Hi David. I'm new to DG and have been surfing the site a little. I ran on to your pics of plants and your potting shed and GH. WONDERFUL! I live on 14 acres, and where it open it's all open, and where there are trees, it's all trees. It's about half and half. I've thought about a green house back behind my house in the trees, but until I saw your place, I figured it would never work being in so much shade. I can see the trees overhead in your green house pic. Do you have any or much sun there? And on another note, do you just depend on natural watering along your driveway and trails, or do you have miles of sprinkler systems? Do you use any of the drip systems in your pots? I have very few plants compared to you, but I live in Burleson, Tx., where it's very hot, and I feel I've become a slave to my pots. Some have to be watered every day, which is no big deal when I'm here, but planning a trip is the pits. I would appreciate all comments about how others handle this. I love gardening, but due to huge family (22 grands) and owning my own business, I've not been very active in it. I'm retired now, so I'm ready to spend more time in the yard, but I'm a little overwhelmed when I see so much that needs to be done.
Thanks,
Syb
Please forgive. I posted this first on one of your old threads, and then couldn't even find it again. Oh well, guess I'll learn. I need to spend some time just surfing DG to be able to get around on it. Time, time........
Need info from DdeTex
Hi Syb,
I'm not David, but we both live in Jacksonville (Naturally, being gardeners, we run in the same circles ;0) ) David has a WONDERFUL place. I would say it is largely shaded as it is carved out of the woods, but he does have areas that get some sun. I can't remember if he uses drips along his drive or not, but what he DOES do is use a lot of natives and 'drought-tolerant' plants. Also, he has many pines and trees around and I suspect that the leaves and needles act as a natural mulch.
I have some container plants, and I enjoy them, but during the summer they need water a LOT, lol. Personally, if I were on the go, I would look to an automatic drip apparatus as well. And speaking of water...another thing that we both do is collect rainwater. David has several 55 gal. drums of it, and I use plastic trash cans. You'd be amazed at how the plants relish it!
I'll let David finish this out, but I would suggest to you the following: Plant more plants in-ground, and try to stick with plants that do not require a lot of water. Water rights and shortages are getting closer with every day. Xeriscaping (landscaping with plants that have minimal water requirements) doesn't mean using cactuses and white rocks like everyone seems to think, lol. There are many beautiful plants that, once well-established, almost thrive on neglect.
MULCH, MULCH, MULCH. I use a hardwood mulch, but I also like pine straw (just because it's free and plentiful around here). I use about 5 inches in all of my beds. I scrape a 'ring' around any of my perennials that grow/expand, so that I am sure the water reaches the soil, and so that the new shoots aren't coming up through wood chips. You'll be so glad you did it. It will cut your watering down tremendously.
Using a drip system will also cut down on water consumption. I'm going to do this myself ASAP.
Oh, and I also have a greenhouse. I wouldn't even recommend doing that in full sun...as small as most are, they heat up like an oven. Mine gets 3/4 shade and I will probably be putting more shade cloth up soon. David's is pretty much shaded as well. Even with the cloth, it seems to have just enough light for most plants; tropicals and whatnots. You just don't want to cook your new little seedlings or plantlets...as hot as it gets around here, it doesn't take long at all.
I'll be glad to give you any more information!
Amanda
I hope I answered most of your questions on the other post you made.
In this zone I do not use the GH much in summer as it really get hot in there even in some shade. I store my tropical in it for winter protection. It is great to start plants from seed or cittings begining in late Feb for me. You will find that cooling is harder than heating in Texas. I do put a layer of plastic sheeting up inside the GH in Winter. I drop the ceiling also since heat goes up. This helps with the temps in winter.
Doolittle you need to come see me. Thanks for the compliments. Wonder what I can bring back from San Diego ?
D
Yellow and red BOP would be nice! ^_^
"eyes"
Thanks all. For now I must stick to pots in the rock bed in front of my house. The bed drains poorly, even though I had drains put in it (professionally). The big pots are the only success I've had with that bed. Everything gets root rot. My big mistake was just mulching the pots last year and not dividing the plants then. This spring I was so excited when stuff started coming back and looking so healthy and beautiful, but now the pots are so full of roots that I can hardly keep them in enough water even doing it every day. Will the plants survive if I divided them this time of year? I have lamb's ear and cone flower (Ithink). The pots I'm talking about are the round (like half a ball) plastic pots that are bigger than the same kind they use for hanging baskets. These are way too big to hang--too heavy, but they've been great for this bed. Again, I need to take pics and post, and I will. Too many kids here now. syb
Hi Sybram, I hope you don't mind, I'm going to use your thread to get DD's attention too:0)
Hey David, do you recognize these leaves? I think this plant hitched a ride in the variegated grass, I don't have anything else like it around.
Sorry, the photo is a bit deceptive. The blue blooms are from a leaning salvia. The plant I'm wondering about is in the center with large leaves (about 10" across) almost heart shaped and toothed.
Cocoa
That first pic is of a Lion's tail. This will get large, some of mine are blooming and waist high now. I have had them to get taller than me.
They reseed very heavy so watch them and cut blooms to prevent this.
The 2nd pic is what I call wild basil but not the real name. It too will reseed bad.
Just friendly hitch-hickers.
See you soon.
DD
Hey DD, can you (or someone) post a link to the pics of your place? During your down time, of course. You're not busy are you?!