Archive for the ‘Landscaping’ Category
Wednesday, July 9th, 2008
I picked up the last bag of grass seed today. Again, I got the Vigoro Contractor’s Blend.
Last night, I looked up some stuff about grass seed. I learned all about Ryegrass, Fescue and Kentucky Bluegrass. I thought I had it all down pat. When I went into the Depot today, I made sure to read the back of each different bag of grass seed. I was trying to avoid the annual seeds.
The Vigoro bag came out on top. For about $36, I got a 20lb. blended bag of Panterra Italian Ryegrass, Bargena 3 Creeping Red Fescue, Palmer 4 Perrenial Ryegrass and Merit Kentucky Bluegrass. I thought, “Wow, this one has no annual seed in it.” How cool. Well, as it turns out, Panterra Italian Ryegrass is code for annual ryegrass. Hey, good thing there is 39.67% of it in there.
Oh well, it germinates very quickly and gives good ground cover for the other 60% of seed to grow.
I went outside to do some spreading just a little while ago. I did sweat a lot, but I got it done. Spreading grass seed is a strange phenomenon. It is much like opening a window and tossing out $36 in one dollar bills. Once you are done, you kind of stand there lookingat yourself. “Where did it all go?”
In a few short weeks, I expect to see a nice, thick lawn. It is almost there now, but it should be complete soon. Everywhere I look, I read that you should seed in the Spring or Fall, but since I have been having such good luck with seeding in the Summer, I decided to continue.
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Tuesday, July 8th, 2008
I don’t know, but it is starting to get annoying.
If you remember back at the beginning, we had a few spots in the lawn that needed seed. Well, I seeded them. Within a few days, grass started to grow. I just thought this was the cat’s meow. I couldn’t believe it because I have never been all that good at getting grass to grow.
Well, now that the thick grass is coming in, it’s making all the old grass look…well, old. Now I want new grass everywhere.
Every time I see a nice green lawn, I get green with envy. I have no idea why. I have seen guys like this when I was a kid. I never knew why they kept looking at their lawns. Now, I look at grass. It’s silly, but for some strange reason, we do it.
This is the area of the lawn where there were big bald areas. I didn’t think I would get anything to grow, but it started sprouting within days.
This is the area that was pretty good. Now, the grass is starting to get a little crispy. I want that nice, soft, green grass here too. I think I am going to get one last bag of seed and do a little seeding up here.
This is the back yard. As you can see, there are no problems here. I finally got it just the way I wanted. Even from the upstairs window, the entire law looks full and thick.
I just seeded some front areas the other day. It is starting to come in and is looking thicker every day. As I mentioned, I am going to get one more bag for the front and call it quits for the season.
One thing I discovered during my last mow was that if I raise the mower deck one level, the grass looks better. I get less clumping and the grass looks a heck of a lot better. I am going to mow it like that from now on.
Now, some people out there might think I am wasting my time with all this grass talk. Well, perhaps you are correct, but I am not going to have heavy rain wash away the top layer of dirt anymore. I would like a nice root system going on to protect the lawn from the rain.
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Wednesday, June 25th, 2008
Today was another day of running around. I had to head up to Tile America in West Hartford to meet the tile installer. After that, I had to go over to Pat’s Power Equipment in Tolland for a new backpack blower.
I am sure I will write all about the tile in another post. Now, I would like to share an awesome new tool I got today…the backpack blower. When I bought the pressure washer, I wasn’t too enthused. I mean, yeah, I’ll use it when I need it. The backpack blower on the other hand, is something I will actually enjoy using when I need it.
Take a look…
This is the Stihl BR 550 backpack blower. It’s the second most powerful one they have. I just used it on the driveway and the walkway and am very happy I got one so powerful. I have recently heard good things about those hand-held ones, but was skeptical. I used to use a commercial backpack blower and knew what it was capable of. I couldn’t imagine me trying to blow leaves out of the gardens, come Fall, and me not getting wicked mad at one of those hand-held machines.
Here are the specs:
DISPLACEMENT: 64.8 cc (3.95 cu. in.)
ENGINE POWER: 3.0 kW (4.0 bhp)
WEIGHT: 9.7 kg (21.4 Ibs.)
FUEL CAPACITY: 1400 cc (47.3 oz.)
