nittanycheme
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Post by nittanycheme on Apr 22, 2019 14:57:42 GMT -5
Yesterday I mowed the lawn and that was about it... What weed killer do you guys use or intend to use? My wife does not want me to use round up due to the whole cancer thing. What are you trying to get rid of? If its in the grass, you certainly don't want to us roundup. It kills all greenery that hasn't been genetically modified to resist it. And it last longer in the soil than they used to advertise so planting other stuff in that spot can be iffy for a while. For the grass and actually some of my garden beds, I use corn gluten (I know - the name is dumb but that's what its called). Its a pre-emergent herbicide that won't hurt wildlife and also feeds the grass/plants as it decomposes. However, it won't get rid of existing weeds. For existing weeds, I tend to either pull them or put down mulch to smother them. To help with that sometimes I put newspaper below the mulch. The newspaper eventually breaks down, but it helps kill off the weeds first by depriving them of light. I don't like the weed fabric because I find that weeds end up growing on top of it, and then they are hard to pull since their roots are enmeshed in the fabric. There also an Iron-based weed killer that kills broad leaf weeds. That also doesn't hurt anything, and its good for the grass. The grass needs some iron. Also, if you are looking at weeds in your lawn, it may be a symptom of other issues you would like to fix. For instance, dandelions like compacted soil. If you aerate, you get less dandelions. And the lawn likes looser soil. And if you want to look for more organic, less toxic alternatives to some of the stuff on the market, Garden's alive is a good source on line. University of MD article
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Knee Deep in Water Chloe
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Post by Knee Deep in Water Chloe on Apr 25, 2019 13:52:25 GMT -5
We're looking at $200/month for a landscaping service to maintain the pruning of our property and the healthiness of our grass areas. DH would still do the mowing of the grass areas.
DH also wants to enlist them for an $8500 project that would re-do a walkway that is sinking and replace our firepit area's 3/4 minus gravel with paver stones.
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azucena
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Post by azucena on Jun 10, 2019 14:08:21 GMT -5
Spent last week putting down 300 feet of weed fabric to cover most of the areas that I had to weed last summer. Back breaking but satisfying work that I hope pays off in less routine work. Having 8 yards of mulch delivered and spread on top of it this week. I have an area with two raised garden beds that used to have mulch around it. Ideally, I'd put large pavers in it, but I just can't justify the cost. Is there something between pavers and mulch in cost and appearance? Maybe a dumb question, but I'd consider myself a novice gardener
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Cookies Galore
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Post by Cookies Galore on Jun 10, 2019 15:42:56 GMT -5
We have a lot of perennials, some left over from prior owners (autumn joy sedum, lilies, irises, columbine, hostas, salvia, hydrangea, mint [ugh, almost got it all out]) and some that I planted (more autumn joy, firecracker sedum, hens and chicks, lavender). We also have a couple of small Japanese maples and rose of sharon in the backyard and a dogwood tree in front that provides porch shade.
Each year I plant some herbs and get a couple of flowers for the front porch. I planted sunflowers a couple of years ago and I get surprise sunflowers, but only two this year. Womp womp. I got a tomato plant from a friend a few weeks ago so let's see what happens!
All this to say, with all the perennials my goal is to spend and less and less on plants each year.
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Post by empress of self-improvement on Jun 11, 2019 16:25:21 GMT -5
Enjoy that fantasy. I had it too but last week I spent $200 in roses. Lots of roses. My yard is getting inundated with roses now. I have no idea why I'm into roses. As it is, me be poor because we are getting a deck put on this year and that's going to cost some bucks because we are having some wheelchair adaptations added to it. Joy! Oh, i am also working on a large vegetable bed but my bil is lending me a piece of equipment to turn the dirt over so that's on hold for a week. So work on the shed it is!
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jun 12, 2019 16:30:38 GMT -5
We're having an almost overwhelming response from the two tomato plants we put in. Thankfully, we have a neighbor or two with whom we can share the bounty. If you ever have a chance to buy a Chocolate Cherry tomato plant, go for it. It's called that b/c the fruit is brownish-red and super sweet. BUT you'll need a very tall and sturdy tomato cage because it gets to be about 24 inches x 24 inches x 5 feet tall. You can expect 200+ tomatoes on it
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Knee Deep in Water Chloe
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Post by Knee Deep in Water Chloe on Jun 12, 2019 17:34:13 GMT -5
We harvested about half of our yukon gold potatoes. They're yummy.
Spent $1350 to have the yard pruned and cleaned up. Ugh.
Need more weed killer.
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Post by empress of self-improvement on Jun 12, 2019 19:44:29 GMT -5
I'm getting free red geraniums from my town. Yay! One of my neighbors works for the DPW and they apparently bought too many for Memorial Day so i get to have them.
