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Post by bixaorellana on Jun 26, 2020 16:47:12 GMT
Casimira, since I know your wonderful garden and have heard about its development over the years, I feel your frustration as it grows beyond your present capabilities. Can you make a fairly comprehensive chart & some lists of what needs doing? I'm thinking that perhaps you could find a professional landscaper/gardener with the right tools and the sensitivity to tackle the garden & get it back into shape in a couple of days or so. I'm not saying this lightly, as I realize this would be a pretty expensive undertaking.
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Post by bjd on Jun 26, 2020 18:16:01 GMT
Ha, ha, Bixa. The first garden thing we did when we bought this house was tear out all the hedges and there were a lot of them, including bushes to hide the garden shed. Then we paid someone to take out over 70 linear meters of laurel hedging.
And I don't need to worry about motorized anything. He can't stand the noise of those things either.
There were two little box bushes here but, like in my garden in Toulouse, a few years ago there was an infestation of caterpillars which ate everything up, leaving nothing but brown branches.
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Post by bixaorellana on Jun 26, 2020 18:31:40 GMT
That was a hell of a lot of hedging! Perhaps you were too hasty, getting rid of what your husband could have turned into valuable landscaping features.
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Post by breeze on Jun 26, 2020 18:53:50 GMT
Casimira, I feel for you.
We also have a garden that at one time I was fairly pleased with, but the rabbit population increased. They took over our garden and have gnawed anything with woody stems to the ground. Our flower beds are full of blank areas where there used to be shrubs or my beloved Siberian iris. Half the peony plants, the backbone of the flower garden, are discolored and shrunken. My chosen daylilies have been infiltrated with the wild orange ones. Filipendula has spread everywhere and I hate it so have been digging it up twice a week. It’s a real thug, and sneaky? My lord!
I could go on but I hope I’ve already convinced you that my garden is worse than yours.
What I’m sure you have that we don’t have here is the lush, tropical jungle look. To you, your garden might look unkempt since you know how it looks at its best. I bet visitors would find it romantically full, green, and thriving. If it has an air of mystery, so much the better.
Don’t lose heart. It sounds like the garden you love is still there, just maybe too much of it. Is it possible to follow Bixa’s suggestion of targeted pruning by a pro?
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Post by bjd on Jun 27, 2020 6:14:05 GMT
My God! I just clicked on Bixa's link about topiary. I can't imagine why anybody would spend their time doing something like that.
And just to be clear, the hedge we had removed is topiary-proof. When it's cut, the outer branches come off and the thick stems remain. It would be impossible to prune. When we told the neighbour that the first thing we planned to do was to remove the hedge, my husband explained to him that he didn't retire in order to spend his time pruning the hedge.
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Post by casimira on Jun 27, 2020 12:16:16 GMT
Thank you good people for the kind words, support and advice.
There really isn't any one person that I could or would hire for a variety of reasons. It's a bit complex in that the work that needs to be done is really grunt work and entails labor intensive heavy duty digging, weeding and whacking. The two people I mentioned are quite capable of doing this. It's really been a matter of their unavailability at this particular time. I would be reluctant to hire someone from a landscape company because I know what they do and it is not going to remedy my situation. They would tidy things up but, they would do it with weed whackers and the like as opposed to manually digging the undesirable vines and umpteen large clumps of weeds. The larger job of radically pruning the two Live Oaks would have to be done by a professional arborist and I have 2 in mind. It's a matter of being able to afford doing it at this time because we need to prioritize our finances and budget to pay for other things not involving the landscape. (our car is on it's way out and soon will need to replaced with a decent used car. We are currently shopping for one and have some leads.)
