Posted on 05/11/2012 8:02:17 AM PDT by JustaDumbBlonde
Good morning FRiends and fellow gardeners!! Here's wishing all mothers and grandmothers a very joyous and beautiful Mother's Day. We rock!
It has been a very busy couple of weeks in my yard. Lots of projects going on and I was able to finish a few of them in between serious dumpings of rain. My rain gauge has registered just over 4" since Monday. We have a 50% chance of more by the first part of next week. Need to be harvesting wheat, but can't really be upset with the rain after the drought we experienced last year.
A look at the radar this morning shows blessed rain falling in Texas. I hope that everybody that needs some rain is receiving it.
The main project I've worked on for 2 weeks is placing flower beds around 4 of the 7 old oaks in my front yard, utilizing reclaimed railroad ties. Each bed contains 10 azaleas, with some assorted colorful plants added to offer something appealing until the azaleas grow and bloom next Spring.
I don't know what it is, but RR ties look HUGE when they are being loaded on your trailer, but when you dump them out next to a big oak, all of a sudden they look as small as a landscape timber. It took 2 men to move these things around. Step one: dump 8 of them by each tree.
Next, we layed-out the first bed in the basic configuration I had been pondering in my head, and figured out how we wanted to cut them. Note: the creosote in RR ties totally ruins the chain on a chainsaw. Be prepared to sharpen the teeth every 6-8 ties, and replace the whole chain when you're done.
After settling on the joints we would use, the ties were cut. Really happy with how the joints turned out. We have drilled 2 holes in each of the long sides and hammered a piece of rebar through the tie and about 18" into the ground. The secured ties hold the angled pieces in with the joint.
I purchased 30 yards of soil from a friend and he delivered it right to the front yard. He dug from an area where he fed his cows for a decade or more, and the soil is rich with decayed hay and composted poo. Very loamy and absolutely gorgeous. Everything I planted should do very well.
The four bundles of azaleas that I ordered from my very favorite nursery in Georgia. They had their patented (named) azaleas on clearance for $3 each, so I got 10 per tree. Each bundle is a different color. The colors were Lady Mildred which is purple, Peppermint which is a pink/white stripe, a red and a hot pink, neither of which names I can recall right now. The nursery takes them out of the pots and packs the roots with moisture-retaining gel. Then they ship them to me via UPS. They experienced some transplant shock when I put them in the beds, but the stems are still very much alive and green, so I have every confidence that they will recover nicely. If not, they are guaranteed and I'll get replacements when they resume shipping again in the Fall.
Bed #1 when we got finished with it:
Bed #2:
Bed #3:
Bed #4 doesn't have any accent flowers yet ... I ran out and haven't had a chance to buy any yet.
With some soil left over from the flower beds, I moved on to my raised garden bed where I grow my lettuces and other salad makings. When I originally built this 8' x 16' bed, I filled it with potting soil, which turned out to be a poor choice. I put 100 feet of soaker hose down before I added the new soil:
Added the soil and got it spread out nicely:
Then I covered the soil with commercial grade landscape fabric, utilizing an old framing square to tuck in 4" on all sides.
Got the bed finished just in time for a thunderstorm! The tucked edges, along with 5 landscape pins down the middle, kept the fabric nicely in place.
Some of my geese, very much enjoying playing in the rain:
Finally, I took this photo when I had one of my bee hives torn apart. This frame shows nurse bees tending everything from eggs (lower right corner area) to larvae ready to be capped until the baby bees form and emerge.
Looking forward to hearing about your week in the yard and garden! Please check in and let everyone know what you've been up to. Photos are always appreciated and enjoyed!
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I don't think it will hurt the tree to cover up the roots. Two of my oaks are in a low spot, and over the years the topsoil has washed away and left roots exposed and hardpan ground that doesn't want to support grass. Putting those beds in has helped solve a couple of problems.
Where you run into trouble with trees is banking soil up against the trunk. The problem with that is you provide soil dwelling insects a new avenue to attack the tree. Additional moisture on the bark may also be a problem.
It has been mentioned downthread that the size of my trees is going to allow me to put some soil around the base without causing many problems. As the beds have settled in all of the rain, we've pulled a little away from directly touching the trunk, and there is only a couple of inches left. I have placed some insecticidal pellets in the soil around the trunk and hope that it will help, but I will keep an eye on all of the trees to make sure that no problems crop up.
