Tuesday, April 8th, 2008
I went outside yesterday to take a few photos of some buds on some trees. I grabbed a few good ones of our Thundercloud Purple Leaf Plum and the Bradford Pear.
I have to say, this blog has been very handy for me to look at when I start wondering when things are going to bloom. Every Spring I think the same thing…when is this going to grow, when is that going to bud? I asked those questions last year, so I thought ahead. Last year, I began documenting (with photos), right here on this blog, when things start changing. Now, all I have to do is look at the archives on my blog to find out. Pretty cool…
Anyway, here are the photos I took yesterday:
This photo is our Thundercloud Purple Leaf Plum. That’s a pretty cool tree, but the Japanese Beetles LOVE it. Beware. I hope to get some nice growth on it this year.
This is the Bradford Pear that we have in the front yard. It grows kind of slow, from what I have seen.
I will be taking more photos as the season goes on.
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Friday, September 29th, 2006
If you are reading this, you are probably thinking, “Oh man, my thoughts exactly!” We have all had them and have heard plenty about them…bad neighbors.
- Junk all over the place
- Barking dogs
- Screaming kids
- Wal-Mart neighbors
- Inappropriate holiday decorations
- Parties all the time
- Spousal fighting
- Spying on you
- The gossipers
- the list goes on…
The question for this post is what to do about them. I will not hold you in suspense…the answer is nothing. This issue is probably more about your own personality than anything else. Most neighbors, with the exception of a few obvious ones, are decent people with slightly different views on things. A big problem is called festering. Here is a scenario: You move into a new neighborhood and live there for a few years. No one (because of the new world we live in) ever really gets to know each other, or introduces themselves to each other, for that matter. You keep noticing different things that your neighbors do (and trust me, we all notice the things our neighbors do, and vice-versa). After a while, you start complaining to yourself about all the stupid things that everyone in the neighborhood does and these things become REALLY annoying to you. This is where it starts…and very soon, you may snap. Have you ever had this feeling?
Now, think about your childhood. Think back about how much you used to scream or terrorize the neighborhood and how much of a mess you used to make…your bike laying on the front yard for days. Think about how the basketball hoop was on its side in the driveway for months at a time right next to the broken lawnmower. Think about the effect that had on your neighbors.
Now think about today. Think about how much your dog barks and how much your kids scream. Now, think about the neighbors that you do like and actually talk to. What kind of annoying things do they do? If you really pay attention, they probably do most of the things that everyone else does, but you don’t pay attention to it anymore because you like these people. Why do you like them? Most likely because they introduced themselves to you way back when you first moved in and now you have an affinity toward them. I guess it’s common human nature…dislike and distrust of the unknown or unfamiliar.
There are tons of websites about this topic, but here are a few really funny ones:
Stupid Neighbors
Neighbors From Hell
Annoying Neighbors
If you browse through these, you will find a common theme – revenge. The people who write in and share their stories truly want revenge. They want to hurt their neighbors physically, mentally and financially. You know, I bet that if these neighbors just sat down and had a conversation with each other and got over themselves, everything would be ok.
Say you have a neighbor who is a slob. What ever happened to the world where one of us walked over there and asked if we could help out? No, I guess we don’t do that anymore.
The point is this – we all come from different sub-cultures and cultures. We all have different ways of doing things. We have got to learn how to put up with one another or we will just live our lives complaining about one another. Let’s get involved with the sloppy guy and the kids down the road. Let’s get drunk at least once with the Peacock family across the way. Let’s try to understand what makes these people tick and get used to them, because if we don’t, we will just keep running to different towns across the country to one day find a perfectly situation neighborhood full of people just like us. After a few months, we will find something we don’t like about them either.
Think hard before you choose to dismiss your neighbors, because they will most likely be the ones to call the fire department if your house is on fire or stop on the highway when you have a flat tire. At least try to love…or at a minimum like thy neighbor.
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Wednesday, September 27th, 2006
I see them almost every morning in the back yard, waiting for me to leave so they can continue to wander to the front yard and nibble around the Liquid Fence deer resistant spray I applied to my plants. Yes…that’s right, around the spray. If I covered half the leaf with the spray, they eat the other half. I guess I can’t complain that the spray doesn’t work. What the heck is going on? It’s not even winter yet. I bought two different deer repellers: Liquid Fence and Deer Scram. The jury is not completely in yet. We haven’t had a lot of continued damage, but there definitely has been interest. I know the cause is a combination of things. My neighbor had the tops of the flowers in his front garden removed by the teeth of the deer pack and he also has a whole slew of freshly fallen nuts on the ground in his backyard. We are definitely on the deer route.
I brought my neighbor’s attention to his damaged flowers yesterday, so maybe he will get some repellant and we will fight these mongrels together – as brothers. Also, I did some research, and the fact that I bought most of the tastiest plants, shrubs and flowers out there doesn’t help. So what to do? I dug a little deeper and here is what I found.
A Great Article on Deer Resistant Plants
It’s No Wonder That Deer Invade our yards and gardens to find nourishment. More than five million mule deer and 20 million white-tailed deer roam a continually shrinking habitat in North America.
