Sunday, May 24th, 2009
Last Autumn, I dug up about six rose bushes from the hillside out front and transplanted them to a more reasonable area down in the front yard. I am now mowing the hillside and having those rose bushes with their sharp thorns is really a thorn in my side (haha). I get snagged all the time and I don’t enjoy it much.
Initially, I didn’t know if they were going to take, meaning survive. Well, this Spring I noticed a bunch of new growth on some of the branches, but mainly from towards the bottom of the bush. I pruned out all the dead branches and the rose bushes are beginning to look pretty good. This is surprising because I wouldn’t say I did a great job of transplanting these things. I almost just ripped them out of the ground and plopped them in a dug out hole.
If you have not had the pleasure of seeing what the roots of a rose bush look like, let me tell you that they are pretty substantial. Rose bushes grow quite a bit under the ground and I have seen roots longer than six feet. I am not saying that I have seen this in a previous life, I’m saying that I saw this yesterday. Right at the base of the bush, if it is a few years old, you’ll find a gnarly root with a bunch of finer ones all tangled up.
If I had it to do over (which I actually did today), I would first cut the rose bush down to about a foot tall and then transplant it. This way, the plant is easier to work with and I won’t get my hopes smashed as I watch all the nice green growth wilt away.
As I said above, I transplanted six more Rose bushes over the past few days and I did it just the way I said I would, by cutting it down first and then transplanting it. Rose bushes are good at growing very, very fast under the right conditions.
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Garden with three transplanted Rose bushes
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Closer look at Rose bush transplants
Before I started writing this post, I did a little online research on “How to transplant a Rose bush.” You would be surprised at what I found. On one website, there was about two pages of instructions. They wrote all about the classic, “dig the whole twice as wide…compost…fertilizer” blah blah blah. I read this type of stuff all over the place and really don’t know who writes it. I get the feeling that the faster and dirtier the transplant job, the better things grow. I’m talkin’ pickup truck and chain style. The minute you stop and spend all sorts of time and money transplanting bushes and shrubs, they die.
Here is my advice when transplanting a Rose bush from my own experience:
1. Cut the bush down to 12 inches
2. Dig around the bush to remove as much soil as you can
3. Push the shovel under the Rose bush as much as you can and rock it back and forth to loosen up the plant
4. When it’s nice and loose, grab the roots and pull until you rip it out
To transplant:
1. Dig a hole
2. Plop the bush in the whole and cover with dirt
3. Water a few times a day for about a week
One word of warning for when you are trying to get the Rose bush out of its originating spot – You are going to sweat, get dirty and if anyone is driving by, laughed at.
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Saturday, April 18th, 2009
A few days ago, I walked outside and dug up a few “bunches” of Daffodils. They were regular Daffodils, but in bunches or clusters, meaning they consisted of about 10 or 15 individual bulbs.
I am not sure if gardeners know this or not, but Daffodils are easily divided. Each bunch is just a whole lot of bulbs stuck together by their roots. Everything is all tangled up. From the few bunches of Daffodils I dug up, I planted a whole line of bulbs all along an entire mulch bed. Sure, it doesn’t look like much right now, but come next spring, I think we’ll be getting somewhere.
Yellow Daffodil
There are only a few things you need to know about dividing Daffodils. The first thing is that you want to dig up the whole plant, without damaging the bulbs beneath the dirt. When dividing other types of plants, such as ornamental grasses, you slide your shovel right down the center of the plant. With a bulb plant like Daffodils, you don’t want to do that or you’ll damage the bulbs. Dig the whole thing up.
When you have the whole messy cluster of bulbs in your hand, shake out any excess dirt. That will make it much easier to get the bulbs apart from one another. I like to hold on to one bulb and kind of shake that one until the rest drop from that. At least you will have one free. Keep doing that and they will all eventually separate. If you dunk them in water, that helps to loosen them too.
When you have all the bulbs separated, you can plant each one where ever you want. I did this a little late this year. The best time to replant Daffodils is when you just see them starting to push through the dirt. You might not get that much out of them the first year, but they should come back in later years and continue getting fuller and fuller as they years go on.
I read yesterday that if you don’t divide your Daffodils every so often, they will stop blooming. I can see how that would happen because with all of those bulbs stuck together like that, it would be hard to get any nutrients to them after a while. Also, after the blooms die, you need to keep the green plant in tact for a few weeks to absorb the sun. I read that the sun kind of re-energizes the bulb for the next year.
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Tuesday, April 7th, 2009
There are two lessons I have learned about shrubs that I would like to share with you.
1. Only plant Boxwood.
2. Only plant in the spring.
There you have it. Now, let me tell you what the heck I am talking about.
