Hello, I'm new to DG. Just wanted to say hi to everyone and to introduce myself. I live in what I call the worst spot that I have seen in Texas to grow anything. My soil is nothing short of concrete when it is dry. I have broken the metal on shovels trying to dig. When it is wet it is like soup. The climate is so extreme. I ranges from 20 degrees in winter time to a sweltering 110 in the summer. It is a constant battle with the insects. Still I battle to defeat the odds with anything organic that will work. I keep my wildflowers and such. I think they are beautiful. I really enjoy DG and reading the post and information from all of you. Hope to hear from you.
Hello I'm new to DG
HI lorilea and Welcome to DG!!!!!
I'm still learning gardening in Texas we moved here a year ago from Illinois.
this is a great place to learn get tips and tricks and everyone is Wonderful at helping.
Our ground is the sandy stuff so I have been working on composting and amending our ground along with the fire ant and mole battles.
Ya know we have Round ups coming up too
one is closer to you then the other but you are welcome to come and meet some Great DGers face to face and talk gardening and have fun.
Arlington
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/889502/
Tyler
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/891510/
Phyllis
Hello Lorilea, please come to the Round ups and meet you fellow members, you will enjoy it very much.
Your temperatures aren't any more extreme than ours here in Arlington. As for the soil, this is how i solved my problems which were exactly like yours.
http://www.texasstar.org/index.php?pg=soil-improvement
Josephine.
Hi Lorilea, and welcome! You've come to the right place for great friendships and sharing of plants and garden knowledge! Hope to see you around alot! Karen
Welcome, Lori!
Welcome Lori! You will find all kinds of DGers here - funny ones, sad ones, good ones and ornery ones but most of all wonderful human beings whom you will love on sight and who will be glad to help you whenever you need or want help.
Ann
Welcome to DG! I wonder if you might have clay soil. Have you tried any raised beds yet? I like the wildflower idea. I grow quite a few wildflowers myself.
Hello, Lori, and welcome! The Texas gardeners are the warmest hearted bunch of people I've ever met. They made me feel like home instantly! I'm in El Paso (since June this year) and I still wonder at all the extremes the weather here has in store for us. Looking forward to meeting you (harder for me to go to RU's they are all so, so far away, or better said, I am so, so, so far away!) in DG!
Alexandra
Welcome, Lori!
You don't live too far north of me, so I totally understand your soil situation. We added lots of amendments to our soil to make it easier to handle, but it's still a lot of work at time!! Please join us for the round up in October!
Lorilea, I'm welcoming you too. I don't know where Justin is, but I hope you're not too far away to get to an RU. Goofybulb, if we can get some more dgers out here in our half of Tx maybe we'll start having RU's too.
It would be nice! I feel so FAR, FAR AWAY! Well, I AM far, far away!
Hey Lori,
I am in Denton, so I understand the soil thing.
I am planning to go to the RU in October, maybe we can car pool together?
Alexandra, if you go to this link
http://davesgarden.com/member_zip.php
and type your zip code in the search box it will show you all the members in your area.
Maybe you could start a Round Up for that part of Texas, and get some excitement going, I think you could do it.
Josephine.
This message was edited Aug 17, 2008 5:59 PM
Where is Justin?
About 20 minutes Southwest of Denton...
Hmmm. Fur piece from me.:)
Oh, Josephine, I don't trust myself with such a thing (yet), I have no idea what one looks like. I need a mentor. The most I ever organized in my life was a babyshower...
But I'll think more about it...
Alexandra
Welcome to DG. You will find ton's of stuff to help with Texas Gardening here. It sounds like your soil is similar to mine down around Elgin. After it rains here, the ground turns soft, and you don't know that until you are stuck up to your axles. I have seen tow trucks get stuck trying to get others unstuck. Of course, this clay turns to concrete during the summer. We have replaced a lot of the soil in our flower beds, and we have raised beds for the veggie garden. Good luck, and welcome.
Hello everyone and thank you all for the warm welcome to DG. I know I am going to love this site and everyone in it. You all sound like a great bunch of folks. I am still learning how to navigate the forums so forgive me if I can't reply or reply wrong to your messages.
I am right by the Texas Motor Speedway. That would be a great place for a round up around here. I have tried the raised beds and that does help. I have also had some luck with what they call the japanese garden technique. I'm finaly getting rain today after about over a month of drought. What a relief. Hope I meet everyone at the round up.
Lori
Don't worry, Lori, I'm still discovering new things about DG! It's a huge garden here!
I haven't seen upset folks, at least not in Texas!
Alexandra
Hi Lori and welcome, I am a neighbor to the north of ya. you will love these girls and guys here, they even take in Okies. And on a day that is our rival. The OU Texas college football game. Hope to see ya in Tyler.