Just how much your ornamentals are bothered by deer depends on many factors: the number of deer in your area, prolonged periods of heavy snow cover in winter, a summer drought or the loss of nearby browsing areas. These and other factors combine to limit the availability of wild plants.
However, there are several things you can do to prevent your prized plantings from being eaten by deer. Try deterring the deer either by hanging bars of soap or bags of hair around your yard; the smell is thought to keep deer away. Unfortunately, such deterrents are often limited in their effectiveness. Hunger may drive a deer to endure an unpleasant smell. Also, many gardeners find the soap and bags of hair a bit too unsightly.
There are several commercial repellent sprays available for deterring deer, but they do not afford 100 percent protection. To make the sprays as effective as possible, reapply them after every rainfall. In a rainy spring, or if you have a yard full of plants, that can be a lot of spraying.
By far the most effective way to protect your plantings from deer is with a fence. Deer are high jumpers, however, so to be effective the fence should be at least 8 feet tall. The cost of such a fence is no small consideration. Some municipalities have ordinances restricting the height of fences, and a few areas even ban fencing altogether. As for me, I like to invite wildlife in, not fence it out.
So what do you do? The best alternative is to learn to live with deer by planting your garden with them in mind. Take into consideration the following guidelines:
1) White-tailed deer are known to eat more than 600 kinds of plants; mule deer eat at least 780. Some of their favorite foods are yew, hemlock, willow, arrowwood, bearberry, red cedar, spindle tree, Japanese holly, American arborvitae, evergreen azaleas, phlox, crocus, hosta, tulips and violets. By avoiding these and other susceptible plants, you can minimize the amount of damage deer do to your landscape.
2) Gardeners know that many plants do better when they are well fertilized and grown in rich soil. But this same practice also makes the plants tastier and more nourishing to deer than wild plants. To help discourage deer, put your plants on a diet. Try growing more native plants, many of which will readily grow in poorer soils.
3) Don’t count on the thorns or spines of plants to protect them. Deer often eat thorny plants such as roses, firethorn and Russian olive.
4) No plant can be considered completely deer-proof. A ravenous deer will eat just about anything, including the somewhat toxic foliage of mountain laurel. They may also, for whatever reason, start feeding on plants that in previous years had gone untouched.
5) There are certain types of plants that deer normally won’t touch. They usually turn up their noses at toxic and medicinal plants, as well as those with sticky or hairy leaves and stems. They also dislike plants with fragrant foliage, especially those that smell lemony or minty.
6) Some plant families also seem to be more deer-resistant than others. Many of the plants in the mint (Labiatae), daisy (Compositae), poppy (Papaveraceae), buttercup (Ranunculaceae), snapdragon (Scrophulariaceae) and barberry (Berberidaceae) families often go untouched by deer.
7) Mule deer, for the most part, have tastes similar to those of white-tails, but there are some marked differences. For example, forsythia, mountain pine and Scotch pine are virtually ignored by white-tails, but mule deer find them very palatable.
Deer are creatures of habit, returning to the same area to feed day after day. Since it’s hard for deer to break this habit once it’s been established, it may take them a while to realize that any new deer-resistant plants in your yard are not on their menu. So be patient.
9) You don’t have to eliminate a plant just because deer like it. Quite often, a plant that was browsed during the winter will recover. Just like any pruning you might do, winter browsing promotes vigorous new spring growth, which continues on into summer. Plants that are especially well-adapted to recovering from “deer pruning” include the native serviceberry, chokecherry, hawthorn, currant, sumac, elder and rose. Evergreen conifers, however, are often permanently damaged.
Whether you choose to landscape your yard with plants that withstand being browsed, or opt for those that tend to be shunned, you can learn to live with deer.
Deer-Resistant Plants
The plants in this list can be used as a starting point for choosing your ornamentals. But be aware of the fact that deer in one part of the country may eat what the same kind of deer in another part of the country won’t touch. Don’t be afraid to experment with plants not on the list.
Trees and Shrubs
American holly (Ilex opaca) Barberry (Berberis species) Black locust (Robinia pseudoacacia) Blue spruce (Picea pungens) Boxwood (Buxus sempervirens) Bridal wreath (Spiraea species) Butterfly bush (Buddleia species) Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii) Japanese andromeda (Pieris japonica) Magnolia (Magnolia species) Pear (Pyrus communis) Rose-of-Sharon (Hibiscus syriacus) Smoke tree (Cotinus species) Wax myrtle (Myrica species) Weeping birch (Betula pendula)
Annuals and Perennials
Ageratum (Ageratum houstonianum) Astilbe (Astilbe species) Barrenwort (Epimedium species) Bleeding heart (Dicentra species) Buttercup (Ranunculus species) Columbine (Aquilegia species) Lavender (Lavandula species) Marigold (Targetes species) Mint (Mentha species) Oriental Poppy (Papaver orientale) Rue anemone (Anemonella thalictroides) Sage (Salvia species) Snapdragon (Antirrhinum majus) Speedwell (Veronica species) Zinnia (Zinnia species)
Bulb and Climbers
Allium (Allium species) Clemantis (Clemantis species) Daffodil (Narcissus species) Iris (Iris species) Lily-of-the-valley (Convallaria majalis) Tiger lily (Lilium lancifolium) Wisteria (Wisteria species)
I hope this helps. If anyone has any stories or more ideas, please don’t hesitate to share.