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oped
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Post by oped on Jun 12, 2019 20:59:59 GMT -5
I ordered the swim spa.
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azucena
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Post by azucena on Jun 13, 2019 7:28:17 GMT -5
Spent last week putting down 300 feet of weed fabric to cover most of the areas that I had to weed last summer. Back breaking but satisfying work that I hope pays off in less routine work. Having 8 yards of mulch delivered and spread on top of it this week. I have an area with two raised garden beds that used to have mulch around it. Ideally, I'd put large pavers in it, but I just can't justify the cost. Is there something between pavers and mulch in cost and appearance? Maybe a dumb question, but I'd consider myself a novice gardener Any advice?
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oped
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Post by oped on Jun 13, 2019 7:54:55 GMT -5
Az look in your local craigslist, marketplace, if you have a reclaimed materials place nea4by and you might be able to find a cheaper paver type option.
You could maybe do sand? Or gravel?
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Knee Deep in Water Chloe
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Post by Knee Deep in Water Chloe on Jun 13, 2019 8:34:20 GMT -5
Spent last week putting down 300 feet of weed fabric to cover most of the areas that I had to weed last summer. Back breaking but satisfying work that I hope pays off in less routine work. Having 8 yards of mulch delivered and spread on top of it this week. I have an area with two raised garden beds that used to have mulch around it. Ideally, I'd put large pavers in it, but I just can't justify the cost. Is there something between pavers and mulch in cost and appearance? Maybe a dumb question, but I'd consider myself a novice gardener Any advice? We have a lot of 3/4 minus gravel.
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azucena
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Post by azucena on Jun 13, 2019 10:10:37 GMT -5
Az look in your local craigslist, marketplace, if you have a reclaimed materials place nea4by and you might be able to find a cheaper paver type option. You could maybe do sand? Or gravel? I'm watching those sites - things that appropriately priced for used get snatched up quickly. Others people expect to get full new price which is whack. I want to be able to easily work in the gardens so sand and gravel don't sound appealing. Keep the ideas coming though.
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jitterbug
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Post by jitterbug on Jun 13, 2019 11:43:33 GMT -5
For those of you who pay someone to landscape for you, I have a question. We had all new landscaping put in last year and the guy nickel and dimed us to death. 3 plants did not survive the winter - a Rose of Sharon and a couple of grass plants. I emailed him and asked if we had a one year warranty (as I didn't want to hunt down the actual paperwork). He said yes, he'd cover the cost of the replacement plants - but he'd have to charge us labor to plant them. And he wouldn't charge us for delivery since he drives by our house every day! I feel like if these are under warranty - ALL aspects of the transaction should be under warranty - including the actual planting! We already paid him once to plant them (last year) - who's to say that one of his guys didn't plant them well and that's why they didn't survive? I'd just like to know if this is the norm....or whether he's just another small business who doesn't really know how business should be run!
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oped
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Post by oped on Jun 13, 2019 11:56:05 GMT -5
I pay tweens to do yard work. They are much cheaper
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haapai
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Post by haapai on Jun 13, 2019 12:11:10 GMT -5
I gave in and paid an 11-year-old to mow the lawn. I can't tell if he did a good job or not. The lawn was a jungle before he started and now it shows "effort". It will keep code enforcement off my back for a while and it gave me an opportunity to turn overgrown shrubs into somewhat pruned shrubs and the four bags of yard waste that I am permitted to put on the curb.
I also munched on my first pea pods this week. They were only an inch long and the spent flowers on their tips weren't even yellowed yet, but they were tasty. I've decided that foraging on the pea plants is much more satisfying than harvesting them and letting them compost in my crisper.
I didn't find any more morels or tiny rabbits but that might not be a bad thing. You're not supposed to find these things in your yard when you live in town. Neighbors start to talk when your yard gets that wild.
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azucena
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Post by azucena on Jun 13, 2019 12:27:25 GMT -5
I gave in and paid an 11-year-old to mow the lawn. I can't tell if he did a good job or not. The lawn was a jungle before he started and now it show "effort". It will keep code enforcement off my back for a while and it gave me an opportunity to turn overgrown shrubs into somewhat pruned shrubs and the four bags of yard waste that I am permitted to put on the curb.
I also munched on my first pea pods this week. They were only an inch long and the spent flowers on their tips weren't even yellowed yet, but they were tasty. I've decided that foraging on the pea plants is much more satisfying than harvesting them and letting them compost in my crisper.
I didn't find any more morels or tiny rabbits but that might not be a bad thing. You're not supposed to find these things in your yard when you live in town. Neighbors start to talk when your yard gets that wild.
