The Hobbit Hole III - Journey to the Cross-roads!

[HairOfTheDog]

Welcome to The Hobbit Hole!

Journey to the Cross-roads
The Two Towers Edition

Come on! Come in! -if you would like to have some seedcakes and a pint and relax a while. (If it is a special occasion, we still have a few bottles of the old wineyards left!)

Our first thread ( New Zealander builds Hobbit hole ) reached 4,100 posts, and we thought that was big. Our second thread (The New Hobbit Hole ) held us for over 48,000 posts, and we loved it dearly. We talked about moving to a new thread for the last 38,000 posts, but we are really slow to muster! Finally, the time has come. Tomorrow (at 12:01 am, to be precise!) The Two Towers comes out, and we start a new chapter.

[Corin Stormhands]

That the joint supplement stuff? - Did you find it?

Yep. Started him on it this morning.

[Overtaxed]

You know...I'm not sure! I THINK it faces east, actually. Does that bode ill for any gardening plans?

Not really boding ill...it might just help your plant selection to know whether the plants will be getting morning sun/ afternoon shade or morning shade/ afternoon sun. Or maybe that's not really a factor in Vermont. We have hot summers here and the morning/afternoon conditions make a difference.

[RosieCotton]

all water running off the roof comes down right there in front of the house.

Of course, that's only true of the part right by the door, but it gets really wet there!

[RMDupree]

Lucky you!

I am so drained, I feel like I could sleep for a week!

I just keep telling myself that soon enough the kids will be at an age where they do not require my attention at the crack of dawn!

[Corin Stormhands]

Mint grows everywhere as a perenial doesn't it?

Does it? Does that mean I can just transplant what I currently have in a pot on the deck? What does it look like in the winter?

[SuziQ]

Saw that statue of the horse with Saddam on it get blown to kingdom come!

I heard about that, but haven't seen it yet! The news guy said that the tank that fired on it had "Courtesy of the Red White and Blue" written on the barrel!! How very fitting!

[HairOfTheDog]

Cool. Did you get the crystal stuff or the liquid stuff? I have switched back and forth.

I think Shephard Smith just said [chem weapons missiles] sound very series... er... serious.

[Wneighbor]

There is no longer a clock tower

I heard that on my way to work this morning too! Loved it - don't bring coffee in my pickup (only 5 minutes from work). He had a couple of other prizes in there too but I forget them. I thought it was better than usual today and I usually don't enjoy the fill-in as much as Paul.

[RosieCotton]

Not really boding ill...it might just help your plant selection to know whether the plants will be getting morning sun/ afternoon shade or morning shade/ afternoon sun. Or maybe that's not really a factor in Vermont.

Probably not as much of a factor, but we still get hot weather. I'll keep that in mind...especially if/when I get to the rock garden project. I doubt I'll get to that this summer. I'd have to get rocks first, for one! And do more plant research.

[g'nad]

nope...

[SuziQ]

Payback's a bitch, and they might consider an American bullet the easier way to get to their 72 virgins.

Or at the least, less painful. I certainly wouldn't want to be set upon by vengeful Arab women. Considering how those Fedayeen have been treating the women for all these years, it couldn't get very nasty indeed.

[Corin Stormhands]

I just keep telling myself that soon enough the kids will be at an age where they do not require my attention at the crack of dawn!

Really? When is that? I'm still gettin' Jr. up every mornin' at 6:00.

[Corin Stormhands]

Did you get the crystal stuff or the liquid stuff?

I got pills. That's all they had.

[HairOfTheDog]

Grrrr. I sent it priority due to short timing! I sent 300winmag's regular first class the same day and his got there already! Hopefully today.

[Overtaxed]

Yes! Mint would do okay and it's easy to grow...at least over here. :) I've got a bunch of oregano growing around my mailbox and near the front entrance. My lemon balm is invading the back yard around half of a pine tree that needs to be chipped. How about some chives for a vertical feature? Then there's purple basil...you'd have to plant basils every year.

[SuziQ]

I'm half tempted to get rid of most of the grass. It's such a small amount that's it's a pain to mow, but I'm not sure what I could do instead.

Why not try a ground cover? You could do pachysandra or vinca. I like vinca because I like the little blue flowers. We used that in some planting beds in NJ, and it was lovely. You can get the little plugs at a good price from Musser Forests in Indiana PA; they ship it to you. It takes a year or so for it to fill in, but you save some money over buying full plants.

[HairOfTheDog]

Interesting! - Cool. That'll work!

[RMDupree]

Didja hafta smash my lovely hopes? *wink*

[Overtaxed]

The way the roof is shaped, all water running off the roof comes down right there in front of the house. Would that have an adverse affect on anything I planted?

Oooh! How about putting a rain barrel there? I expect it would affect the plants until they got established. You could do a raised bed or something else that drains well.

[Wneighbor]

Rosie, once something gets established the root system ought to hold up to the rain coming off the house. The mint and wormwood that I mentioned are both lower growing than shrubs and would be good between some shrubs. They both hold up well to rain coming off the roof of my house. Pretty much act like weeds. They are to some folks.

I'm at a loss on your shrubs. The ones that I like are probably not going to work where you are. I use rosemary and lemon verbena. The thing is though, that if you like something well enough you can try it and if it doesn't work then put something else there next year.

It really becomes fun to just start and do one thing a year and watch the process build something that suits you. Plants can die and you don't have to be out a lot. I spend sparingly if I think something might not work. Then, you can try something else later. Planticide is not a crime.