Author Topic: The Garden Thread that two people wanted  (Read 70165 times)

Jan Hurst-Nicholson

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Re: The Garden Thread that two people wanted
« Reply #550 on: May 26, 2021, 11:29:51 PM »
Ask them nicely if they can put the dirt where you want it. All they can say is no.

I will do that, but unfortunately there are not many places to put it  :icon_rolleyes:. They can't cart it off as it has to be put back quite promptly. I'm considering covering the plants with shade cloth so they can dump the soil on top. There are 144 cottages and lots of hills, roads, gardens, trees and footpaths. We also have two gazebos. It's an enormous job.

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Jan Hurst-Nicholson

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Re: The Garden Thread that two people wanted
« Reply #551 on: June 14, 2021, 04:55:00 AM »
The digging of trenches is in full swing. This is my little hedgehog garden outside my kitchen door. It's been like this for about two weeks  :icon_sad:.  Can't get along the path this way as it's been dug up. Have to turn left  :icon_rolleyes:. It's quite an adventure getting about, but they are actually working quite quickly. They have to partially refill some of the trenches so we can get out of our cottages. The ground is like concrete in some places as old houses were bought out and the new complex erected on some of the old roads. They are sometimes finding the foundations of the old houses. It will be worth it in the end as we were getting numerous water leaks.

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Maggie Ann

Re: The Garden Thread that two people wanted
« Reply #552 on: June 14, 2021, 06:18:43 AM »
Looks like they piled the dirt up to your door. Hope your garden doesn't suffer too much.
           
 

Vijaya

Re: The Garden Thread that two people wanted
« Reply #553 on: June 15, 2021, 03:34:12 AM »
What a pain, but worth it in the end.

I finally made a garden photopost: https://vijayabodach.blogspot.com/2021/06/garden.html 


Author of over 100 books and magazine pieces, primarily for children
Vijaya Bodach | Personal Blog | Bodach Books
 
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Maggie Ann

Re: The Garden Thread that two people wanted
« Reply #554 on: June 15, 2021, 03:36:22 AM »
What a pain, but worth it in the end.

I finally made a garden photopost: https://vijayabodach.blogspot.com/2021/06/garden.html

Lovely!

           
 

Jan Hurst-Nicholson

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Re: The Garden Thread that two people wanted
« Reply #555 on: June 15, 2021, 04:48:12 AM »
What a pain, but worth it in the end.

I finally made a garden photopost: https://vijayabodach.blogspot.com/2021/06/garden.html

They all look gorgeous  :)

Non-fiction, Fiction, family saga, humour, short stories, teen, children's
Jan Hurst-Nicholson | author website
 

LilyBLily

Re: The Garden Thread that two people wanted
« Reply #556 on: June 15, 2021, 06:20:51 AM »
They look great. Very healthy.

My cottage garden is more like a field, with everything growing taller and taller in a desperate attempt to get some direct sunshine.
 

Vijaya

Re: The Garden Thread that two people wanted
« Reply #557 on: June 15, 2021, 11:50:43 AM »
Thank you. We don't use any pesticides and struggle with bugs and worms in the backyard, hence the hydroponic set up on the porch. I wish we could keep some chickens.


Author of over 100 books and magazine pieces, primarily for children
Vijaya Bodach | Personal Blog | Bodach Books
 

Matthew

Re: The Garden Thread that two people wanted
« Reply #558 on: June 17, 2021, 01:21:49 AM »
I haven't read through all the thread yet, but I wonder if anyone else has my approach: plant it and forget it. I don't have the time to really be out in the yard all the time, and because I'm single there's no shortage of work to do in general. Still, I want my yard to look pleasant, if simple. If I had more money I'd love to hire someone to maintain it better. Or maybe I could get lucky and find a significant other who loves this sort of thing.

I did an almost complete revamp of my yard this year. I tried to buy perennials, to stay more hands off. I've put some annuals out front to keep some things fresh. Overall, I don't have a lot of space for planting.