In the meantime, I am going to try and nail down the substitute helper and get a commitment from him to give me two days a week to conquer the aforementioned grunt work. He's the best person for the job and I am sure he could use the money right now. His unreliability has largely been due to dealing with the mothers of his two younger children that he is at odds with right now and have banded together and being unreasonable about having x amount of hours with the two kids. (much of it is pandemic related as is just about everything these days it seems. It's rearing it's head in just about everything). I'll be in touch with him this weekend and go over with him a time frame and schedule that works for both of us. It will eventually get done. I have simply just been impatient in wanting to do it soon because I cannot enjoy going out into the jungle without getting psychologically overwhelmed, daunted and discouraged. I can't relax "out there" because my eyes wander all over the place to all these different areas of overgrowth and I obsess to the point of avoiding going out there all together. Being isolated with all kinds of time on my hands to do it all and physically unable to do it is incredibly frustrating. (years ago, I would have killed to have this much free time, Why now I ask myself?!) I'm not dealing with the aging process very well I'm afraid, and, it easily can throw me into a funk. It's much more prevalent because of all that's going on with the pandemic and the state of the world right now. I think all of our psyches are more than a bit skewed these days. People are in much more dire straits over much more important things so, I need to remind myself that whining about all this is all pretty petty stuff and is rather selfish. I need to learn to get some gratitude about the more positive things in my life.
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Post by bixaorellana on Jun 27, 2020 18:23:02 GMT
If you can't gripe about gardening setbacks in the Gardening Waffle thread, where can you gripe about it? It's not whining. Everyone here has been frustrated by lacking the time, the brute strength, the funds, the weather, or whatever else it is that keeps us from having the garden perfection we crave. Anyway, sounds as though you have a plan & things will eventually get whipped (not weed-whipped) into shape.
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Post by kerouac2 on Jun 28, 2020 12:03:22 GMT
I might take a photo of my bucket of weeds soon ("miscellaneous wildflowers" according to Hema), and you will pity me. But I am amused by it.
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Post by casimira on Jun 28, 2020 17:30:26 GMT
I realized when it was posted and then realized it again this a.m. and forgot to post it but, thank you Breeze for your kind commiseration regarding my garden and the current status of what sounds to be a once healthy thriving and beautiful garden of your own. Rabbits, but, mostly deer decimated my mother's garden years ago up on Long Island. To see her beloved iris and tree peonies, French lilacs and many other fabulous specimens, decimated and munched down to the ground was a source of much overwhelming dismay, frustration and finally resignation for her. I would go to visit and visit the local nursery to buy her some plants to put on her porch just to cheer her up. When I went to pot them up she just shook her head and would say, "C. dear, they will be gone by midday." I would say, "surely not, not right up here on the porch." Her reply, "just watch..." Sure enough, we sat and chatted, ate some lunch, and along come two deer who proceed to casually, as though they lived there in the house, calmly walk right up and munch down on the newly potted fresh geraniums I had just planted not even two hours earlier. She learned to live with them being there and as she lived alone at that time they were a part of her daily life. They trusted her so much that one day a doe came and gave birth to two fawns right next to her back door in a shallow flower bed (with no flowers in it anymore...). She called me every 15 minutes, all excited, concerned, worried because the doe left the fawns and my mother was at wit's end thinking they were going to die there. I kept reassuring her that the doe would return. "But, they're covered in blood, should I go out and wash them, I have some Woolite I could dilute and bathe them." I kept reassuring her that the mother would return soon and no, do not try and bathe them. Finally, the doe returned and in fairly short order the fawns got up out of the flower bed and followed their mother out into the field. We recalled that story many, many times over the years and she would deny the part about the Woolite but, the twinkle in her eyes spoke to it being a special day we shared over the many miles between us. And so, take heart Breeze. As gardeners we love our flowers but we can't claim to own the earth they grow on. They belong to Mother Nature and us foolish humans are not in total control of what her capricious forces may bring us. I have to remind myself of that whenever I remember that special day with my mother. Good to see you Breeze. We don't see you often enough and thank you again for your encouraging words.
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Post by bjd on Jun 28, 2020 18:25:19 GMT
My sister lived for some years in London, Ontario, in a house just across the road from a park and a river. One morning she discovered that a duck had laid eggs just outside her front door. For some time the duck sat on the eggs. A few days after they hatched, my brother-in-law stopped traffic on the road in front while the duck walked to the river with her ducklings behind her.
