass?) for probably 10 years. There are a few very large white oaks and many other hardwoods on the perimeter, but nary a stick on the acreage around the house. A few weeks ago we took what meager kitchen scraps we had collected over the months, mixed it with some bagged compost and finally were able to put in a skinny, slightly raised bed along the deck and planted it with some containerized plants. In Florida I was a container planter of tropicals, citrus, figs, orchids, amarylis, herbs, butterfly plants and some roses. We raised monarchs and swallowtails. What I couldn't grow were peonies, hostas, daffodils, tulips, foxgloves, roses with good vigor, and plants that don't stand up to the intense sun, heat and humidity of zone 9. I am humbled by the expertise on this forum and hope to learn about gardening in my adopted home.
Patti- How exciting, to be starting from scratch, but frustrating too, I can imagine. You can still have some of the things you had in FL with some adjustments. This year is bound to be better than last re the drought.
Wow Pam - Greetings from your neighbor to the west. I was really surprised when I opened this thread and saw Charlottesville. Welcome to Charlottesville and to Dave's. If last year was any indication, I will have lots of plants that I will be able to share with you when things start to pop up out of the ground. I hope that I haven't lost anything this winter. If you need the scoop on where to shop, etc., let me know. I have lived in the area all of my 52 years.
The Mid Atlantic Gardeners group is a really good one. I was able to meet a good many of the posters at a Plant Swap that was held last June. They have since had other get togethers that I have been unable to attend. Hopefully I will be more active in 2008.
Good to have you here and thanks for posting.
Ruby
Welcome Patti and greetings from Lexington - nice to see someone else here so close to "home" ! We're always willing to help when you have questions :)
Debbie
Bump-i-ty-bump up the page.
We're still missing so many of us!
Debbie! (RCN48) You promised to post your roll call info!
Blessings!
Elf
Name: Greenhouse Gal
Location: Southern NJ
Family: DH, two children: son, married with one daughter who's here a lot while parents work; daughter, living on her own; labradoodle puppy, still at home.
Employment: Painter/portrait artist
Gardening Level: Intermediate
Gardening Focus: We garden organically and are trying new things all the time. We have lived here for over 35 years and have enriched our sandy garden soil fairly well by now. I think we're in zone 7a or b; since we're on a river near the bay we have a microclimate that's warmer than nearby towns. Last year I revamped my garden using Elliott Coleman's ideas; we're also trying to put in drip irrigation but only got partway through the setup last year. This year I ordered some products from Spray-n-Grow, after reading very positive things about it on DG, and I'll see if that helps my plants become a little more resistant to pests, although last year was better than the year before. I'm still trying to figure out a way to grow zucchini without being tripped up by squash vine borers and squash bugs. Last year I tried silver mulch on those rows and it did seem to help, but they still succumbed midseason. We have not been successful with tree fruits, which is frustrating because I like to buy organic and the choices are limited - and expensive! Strawberries and raspberries are fine, and our blueberries are finally taking off. And our freezer is full of last summer's tomatoes, beans, asparagus, peas and spinach - as well as our chickens and geese and some deer meat.
We have visited France the last two years and are trying to grow some of the varieties we saw there. And I love the way they use bamboo poles to support their tomatoes, so we're going to do that this summer, too. Here's a photo taken in Southwest France to show you what I mean. Lots of fun things to experiment with!
This message was edited Jan 21, 2008 12:16 PM
greenhouse gal,
I had several links saved from a few years ago about home-made insect and garden bug recipes. This is the only one that still existed.
I bet you could find lots of them if you Googled something like "organic bug control".
You could also go to the"Garden pests" Forum. I bet you will get all kinds of advice.
Gita
www.ghorganics.com
Alright, Elf - you shamed me into it :)
Name: Debbie
Location: Lexington, VA - in the heart of beautiful Shenandoah Valley
Family: DH - my soul mate who I finally found 10 years ago; 3 children - son, 29 living in Phoenix, daughter, 25 and son, 23 both living in Maine; cat, Lucky, who we often call "shi**y kitty" - we think he's schizo! and our precious new puppy, Phoebe, 5 mos.
Employment: DH and I own a nursery - he established in '81 as wholesale - after I joined him in '99 and his back surgery in '01 we switched and started selling at botanic garden sales, mostly in northern Virginia.