What's surprised me so far is how well rose bushes are doing and how poorly azaleas are doing. I've also planted a hydrangea which seems to have the perfect amount of shade/sunlight and it's looking like it will thrive. I haven't seen any blooms on it yet but that's what I'm most excited for. Lillies are also pretty hardy. I've got some day lillies and an easter lily. I'm only a bit disappointed how short the blooms appear to last. I've got a few other bits and bobs planted. I think the summer heat is a challenge for many plants, even with regular watering.

Overall I don't plant anything consumable. I just want to have some nice flowers to look at. I am looking forward to the next year or two to see how the plants will grow in. I'm hoping most things will last through the winter to next spring.

I know I probably horrified most of you in this thread, but enjoy your hobby! I can appreciate the amount of work that goes into it.
 

LilyBLily

Re: The Garden Thread that two people wanted
« Reply #559 on: June 17, 2021, 02:41:26 PM »
I haven't read through all the thread yet, but I wonder if anyone else has my approach: plant it and forget it. I don't have the time to really be out in the yard all the time, and because I'm single there's no shortage of work to do in general. Still, I want my yard to look pleasant, if simple. If I had more money I'd love to hire someone to maintain it better. Or maybe I could get lucky and find a significant other who loves this sort of thing.

I did an almost complete revamp of my yard this year. I tried to buy perennials, to stay more hands off. I've put some annuals out front to keep some things fresh. Overall, I don't have a lot of space for planting.

What's surprised me so far is how well rose bushes are doing and how poorly azaleas are doing. I've also planted a hydrangea which seems to have the perfect amount of shade/sunlight and it's looking like it will thrive. I haven't seen any blooms on it yet but that's what I'm most excited for. Lillies are also pretty hardy. I've got some day lillies and an easter lily. I'm only a bit disappointed how short the blooms appear to last. I've got a few other bits and bobs planted. I think the summer heat is a challenge for many plants, even with regular watering.

Overall I don't plant anything consumable. I just want to have some nice flowers to look at. I am looking forward to the next year or two to see how the plants will grow in. I'm hoping most things will last through the winter to next spring.

I know I probably horrified most of you in this thread, but enjoy your hobby! I can appreciate the amount of work that goes into it.

My rule for many years has been that the plants are on their own once I plant them. I'll give them some water the first week, but after that they simply have to manage to live without my help. Wasting water on plants that are too fragile for this climate is a luxury I can't afford since we are on a well and could run it dry with too much watering. I do spray my garlic, egg, and water mixture every few weeks to keep the deer and the bunnies away. Otherwise, I don't even weed. Perennials tend to shade out weeds, anyway, and behave like weeds, too. If they don't drop dead, they're busy crowding other plants.
 

Vijaya

Re: The Garden Thread that two people wanted
« Reply #560 on: June 18, 2021, 01:45:29 AM »
Matthew, this year we're learning more about permaculture and transforming our backyard bit by bit--plant it and forget it. But we're all foodies so we're doing this with edibles. The biggest problem we have so far is the poison ivy. My husband is horribly allergic and we routinely have to go in and get it out.


Author of over 100 books and magazine pieces, primarily for children
Vijaya Bodach | Personal Blog | Bodach Books
 

LilyBLily

Re: The Garden Thread that two people wanted
« Reply #561 on: June 18, 2021, 04:44:00 AM »
I’ve been fairly successful cutting poison ivy roots in midwinter and then brushing on triclopyr straight on the cut. Little pieces spring up every year in random spots but the big stuff is gone, thank goodness, since I am quite allergic. I try not to use chemicals otherwise.
 

Vijaya

Re: The Garden Thread that two people wanted
« Reply #562 on: June 18, 2021, 12:28:37 PM »
I'll have to try that, Lily. We don't use any pesticides or herbicides because we also keep bees.


Author of over 100 books and magazine pieces, primarily for children
Vijaya Bodach | Personal Blog | Bodach Books
 

LilyBLily

Re: The Garden Thread that two people wanted
« Reply #563 on: June 18, 2021, 02:32:44 PM »
I'll have to try that, Lily. We don't use any pesticides or herbicides because we also keep bees.