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Post by bixaorellana on Jul 5, 2020 18:19:56 GMT
Yesterday the worm castings man told me he has various safe treatments for garden problems available. He doesn't live in town, but comes in twice a week for the now severely curtailed organic market. Anyway, he has neem and some others. I need help because I always have problems with things like leaf miners on tomatoes, for instance. Almost everything I have is in pots and in a fairly small area. I don't want to poison the environment and of course can't spray conventional poisons on my herbs. I know some of you are familiar with using the natural treatments and I'd really like some recommendations and guidance.
Side-note: I asked about fish emulsion and he'd never heard of it, although he said he had something called "alga-marina", presumably made from seaweed. Maybe fish emulsion doesn't exist in Mexico, since I've been looking for it ever since I moved here.
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Post by bixaorellana on Aug 1, 2020 5:06:28 GMT
Here is my patio, holding up so far despite all the rain. The front door faces due south, meaning that there is a pretty sharp division of sun and shade during a big part of the day. Standing at the front door, looking down to the driveway gate ~ Closeup of the driveway gate ~ From the carport looking back at the house ~ Herbs & vegetables in the center of the patio. It doesn't look like it, but there is space to walk between the herbs and that flamingo & the tree to the right of it ~
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Post by bjd on Aug 1, 2020 15:40:35 GMT
It certainly looks as though the rain hasn't harmed your plants. It all looks great.
My garden is a disaster these days. The grass looks like a doormat, although that's not a problem -- it will just get green again once it rains a few times. But lots of flowers' leaves have turned completely brown, including many of the peonies I planted last year and this spring.
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Post by bixaorellana on Aug 1, 2020 15:49:13 GMT
Thanks, Bjd. I've had to move two of the plants under cover for the last couple of rains. The gardenia was waterlogged, turning yellow, & losing some of the nice buds it had. The huge, multi-branched crown-of-thorns also needed not to get soaked anymore.
That is so discouraging about your garden (peonies!) getting hammered by the heat & drought. Do you have any way of having water butts for rainwater?
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Post by bjd on Aug 1, 2020 16:52:41 GMT
Instead of regular eavestroughs, we have chains running down to stone-filled rings. Anyway, we stand buckets there but since we have been having a lot of mosquitoes this year, I don't want to leave standing water. Anyway, we haven't had any rain for weeks.
I do occasionally water with a hose, but it's not nearly as good as a good rain.
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Post by cheerypeabrain on Aug 1, 2020 17:20:34 GMT
Ohhhhhh...your garden is gorgeous Bixa. Excellent grouping of pots...Im a huge fan of the textures and diverse forms of foliage.
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Post by cheerypeabrain on Aug 1, 2020 17:21:53 GMT
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Post by bixaorellana on Aug 2, 2020 21:52:05 GMT
Instead of regular eavestroughs, we have chains running down to stone-filled rings. Anyway, we stand buckets there but since we have been having a lot of mosquitoes this year, I don't want to leave standing water. I don't know if you have any place to conceal something like this in your yard, but I have four 100-liter covered garbage cans. One of them is conveniently placed beneath a roof runoff place, and the other three have the rain water brought to them in buckets. Keeping them covered is key, of course. Gorgeous, gorgeous array of pictures, Cheery! I know I always say the same thing, but I'm always knocked out by your subtle and lush plant combinations. And thank you so much for your generous and encouraging comments. I think of having to garden atop driveways or other pavement as "fake gardening", since my goal is always to create the illusion of a meandering garden, even though almost everything is in pots. One thing that is not in a pot is the honeysuckle I planted when I first moved in. It's down there by the driveway gates, but all you can see in the picture is a little "eyebrow" of the foliage that was on the scalloped edge of the carport facing the triangle pot holder. I remember how I coddled and pampered each little bit of the honeysuckle when I first planted it -- even splinting a broken branch and binding it with aloe. Ha ~ now the word "rampant" is inadequate to describe it. My goal was to have it drape itself over the dinky roof over the driveway gates. It completely refuses, although it has happily climbed up and covered the corner of my neighbor's roof. Anyway, my garden waffle report for today is that I spent hot hours pruning the monster, and only quit when I ran out of places to put the prunings.
