The 2020 Garden, Landscape, and Other Stuff Thread...

[taldesta]

Very nice. one question: where did you hide the snow?

I am pumping it out of the well onto the garden as we speak. Not kidding. My house water pump is slowly croaking so I picked up a nice 1/2 hp submersible sump pump and lowered it into the well and now feel free to water everything, fill the wild veg garden 'rain' barrel all while the well is on overflow. I have the old Dura piston pump out for some work but nobody seems to know much about them anymore - this one will pump up from the river - then I will be in water heaven. If I find someone who knows their stuff.

 

[22-rimfire]

22-rimfire Squirrels - there's a perpetual soap opera ongoing in the garden, mostly a loud one ... but entertaining

I posted a pic of the maple with a sizable break in the outer bark. I thought it looked like a large sun scald but it must have something a lot more serious because the bark over most of the tree now looks very unhealthy, lifting and with damage. Leafing is less than half of normal and leaves are falling regularly. So, can't blame the hungry baby squirrels munching on the buds. Sad loss of shade. I will either consider a shade structure or another more suitable tree. In fact a maple this close to the house was an iffy choice. Also the slow growth of a tree just may not see me even living in this location. Lots to consider.

My understanding is that the long daylight hours in the far North can actually be great for growing, an incentive for establishing greenhouse operations even, that could produce locally at fair prices - food security. And, like here, when the white stuff melts, we want a blast of colour for the growing season.

I googled the strappy plant - nice looking foliage. Enjoy herding those kittens !!

I moved my strappy plant out onto my front porch hoping that a bit more light will help it. We'll see.

Catching the felines is a daily event in my life.... it never stops and if something happened to me, I don't know what my wife would do. It is a constant thing tending to them one way or another. I still have not seen a hummingbird in my yard yet. I wonder if the cats have scared them away but they can't reach or come close to reaching the feeder.... Don't know. I'm about to give up putting out fresh nectar weekly until I actually see one.

Maybe the tree will be okay. They grow pretty quickly actually for what I call a semi-hard wood.

 

[LEGION 12]

Some advice ? My first time starting my pepper plant's from seedlings , I know I started a little late but do these look ready to plant ?

 

[taldesta]

You may find it difficult to lift them from this tray without the soil dropping away from the root at this stage. I posted earlier about the tough time I had when transplanting tomatoes similarly and vowed to seed in Jiffy pellets to hold root/soil together in future.

The peppers look great and are thriving and will do well if left for a while, taking care of it as you do. To experiment, you might try to raise one from its compartment to see how it holds together. Moisture balance in the soil will make a difference in how the soil holds. Peppers this size will need tlc and fine spray watering if transplanted out. I would give their roots more time in the tray and harden the plants off slowly to the uv - time to develop ... imo. My early tomatoes did get some sun shock because I rushed them. Good luck!

 

[22-rimfire]

Some advice ? My first time starting my pepper plant's from seedlings , I know I started a little late but do these look ready to plant ?

I would suggest you grow them a bit longer to near store bought plant size. I would want a couple more leaves on them myself before planting. That will allow them to develop more roots also. You're not loosing anything by letting them continue to grow where they are until they either get too tall or root bound.

 

[grybsh7]

Soon the wife and I will be dining on the world's most expensive grape tomatoes.

 

[annr]

Soon the wife and I will be dining on the world's most expensive grape tomatoes.

Exactly! Sometimes both of ours are delicious!

 

[LEGION 12]

 

[taldesta]

The crops are looking good! LEGION 12 Liatris along the fence is ahead of mine.

All my efforts to get some meat on these tiny bones ... well, results aren't all that noticeable except for some scruffy fur growth. But I'll take what I can get . Cute little guy.



Tomatoes aren't worth a pic yet - not like the one so nicely filled out above ... posted by @grybhs7

The maple is casting nice shade but is failing to leaf out as usual. Mostly nasturtiums seeded post frost plus some started early indoors are in the planters - waiting on blooms; should be soon. In the background the bee balm is jumping out of the ground. It amazes me that this mass of red flash and dazzle (wait for it) came from 10 plants originally. At the far end of the bee balm the black current is thriving too. If I even brush up against the black current, its wonderful scent is on the air. There are, unseen, two saskatoons too. The planters are kind of a squirrel obstacle course.



Just on the other side of the bee balm stand is the 'boulder garden' as I call it. The rocks are perennials too.
Behind the line of annual petunias are the lilies and paprika yarrow. Hollyhocks are slow but the stake is ready for them (L of bee balm). Way up on top of the weed hill you can just make out the water barrel that I use for the veg garden - gravity feed.



Gladiolas are doing well in the new dig and those little seedlings about 2" high are cosmos seeded directly post frost.