Gardening Level: I'd have to say Intermediate because I'm always learning!
Gardening Focus: Anything and everything! First learned about perennials in the '80's, by the 90's I had started a small landscaping business with a friend and eventually knew I wanted to start my own backyard nursery. Moved from Maine to VA and joined my husband-to-be in his business and realized my dream :) Amazed me when I first met him that there were no perennials in his gardens - similar to the carpenter I used to be married to who never finished remodeling our home? LOL We've planted over 300 trees and shrubs and countless perennials to the gardens since 1999 and we're still planting! Have always loved shade gardening and wildflowers. My only regret moving to VA was leaving behind the incredible variety of wildflowers that grew on the 100 acres where I lived :( Oh, and the rocks! Built some wonderful rock walls for my gardens there and I really miss the endless supply that was readily available to incorporate in my gardens - nearby gravel pit was an easy drive with the pick up or lawn tractor and cart :( I'm so desperate for rocks that we actually bring some back with us every year when we make the annual trip to Michigan for a vacation, and on a recent trip to Maine my son dug through a 4' snowbank to find some for me! Also interested in bonsai and moss - had a great collection in Maine where I displayed the bonsai on old tree stumps with a collection of moss surrounding them - something else I miss, tough to duplicate that in this heat! I guess I should also admit to my obsession with Rex Begonias :( That started years ago when an aunt gave me a slip of hers - grew it to perfection and entered in the State Fair and won Best in Show! And it's all been downhill since - collecting and killing them! LOL My most recent obsession has been container plantings. Last winter I painted every container I could find to create a 'theme' and furiously planted them with the intentions of entering some in Fine Gardening's container contest. Came up with a few I thought would be candidates - pinched, fertilized and took pictures of them throughout the summer - got ready to take the final pictures to submit only to discover the deadline for entries was the week before - story of my life! Did I mention I'm a Scorpio and we're known for our procrastination! LOL
That's about all I'm willing to admit to :) I've been a DG subscriber for a little over three years now and since joining the team of writers I'm finding less and less time to visit the forums :( I'm hoping that will change soon! I've got more projects I want to work on this year and hoping to share them with all of you.
:)
Thank you for your kind welcoming messages to this forum. I am amazed at the level of experience and interest in such a diversity of plants and processes, and the backgrounds of members. I know I'm going to learn a lot. Your posts have introduced me to new web sites I wasn't aware of, and I've been ordering from the internet since it was first available. You've also given me info on learning opportunities like USDA. Don't know what it is yet, but intend to find out. I must learn how to upload pictures, but first I need a camera-lol. I have one of those from the grocery store, but guess I need something a littlle better. I have only visited the Mid-At site so far and am going to look around DG today to see what's here. Good week to all of you and hoping for a bit of a warmup---brrrrr.
Hi There Neighbor. Finding this website is definitely been a high light of my Internet use. The people that I have personally met from here all seem to be top notch people too, so I am very impressed. I hope that Charlottesville does well by you for gardening and any other pursuits you may have.
I offer myself as a helper in terms of where to shop for garden items in the area. I am familiar with a few of the places, but also want to expand out and about a bit more this year. If you are up to visiting some of the nearby nurseries in the spring, and would like company, let me know.
The City of Charlottesville and The University of Virginia both have some lovely displays during the warm months. I have been known to snag a fallen bud or a broken piece of vine from some of the places from time to time in hopes of getting the plants to grow for me.
There was talk before the holidays about getting a group together to visit Monticello and see their gardens. I have their events calendar saved and will check and see when the gardens should be at their best and start a thread here to see how much interest we can get going on doing that one Saturday or Sunday.
Good to see you posting Pam.
Ruby
Pam,
Hi there! Welcome!
USDA probably means "United States Department of Agriculture". I would imagine!
By all means--cruise through all the other Threads. Besides all this gardening talk, my other favorite is the "Recipe" Forum. I have so many printed out!!!!
I am warning you!!!!!!!! The more comfortable you get here--the more addicted you get. I am, by now, wishing I did not spend all my free time on the computer, but I do love it and everyone has become like "family". Just ask Ruby.......she is getting royally hooked, right, Ruby?