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Post by mickthecactus on Aug 3, 2020 7:47:34 GMT
The trouble of container gardening is watering in dry spells. It’s a bit of a faff to say the least.
Yes, honeysuckle is a bit of a thug although initially it seems delicate and the scent is wonderful. I trained one up a downpipe once and eventually it pulled the pipe down.
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Post by mickthecactus on Aug 3, 2020 10:00:57 GMT
Now I've had a chance to look at the pictures on my computer rather than the phone I can really appreciate them. Your garden area is really lovely Bixa. It looks cool (in the temperature sense).
Cheery, what is the one in the second picture?
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Post by cheerypeabrain on Aug 3, 2020 11:20:41 GMT
It's a Mina Lobata also known as Spanish Flag. An annual climber, likes the same sort of conditions as ipomeas.
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Post by tod2 on Aug 3, 2020 12:04:39 GMT
What a beautiful oasis of plants Bixa! You certainly have made the most enticing array of pots both hanging and on the patio floor space. Looking at your first photo I see tiny windows at the end. Are these the problem odour ones?
Cheery, your blooms are divine!
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Post by kerouac2 on Aug 3, 2020 15:00:33 GMT
That looks quite a bit more lush than when I visited, Bixa. Bravo. Cheery, your photos make me fantasize that you live in a flowery jungle, but I know that you have probably tricked us with closeups.
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Post by cheerypeabrain on Aug 3, 2020 16:30:00 GMT
You got me
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Post by bixaorellana on Aug 3, 2020 17:09:42 GMT
The trouble of container gardening is watering in dry spells. It’s a bit of a faff to say the least. Thanks for the kind words, Mick. And yes -- too true about dry spells, especially as the dry spell here lasts half the year. It's a Mina Lobata also known as Spanish Flag. That's a beauty, Cheery. I love its leaves, too. That looks quite a bit more lush than when I visited, Bixa. Bravo. Thanks, Kerouac. Not only has it been almost four years since you saw my patio, this particular year I have been here to fuss over it in the summer.
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Post by kerouac2 on Aug 3, 2020 17:21:56 GMT
True, no more abandoning your helpless plants for 2 months!
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Post by casimira on Aug 6, 2020 12:24:39 GMT
Absolutely gorgeous Bixa!! I don't know why I'm so impressed, you have always been an inspiration in the garden and clearly continue to do so. WOW!! Such great utilization of space and oh so welcoming!! And, your art work so enhances the space interspersed here and there.
Love your Cheery blooms Cherry!! I grew mina lobata years ago and quite loved it. It drew lots of comments and inquiries.
We had the wettest July on record and many of my plants suffered horribly as a result. Lots of rot. I don't even want to talk about it.
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Post by casimira on Aug 7, 2020 11:49:07 GMT
I have looked over your courtyard pics several times and recognize most of the plants. BUT, there is one that has me baffled. It's the tall woody plant (no blooms visible) that's situated in the center with the herbs. It's right next to that really tall plant with leaves at the top.
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Post by bixaorellana on Aug 7, 2020 15:56:06 GMT
Super kind, Casimira ~ thank you! I bask in your praise, as you know I've always considered you way ahead of me as a plantswoman in terms of knowledge and willingness to try tricky plants. Condolences on the rain losses, which I know all too well. You'll remember that I moved back to La. & into a new house where I wanted to establish a garden. That was the year the area got almost 114 inches of rain. sourceIn the picture, do you mean the lemon verbena?
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Post by casimira on Aug 7, 2020 17:00:02 GMT
I had a feeling that was what it was .GRRRRR!!! You just had to confirm it didn't you? Go head, rub it in!!! I'll get you back for that someway, somehow.
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