We have battled honeysuckle for the 15 years we have lived here. lol The lady who owned the house previously said it was planted in pots to contain it but apparently it escaped. We have found pots when digging so evidently she tried to keep it from going wild but it didn’t work.
It looks pretty on the fence and smells heavenly but it is a constant fight to try to contain it.
I would love to have one of those.
I have 8 tomato plants in a 6x6 raised bed that are doing fine so far. I have another 6x6 raised bed that I need to do something with.
Thanks again for the seeds.
The last photo was taken in 2003 and is the rose bush I used (with owner permission) to take cuttings to get my monster rose. This bloom looks quartered and pretty, took my cuttings later from different stems. My monster bush is a bit of a disappointment because the blooms do not look like this lovely one. They are like pompoms. The first year they were pretty with white outlines and more form. I don't know what causes this. The reason I keep the big rose now (I have another one on the side of the house that doesn't get enough sun) is that it provides such a nice splash of color when it does bloom, too bad these old roses only bloom in the spring.
I don't think I'll mess with Honeysuckle. I had invasive stuff before I ever started this gardening, and now I've brought in with seeds and compost some hellish stuff I'll never get rid off. We did get rid of some really nasty white, big and clumpy spreading all over clover but at a price. Careless with the chemical ruined a couple plants.
Finding old photos, uploading and posting photos is a pain. It was a lot easier when I had my own web space which I gave up due to cost. There are sure nicer photos I could post, but these illustrate what we've been talking about.
I don't know how you will ever be completly free of the honeysuckle. It's probably too tough for even RU and forms tubers and spreads way underground. Get rid of some and it pops up somewhere else. Plus the digging would be very tough work.
Yes the yellow and white is the type we have. We have given up trying to eradicate it and are just trying to contain it.
Your rose is very pretty. I lost a couple over the winter as well as 2 hydrangeas. Odd since our winter was so mild.
I also purchased some persian shields, which will be gorgeous when they mature a little. The purple should get really vibrant.
Which of the okra varieties are you going to plant?
My roses in front are so gorgeous, never bloomed like that before. Some I shovel pruned parts came back, can't dig as deep as I used to.
I'm sorry you're fighting that honeysuckle, thank heaven I didn't try to start one of those. I thought there were some honeysuckles that grow on bushes like pink. I think those might be ok and smell heavenly. Maybe they are something else.
Sorry about your hydrangeas. I think they do well in shade on the north side of the house as well as part sun, maybe full. Maybe it was the freezing and thawing that threw the plants off. My roses are blooming about a whole month early this year.
Most people on here do vegetable gardening. I've done that in the past with mixed results. It takes experience.
Gorgeous photos!
Being noobs at okra, we will prolly start a few clemson spineless, jade, and cowhorn. I(we) turned up about an 8 X 16 or 18 patch. I figured 2 rows and room to walk between at harvesting, or possibly we may run the rows crosswise.
I am hoping that nobody will steel from us being okra.
I have mentioned that we could take out all the trees out back and have a sunny back yard for sun plants and a bigger garden. Then I could get a tracter and work a bigger plot! Actually, I just want a reason to buy a tracter. :)
You haven’t grown them before?
Please let me know how you make out with them. I might try it. Zone 5A.
My Mother would bring a plate of veggies to us about an hour before supper. Sliced radishes, sliced kohlrabi, celery, etc., with a touch of salt on the side. Mmmm.
Does kohlrabi need a lot of water?
We got 2in from the same system as it moved though here during the night.
Anyway I'm in awe of your place and what you've built and planted. I love that second caladium, never cared for them much but they've grown on me from the neighbors.
I guess you have a pond there and it wasn't just flooded. Those geese are wild but I guess they've made a home with you. I don't know if you can eat them or not; I'd kind of hate to kill one but they are getting out of control. Amazing because I grew up in a bird watching family and never saw one in all my years until maybe the last 10 or so.
This link said to keep the soil moist.
http://www.howtogardenadvice.com/vegetables/grow_kohlrabi.html
Thanks for the report on your garden! Everything sounds wonderful.
Thank you LTOS! I appreciate your kind comments.
Thank you for your kind comments and I’m glad your garden is doing well. Also, thank you for the okra info. I love okra and will definitely try some Heavy Hitter.
Thanks for checking in, Mike! You’ve got a yummy selection planted. I love planting season too, but enjoy eatin’ season more. :)
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