By all means buy yourself a nice digital camera so you can share pictures with us all. Don't know which one to buy? Post a "Help!" on the Cameras and Photography Forum. There's a Forum for EVERYTHING on DG!!!!
See you around! Gita
Greetings Pam!
Welcome to Roll Call!
Gita is right on the mark: "additcting!" That's the hallmark of Daves.
When I joined up, I thought, "Well. I'll give it a try and see if it's worth the tray of petunias.
My relist at $20 came around this month. When Dave sent me the notice that I needed to renew my membership, I didn't even give it a second thought. I just sent the money. Paypal! Yeah!
So much for those petunias! :) I need a regular Dave's fix, or I worry that my quack grass is going to over run me in retribution for trying to remove it from the ecosystem. Quack was created by Satan, himself, you know. :(
Welcome, and thank you for checking in to our rool call.
We're an interesting group, and as we check in, I get more and more intrigued by the wonderful folks who call themselves, "gardeners." We're carrying on a centuries old tradition of providing food for our families, and beauty for the souls of the passerby.
It is written that, "life began in a garden," and what I know about gardening is that life continues to begin in the garden. All creation sings and the angels laugh with joy each time we plant a seed or give roots a new home. We're gardeners, and we're part of the energy of creation.
It can't get any more amazing and wonderful than that.
Check in, dear ones! We want to know about you and your garden! Together, we're keeping the earth green and beautiful.
Blessings on your garden, Pam,
Elf
Lovely thoughts, Lastelf. I will ditch my vacuum cleaner tomorrow and play with my compost instead !! (so what else is new?)
Very interesting thoughts on life beginning in a garden, lastelf. So true.
I hope that I haven't scared off Pam with my enthusiasm. I am just thrilled to hear that someone from this area is on here. Shoot, we might be able to set up lunch dates and things ourselves, if enough people are around here.
I really wish that I lived nearer you gals to the north of me. All of the get togethers that you all are planning, sound like so much fun and I hate missing them.
I hope that everyone will have a good week coming up.
Ruby
Hello All! :-)
Name: Janine Stier
Location: Fredericksburg, VA
Family: Married, no children
Employment: DoD
Gardening Level: Novice
Gardening Focus: In 2004, my husband and I moved into our 1st home. After years of moving around like nomads with the US Army, it is wonderful to finally own. We love our city and look forward to many happy years here in Fredericksburg.
My focus has been learning about my yard and installing the bones on which to build a beautiful outdoor space.
We purchased new construction and I did not realize how much work it was going to take to make our landscape/gardens welcome for human and wildlife alike. :-) I tell you one thing; I will never buy new construction again! :-) We are in an older neighborhood and live on a wooded lot. We are certainly glad that the builder did not just clear the lot. However, our lot is sloped, made of clay and grows rocks! I dig new holes for plants with a pick axe and condition the soil as I go. I have learned a lot in the past 4 years. Reading, researching learning about the micro climates in our yard. The first year, I amended the beds in front of the foundation, adding mulch so I could have time to observe the sunlight around the house and decide what I wanted in each area. I also added a garden arch, flanked by two PJM Rhododendrons to the right of the house. The arbor now has Don Juan roses, transplanted from my Mom's home, climbing up one side. The second year we were in the house we added a deck, the third year we added a couple of retaining walls (small stacked stone) in order to provide a place for a veggie garden. At the same time we hired the retaining walls built, we had a small stone patio (leveled by another stacked stone wall) added on the slope below the deck in the back and added some basic landscaping material to the front yard and side yards. I feel as though I have finally added the bones to the main portions of the yard.
My husband and I placed a small criss/cross fence near the street and have placed bulbs, dusty miller and mint between the fence and the street. The soil is so bad that it contains the mint like a rock wall. I dug the street side bed and added healthy soil but put no barrier. The mint has not escaped into the yard in 4 years! During the summer, my husband makes us batch of iced mint tea every week, so we harvest the plant often.
Late last year, in preparation for my husband’s retirement party, celebrating 20 years in the service, I also had a pea gravel path put in connecting the arbor side of the house to the back yard.
Finally, one can travel easily from the front of our home to the back via level paths.