Triclopyr is an herbicide, and I don't know if it moves through the ground but it has not bothered anything around here except the poison ivy. It's a broadleaf brush killer but I only use it on poison ivy and porcelain berry vines. I brush it neat (not diluted) directly on newly cut vines. I spray it half diluted on young poison ivy plants, sometimes holding a piece of cardboard between the poison ivy and any nearby plant I care about. I'm too allergic to dare to just rip up the poison ivy by hand.

I assume bees go for flowering plants. I never let the new poison ivy get big enough to flower. The older vines on my property I work on in winter. I like to think I've gotten them all, but we do have a wild section that we've barely ever even walked through (because of a thick stand of what I think is sumac that makes it impassible). There could be bigger poison ivy there.
 

idontknowyet

Re: The Garden Thread that two people wanted
« Reply #564 on: June 20, 2021, 10:38:02 AM »
I'll have to try that, Lily. We don't use any pesticides or herbicides because we also keep bees.
Salt at the root will kill it as well, but it also makes the soil around it virtually useless for a while. Depending how bad the poison ivy is it might or might not be worth it.

 

idontknowyet

Re: The Garden Thread that two people wanted
« Reply #565 on: June 20, 2021, 10:40:08 AM »
Most of my garden is reaching the end of its life cycle. We are still taking in lbs of tomatoes a day and have a good 20lbs of cherry tomatoes sitting on a table.

Planted corn a bit ago and its already popping up. The seeds for the next season need to go in this week.
Will be replanting everything again.

We harvested our very first successful watermelon. It was small but perfect.
 

LilyBLily

Re: The Garden Thread that two people wanted
« Reply #566 on: June 20, 2021, 11:56:35 AM »
I am green with envy. My tomato plants are doing nothing. They simply don't get enough sun. If I had put them in pots on the deck I'd see some action, but I didn't want to be tied to the tyranny of watering.

Right now I have a couple of patches of unidentified plants blooming, one of which I bought and another a friend gave me. Both are extremely prolific. One is purple and the other is white. The cultivated day lilies have started, and so have gallardia, coreopsis, and a handful of pinks that appear to be perennials instead of biennials. Liatris and echinacea will bloom shortly. The phlox takes a little longer but has a wonderful scent and lasts for months.

I naively bought one (1!) cultivated black-eyed susan years ago and that has become the worst invasive in my garden. I ripped a lot out last year and I'm just about to savage them again. They're crowding out more interesting plants. The wild black-eyed susan I dug up from the woods in another state is just as invasive but its leaves are narrower and it prefers edges of the garden, so it doesn't do the same damage.

The cicadas have done severe damage to small trees--not here, because we only seem to have huge trees, but at my relative's house. Their thing is to lay eggs and then gnaw off the branch so it drops to the ground and the larva (in tiny form) can enter the dirt. We were not amused to see how much damage they did to a very young tree. It's half dead.

So, as usual, gardening is a story of incessant battle with both winners and losers.
 
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Vijaya

Re: The Garden Thread that two people wanted
« Reply #567 on: June 21, 2021, 03:56:16 AM »
I'll have to try that, Lily. We don't use any pesticides or herbicides because we also keep bees.
Salt at the root will kill it as well, but it also makes the soil around it virtually useless for a while. Depending how bad the poison ivy is it might or might not be worth it.

Will definitely try it as well. Thank you.

So, as usual, gardening is a story of incessant battle with both winners and losers.

Truth.


Author of over 100 books and magazine pieces, primarily for children
Vijaya Bodach | Personal Blog | Bodach Books
 

idontknowyet

Re: The Garden Thread that two people wanted
« Reply #568 on: June 24, 2021, 04:58:39 AM »
Pulled out one bed of tomatoes. They were being eaten alive by bugs. I killed dozens of worms that seem to like to take one bite out of each tomato.

Have 35-40lbs of unripe tomatoes going to see how many will ripen.

Also picked five personal sized watermelons and one big one.

 

LilyBLily

Re: The Garden Thread that two people wanted
« Reply #569 on: June 24, 2021, 10:08:15 AM »
I've been harvesting black raspberries for the last couple of weeks at a big wild patch on my property. Maybe a pint a day, which is enough to eat and share. I love them. I finally figured out to cut a glove into a mitt so I could pick without getting scratched. On the other hand I wear a heavy leather glove that no berry thorn has ever penetrated. Very necessary. 