Not upset here. I've been on DG for 2 years now I think and still haven't figured out a lot of stuff. Partly because I just don't understand this crazy machine and can't remember how to how to do things I learned the day before.:) Oh well. Still trying to figure out that tagging stuff.
I tried that tagging and it just seemed too time-consuming to me. I'll stay with what I know...on the KISS (keep it simple stupid) principle. Life is just too short for too many time-killers.
Howdy and {{{{{{{{welcome}}}}}}}}}}, Lori! Raised beds, maybe straw bales might come in handy for you. This is the place to find out!
A big Texas welcome. I'm sure you'll find lots of helpful and very knowledgeble people on here who are always willing to ply you with information. No matter what pest or problem you have, someone will know about it. I've learned tons since joining Dave's and met so many nice people. Welcome to the community.
Crow
Lori, welcome to our garden community here at Dave's Garden and welcome to the Texas Gardening Forum.
Welcome Lori. Speaking only from my own recent experience with clay soil. It really is a pain in the patoot to work with ..... until it's amended with compost, coffee grounds, grass clippings, corn meal, etc etc etc and then covered with a layer of mulch. After that happens, the earth worms and other beneficial nematodes move in and suddenly that clay soil turns into the BEST soil you've ever put your shovel into. I swear! :-)
Carla
Hello Lorilea ~ glad to see you joining in.
Would you elaborate on the Japanese garden technique? I'm an old dog but always willing to learn new tricks... LOL
Greetings Lorilea!!!
DG is the best forum.....you are in for a real treat!!! I have learned so many new things here from the most friendly people ever!!! I live on the Texas Gulf coast....when you dig in my yard you will find solid sand and sea shells!!! I grow everything in large containers....wish I owned a potting mix company. Wecome and Enjoy!!!!
Becky
Hello Lorilea, and welcome to DG TX forum!!
We tend to be a very diverse group here and sometimes a bit opinionated! LOL! But hopefully you will come to love us and join us in our passion of gardening in TX.
Please do put on your calendar the RU in Arlington since it is closest to you. After you make that one, you will be hooked and loaded up with plants and seeds too!!! Plus we will all have a new friend!
Sheila
Howdy Lorilea......know exactly where ya are...very far from the Texas Motor Speedway? Used to live in Argyle years ago and went to Justin to get our boots and such...sure has changed since then. come on along and join our rag time band!!
"eyes"
Hi everyone, Are we enjoying this rain? I know I am. Thanks for all the advice on the clay soil. My grandparents used to live in Mangum OK and I wish that I could bring some of that soil by the truck loads. Hi Tia, I was beginning to wonder if anyone in OK was a member of DG. lol.
Sheila, I grew up in FW. Lived there until I was thirty.What part of FW are you from? I am not to far away, just a little north.
Podster, when I was waitressing in Argyle, I had some regular customers that was gardening that way and it was working for them so I tried it. I saves alot of space and work. You can use fence or some type of wire mesh These are individual spaces for flowers or vegetables, these are based on the circumference of the space you will need for the plants. You clear out a circle in the diameter that is needed for space per plants. You take one part of the fence and put it around the outside perimeter of the space to guard the plants and hold the soil, plant the plants in a circle leaving a space in the middle, depending on what you are planting, spacing the plants accordingly in a circle around the middle. In the middle put a smaller diameter of a peice of fence up in the middle making a circle out of it with the middle open. In this part you put your clippings and compost. As you water, the nutrients from the compost will feed into the plants. Hope you can understand what I am talking about. I will try to take or find a picture to send you, my camera is not functioning at this time.
Eyes of Texas, I can throw a rock at the TMS. You must remember Evelyn's in Argyle, I used to work there years ago. Evelyn is doing fine, I see her from time to time and try to keep up with how she is doing. She is making her famous pies in Roanoke now.
Hiya Lori, oh yea I know where Mangum is. I have friends that go snake hunting there. Weird friends I have. Yeppers there is Okies on DG, actually alot of them. Maybe not as many as there are you Texans :) I dont get my own okie forum and if I went to the one I belong to their RU's are in MO. I would hope that the powers to be would put us in with the texans it would be fun with the rival OU and Texas. Anyway, glad you joined us. I do alot of chatting in the Poultry and Livestock forum and the trade swap round robin forum. You can find me all over here. I love this place.
Welcome aboard, lorilea. You may not have realized it, but you have joined a HUGE family in DG, or another way of looking at it, you now have over 400,000+ people to help you with literally anything.
We have had a Spring RU in College Station at least for the last 2 years - great group of people show up.
Okie's welcome (Tulsa, myself - Central class of '61 -TU), as well as all of the DG family.
And there are several regional RU's around the state.
I plan on going to the round up in Tyler, not sure I can make the arlington one.