This year my focus will be on cleaning out the wooded areas and adding shrubs and plantings that benefit the wildlife while building a beautiful woodland garden. I also want to plant a couple more evergreens to help with screening a few key areas from the neighbors. I am thinking of Thuja Green Giants and American Holly planted with other shrubs. I just love the smell of the two existing American Holly in the springtime! This will allow us to enjoy our yard without always feeling like we are on display. :-) Luckily we have great neighbors on all sides, so we still want to be able to see and talk to them, yard to yard. :-)
The most frustrating thing has been the sloped lot. While we are blessed to have a variance in our land, it is difficult to walk on most areas of the lot. The only level portion of our lot is the 2ft area right in front of our walkway . Overcoming that challenge little by little has been rewarding.
I have a neighbor across the street that also enjoys gardening and it is fun to see her develop her lot as well. She moved in after us and is a blessing to me as it is nice to have someone close to share the passion of gardening that understands the frustration of growing in this rocky, clay soil. :-)
Our city's area Master Gardeners group offers 1st Saturday in the Garden programs from spring to fall. I sure look forward to monthly events each year.
All the time researching plant material and watching the light on our lot has helped me make minimal mistakes. My foundation plantings are not boring. I placed Nandina on either side for the stairs leading to the porch, and on the outside of the Nandinas, lining the foundation of the porch, I have mixed plantings to include Otto Luken laurels, sweet box, hydrangea, bleeding hearts and astilbe.
In an area of the front yard where water used to pool (runoff from the front slope) we planted astilbe, cardinal flower, milkweed and a Sweet Bay Magnolia. That is my contribution to the butterflies and also welcomes my guests with a beautiful smell as they approach the walk to our home.
Well, I have gone on enough..... :-) Thanks for "listening".
Wow, cwspy....thank you for sharing such a detailed report of your yarden. You and your husband have done a lot of work there and I am sure that you are very proud of it.
You have the same type of soil that we do. Having access to cow manure has helped us grow some really beutiful things though.
Thanks for sharing....I enjoyed reading and imagining your place.
Ruby
cwspy--it sounds fantastic! People like you just might one day persuade me to plan a little. We should have some pictures of some of these great places.
This message was edited Jan 28, 2008 2:28 PM
Big ole welcome to you Janine!! You've other DGers - Karen aka VA_Wild_Rose & doccat5 down in Fred'burg...I'm little north of you both in Garrisonville...nice to see another "neighbor"
This message was edited Jan 28, 2008 10:53 PM
Name: Christine
Location: Just North of Wheaton, MD
Family: To be married April 4th!
Employment: Microbiologist (hence the Chriscoli...I work a lot with E. coli)
Gardening Level: indoor - intermediate outdoor - novice
Gardening Focus: sure, whatever will grow.
First of all, I think this roll call is Awesome! I've been lurking on this website for about a year but often get overwhelmed with all of the posts to read.
I've always been an indoor gardener (tropical plants) and worked volunteering for club fundraisers in a tropical plant propagation greenhouse several years. I started my outdoor gardening when I was growing up in Phoenix, Arizona and continued it when I moved to Flagstaff, Arizona (7000 feet in altitude, more snow than we get in the DC area, yet incredibly dry).
I've been living here for 5 years, now but only been in a house with a yard for the last two (thanks to the fiance). He's given me a totally blank slate to try midatlantic gardening....small front yard with grass, a tree, and a small flowerbed. I'm busy adding perennials, herbs, and whatever I can get to grow. Sun is at a premium, though. Unfenced backyard backs up to woods so it's lots of dry woodland shade with lots and lots of deer! I continue to be amazed at what they will eat. They've got to have incredibly efficient livers to process those toxins!
Oh, and I've been having a great time making compost! It's the microbiologist in me, but I love seeing those happy microbes busy at work. Fiance is a great cook by hobby so there's never a shortage of veggie peels and fruit cores to add to the pile.
Anyhow...just converted our unused downstairs/basement bathroom into a seed propagation room...set up some plastic shelves in the shower stall and have my fluorescent lights on in there (with electrical running far, far away from any water!). With the door shut, it's holding a nice temperature. It's mostly perennials right now. Anyhow...that's about it for now. As soon as the weather gets just a little warmer I've got two more beds planned so I need to get digging!
Welcome Chris. So glad that you posted. It sounds as though things are very interesting in your life right now. Yeah, I love composting too. Have you read any on the compost forum? I go there from time to time and always learn something new with each visit.
