Archive for the ‘Gardening’ Category
Sunday, November 11th, 2007
We were going to go for a hike this afternoon, but I feared the ground would be swampy when we got to our destination. I wanted to hike down to a pond a few acres away. I think we’ll get to that another day, but for today, we stuck with our usual walk down the road.
I have to say, for all those people who put off hiking in the summer because it’s too hot, today was the day for you. Weather.com tells me it’s 44 degrees outside…perfect for walking or hiking. No sweating and no freezing. Just perfect.
In an unusual move, I thought I would bring the camera along. It’s nice and sunny, so I knew the photos would come out nicely. Wanna see a few?
This is a piece of property down the road that both Laura and I are very jealous of. I am not sure how many acres it is, but they have a pond, a grassy area, a main house and another house out back. They also have a table and chairs set up near the back of the pond. I would like to drink my morning coffee there.
Moving further along, there is a river that flows pretty much along the entire road. When Rob came up to visit a while ago, we looked for salamanders under the rocks in this river.
This is Laura’s favorite house on this road. It’s an old white farm-ish type house. It’s hard to see back there, but what I was trying to get a picture of was the nice driveway and Pacasandra planted off to the right.
I just had to grab this one on our way back. The sun was hitting it and the leaves were bright yellow. Also, this is a great stone house to look at.
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Sunday, October 7th, 2007
Although I have been noticing a lot more color in the trees around here, I would have to say that for October 7, it’s still pretty green.
I ran down to Home Depot this morning to return a dying Boxwood and White Pine. Just in case you were curious, I traded them for three nice China Girl Hollys. Since I am planting them late in the season, I hope they don’t have the same fate as last year’s Hollys. Anyway, during the trip to the store, I noticed a lot of leaves falling on this back road that I like to take. I pulled over and took a picture. Then the camera went dead. Good thing I got a pic.
Oh, and just in case you were curious, the winter damaged Holly from last year did grow new leaves this year. Here is a photo…
There isn’t much new growth, but there are leaves. Maybe next season there will be new growth.
Below is a photo of a new China Girl Holly that I just got today. See the new sprouts up on top? That’s what I like to see. Even my Boxwoods are sprouting with new growth. I guess they do that late in the season.
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Wednesday, September 19th, 2007
The other day, I planted a few new Crabapple trees. I watered them and they looked great. Then it rained and they still looked great. I got home today and they looked a little droopy. Hmmm.
I know you are supposed to water new trees every few days. Time flies by these days, so I may have been derelict in my duties. When I planted the trees, it was like digging in dust. The dirt around here dries out very quickly. I don’t think there are nearly enough organics to hold any moisture. Some parts of the lawn are fine, with the soil being nice and black, but anything near any pine trees are very dry.
When I see any of the trees getting like this, I immediately water them. They usually perk right up. That’s what I expect to happen here. This whole thing got me thinking…what am I missing here? If the trees had a constant flow of moisture, they would get more of the nutrients they need to grow, along with the water they need. I always notice that a few days after it rains, I see new growth.
I just did a Google search on, “mulch helps trees grow faster” and found a few good sites that talks about the benefits of mulch. I liked these the best…
- The Right Tree in the Right Place
- Edinburgh Tree Warden Network – Tree Planting
- How to Plant a Tree
All three of these websites do a great job of explaining why it is so important to place mulch around a newly planted tree. I especially like this line…“A tree growing in grass will be only a third as high as one mulched or away from grass after three or four years!”
Some of my trees are taking off nicely while some are kind of just sitting there. One Maple has about doubled in size, just this Summer, yet the other Maples seemingly haven’t grown at all.
As I have learned, mulch is valuable because it keeps the water where it is supposed to be. It is far easier to get the water to the roots when there are two to four inches of mulch spread around the base of the tree (without touching the trunk). When I was just outside watering the trees, some of the water just rolled off the hard dirt.
Needless to say, I just left a message for our local mulch dude. Hopefully, Saturday I will be receiving ten more yards of the fluffy gold.