Crockett says "when the snow goes, Canada grows"



Happy summer and great gardening all

 

[22-rimfire]

Things are fairly ho hum in my garden. One of my container tomatoes got brown leaves and I just trashed it since I could pick up another plant now quite easily to replace it. They are doing okay in containers but the stalks aren't as beefy as in previous years. Don't know if it's the soil or the fact that I squeezed them into my pansies planted last fall in those containers and simply didn't compete well.... I planted a Big Boy variety in the regular garden to compare to the container tomatoes. It is doing well.

We have been getting some really hot days of late and one afternoon I looked out on my deck and the celery (in the City Pickers container) was totally wilted and mostly lying flat. I moved the container to a shade spot (morning sun) and they perked up by the next morning. So, they'll stay in the shade.

My green peppers are doing "okay". Seems the container ones are doing better than the regular garden ones. The container peppers are all the same variety and they live in a part shade environment shielded from the hot noon to PM sun for the most part.

It has been getting drier, but still okay. We have gotten LOTS of rain between January and June (46.16 inches to date versus normal annual precip is ~52.5") with a noticeable drying in late May. The current tropical storm effects were west of us, so we just got a few little thundershowers that may be related to it as it moved from LA northward. Amazing that it held together all the way to northern Michigan and the path is quite unusual for a tropical storm. I am half expecting a repeat of last year with what they called a "flash drought" in mid summer to early fall since we have gotten so much rain to this point.

Finally started planting annuals in my outdoor bed in front of the house. The pansies are petering out with the higher heat. I'm late in doing this. But I'll live.

Gardens are looking good taldesta LEGION 12

Added: I have a couple amaryllis going into bloom now. These are bulbs/plants that did not bloom in January-February-March. They are all outside for the summer and fall or until frost. I'll move them inside then again and repeat the process. There are just too many of them to keep in the house from a practical point of view. Some get parked in a pretty dark room as I have few places to put them close to a window for sun.

My orchids are moving toward the end of their bloom cycle now. They bloom for a few months which is really long for a flower.

 

[taldesta]

On Thursday, following power outage since Wed evening, I was reading here and had tried to post this note (saved to notepad) ... until the landline also went out

"My wifi is down, hydro went out early last evening ... and so I am powering the laptop with the inverter off the van battery and using dialup again. One heck of a long extension cord from van to lazyboy where I can access the landline. It seems that tropical storm blew further North than might be expected (eek - can't see emogees). It seems the inverter wasn't delivering enough juice to power the magic blinking box of wifi and the laptop at the same time. For more power I must try using a direct connection to battery, not just plugging into the console socket. Glad the dialup has not yet been cancelled during trial period - belt and suspenders talking here."

Power was restored Thu evening. Ah yes - wifi, lights, running water ... very nice indeed!

I'll be cutting grass for the third time today. All 60 trees are planted ... some may even survive Down with the wild grass.

Here, tomatoes in planters on the porch are doing well, one is flowering - this one I planted for a friend. In the wild veg garden they are not doing as well - the soil needs enriching desperately so I will be hitting the compost to get more food into the soil for them.

22-rimfire ... Do you find that a number of plants said to be 'full sun' just can't take the uv all day even when well watered? This is what I have found mostly for a number of the flowers I grow. Peppers are not liking full hot sun full time I have found too. And orchids ... challenging to grow?

Bug art - in the shade of the maple tree



Working on 'fattening' the runt - slowly



Along the house, in front of the liatris, Zinnia seedlings are coming along ... planted direct May 24. Hummingbird candy (wait for it )

 

[22-rimfire]

taldesta You little squirrel reminds me of our one scruffy little kitty. It grew up to be a yard terror! Still scruffy.

I knew that you got hit with this tropical storm. Power out too.... amazing. Must have been the wind. You have home based wifi now? You know.... what you were going to have installed back during the early days of Covid-19.

Orchids.... I really don't have the proper light environment for orchids in my house. You need bright light but not direct sun (like a green house). But there are some types that are easier to grow. I have found the Cattelya to be about the most difficult of the more common types. They are the ones commonly used as corsages like for graduations and prom type dances. You don't see this type in stores normally. They get quite large. But are very showy and perhaps the classic orchid. If I'm home, I mist them with water a couple times a day. Don't know if it is necessary or not, but I know they like humidity.

Yes to the direct sun question. Add a bunch of heat and the plants struggle in direct sun. Vinca and Petunias seem to do well as long as they don't dry out.