AIR VOLUME:
With tube: 900 m3/h (530 cfm)
Without tube: 1490 m3/h (877 cfm)
AIR VELOCITY: 89 m/sec. (199 mph)
I think the things people look at are the “air volume” and the “air velocity.” Those are the two things that actually move stuff.
I like getting Stihl power equipment. When I do so, I never have to worry about if I just bought junk or not. I know it’s not.
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Sunday, June 15th, 2008
I did a bunch of weeding yesterday and then pulled out the weed whacker. I cleaned up all along the front edge of the garden and really was quite proud of myself. Today, I was outside doing something when Laura decided to visit me. I asked her to look how nice the front of the garden came out and she relied, “Um, yeah…it still needs something. Some sort of an edge.” Then, she went back inside.
Well, listen to this. I could read the writing on the wall. I knew that if I didn’t get my butt in gear and make a brand new stone wall, I was in for some serious punishment when I walked through that door later on. What did I do? I made a new stone wall, that’s what I did. I am actually quite gifted the art of stone wall building.
The only thing that went wrong was I forgot to take a before picture. That kind of stinks. I always forget because I really never intend to do these things. It starts off with me grabbing a big rock and walking over to the garden with it. Then, I grab another. The rest is history and I really don’t think I am able to change.
You might want to call me up right now and ask, “Hey man, where’d you get all those cool rocks?” To which I would reply, “They were around.”
Peace out.
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Saturday, June 7th, 2008
Every time I visit either Lowe’s or Home Depot, I try to go into the nursery to grab a few shrubs. I can always find a use for shrubs, I just wish they were free. That would be wild.
I need about 50 Rhododendrons. I would like to line the entire wooded area up front as well as both sides of the driveway. I love the look of fully grown Rhododendrons. They are great cover and have wonderful flowers.
I remember one house down in Yonkers that I did some work at years ago. It was owned by an old (rich) dude. He had everything looking just perfect. There were huge Rhododendrons, Japanese Yew, Hemlock and all the rest. It was so green and so was I, with envy. I still have the image in my mind and that’s what I would like to have one day.
But for now, I will have to do with small Rhododendrons to start.
I bought three of these during my last trip to Home Depot.
This is one of the areas I would like to line. When the plants grow larger, they will hang over the rocks and all I will have to do is push the mower under the plants. I know, I am too slick.
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Saturday, June 7th, 2008
I pull the lawnmwer out twice a week. This is so I don’t kill myself. I am not sure if I told you or not, but I am going to skip the ride-on-mower purchase and stick with my pushmower. I am doing this for a few reasons. First, I just bought the push mower. I would hate to se it sit there and not get used. Second, I don’t want to become totally useless and lose the last bit of exercise I get. Third, I would like to not have to shell out another two grand for something I really don’t need.
Back to why I pull the push mower out twice a week. There is a lot of grass. By the time I get done with the grass up near the road, I am pretty pooped. I am also usually hacking from all the dust I just breathed in. I am sure that ride-on-mower will be looking really good one day.
I was going to mow the front, side and back yards today. It rained yesterday and they need to be cut. It is also above 90 degrees outside today. It is really hot. As I started looking at the lawn, I thought that I should, perhaps, wait a day or two. There are little seedlings forming at the tips of the blades. If I wait, maybe there will be more seedlings and I won’t have to buy more grass seed (for $45 a bag).
It’s really not that bad…
It also feels great between my toes.
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Friday, May 30th, 2008
I took a little stroll outside this morning. Of course, I had my coffee in hand. I didn’t have my camera with me, but after what I saw, I ran back inside to get it.
Here we go again. It’s picture taking time in the Northeast. Let me know what you think of the latest flower photos.
Apparently, there is more than one type of Iris. This one is yellow. I am used to the purple ones.
This is a purple and white iris.
Here is another, just in a different spot.
I believe these are Primrose, but I am not sure.
I know I had these in another post, but I totally forget what they are.
And I never knew what these were.
This is a really cool flower I noticed growing the other day. I saw the one flower, and then a bunch more popped up.
These have got to be Purple Azalea.
These are really nice. I am guessing they are some sort of rose.
This is my prize winning shot of the day. I can’t identify it, but the photo sure came out nice. I am going to make it my pic of the week.
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Thursday, May 29th, 2008
We made a visit to Home Depot yesterday (we are going to be buying from Lowe’s from now on). I wanted to go shopping for shrubs. Maybe I can just cut this, and the following posts short. You can just read all the other ones about shrubs I have written through the years.