Triteleia blooming here and there, and the first echinacea has opened. Pink. I have a few white coming, too. The canna roots I finally remembered to take out of storage in the garage and plant are coming up. They don't usually bloom but the foliage is striated and lovely. I may have one or two remaining calla lilies come up to bloom later. We have one big blue hydrangea looking great; with encouragement, it will have blooms all season. By encouragement, I mean spraying against the deer, who also apparently like hydrangeas. All the day lilies are ready to pop. Or to be deer lunch. We'll see.
 

idontknowyet

Re: The Garden Thread that two people wanted
« Reply #570 on: June 24, 2021, 10:59:44 AM »
one pint hardly seems shareable in this house. I keep trying to grow blackberries and raspberries they havent gone anywhere. Any tips?
 

Vijaya

Re: The Garden Thread that two people wanted
« Reply #571 on: June 24, 2021, 11:09:20 AM »
Lily, your flowers sound lovely. And yes, those deer like the hydrangeas too.

Here in SC, I've not had much luck with berries but in WA, they grew wild. So no tips, I'm afraid.

Green tomatoes will ripen indoors. I make salsa when we cannot consume all of them. We have problem with the crabs taking bites out of all the fruits (planted in the ground). The ones on our porch are safe from them. But squirrels will come to take bites out of them.

So great you got watermelons already! Ours are still small.


Author of over 100 books and magazine pieces, primarily for children
Vijaya Bodach | Personal Blog | Bodach Books
 

Maggie Ann

Re: The Garden Thread that two people wanted
« Reply #572 on: June 24, 2021, 11:37:46 AM »
My curcumin is up and I have one bloom so far. Orchid Cactus is also blooming, but fruit instead of flowers. Don't know it it's edible.
           
 

LilyBLily

Re: The Garden Thread that two people wanted
« Reply #573 on: June 24, 2021, 02:01:44 PM »
Black raspberries seem perfectly happy in sun or partial shade. I can't claim they need good dirt or good drainage, either. I think they're pretty tough (although the deer love to eat them) but they have a relatively small and delicate fruit so they're seldom seen in markets.
 

idontknowyet

Re: The Garden Thread that two people wanted
« Reply #574 on: June 29, 2021, 09:05:54 AM »
100 seeds in cups to be planted in the middle or end of august for my fall season

Can't wait im going to try onions this winter! Going to put in an 3x18 bed of them.
 

JRTomlin

Re: The Garden Thread that two people wanted
« Reply #575 on: June 29, 2021, 11:44:27 AM »
Heat seems to have killed my hydrangea. Other plants seem to be surviving--barely.
 
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LilyBLily

Re: The Garden Thread that two people wanted
« Reply #576 on: June 29, 2021, 01:46:46 PM »
Heat seems to have killed my hydrangea. Other plants seem to be surviving--barely.

Hydrangeas do not like direct hot sun. Ours wilts every afternoon, but most of the day it's in shade, so it recovers and keeps getting bigger. It also doesn't like poor drainage. One of ours got killed that way. 
 

LilyBLily

Re: The Garden Thread that two people wanted
« Reply #577 on: June 29, 2021, 01:57:11 PM »
The day lilies have started: mustard with maroon centers, maroon with yellow centers, a cream much like a peace rose, a double orange, and a dark orange. The Stella d'oros are already gone; I don't know why ours don't last long but they seem healthy.

The first pink phlox bloomed today. Some of the echinaceas are up three feet high and opening. Desperate for sunlight.
 

JRTomlin

Re: The Garden Thread that two people wanted
« Reply #578 on: June 29, 2021, 02:04:10 PM »
it was in partial sun, but it simply could not seem to take temperatures of 115°. I did extra watering of course, but that was just too much for the poor thing. At least my peonies survived.
 