I know I have probably said this before and have trouble following my own advice, but I really mean it this time. I am only going to plant Boxwood from now on. No matter how “deer resistant” you think a shrub is, it probably isn’t. Everybody says that Holly is deer resistant. Guess what? It isn’t. Deer like to nibble on the ends of the branches. It drives me up a wall. I had to go out today to pick up some of that deer netting to put over the Holly bushes. As far as I know, Boxwood is the only shrub that’s deer resistant (well, besides Juniper), and I am going on personal experience here. I have never had a deer nibble on any boxwood shrub I have ever planted. Everything else…yeah.
The next lesson has to do with when to plant your shrubs. I have planted in both spring and fall, but spring planting works out much better, in my opinion. See, if you plant in the spring, the plant has time to grow and mature its sensitive little twigs that were over-fertilized by the nursery. All that new growth has time during the growing season to harden up. If you plant in the autumn, all that new growth dies. Period. It just does. Those nights in mid-January that offer us those wonderfully chilly sub-zero temperatures do a wonder on new shrubs. I have about six Boxwood shrubs sitting outside in the dirt right now with dead top halves. It’s pretty funny to look at. Top half brown, bottom half green. The good thing is that I expect these plants to take off this year and will most likely grown right through the dead areas.
Okay, since Home Depot had Boxwood shrubs in stock and it’s spring, I decided to grab a few today. Actually, I grabbed eight of them. I am going to plant three of them in that new mulch area next to the driveway and five of them in a row almost under the porch in the back yard. They are going to look really cool when they grow larger.
Oh, and just in case you were wondering, the Green Velvet Boxwood is “a hybrid of Korean Boxwood (for hardiness and compactness) and Common Boxwood (for excellent leaf color in both summer and winter).” You can read the rest of the description here.
Here is what I bought today.
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Green Velvet Boxwood
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Buxus Green Boxwood plant label from Home Depot
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Common Boxwood label from Home Depot
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Sunday, March 15th, 2009
Well, I think it’s almost here. Yeah, now that I said it, it’s probably going to snow next week.
What I’m talking about is Spring. If you’ve gone outside over the past few days, you might have gotten a tan. Sure, that may be exaggerating things a bit, but no one can deny sweating a little during a warm March day. I did and I don’t think I miss the sweat. I miss everything else, but definitely not the sweat.
When I woke up this morning, I looked out the window and thought it would be a great day to get a little yard work done. I know, I know, it’s a little early to start hitting the yard work, but you have to remember that I have been waiting about four months for this. If it’s over 50 degrees, I am going to be outside getting stuff done.
Today was the day that I dug up the sprouting Daffodil bulbs from the backyard and transplanted them to the new mulch bed. Well, the mulch hasn’t exactly arrived yet, so I guess I should just call it a dirt bed for now.
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Digging up the clusters of Daffodil bulbs
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Freshly dug up Daffodil bulbs – showing the roots
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Another view of Daffodil bulbs and their roots
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This is what a Daffodil bulb looks like when it’s sprouting in mid March in the northeast
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Digging a new (or larger) mulch bed
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A five gallon bucket of Daffodil bulbs
As you can see from the above photos, I decided to expand the mulch bed that I made last year. I got thinking about it and thought the old one was just too small. Also, I was sick and tired of mowing around that fruit tree. Now that the new mulch bed is dug, I could plant all sorts of stuff in there, starting with the Daffodil bulbs I dug up today. I am not a fan of small mulch beds. If you have a small mulch bed and don’t know what to do with it, give me a call and we’ll chat.
It took about a half hour to get all those Daffodil bulbs up and out of the dirt. When I first started, I dug up a big chunk of dirt and transplanted the whole thing, but as time went on, I thought it would be more efficient to grab a bucket and shake the dirt off the bulbs so they would fit inside. That way, I could just carry the bucket over when all the bulbs were dug up.
I got about five gallons worth of bulbs. I did manage to dig up a few Iris rhizomes while I was at it. Do you remember the last time I did this? If not, here, check it out. I like getting everything all dug up and put in their new spots.
You may be asking, “Jay, why are you doing this?” I would answer, “Friend, I am moving these bulbs over because I think grass would look nice up against the rear stone wall. Also, the whole area near the stone wall was full of weeds last year and I have learned that you can’t have a garden without mulch. The area in the back is way too large to cover with mulch.” How’s that? I guess I just like to consolidate.
I will tell you one thing that happened today. I got my hands all dirty. I have to say that I just love getting my hands filthy while gardening. It’s one of those things I suppose.
(Remember, if you click on a photo to view the larger version, you can click on it again to see an even larger version.)
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Sunday, February 22nd, 2009
I have to say, Sunday nights on MTV offer some of the best television out there.
