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Post by Kimby on May 25, 2016 13:03:18 GMT
So the deer cropped most of my crocuses at home before I got a fence around them. And the Dutch Iris and Dadfodil bulbs from the big box store only sent up a few puny leaves didn't even bloom. Haven't been to the lake in 6 weeks, so missed out on any blooming that might have happened there.
But a neighbor bought 200 silver sagebrush seedlings and offered me some, which I HOPE the voles and gophers - and deer - at the lake will leave alone.
Has anyone used ultrasonic in-ground rodent repellers? I'm tempted to give it a try in a last ditch effort to have a perennial rock garden at the cottage.
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Post by lugg on May 27, 2016 19:09:04 GMT
You are spending too much time in this section Htmb I am not sure Bixa - all things chemistry make my head spin but you are right I should do a soil test . Sorry Kimby - no to the in-ground rodent repeller ... but good luck.
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Post by bixaorellana on May 27, 2016 19:56:30 GMT
Oh, don't give me more credit than I deserve, Lugg! I've never done a soil test -- I just wait until stuff looks peaky then toss on some coffee grounds or acidy compost.
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Post by rikita on May 30, 2016 7:36:58 GMT
i think our courtyard really is too shady, at least the spot we chose (which turned out to be one of hte shadiest ones), the radishes have large leafs but are not forming bulbs, the carrots are still tiny.
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Post by lugg on Jul 24, 2016 17:04:04 GMT
Follow up from post 353 I am really pleased with my new plants which seem to be surviving/ maybe thriving . Here are some up date photos of the plants but also the cottage garden seeds which I threw into the ground around them. The packet of seeds cost me £ 1.99 - psssibly the best 1.99 I have ever spent as they are so pretty and I seem to have gained a tomato plant as well which is fruiting nicely. I am proudly monitoring the growth of the hydrangea as it climbs the wall. The Angelica is showing steady growth too. Flowers on the everlasting pea..finally And the Butterfly bush ( Buddleia )is doing its job
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Post by htmb on Jul 24, 2016 17:10:03 GMT
Oh, how nice!
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Post by bixaorellana on Jul 25, 2016 14:52:24 GMT
Your garden is going gangbusters, Lugg! Gorgeous photos -- thanks for showing.
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Post by Kimby on Jul 25, 2016 15:14:04 GMT
So envious of those of you who can produce bounteous blooms and produce with no ravenous deer or rodents to plunder your crops!
After vowing NOT to waste any more money on plants to feed the voles and deer, I couldn't stand looking at the empty holes in my rock garden and bought 7 more plants (the less expensive small sizes) to fill in the gaps. We'll see if the rodents thwart me again.
On the positive side, the gorgeous blanketflower (Gaillardia sp.) that was toppled by voles managed to set seeds before it succumbed and there are 2 large and 2 small volunteers growing unmolested - so far - in places of their own choosing, instead of the carefully prepared spots I had chosen for them.
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Post by mich64 on Jul 25, 2016 22:23:51 GMT
Very beautiful Lugg!
I must remember next year to purchase a few of those packets and toss in the ground behind the house where we just took down a shed and it has left quite a barren looking spot. Now you have given me a great idea for it, a corner picket fence to provide a border for what sprouts!
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Post by Deleted on Jul 26, 2016 5:37:32 GMT
Stay brave, Kimby!
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Post by Deleted on Jan 2, 2017 13:09:47 GMT
Lots of plans for some landscape alterations in the coming months.
First off is some major tree trimming.
My two huge Live Oaks have such large canopies and are shading out many areas of potential growth for some lovely acquisitions that demand more sun.
I'm also going to take a few (4 or so) of some lemon trees with the hope of transplanting them into the community garden.
It's just too crowded in the grove and it's difficult to walk around despite judicious pruning.
I'd like to put in a cutting garden back there with seasonal flowers to allow me a year round supply of flowers to bring into the house.
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Post by bixaorellana on Jan 2, 2017 16:00:03 GMT
Impressive, Casimira! That's a major re-do which sounds as though it will completely refresh the garden and give you lasting pleasure. I have been working hard on my patio, either repotting or changing out the soil in almost every pot and planting more climbers in the stingy amount of ground space available.
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Post by bjd on Jan 2, 2017 16:13:38 GMT
Either Bixa or Casimira or Lugg or any other gardeners -- I need some advice. We took out a huge hedge and have now dug up a long section where it used to be. It's too early to plant much now, but I would like to have foliage/smallish bushes/ some perennials to fill the gaps and bring some colour. But there is one section that during the summer is covered by the shade from the neighbour's plane tree, as well as shade from our mulberry tree (morus kagayamae). So really heavy shade in summer and early fall, then sun when the leaves have disappeared and he prunes his tree right back in October.
I thought of some smallish bushes (evergreens? grasses?) but wonder what else would easily survive the alternate shade/sun depending on the season. It can get hot in summer and is not really too cold in winter -- an occasional frost about covers the temperature variation. Any suggestions?
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Post by bixaorellana on Jan 2, 2017 16:32:21 GMT
I'm curious as to what others will suggest, Bjd, but my first thought is one of the Euonymus family. They are tough and tolerate all kinds of adverse conditions, including shade and even proximity to black walnut. If that interests you, this page will give you a hint as to how the various varieties in the family look and perform. Another candidate for that difficult spot might be one of the photinias www.rhs.org.uk/Advice/profile?PID=145
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Post by bjd on Jan 2, 2017 18:14:52 GMT
Thanks, Bixa. There is already one Euonymus bush on the other side of the garden. I was going to take it out but then discovered it had rather nice-smelling flowers in late fall. It grows like a weed! And the photinias grow to 5 m!! We took out the hedge because we didn't want to have to trim it twice a year. No black walnut trees here. What inspired me was this garden: www.houzz.com/ideabooks/75499647?utm_source=Houzz&utm_campaign=u4054&utm_medium=email&utm_content=gallery21. In my dreams of course. It will end up more like the "before" photo, only with less rain.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 2, 2017 18:58:39 GMT
A few things come to mind.