Gee, you might start getting some microbiology types of questions now that you have let the cat out of the bag.
Welcome once more.
Ruby
Thanks, Ruby! I love the compost forum...lots of good info on there...and a bit of voodoo. But in the end, whatever works for ya...go with it! It's hard to keep compost from happening...it seems that all the myriad of variations are just everyone's way to deal with climate differences or to make it a more efficient and pleasant process (nobody likes a stinky compost pile).
I've ended up making my own 3ft x 3 ft x 3 ft compost bins from lumber and mesh wire...the lid locks with a cheap carabiner and has the mesh on all 6 sides. It was the only thing that's worked (so far) to keep the raccoons out of the pile at night. We often cook beets and I remove the skin after baking by rubbing with paper towels...then the paper towels and beet skins go in the compost....well, the next morning the white paper towels covered with red stains would be strewn all over the backyard! As I mentioned previously...we have a small yard with no fence. I'm sure the neighbors were thrilled. As it is they've been looking askew at my compost bins. I've tried to get some neighbors excited, but they shake their heads and walk away. Oh well...so I'm turning into the crazy plant lady. Every neighborhood needs one.
I also do leaves separately in wire cages...they're available to toss in the kitchen compost if I need more browns...otherwise they sit and do their thing.
We are needing to start a third bin. A while back someone loaded my husband down with dried leaves and now both bins are almost to the top. Until I started composting, I didnt realize how much household waste there is. It takes a little time and some effort but I now shred all suitable paper and cardboard that comes through the house. Our staple coffee helps the compost pile grow quickly too.
This is the original bin. We now have one exactly like this attached to it. A third one needs to be addressed soon.
Same day, different angle.
I love it!
Welcome, welcome--Chris!!!!
Did you look into Jill's (criterologist") upcoming Tea and seed swap on Feb. 23???? There are 2 Posts going on that. Please come!
Talking about composting.........I have had one of those plastic "Earth machines" for about 4 years now. While I put all my kitchen scraps and this and that--some leaves--some grass--it never seems to get full, so everything must be composting. With this composter--there are some major issues though. You cannot get to any of the compost and you cannot aerate it or turn it over. The "thing" comes in 2 pieces and snaps together in the middle. There just is not enough leverage to turn anything over and that little hatch at the bottom where you are supposed to dish out all this wonderful compost--it just doesn't work either You cannot get to anything!!! I have emptied this thing ONCE! I took the contraption apart in the middle and dug everything out of it. Put it in my wheelbarrow and threw the coarser pieces back into it. Used the "good stuff" on my beds. Never seen so many weeds and melons sprouting!!!!! That tells me there is never enough heat to kill all these seeds.
I wish I had more of a "nature" back yard where i could find a corner somewhere and do it right, but I live in a development and there are no such corners.
Anyway! Ruby--your bin sure looks sturdy!
Hope to see you somewhere soon, Chris.
.Gita
Only problem with bin is when we had the snow a week or so ago. The snow drifted enough on one side of the bin that the dogs were then able to just walk on the snow and get over inside of the bin.
I had to scold one of the dogs every time they went outside because he seemed to be intrigued by the contents. John has since added another row of cinderblock.
Ruby
Ruby,
Why not just put a square of heavy duty mesh over the top? Like a "lid" of sorts.
This would also keep out other wildlife. Maybe you can get a frame of an old window and put a screen in it. Easy enough to flip it off if you have to get to the gooddies inside.
Have you seen the compost bins made of 4 palates in a square?
Now it seems to be so high! How do you reach in there to turn over the contents?
I think that is what is wrong with my attempts to compost--but there is just NO way I can do that in mine! I think this year is THE YEAR again that i will have to dig it all out.
Gita
cwspy,
There is a poster (2nd cousin Dave) on the Bird watching Forum. He had a post with pictures of Bluebirds. Nice shots!
He also lives in Fredericksburg....How about that?
Gita
That is a great idea Gita for the mesh screen. I will send John to Lowe's or Home Depot, of course to find something that will work. Thanks for mentioning it.
Thankfully, John does the turning. He gets most of the jobs that I cannot do. ha-ha
Take care and have a good day.