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Sunday, September 9th, 2007
Just a little update to the “Rose Bushes and Crabapple Trees” post. The types of crabapple trees I got (and just planted yesterday) are Hopa Crabapple and Robinson Flowering Crabapple. I think they are both pretty good. I am happy to see that they are fast growing.
Also, the rose bushes I picked up are “Knock Out Roses.” I am happy to read that they are drought tolerant and disease resistant. This is a good thing. The nice part of purchasing bushes, trees and shrubs these days is that the growers have developed them is such a way, that they resist a lot of bad things out there in nature. Here, read what people are saying about them.
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Saturday, September 8th, 2007
I used to think that everything died off towards the end of the Summer, and it still may, but I am rather impressed by what I am seeing right now.
First of all, I can’t even believe the end of summer is here. I really need to find some way to make my life pass more slowly. When I was a kid, summer used to take years to pass by. This year, I remember sitting here writing a post about when the trees bloom in the Northeast. That’s pretty wierd, considering it feels like that just happened a few weeks ago. Perhaps I need a nice lazy farm-like piece of property to slow things down. I will have to put that on my list.
So I wanted to show you the gift that keeps on giving. I picked up a bunch of rose bushes this year for $1 a piece. Well, last year I did the same thing, the only thing is, I only bought two bushes. Well, they just keep impressing me. The reason they impress me so much is because once the rose bush blooms, it keeps blooming all season long. It seems like every time it rains or I water it, new growth spurts up. Here, take a look…
This is going on my list of favorite flowers. Also, back in the Spring, I butchered the butterfly bush pretty good. It was just sitting there like a bunch of sticks coming out of the ground. Laura didn’t like that because she wants the thing to grow ten feet tall. I would have to say it came back rather nicely this season.
We have two other flowers that we can’t quite identify. I think one of them might be a Black Eyed Susan of some sort, if there are different sorts, that is. The other one, I have no idea. All I know is that it is starting to bloom in early September. Suggestions are welcome.
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Thursday, September 6th, 2007
A few weeks ago, I told Laura that I was finished buying trees and shrubs. Well, I told her I only needed a few more.
Yesterday, I reminded Paul that Home Depot gave me a great deal on rose bushes last Autumn. I got them for $1 a piece. So, with that in mind, we went to the Home Depot yesterday to see if there were any more great deals.
Upon arriving, I haggled with the woman there and she told me that if I get ten or more rose bushes, she can give them to me for $1 each. Well, I decided to get ten and Paul picked up two yellow rose bushes. I also grabbed three crabapple trees.
Here they are. All I need to do is plant them, maybe this weekend.
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Saturday, August 4th, 2007
If you know me, if you know who I really am at the core, you would know that I love mulch. I think I may have described my love for mulch in a few past posts, but let’s say it again…I love mulch.
Ok, now that the tender intro is out of the way, I will tell you a little story. When we moved in, I noticed a little problem with the back yard. It seems as though there has been a bit of erosion over the years. Every time there is a hard rain, more and more of the dirt, or topsoil, if that’s what you want to call it, finds its way down to the bottom of the hill that makes up the yard. I think the poor schlub who lived here before us tried to spread a bunch of topsoil out over the area and plant grass seed, but before he knew it, that rolled down the hill as well. It’s not really that big of a slope, it’s just that the soil around here doesn’t have much organic content in it. If there isn’t grass growing on it, it turns in to dust and is gone with the wind. What’s left is a nice layer of crappy dirt and rocks. This isn’t much to look at and really causes problems when I try to mow the lawn. If there is grass growing, it tends to be thick and green. Strange, I know. The trick is to get the grass to grow.