I had a bunch of stuff on my list, but mainly items from the garden area. Here is what I got:
- 1 Blue Hydrangea
- 4 Holly bushes
- 2 Rhododendron
- 1 25 lb. bag of grass seed
- 2 Tomato plants
and some other stuff. Maybe I’ll write about that later.
Laura picked out the Hydrangea and made sure it was blue. There are a few others around here, so it should fit right in.
There are a lot of areas I need shrubs. I really like shrubs at the ends of driveways. I don’t know why, but I do. Therefore, I needed shrubs to put at the end of this semi-naked driveway. I put the Holly and Rhododendron there. There is room for a lot more though.
I also did some seeding yesterday. I went through the whole bag in about two minutes. The spreader settings needs to be high, so it really shoots out fast. I raked the seed in some bare spots in the lawn, and just spread it out on the areas up near the road. If the birds eat it, I’ll just get more.
What’s really exciting is our new tomato plants. These are hybrid something-er-others. They are supposed to produce nice big tomatoes. I like tomato sandwiches, so I am hoping they come out nicely.
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Thursday, May 22nd, 2008
Today’s job was to start transplanting some of the shrubs from the front of the property to the back. I am trying to take all the good shrubbery (did I just say shrubbery?) from the front hillside to transplant in the back, near the driveway. I already showed you the area I am working on in a previous post.
The reason I am taking these shrubs away from the front, is because I think more height is needed up there. I am planning on planting a good variety of Blue Spruce, Norway Spruce, Canadian Hemlock and Cleveland Pear along the whole hillside. With all the new stuff, the old, low shrubs will just be swallowed up. I mean, I am not going to go crazy with trees, just enough to add a nice green look up front. I think a variety of evergreens looks really good.
So, back to the back. Here is a picture of what the garden area looked like without the shrubs. Basically, the only stuff in there is the Iris I planted the other day, along with that plant no one can identify. I am going in rows, front to back.
These are the shrubs I planted today…
I like the variety of color. Also, back here, it’s going to be much easier for me to maintain each shrub. What I really like is that everything is here already…all I have to do is move stuff around the way I like it.
There is some more stuff in the front that I want to get. I am planning on doing that in the next few days, so I’ll have more photos then.
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Tuesday, May 20th, 2008
I finally finished raking the leaves. There were a lot of them. I can’t say I liked doing this particular job for many reasons. One reason I didn’t care for this activity would be that it wasn’t much fun, with the presence of gnats coming in at a strong second. Apparently, gnats live in old leaves. When you rake them, instinct tells them to swarm around the closest face they can find. That would be mine. They flew in my eyes, in my ears and one even made it into my mouth. I hope the neighbor didn’t see me staggering across the front yard gagging while trying to force the artifact from the back of my throat. Laugh…go ahead.
This is a section of the back yard that is right up against the woods. It has a cute little area you can sit and read, “Gone With the Wind” (Joe, that’s for you).
This is just a random shot looking up the side yard. I guess I wanted to show that the grass actually is getting green. I go out and talk to it every day.
Joe, here’s that little area again. Don’t worry, I am going to put nice plants in there for you.
Now, this is a small garden area that is right next to the driveway. I am guessing it may have been a vegetable garden in the past. I decided to replant the Iris from way up on the hill in the front, split them and put them along the driveway. I think they will multiply and fill in nicely. I also am transplanting some other plants (that I can’t quite identify) as a second row. Then, I am going to get some Boxwood as a third row and make it reaaal nice.
This is looking up towards the road, from the house. Yes, I raked all that out. I plan on getting some more Rhododendrons and scattering them around in this area, to fill it in.
Yes, we have the first bloomed Iris. Isn’t she pretty? I really like Iris because they are so easy to take care of.
A quick shot of a Rhododendron in partial bloom.
Just a shot looking down at the house.
Ahh, the mailbox again. I know you can’t get enough of this. These are the plants I was talking about above. I have no idea what they are, but I took them from the hillside and placed some of them around the mailbox. If you know what they are, please let me know. Thank you.
It’s like we are having a mini “Azalea Festival.” Check this one out showing its colors. Man, I sure hope this is an Azalea.
And finally, this is the front sidewalk. I even raked out behind the bushes in the front.
I don’t think I am going to have to endure this much raking again. I plan on getting a back-pack blower to keep things in check. It should be easier next time.
I’m outty.
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