Starting at 9PM, we have Rob Dyrdek’s Fantasy Factory, which is a really, really funny show. Then, we have the College Humor show, which is a different kind of funny, but funny nonetheless. After that, is Nitro Circus, which looks just awesome. The only problem there is that I haven’t been able to see that one yet…for some reason or another.
A while ago, I saw a preview for Nitro Circus on MTV where a guy was riding a dirtbike on top of water. It looked so cool. I looked all over the place and finally found a video of it on YouTube. I was going to post it here, but decided that I would post a different video of theirs instead. This one’s a lot better. You gotta watch this. It’s just a taste of what the show is about.
Nitro Circus Thrillbillies Castaic, CA
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Sunday, February 15th, 2009
Did I ever get to wash the car yesterday? No, I didn’t. We had to drive to Foxwoods in a dirty car. Oh well.
I did, however, get to use my new water spicket setup this morning. After I finished up some work and since the sun was shining, I thought it would be a good idea to get out there and wash up the car. It needed it bad. There was sand, salt and grime all over it. I think the car was almost at the point of someone drawing “wash me” on the back window…again.
Now, there really is no story here, besides the fact that I washed the car and got to use the new spicket that I installed in the garage (next post). I simply wanted to take some pictures. Mind you, these gallery photos are working correctly now. You can click on the thumbnail, then click again on the medium sized picture to see the full sized one. This is going to come in handy when I post detailed photos.
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Passenger’s side headlight – 2008 BMW X5 3.0
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2008 BMW X5 3.0 after being washed on a winter day
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Tuesday, January 27th, 2009
Okay, so listen to this. I received my Home Depot gift cards yesterday. I got a pretty decent amount’s worth. So basically, they have been burning a hole in my pocket ever since. So what did I do about it? Well, I ran over to Home Depot and picked up that RIGID 4 gallon wet/dry vac I was talking about. It’s going to be a big help during those “cleaning out the pellet stove” times.
RIGID 4 gallon wet/dry vac
Actually, I just cleaned out the pellet stove a few minutes ago. As I mentioned in a previous post, I was worried about ruining our regular house vacuum by sucking up ashes from the pellet stove. I mean, it’s not like there is a huge amount of them. I do empty the ash pan first, but there are still some remaining ashes hanging around. Those need to be vacuumed. I tried using the dust pan and brush, but that doesn’t have the best results on the floor tile grout. The ash kind of gets smeared in there.
The reason I got the 4 gallon wet/dry vac is because is was the smallest size RIGID makes. The reason I got RIGID, is because I like the brand. I have had decent luck with their other products. Also, this vac has wheels on it, so I can roll it around when I am vacuuming out the car and stuff like that.
The only thing I am worried about is the ash clumping up in the filter. After I used the vacuum a few minutes ago, I did notice the filter got a bit dirty. I banged it against the side of the vacuum and the dirt pretty much fell off the filter. I figure this is bound to happen with any type of vacuum I use, so I might as well use a wet/dry vac. Also, once the filter has been banged around for its last time, I can always pick up a replacement.
Now that I used up a little less than half of my gift cards, I think I am going to hold on to them until Home Depot starts selling trees and shrubs again. Then, I can head over there and go on a shopping spree.
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Friday, January 23rd, 2009
Internet Population Passes One Billion; Top 15 Countries
The number of people on the Internet surpassed one billion in December, according to comScore. The actual number is probably higher than that (Internet World Stats counted nearly 1.5 billion Web surfers worldwide as of June 30, 2008). In any case, only between 15 and 22 percent of the world’s population is on the Internet. We have a long way to go.
Climate Change Killing America’s Trees at Ever Faster Rates
Trees in western North America are dying at faster and faster rates, and climate change is likely to blame. The mounting deaths could fundamentally transform Western forests because tree reproduction hasn’t increased to offset losses, according to a new study published Thursday in Science.
More Spaceflight Needed To Drive Evolution
There is fierce debate over the direction humanity should take when exploring the solar system. Plans for human exploration of the solar system and beyond often polarize opinions among the public and scientific communities.
Want to Live Longer? Cut the Pollution
Nobody pretends that polluted air isn’t terrible for your health. Clean up the skies over any dirty city and the people who live there will all but certainly become healthier. That, at least, has been popular wisdom, but until now, no one had ever put it to the statistical test. Now someone has and the results are striking.
Mars and Mercury Formed From Planetary Scraps
Mars and Mercury were formed from the scraps of Earth and Venus, according to a radical new theory of rocky planet formation. The model could explain some characteristics of Mars and Mercury that have long puzzled scientists, said Brad Hansen, an astronomer at the University of California, Los Angeles.