Would camellias do there? or sasanquas.
Also, some of the hydrangeas
There's a French Mulberry
Mock Orange
OR, perhaps run a trellis like fence and go with vines.
Also, check out some of the plants native to your area.
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Post by bixaorellana on Jan 2, 2017 19:31:50 GMT
Bjd, I knew about your taking out the hedge for that reason. I was thinking a tough shrub for that area only, as it would natually bulge out and give you more of the curvy effect you want. Of course it wouldn't have to be Euonymus or Photinia if you think they'd overgrow in that area, but I was thinking something variegated and tough so the area shaded by the trees wouldn't seem so dark in summer and early fall.
However, you could do the reverse of having a bush that bulged out and go with Casimira's idea of a trellis so that area would curve in instead of out. You could fit the space out with a chair or a birdbath. Would English ivy work there? Again, there's a white/green one to lighten up the area.
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Post by bjd on Jan 2, 2017 20:20:50 GMT
Thanks both Bixa and Casimira. It is an area where there are loads of camellias, hydrangeas and other plants that need that kind of soil. Unfortunately, whoever planted that garden put a camellia -- which has grown into a tree -- into a place where it gets too much sun and blocks the view in front of the house. I am about to plant another camellia on the other side of the garden where it will only get morning sun -- and will keep it from getting too big. There are already several hydrangeas in the back garden. I'm not keen on them and have only left one because it's blue rather than pink. I don't know if it was the same person, but they stuck up a trellised arch with a wisteria on it -- in the middle of nothing, not leading to anything, just stuck in the middle of the front yard. From the window of the house, you can't see it because of the camellia. About a trellis -- since we took out the hedge, the neighbour, who has lost the privacy he enjoyed for many years, keeps asking when we are going to put up a fence. We will eventually, but want to put up just a wooden one with some gaps in it so let air through and to look nice. I believe the neighbour was hoping for some concrete that looks like wood, which is what he has in the back of his garden. But since the stretch of yard is 35 metres (about 38 yards?), it will take us a while to deal with it. And indeed, I was planning to put something that climbs on part of it. Even after spending ages digging out roots of honeysuckle, trumpet vine and passion fruit, all of which had grown all over the hedge. Not to mention the ivy and brambles. Does mock orange grow well in shade? I really like the smell of them. My usual way of thinking about gardens was to see what grows well in neighbouring gardens but over the years, I have decided that in general the French do not do interesting gardens. They all grow the same boring things. As I mentioned, the area there has acid soil so everybody has a camellia or three, oleanders. Even less exciting are hedges made of prunus laurocerasus, which is what we tore out. People like them because they are cheap and grow fast. And the entire town is filled with mulberry trees on the various municipal open areas. Our neighbour who is hoping for a fence has a little pond with goldfish and koi, fed by a pump and little stream, arches holding up roses, a rock garden on a small fake hill, a huge swimming pool, the above-mentioned concrete fence, several palm trees, lots of pots with various plants... And he loves gardening. We see him outside inspecting at 8 am. To be fair, he offered me some gladiolus bulbs. And he hasn't any garden gnomes, although they might not be visible.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 3, 2017 11:54:38 GMT
I can't decide when to bring out my daffodil pot.
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Post by mickthecactus on Jan 3, 2017 13:07:39 GMT
Not gay is it?
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Post by Deleted on Jan 3, 2017 13:17:38 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Jan 3, 2017 15:40:12 GMT
The pot lives at the bottom of a cupboard in the hallway most of the year. Whatever it does there is its own business.
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Post by bixaorellana on Jan 3, 2017 19:09:47 GMT
Hmmm. Cupboard. Hallway.
Anything else you want to tell us, Mr. Dursley?
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Post by mickthecactus on Jan 4, 2017 13:16:28 GMT
Not an exciting wall on the face of it but it has the sun on it pretty much all day in summer. Soooo.. I intend to paint it white then put a shelf about two thirds of the way up with a Perspex rain shield over it and put a range of my cacti and succulents on it for summer.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 4, 2017 13:34:52 GMT
Cool idea Mick but I need to ask, assuming that you mean you are painting the brick white, why?
(I have pet peeve about painting bricks)
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Post by mickthecactus on Jan 4, 2017 13:44:20 GMT
To improve the light but also to match the wall opposite, the fence at the end and the front of my house.
The back wall of my greenhouse will also be painted white for the same reason.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 4, 2017 13:49:43 GMT
That makes sense.
I suspected it had to with light.
And, since they are not the old bricks I adore, I am not as picky about this.
Can't wait to see it's progress and completion.
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Post by mickthecactus on Jan 4, 2017 14:13:01 GMT
Indeed. If it was old bricks I would be with you. I arrange insurance on properties back to the 15th c so am pretty sympathetic on this front. We aren't actually sure whose wall it is - ours or the owners of the site behind.
I fancy it is theirs actually.
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Post by mickthecactus on Jan 7, 2018 9:27:25 GMT
Haven’t painted it..
It’s New Year so am going to completely repot my Sempervivum collection over today and tomorrow.
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Post by cheerypeabrain on Jan 7, 2018 19:12:20 GMT
Not planned the garden yet. I will grow potatoes but must remember to water them this year! I plan to move the thalictrums to the shady bed in the spring...replace my thyme and lavander plants in the herb bed and stick to pastel colours in the flower bed, bright colours in pots. I don't even know if I'll grow from seed this year or buy plants to bring on....exciting....
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