I have a 6 yo forager who ate all the green beans last year saying "what, there wasn't enough for 4 of us, so I just ate them". We added pea plants this year that look promising. Also have tomatoes, cucumbers, zucchini, lettuce, and herbs. Added strawberry plants, raspberry, and blueberry bushes for my forager
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Anne_in_VA
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Post by Anne_in_VA on Jun 13, 2019 12:44:56 GMT -5
Spent last week putting down 300 feet of weed fabric to cover most of the areas that I had to weed last summer. Back breaking but satisfying work that I hope pays off in less routine work. Having 8 yards of mulch delivered and spread on top of it this week. I have an area with two raised garden beds that used to have mulch around it. Ideally, I'd put large pavers in it, but I just can't justify the cost. Is there something between pavers and mulch in cost and appearance? Maybe a dumb question, but I'd consider myself a novice gardener Any advice? I would chech Craigslist for free pavers or other materials. I’ve seen bricks and pavers on the one in my area. Also, if you belong to Nextdoor, I’ve seen bricks and pavers on there as well. Good luck!
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Anne_in_VA
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Post by Anne_in_VA on Jun 13, 2019 12:51:55 GMT -5
I just pulled up the last of my peas this week. The critters kept eating the seeds as soon as I planted them so I didn’t get as many as I would have liked, but the ones I did have were delicious. I will be planting green beans this weekend and am waiting for my pepper seeds to sprout. I have some tomatoes that are doing well since I got them in early and the hot spell we had seemed to make them get going good. I’ve gotten some cherry tomatoes and have several beefeaters starting to ripen. There are two other plants that are just sitting there and not growing. Not sure what’s up with that.
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TheOtherMe
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Post by TheOtherMe on Jun 13, 2019 14:42:40 GMT -5
Since I have been in this house, the neighbor who owns the other half of the townhouse has mowed my lawn and shoveled my snow. When the first neighbors sold, they told the current owners doing the work for me was part of the deal. They actually came and knocked on the door and said that is what they were told.
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happyhoix
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Post by happyhoix on Jun 13, 2019 15:47:39 GMT -5
Az look in your local craigslist, marketplace, if you have a reclaimed materials place nea4by and you might be able to find a cheaper paver type option. You could maybe do sand? Or gravel? I'm watching those sites - things that appropriately priced for used get snatched up quickly. Others people expect to get full new price which is whack. I want to be able to easily work in the gardens so sand and gravel don't sound appealing. Keep the ideas coming though. We have a lot of some kind of grass that will grow right through mulch paper, so to make the area between my raised beds not so weedy, I went to Walmart and got a couple cheap yoga mats and cut them to fit the space. Then I went to Home Depot and got a few large concrete pavers (my raised beds are about 2 feet apart so I didn't need many to fill the space). There's gaps around the sides where concrete doesn't butt up against the raised beds and you can see some of the black yoga matt, but I don't care. Hardly anyone will get close enough to look at it. I stuck the potato bags on two of them, and on the third I put some large flower plants with papyrus and elephant ears, and it's a lot tidier than the weed-fest I used to have around the beds. Yoga mats are better than mulch paper at keeping out the aggressive weeds.
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Knee Deep in Water Chloe
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Post by Knee Deep in Water Chloe on Jun 17, 2019 13:08:34 GMT -5
For those of you who pay someone to landscape for you, I have a question. We had all new landscaping put in last year and the guy nickel and dimed us to death. 3 plants did not survive the winter - a Rose of Sharon and a couple of grass plants. I emailed him and asked if we had a one year warranty (as I didn't want to hunt down the actual paperwork). He said yes, he'd cover the cost of the replacement plants - but he'd have to charge us labor to plant them. And he wouldn't charge us for delivery since he drives by our house every day! I feel like if these are under warranty - ALL aspects of the transaction should be under warranty - including the actual planting! We already paid him once to plant them (last year) - who's to say that one of his guys didn't plant them well and that's why they didn't survive? I'd just like to know if this is the norm....or whether he's just another small business who doesn't really know how business should be run! Sorry, that's not a situation I've ever been in. I'd probably find the original paperwork.
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Knee Deep in Water Chloe
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Post by Knee Deep in Water Chloe on Jun 17, 2019 13:11:45 GMT -5
Az look in your local craigslist, marketplace, if you have a reclaimed materials place nea4by and you might be able to find a cheaper paver type option. You could maybe do sand? Or gravel? I'm watching those sites - things that appropriately priced for used get snatched up quickly. Others people expect to get full new price which is whack. I want to be able to easily work in the gardens so sand and gravel don't sound appealing. Keep the ideas coming though. Talk this out for me. What is it about gravel that would make it difficult to work on raised garden beds? I have four raised beds and gravel around them. I don't find it difficult, so I'm trying to figure out what's bugging you about that concept to determine what my next suggestion would be.