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Sunday, January 18th, 2009
I hope you forgive me for typing this post with dirty hands. I just got finished cleaning out the St. Croix Prescott EXL pellet stove.
Actually, I gave it more than a regular cleaning, I gave it more like one of those seasonal cleanings that everyone says you should do, but no one does. I even took some pictures.
The reason for this post is really to follow up from a comment left by “Linda” over at my original pellet stove post.
Apparently, many fine pellet stove owners out there are having issues with their #2 light blinking. I received tons of great comments on my other post regarding this. We have all been looking for the answer. Linda offered a lot of insight, so I decided to give her ideas a try. I think the main point of her comment was to say that cleaning out behind the “ash clean out covers” is very important. I thought I had been doing that, but she mentioned that what I was doing, wasn’t enough.
Okay, so let’s get going. I am going to show you some pretty interesting photos in this post…photos that are hard to find. Sure, there are tons of good pellet stove shots out there, but usually when people start cleaning out their stoves, they forget all about the camera. Not me, my friends. Not me.
I first went downstairs and shut the stove down. When it cooled itself and shut all the way down, I unplugged it. That’s very important, so make sure you do it. After that, I gave it a quick once over to make sure there were no large piles of ash anywhere. I didn’t give it a good cleaning, because I just did that yesterday. It didn’t need to be done again. I did push some ash into the ash pan and empty it though.
What I want to show you here are those ash clean outs that the owner’s manual talks about so much. I just realized this morning that there are about 4 warnings to keep these things clean. I guess it’s pretty critical. I have been doing this every time I clean the stove, so I really didn’t think I needed to do it again. Linda mentioned that we should be cleaning these out with a bottle brush or something like that to really clean them well. Good thing I had bought one of the bottle brushes from Lowe’s a while back. It’s really made for a fireplace or stove, but I was using it to clean bottles for my home brew.
Notice how there really isn’t too much ash in there? I’m talking about inside the hole. I just vacuumed this out yesterday, but I can imagine what it would look like if someone never cleaned these out. Probably like a packed wall of ash.
I didn’t take pictures of the right side, because it is identical to the left side.
By pushing the brush straight up, I didn’t get all that much ash to come out. There really wasn’t all that much up there. By pushing it sideways, I got a little bit more. I’ll show you in the next photo.
To get the pile of ash in the photo above, I basically pushed the bottle brush straight through, from the left side to the right side. I actually saw the brush coming through the right side.
I figured that was done, since I saw all that ash coming out. I decided to move on to clean out the exhaust fan. This is one of those things the book tells you to call the dealer for. It took me about 15 minutes to do the whole job, so it’s up to you.
To remove the fan, I took off the 6 nuts that surround the motor. I believe I used a 9mm 6-point tall socket. I also removed the vacuum hose and took off the vacuum switch wires as well as the fan wires. After everything was removed, the motor and fan popped right out.
With the fan in hand, it was easy to clean the blades (if you call them that). You can use an old paint brush or a rag or something like that. Just get the ash off the blades. The owner’s manual says this fan does not require oiling.
I also decided to take a photo of the rear part of the exhaust vent. This is one of those things we always wonder about, but unless you have taken a pellet stove apart, you will most likely will never see.
As you can see, there wasn’t really too much ash buildup on either the fan or the exhaust vent. I brushed them off and put everything back together. I lit the stove up and watched it burn for a while. I haven’t yet put the wires back on the vacuum switch. I still have them jumped. I’m not sure I have the heart to go through that again, since the stove has been running so wonderfully the way I have it now.
Questions, comments, concerns?
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Saturday, January 17th, 2009
Rarely, have I seen such a dirty car. I mean, I have seen those trucks where someone drew “WASH ME” on the back lift gate, but still, my car was pretty dirty.
Today, we had to run out to get a few items at the store. I have been meaning to wash the car for some time, but haven’t gotten around to it yet. I figured that since we were out and going to be passing a car wash, what better time to get it done.
Do you agree that driving through a car wash is like one of the most fun things you can do? I think so. It really is. There is nothing like the feeling of driving a filthy car through the car wash and feeling those but sponges whack the car from all angles. This time, I wanted the rims cleaned the most. The new brake pads made a mess of things, not to mention all the dirt and salt all over the rest of the car.
About half way through the wash, I gasped and totally remembered that I had the camera in the back seat. I reached behind me, grabbed the camera, turned it on and started clicking away. I really wish that I had the video camera, or at least more battery life in the regular camera. I think getting a video of going through a car wash would be the coolest thing to post. I’ll do it next time.
For now, all you get is a few photos of the second half of the car wash.
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Driving through the car wash
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The wax starting inside the car wash
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The last spritz of the car wash
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Water running off the waxed windshield
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A clean car feels so good
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