LilyBLily

Re: The Garden Thread that two people wanted
« Reply #579 on: June 29, 2021, 11:17:52 PM »
it was in partial sun, but it simply could not seem to take temperatures of 115°. I did extra watering of course, but that was just too much for the poor thing. At least my peonies survived.

That's a shame. During prolonged heat waves, plants that prefer milder summers die off (such as silver birches, which should stay in New England) and others mysteriously appear whose seeds have been in the ground all along.
 
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JRTomlin

Re: The Garden Thread that two people wanted
« Reply #580 on: June 29, 2021, 11:45:09 PM »
Prolonged heatwaves of that severity are rare in the Pacific NW or at least used to be. That hydrangea had been doing well and blossoming nicely. Oh well, these things happen.
 

Mark Gardner

Re: The Garden Thread that two people wanted
« Reply #581 on: July 05, 2021, 11:54:17 PM »
The monsoon started, so my corn is happy…
 

Maggie Ann

Re: The Garden Thread that two people wanted
« Reply #582 on: July 06, 2021, 12:42:57 AM »
The monsoon started, so my corn is happy…


I can just taste the butter and salt and sweet corn. The taste of summer.
           
 

LilyBLily

Re: The Garden Thread that two people wanted
« Reply #583 on: July 06, 2021, 01:41:41 AM »
Whoa! Just remembered I have corn in the fridge! (And that's as close as I will get to growing it. I don't have enough sunshine even for a marigold.)
 

idontknowyet

Re: The Garden Thread that two people wanted
« Reply #584 on: August 19, 2021, 03:12:15 AM »
Bugs bugs bugs and more bugs should be the title of my fall garden.

They just wont stop.
I've ordered lady bugs now im thinking of ordering lacewings.
If not does anyone know how to build a bomb? That should get rid of them!
 

Jeff Tanyard

Re: The Garden Thread that two people wanted
« Reply #585 on: August 19, 2021, 07:34:29 AM »
It's done nothing but rain here since mid-June.  The bugs are insane.  I can't do anything without getting eaten alive by mosquitoes.   :icon_sad:
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Vijaya

Re: The Garden Thread that two people wanted
« Reply #586 on: August 20, 2021, 06:37:56 AM »
Yup, the critters won't leave our stuff alone. I don't mind sharing but taking a bite out of every tomato? Here are some pictures: https://vijayabodach.blogspot.com/2021/08/garden-tales.html


Author of over 100 books and magazine pieces, primarily for children
Vijaya Bodach | Personal Blog | Bodach Books
 

LilyBLily

Re: The Garden Thread that two people wanted
« Reply #587 on: August 20, 2021, 08:12:31 AM »
My tomatoes have been growing despite the weird alternation of extreme heat and downpours, but the result is super hard skin. Not wonderful to eat.

This is the time of year I sit back and enjoy the flowers and don't worry too much about gardening as such. I occasionally weed here and there and that's all. I haven't even deadheaded any of the echinaceas, although I have been doing that to the gallardias. Naked ladies came up to bloom and are gone now. I'm hoping I gave the lycoris enough water so they'll make an appearance this year. They're finicky.
 

JRTomlin

Re: The Garden Thread that two people wanted
« Reply #588 on: August 20, 2021, 09:46:37 AM »
Our 113° temps managed to kill my tomato plant but my peppers are doing okay, not great but okay.
 

Simon Haynes

Re: The Garden Thread that two people wanted
« Reply #589 on: August 20, 2021, 06:54:26 PM »
I was facing the prospect of digging around 400 square metres of garden by hand (4000+ square feet). I tackled it last year, pulling up weeds and digging it over enough to plant some veg, but it seemed like an awful lot of work.

So, I started eying cultivators, but a decent one is $800 new. That's an awful lot of vegetables.


But last week someone on a rural property advertised one for $200, which was an absolute bargain. I snapped it up with barely a second thought, and I reckon it took me less than an hour to plough/plow the whole back garden.  I'm taking up pavers on the few remaining areas so I can turn the whole area into one modestly-sized field.

I also planted 2 mulburry trees, 3 fig trees, two mango trees, two loquat trees and four banana palms, mostly around the edges. They're all waist-high, grown from cuttings, and even though they're a bit close together I'll just keep them pruned and mulch the branches.