Since I didn’t want to end up like the last guy, I decided to travel a tried and true route. I had ten yards of mulch delivered just this morning. Two things – First, I think I got a small ten yards. Either that, or I got a big five yards last time. Second, I thought it would be a real blast to get out there and shovel the mulch in to the wheelbarrow and wheel it to the back of the house for spreading. Well, it is 2:52PM and I am inside feeling a little heat on my neck. Sunburn. Not bad, but enough to make being outside annoying. I think I’ll wait until about 6PM before I pick up where I left off. I am just glad I have a project. I am not fun to be around when I am bored, just ask Laura.
Here are some photos of what I am talking about…
This is the pile of mulch before I tackled it with the shovel.
I put some mulch around the arborvitae and holly that I planted. I didn’t go crazy under the porch, because that will hopefully be covered up by the bushes soon.
You can see how I am spreading the mulch over the bad areas. I would say the layer is a few inches thick. I did this same technique on another area of the lawn last summer and the grass is nice and thick there now. All I ask for is a few nice rains to get the mulch packed down to stay. If we get a torrential downpour, I think I may have ten yards of mulch at the bottom of the hill. After one season, the mulch should be broken down enough to plant some grass seed. It is also good at holding the dirt and rocks bad from eroding even more. An additional bonus is that this mulch was recycled from a bunch of old stumps right down the road from me. I watched the guy do it last year, it’s really cool.
Unfortunately, I though ten yards would be enough, but I think I may need twenty to get where I want to be. Mmmmmm, that’s going to be fun.
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Sunday, July 8th, 2007
I was outside strolling around, when I noticed that our Easter Lilys are almost in full bloom. Laura’s friend gave us a few of these flowers last summer. We planted them and they immediately died. I left them there and within a few weeks, new sprouts were coming up out of the ground. When I saw that, I transplanted them into the front garden where they could get some sun.
These flowers have been doing extraordinarily well. The flower is huge and the pollen almost drips, there is so much. Here, take a look…
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Tuesday, June 19th, 2007
As you may know, I like to plant things and admire the things I plant. I even like Planters Peanuts. I take it personally when things droop or die.
You may also know that the success of any new plant depends on many things, but one of them is the amount of water they receive. So many people sit there and watch the trees and shrubs that they just planted a few days ago die. I would think that many of them scratch their heads in wonder.
If you ask any of my neighbors what I do in the evening, they would probably tell you that I like to walk down the road and back as well as water the gardens. I do water a lot. I always knew that my hose and sprinkler method was not the most efficient way to do things, but that’s what I have to work with.
Laura came home the other night with a new shipment of plants she got from her friend. We planted them with some success. Some are taking off and some are half dead. Since such new plants require a lot of water and a lot of attention, I decided to get some of those soaker hoses I have heard about in the past. They are much more efficient than regular watering methods and are partially made with recycled tires. It’s all good.
If you are interested in water conservation via soaker hoses, you can check out these resources…
- Saving Water Partnership
- Fiskars Bulk Soaker Hose
- Garden and Soaker Hoses (EPA)
I have to say, these hoses are pretty cool. When you turn them on, you just watch them get wet. I did this last night and wondered if they were actually doing anything. Then, I dug my hand under the mulch to see that they were.
Save some water, give ‘em a shot.
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Saturday, June 16th, 2007
I wasn’t expecting much from this flower when it started to sprout out of the ground early this Spring. I really had no idea what it even was. It looked kind of like on of those Spider Plants I used to have inside when I was a kid.
The plant started blooming the other day and Laura mentioned that it was a Daylily. I think it looks pretty good.
Here is a little background on the Daylily from the Wikipedia…
“Daylilies can be grown in USDA plant hardiness zones 1 through 11, making them some of the most adaptable landscape plants. Most of the cultivars have been developed within the last 100 years. The large-flowered clear yellow ‘Hyperion’, introduced in the 1920s, heralded a return to gardens of the once-dismissed daylily, and is still widely available.
Daylily breeding has been a specialty in the United States, where their heat- and drought-resistance made them garden standbys during the later 20th century. New cultivars have sold for thousands of dollars; but sturdy and prolific introductions soon reach reasonable prices.”
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