Pirl's great idea

Look what you started!

Nice work Harper!!!! I have started cleaning some rocks today.... lol... I keep thinking about how gorgeous Pirl's gardens are.... Really cool place to see!!!!

Yeah, a trip to Pirl's house is always worth the drive.

I'm desperate for more rocks now! I'm writing names on every little rock I find!

I have rocks all over the place... come on over

:)

Harper, those look beautiful. I've been collecting smaller rocks at the beach ever since seeing Pirl's garden markers, but I haven't looked for the paint pen yet.

"Imitation is the highest form of flattery" - we love you Pirl.

I like the Nancy rock the best.

Looks great, Harp. I like that idea, but it would not work for me. When my grass cutters do the fall cleanup, they march through the beds and wreak havoc. And the animals move things around too. I would have to use boulders.

Love those, Harper! You did such a nice job with the lettering! Isn't it hard to write neatly on the rough surfaces of the rocks?

Victor - just hop on over to the rocks & boulders thread and put in an order! LOL

I have plenty of boulders Victor

:)

Yes, Louise. It's very hard to write on the bumpy, sand-papery rocks like the ones in my yard. The round, egg-like, white ones I found in Long Island. They're very smooth.

Thanks for the compliment, Harper. I picked up a new supply on Wednesday and mailed them out (Flat Rate!!!) yesterday to another DG person along with one of the DecoColor pens from the co-op this past spring. Those pens work quite well!

Some of my oldies did require the use of my paint pen again but on the whole they've done quite well.

Now the Louisiana iris garden (new since you were here) has all named beach stones - about 30 of them. There's even one with "?" and when it blooms I can write the name on the smoother side.

What happens when you rake the leaves, Pirl? Don't they get moved?

Don't shoot me! I don't rake leaves - I pick them up, one by one, when I do spring cleaning.

I probably don't have the amount of trees you do, Victor.

Wow! No trees in the neighbors' yards either?

Yes! They're the leaves I have to pick up. My junk tree (swamp maple) has leaves that curl up and most disintegrate over the winter so they don't get picked up at all.

The once gorgeous copper beech of our next door neighbor died (that's the one you really liked, Victor) so we'll have fewer leaves to pick up in spring. I'd rather have picked them up than to lose such a lovely tree.

Ok, I'm gonna ask...where the heck do I find these stones? There are none around here, I actually went looking down by the river bank, after about 5 minutes I realized that the nursing home smelled better, so I left. The only place I found river rocks (WalMart--but they were small about silver dollar sized) and a local garden center, but they were jet black, they also were charging 59 cents a pound!

Come on up to Southold!

After my my weekend of having the soil delivered, I'm gonna need a little vacation ;-)

I won't make any promises, but I might have to take you up on that offer...it's gonna take me all Fall/Winter to get stones written out!

Watch out Thom. It's addicting. You can't do just a few. Now I want to do everything! Do you think I should stop at my 50 foot red maple? ...maybe.

Oooo, a Louisianna Iris Garden. You must post pictures this spring, or I'll be coming to see in person! I love the table full of rocks shot. It's like candy to me.

Victor, I don't rake my beds. Sometimes I stir them up a bit. I haven't had the rocks long enough, but when I lay down mulch, I move the rock, put the mulch down and put the rock back. Easy.

It really is addictive. I didn't do the 50 year old pines, Harper, but I do use them for root markers as well so I don't think I have space to plant when there's a big root under the soil.

You're always welcome to visit, Harper.

I do the same thing of lifting the rock, putting down mulch and then replacing the rock.

Here's some of the pine roots:

The larger roots get larger labels.

Smaller roots get smaller rocks.

You can even use broken pots for labels.

Pirl, you are a genious...

I use sea shells for markers.

Edited for misspelling

This message was edited Sep 19, 2008 11:49 PM

I bought river rock or lake stone in a 75 pound bag , for my fountain area.
Landscapers have them, gardencenters do too.
$25.00 for hundreds.

oh I love it... I collected so many rocks yesterday... tons of names to write!!!

Pirl:

You have inspired many!

The interior of a clam shell works fine but the outside of clam shells, scallops or conchs never worked well for me. I guess it's the very uneven surface or it could have been the pens I used back then. Sharpies wore off within two weeks!

Good idea, ge!

Thanks, Candyce.

nice jap iris pirl.

Urgh. Now I wish I hadn't thrown out those broken pots! I've got some heavy duty roots near the big maple. I like the idea of marking them too.

Here's a pot that broke in half and it covers the roots of the French tarragon.

The chicken broke into pieces but once I plant the basil I can sort of piece it back in shape.

The bottom of this basket rotted out over the winter but once it was planted with a few annuals no one would ever know it.

You're so clever!!

Just a pack rat.

Not a pack rat! Pack rats have their stuff piled up in closets and corners of the house. You put your stuff to creative use! You're clever!

Why throw something out if there's a possible use for it? Here's another broken pot used to shade the clematis roots.

ok, here is my first attempt... and Arlene you are clever!