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Saturday, September 16th, 2006
Due to my apparent problem with sitting still, we decided to make a visit to Lowes on Wednesday night. The last time we went to Lowes, we got all excited to see the great garden section, only to be tossed out because the store was closing. Not this time…we got there at about 6PM.
I wanted to get some nice shrubs that vary in size to give the steps down to the basement some excitement. Right now, there is grass and a hill. Not too thrilling. I love the way some properties have so much green, you feel like you are hiking. There is always something new at every turn. I really want to have such a variety that there is always something to talk about and look at.
When we got to Lowes, we were pleasantly surprised to see that there were tons of Mums (Chrysanthemums) on sale for only $2.19 each. We bought 5 pots…we are suckers for a nice perennial.
Then, I ran to the back section where all the little shrubs are. I like to buy the really small ones, because they are always so cheap. I am not a landscaper planting for a customer, so I am happy to get the little ones and wait a year for them to grow. Most of them were on sale for $5.98. I wanted to make a row along the rock wall, with the higher growing shrubs at the rear and the smaller ones to the front and the ends.
I decided to purchase 2 Emerald n Gold Euonymus, 3 Blue Princess Holly, 2 French Hybrid Lilac, 3 Wintergreen Boxwood and 2 Dwarf Burning Bush. Now, this was a great looking combination of color and height for the side of the rock wall. The photos of the shrubs are below in the same order as I listed above.
Lastly, on the way out, we noticed some small trees for sale towards the parking lot. We took a look and were shocked to see them on sale for only $24.95. We grabbed a great looking White Dogwood for the partly shaded area of the front yard. This tree blooms in spring to show a nice looking white flower and is good because it only grows 20′-25′.
Here is a great example of how beautiful a blend of White and Pink Dogwood trees can look.
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Sunday, September 3rd, 2006
We had a pretty large Red Oak tree in the front yard. Just large enough to take out the front porch if a good wind came though. Pretty gusty winds hit during the winter and head straight for the house. This would not be a major concern, but there were dead roots on the backside of the trunk. You could see them going right into the dirt. I felt that the dead roots, the height of the tree, the wind direction and the strength of the wind warranted that the tree come down.
We hired a local tree service and they were more than happy to take the tree down, cut up the wood (and leave it here) and chip the brush for $400. We went on a 3 day vacation and when we came back…gone. I rolled the firewood to the side of the road and within an hour, someone was taking it. People love firewood around here, especially since it is around $200 a cord now and I was giving it away for free.
Above is the only photo I could find of the existing tree. It was taken through a screen (obviously).
So, after we had the tree removed, it was just killing me to look at this ugly stump in the front yard. I got a great idea from the neighbors and cut out a kidney shaped mulch bed.
Ok, now that I made this beautifully shaped mulch bed, how the heck was I going to get the stump lower, so I could cover it up with the mulch I was going to get. Well, just as luck would have it, I purchased a brand new Stihl MS 250 with a 16″ bar a week earlier. This is a pretty good homeowner’s saw. I am used to the professional ones, so I know how to really work them. This one likes to bog down when it gets hot, but if you keep it nice and steady, it is a good strong saw. I began cutting the stump lower…
…and then the saw started getting hot, and so did I. I got half way through and started smacking the stump with a sledge hammer to break the half that was already cut off. This made cutting the second half easier. This size stump really calls for a larger saw, but I had confidence that I would get this thing cut…and I did. Man oh man…wood near the stump of a tree is very dense and hard to cut.
Then, the next Saturday morning Paul came over and we ran down to the local mulch dealer and picked up a yard of mulch to cover the entire area with. It was just enough mulch for now, but I will be getting another yard in the spring to make it nice and thick.
So for about a month or so, we kept it like this and the neighbors started to wonder. The area is pretty close to the road so people see it when they walk by. We went to Lowe’s and picked up a few Rhododendrons and some Midget Arborvitae, or Thuja to place as a back layer. The Rhododendrons will grow pretty large, but the Arborvitae will only grow to approximately 3′x3′.
We also placed a few random plants on either side, as we got them. We like to mix them up to keep things random…it’s a great look to have. Also, we are getting these plants at towards the end of summer, so we really have no idea what the will look like when they bloom in the spring.
Some of them are difficult to identify, but I know a few. We are getting most of them from a friend. In the photo above there are Easter Lilys, Sage and Hydrangea. There are a few more, but I have no idea what they are. As you can see, I used the shallow, smaller potted plants for directly on top of the stump. I will be sure to keep them watered until I get that second load of mulch.
In the photo above, we have a Butterfly Bush, some sort of a purple bush with little prickers on it, Sedum Autumn Joy and another bush that I will try to identify later. We left the center of the garden empty because we ordered a variety of 150 bulbs from Brecks. 100 of them are going to be planted in the center spot.
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