It's late winter here, so I'm getting ready to plant out a load of veg. Still growing my seedlings while the weather is cold.

 
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LilyBLily

Re: The Garden Thread that two people wanted
« Reply #590 on: August 20, 2021, 09:43:16 PM »
I envy you. Our property is mostly woods--tall oaks and hickorys. In addition to the daunting lack of sunshine, the dirt around here is mostly rocks. One cannot get through it with a shovel, only with a spading fork. I had a small gas tiller at one time but it simply could not make headway. I freecycled it. That might have been a mistake, but it relieved the pressure to attempt the impossible. 
 

Simon Haynes

Re: The Garden Thread that two people wanted
« Reply #591 on: August 22, 2021, 03:19:34 PM »
I envy you. Our property is mostly woods--tall oaks and hickorys. In addition to the daunting lack of sunshine, the dirt around here is mostly rocks. One cannot get through it with a shovel, only with a spading fork. I had a small gas tiller at one time but it simply could not make headway. I freecycled it. That might have been a mistake, but it relieved the pressure to attempt the impossible. 

This is a suburban block, and in Western Australia that means a large sandpit.  I'm slowly improving the soil but a few days of sun and it looks like the sahara again.

My parents live in a more rural setting with massive gumtrees, rocks, etc, so I know where you're coming from.
 

LilyBLily

Re: The Garden Thread that two people wanted
« Reply #592 on: August 22, 2021, 11:17:38 PM »
I keep telling myself that people dream of living in the woods. I dream of a small yard with black dirt and lots of sunshine.   
 

Maggie Ann

Re: The Garden Thread that two people wanted
« Reply #593 on: August 22, 2021, 11:33:22 PM »
I keep telling myself that people dream of living in the woods. I dream of a small yard with black dirt and lots of sunshine.

My son-in-law wants to move to a more rural setting of about 20 acres with a lot of trees. They want me to build a tiny house on the property so they can look after me. But when I think about that setting, I think mosquitoes, alligators, and snakes. Not for me.
           
 

LilyBLily

Re: The Garden Thread that two people wanted
« Reply #594 on: August 23, 2021, 01:53:46 AM »
I keep telling myself that people dream of living in the woods. I dream of a small yard with black dirt and lots of sunshine.

My son-in-law wants to move to a more rural setting of about 20 acres with a lot of trees. They want me to build a tiny house on the property so they can look after me. But when I think about that setting, I think mosquitoes, alligators, and snakes. Not for me.

It's nice they want to look after you. As for the pests, add poison ivy and you have a perfect circle of unnecessary species.
 

Vijaya

Re: The Garden Thread that two people wanted
« Reply #595 on: August 23, 2021, 02:57:48 AM »
I envy you. Our property is mostly woods--tall oaks and hickorys. In addition to the daunting lack of sunshine, the dirt around here is mostly rocks. One cannot get through it with a shovel, only with a spading fork. I had a small gas tiller at one time but it simply could not make headway. I freecycled it. That might have been a mistake, but it relieved the pressure to attempt the impossible. 

This is a suburban block, and in Western Australia that means a large sandpit.  I'm slowly improving the soil but a few days of sun and it looks like the sahara again.

My parents live in a more rural setting with massive gumtrees, rocks, etc, so I know where you're coming from.


Simon, that's us too in SC. But the lowcountry has its own beauty. We're learning about permaculture and slowly transforming our backyard into a little orchard with fruit trees.

MaggieAnn, we used to live at the edge of the woods in WA and the soil was what I always imagined soil to be. I loved walking in the woods, picking berries with my kids. Very few pests.


Author of over 100 books and magazine pieces, primarily for children
Vijaya Bodach | Personal Blog | Bodach Books
 

Maggie Ann

Re: The Garden Thread that two people wanted
« Reply #596 on: August 23, 2021, 06:47:14 AM »
I envy you. Our property is mostly woods--tall oaks and hickorys. In addition to the daunting lack of sunshine, the dirt around here is mostly rocks. One cannot get through it with a shovel, only with a spading fork. I had a small gas tiller at one time but it simply could not make headway. I freecycled it. That might have been a mistake, but it relieved the pressure to attempt the impossible. 