Ruby
Hi all,
Here's Pam from the "real" eastern shore checking in, a little late. Temperanceville is about 6 miles south of the Maryland line right off Rt. 13. We have 4 acres, about 1.5 is cleared (no plans to clear much more than about 2 or so. . . . .depends). I will retire in about 6 years and I work for a NASA contractor down here. My DH and I have been married 25 years. We relocated to our "retirement" home 4 years ago from Rockville, MD where we raised 4 children. His passion is his rock band, mine is my garden and my shelties, ours is our six grandkids. Hopefully, we can get together sometime soon!
Welcome Pam!
Another Virginian checks in!
A rock band in a garden while playing with the shelties and the grand kids! Sounds like a wonderful life!
Blessings,
Elf
Lastelf, I was thinking much the same thing, sounds like a nice life to me, too. Very nice thread you started I'm really enjoying reading all about my garden neighbors and Welcome to all of you.
Hello All,
I just wanted to thank you for the warm welcome. : -)
Ruby, the reference to cow manure makes me think of 2 things:
- the character Dolly Levi ("Money, pardon the expression, is like manure. It's not worth a thing unless it's spread around encouraging young things to grow."). I have always loved that quote! :-)
- my pre gardening days when I worked at the riding stables and wondered at the glee expressed by gardeners when we let them pull up with their pick-up trucks and hull all the manure they wanted free of charge! It certainly was a win-win situation for all! :-)
Sally, I do hope I inspire you to plan. Don't get me wrong, I still find a plant at the garden center that smells good or looks good and just can't resist so it comes home with me and I find a place. Additionally, my plans change frequently prior to and after installation! :-) I was resistant to planning at first, but am glad I finally saw the light. I am generally an inpatient person, so I can honestly say that if money were no object, I would probably have hired a total garden installation at once! :-) I am grateful that I was not able to do that as there is reward in seeing a garden evolve.
Gita, thanks for pointing me to the bird watching forum. I have a bluebird box that I want to install this year and am glad to find a bluebird fan from Fredericksburg on this site! I had my first blue bird visitors to our feeders last year and want to encourage them to stay. :-)
Perhaps sometime this year we that live in the central VA area can get together like those in MD are planning.
I am glad to have finally stopped lurking and took the plunge to introduce myself! ;-)
Pam
You're only about 15 miles from our "retirement" home that we have been working on for about 3 yrs. :) I'll be having a plant swap/get together sometime this season, sure hope you can make it.
lastelf from Baltimore thanks for your kind words Jody, Jody, Jody. . . .
Of course I'll be there for your swap/get together, or any other time for that matter. It is really great to have this outlet to meet people.
Chriscoli..went to Wheaton High School, it's like being home to hear you talk about the place. and when they talk about good old Maryland clay, well I yearn for the days.
When they talk about the clay here, well you could make bricks out of it. Maybe I'll investigate doing just that.
Right now I'm trying to finish my wintersowing (1st time!) with the help of my two year old grandson who is visiting...LOL to me!
Name: Patti
Location: N. Montgomery county, Damascus MD Area
Family: DH Grown Kids 1 Grandson, 2 dogs
Employment: Landscape Designer (Beginning) work for a landscape contractor
Gardening Level: I'd say my level is somwhere in the middle. I know enough to be dangerous!
Gardening Focus Heirloom plants! All Kinds. Like Christine, I've been lurking on the site for a year or so. Elf, this was a great idea. It can be intimating to just jump into a thread where it seems like everyone has know each other for some time.
Back to my focus, My DH and I live in an old farm house, 170 yrs old (appox). 1 acre of grass. We spent the last 5 years updating everything inside (with a little outside). Last year I started to focus on the outside with a new patio, fence and walkway. The garden area is huge around the patio. The soil here is terrible and even with amending with leafgoro and other compost, I have a hard time getting plants to take. It gets frustrating they will do really well as long as I baby them and as soon as I start to back off a little they're gone!.
This year I'll continue working on the patio garden and over the winter I redesigned the beds in front of the house and hopefully will create and plant the new beds in front this spring. Previous owners really didn't do any gardening other than a vege garden, very few shrubs, trees, or plants of any kind so it gets expensive. But I do a little at a time and slowly it will be as beautiful as I imagine.