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azucena
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Post by azucena on Jun 17, 2019 13:49:54 GMT -5
I'm watching those sites - things that appropriately priced for used get snatched up quickly. Others people expect to get full new price which is whack. I want to be able to easily work in the gardens so sand and gravel don't sound appealing. Keep the ideas coming though. Talk this out for me. What is it about gravel that would make it difficult to work on raised garden beds? I have four raised beds and gravel around them. I don't find it difficult, so I'm trying to figure out what's bugging you about that concept to determine what my next suggestion would be. Kneeling in gravel isn't pleasant. Gravel in my shoes or flip flops if I'm just checking on the garden quickly. I'll probably go ahead with mulch and put some of the random pavers that I have in place around the gardens as stepping stones.
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happyhoix
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Post by happyhoix on Jun 18, 2019 7:31:55 GMT -5
Talk this out for me. What is it about gravel that would make it difficult to work on raised garden beds? I have four raised beds and gravel around them. I don't find it difficult, so I'm trying to figure out what's bugging you about that concept to determine what my next suggestion would be. Kneeling in gravel isn't pleasant. Gravel in my shoes or flip flops if I'm just checking on the garden quickly. I'll probably go ahead with mulch and put some of the random pavers that I have in place around the gardens as stepping stones. Put something really heavy duty under the mulch or you'll be weeding the mulch. Couple layers of cardboard or newspaper or something.
Or maybe I just live in an area with Little Shop of Horror type weeds that can rocket up out of any surface that isn't concrete or asphalt.
I swear the weeds here grow better than any other plant I own. Wild blackberries, grape vines, honeysuckle, centipede grass, some crazy long vine with heart shaped weeds and quarter inch long thorns that can grow as long as a tree, and some space alien weed that looks like an upside down sea anemone. And the violets that invade everywhere, and have massive underground mats of roots that require a shovel to dislodge.
I should just stop trying to grow plants and stick to growing weeds, I'd be so wonderfully successful at that.
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TheOtherMe
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Post by TheOtherMe on Jun 18, 2019 8:30:32 GMT -5
I pull weeds at least once a week from my bed with gravel and landscaping cover underneath. The weeds are mostly at the edges, but not all of them are there.
I also have hostas and day lilies that I got for free from Freecycle last year.
Some of the cuttings were next to nothing and didn't grow much last year. I figured after the Polar Vortex, they were dead. They are thriving with all the rain this spring. Of course, so are the weeds.
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azucena
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Post by azucena on Jun 18, 2019 9:02:17 GMT -5
Yes all this rain has grown some massive dandelions LOL. Also my hydrangea in front of the house is taller than me and approaching the roofline.
We planted 15 foot sunflowers again - they are waist high. Will be curious to see if they beat last year's which were indeed 15 feet tall. Neighbors would drive by rubbernecking, and two I hadn't met yet even stopped to say how much fun they had watching them grow all summer.
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Post by empress of self-improvement on Jun 18, 2019 9:50:51 GMT -5
Every last one of those geraniums has been planted. 4 flats of those suckers!!! I gave a couple to a friend. I love my neighbors💓💓💓 I was getting DH out of the bathroom yesterday and was hearing what I thought was an airplane about to land on my house. Turns out one of my neighbors, who had just finished mowing his yard, drove over and did mine. He is my favorite person right now! My yard is going to always be a work in progress and that's fine with me. Of course, it's a work wrapped in plastic fencing crap because of the rabbits. Little bastards ate my bee balm and my morning glories! I am NOT happy!
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jitterbug
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Post by jitterbug on Jun 18, 2019 10:15:57 GMT -5
^^^^ Rabbits. Any good ideas for stopping those pesky rabbits I landscaped a new area this year and they have about eaten everything down to the ground! We did buy something at Walmart that's supposed to stop rabbits and deer - but since it's been raining almost every day, it keeps getting washed off! And if they eat a perennial down to just stalks - will the perennial come back next year?
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happyhoix
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Post by happyhoix on Jun 18, 2019 13:33:06 GMT -5
^^^^ Rabbits. Any good ideas for stopping those pesky rabbits I landscaped a new area this year and they have about eaten everything down to the ground! We did buy something at Walmart that's supposed to stop rabbits and deer - but since it's been raining almost every day, it keeps getting washed off! And if they eat a perennial down to just stalks - will the perennial come back next year? Only thing I've found to keep them out is a heavy duty plastic fencing material (kind of like chicken wire, but in plastic) that I wrap around my raised veggie beds. Something used to regularly take bites out of my tomatoes and cantaloupes, so far this year (the first year I encased the beds in the fencing) I've been able to keep the critters out.
Once, I came out of my house in the morning and found a fat little rabbit sitting in my raised bed eating the carrot tops. He did not act guilty at all when I ran him out. I think it was the possum eating the cantaloupes and tomatoes, though.
When it comes to the flower beds, the bunnies don't seem to like the kinds of flowers I plant.
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