This is a suburban block, and in Western Australia that means a large sandpit.  I'm slowly improving the soil but a few days of sun and it looks like the sahara again.

My parents live in a more rural setting with massive gumtrees, rocks, etc, so I know where you're coming from.


Simon, that's us too in SC. But the lowcountry has its own beauty. We're learning about permaculture and slowly transforming our backyard into a little orchard with fruit trees.

MaggieAnn, we used to live at the edge of the woods in WA and the soil was what I always imagined soil to be. I loved walking in the woods, picking berries with my kids. Very few pests.

Ah, Yes. But this is Florida, and the soil is alkaline. Even in this suburban area, we have snakes and alligators. Just the other day, I found a baby snake, about 8 inches, curled around one of my succulent plants. I ran inside and got my grandson to capture the little critter and release it humanely in a vacant lot. We also have bobcats although the population is shrinking due to their shrinking habitat.

           
 

LilyBLily

Re: The Garden Thread that two people wanted
« Reply #597 on: August 23, 2021, 07:30:42 AM »
I was confronted with a snake in my basement last week and was not amused. Harmless black snake, but snakes have freaked me out since I was young enough to ride a tricycle. Anything that enters my house has signed its death warrant.

That's about all we have to worry about here aside from the endless mice and voles. In summer black widow spiders like to hide out under the trash cans outside, but they're easy to get rid of. There are other spiders, wolf spiders, I believe, but they don't seem to be a problem. Technically, yes, there could be bears and rattlers, but generally not on our property because we don't have fresh water, big visible rocks, or dense underbrush. As the trees have matured, the underbrush has mostly disappeared. We had a lot more blackberries and other brush when we moved here. Most of the larger animals don't like the wide open spaces. Even the deer hug the edges of the property. We don't lure them in by feeding them, either, as so many people do.
 

Jeff Tanyard

Re: The Garden Thread that two people wanted
« Reply #598 on: August 23, 2021, 10:13:18 AM »


And that's why the alligator is still around long after most of the rest of the dinosaurs died out.

They can do some crazy zen-like voodoo in cold weather, too:


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Genres: Science Fiction, Fantasy (some day) | Author Website
 

Simon Haynes

Re: The Garden Thread that two people wanted
« Reply #599 on: August 23, 2021, 03:17:04 PM »
I envy you. Our property is mostly woods--tall oaks and hickorys. In addition to the daunting lack of sunshine, the dirt around here is mostly rocks. One cannot get through it with a shovel, only with a spading fork. I had a small gas tiller at one time but it simply could not make headway. I freecycled it. That might have been a mistake, but it relieved the pressure to attempt the impossible. 

This is a suburban block, and in Western Australia that means a large sandpit.  I'm slowly improving the soil but a few days of sun and it looks like the sahara again.

My parents live in a more rural setting with massive gumtrees, rocks, etc, so I know where you're coming from.


Simon, that's us too in SC. But the lowcountry has its own beauty. We're learning about permaculture and slowly transforming our backyard into a little orchard with fruit trees.



I've poured a lot of effort into turning my sandpit into decent-ish soil, but it's amazing how it reverts to a sandpit when we get a run of 35-40C days.  When I moved into this place the front garden was pretty much a carpark, but I took up all the pavers and put down 4 inches of shredded tree mulch, which has now turned to soil and grown hundreds of daisies. (Currently in flower - they look great and the bees love them.)

I'm planning on scraping up that composted mulch and moving it to the back, then getting another truck full of shredded trees and repeating the process. Takes about 2 years to break down, and the only thing stopping me is moving all that stuff in a small wheelbarrow.  I think I'd be better off parking my trailer out there and filling that 3-4 times, before reversing it through the garage to the rear. I also need a compost fork or something, because this stuff is really light and bulky. (And very dusty in summer!)

A mate and I once cleared a large area of mulch by putting a tarp down and raking the stuff onto it. Then we picked up the tarp and hauled it to the area which needed mulch. Fast, but you need 2 for that.