 

[taldesta]

Yes, the small ones are the survivors ... the wiry, tough ones. Runt squirrel is wary but is always watching for food. I put some crunchy peanut butter (going for the fat don't you know ) on a soup spoon and left it out for him - but not his cuppa. I picked up a huge bag of peanuts in the shell that do disappear quickly outside - I also suspect the chipmunks. These whole peanuts I have to place on the top edge of the planters because old Dez loves them too. She may be stone deaf and more blind than sighted, but there's nothing wrong with her nose.

Wifi was installed a couple of weeks ago - that is a dish on the side of the house with a cable through the wall to the magic blinking box. Lightning compared to dialup. Feeling quite spoiled.

Storm was wild, rain blowing horizontal and seemed like straight back up at times. No Holsteins on the wind, though. Lots of trees falling on hydro lines here and two tornadoes confirmed in SW Ontario.

I've mentioned that this runt hides seeds constantly. He often digs up my freshly planted ones too. He is heavy into his food security. Now the topper ... today I found a pumpkin sprouting in a planter 30 ft. from the one I recently planted the seed in! Soon I'll be mowing sunflowers down all over the lawn too.

Critters and weeds ... sigh

 

[22-rimfire]

Yes, the small ones are the survivors ... the wiry, tough ones. Runt squirrel is wary but is always watching for food. I put some crunchy peanut butter (going for the fat don't you know ) on a soup spoon and left it out for him - but not his cuppa. I picked up a huge bag of peanuts in the shell that do disappear quickly outside - I also suspect the chipmunks. These whole peanuts I have to place on the top edge of the planters because old Dez loves them too. She may be stone deaf and more blind than sighted, but there's nothing wrong with her nose.

Wifi was installed a couple of weeks ago - that is a dish on the side of the house with a cable through the wall to the magic blinking box. Lightning compared to dialup. Feeling quite spoiled.

Storm was wild, rain blowing horizontal and seemed like straight back up at times. No Holsteins on the wind, though. Lots of trees falling on hydro lines here and two tornadoes confirmed in SW Ontario.

I've mentioned that this runt hides seeds constantly. He often digs up my freshly planted ones too. He is heavy into his food security. Now the topper ... today I found a pumpkin sprouting in a planter 30 ft. from the one I recently planted the seed in! Soon I'll be mowing sunflowers down all over the lawn too.

Critters and weeds ... sigh

You might try ear corn for the scruffy little squirrel. Peanuts are good! Today I captured the little yard terror before it got dark. You should hear the sounds little Rosie makes begging me to let her outside. She loves it after dark. The problem is that I don't want to leave any of them outside overnight and it becomes are real pain to get them in until "they feel like it". The other evening after dark I looked out in my little garden and saw little Mikee (one of last year's kittens). As soon as he saw me, a raccoon raises up just behind him like a foot away. Another bandit to be sure. Mikee is still outside at the moment and I hope he decides it's time to come inside where it's safe.

Once you get a fast connection, there really isn't any going back if you get on line much. My one computer stays online all day long for the most part and you simply won't do that with a dial up connection.

I liked that movie too with the Holstein!

 

[22-rimfire]

I got my first ripe tomato this past week and have been harvesting broccoli now.

 

[taldesta]

Good stuff!

My weeds are ahead of my 'food crops' here. Plantain in the aggregate is tough to remove but I am winning, sort of. If I don't beat it now before it goes to seed I'll have them 100 times over next year. Then I would have to induct it into the 'food crop' category in self-defense.

I do dig the dandelions in the postage stamp lawn by the house, but only mow the seed heads down in the larger stands in flat areas.

Blooming where it can't cause too much harm - sheep sorrel over the septic bed. This weed propagates underground and by seed so I physically remove it from my gardens and borders. Another tough one once its cadzillions of seeds hit the ground. Time to mow.



Dock is a prolific seeder and very stubborn to pull. Strong root.



Among my most persistent and spreading nuisance weeds is dogbane. It puts up lily-of-the-valley type blooms - very pretty, but the foliage goes ugly quickly. Makes for adequate cordage but keeps on marching toward my gardens. Prolific seeder.



Lots more weeds, so little time

 

[22-rimfire]

Good stuff!

My weeds are ahead of my 'food crops' here. Plantain in the aggregate is tough to remove but I am winning, sort of. If I don't beat it now before it goes to seed I'll have them 100 times over next year. Then I would have to induct it into the 'food crop' category in self-defense.

I do dig the dandelions in the postage stamp lawn by the house, but only mow the seed heads down in the larger stands in flat areas.

Dock is a prolific seeder and very stubborn to pull. Strong root.

View attachment 1359564

Among my most persistent and spreading nuisance weeds is dogbane. It puts up lily-of-the-valley type blooms - very pretty, but the foliage goes ugly quickly. Makes for adequate cordage but keeps on marching toward my gardens. Prolific seeder.
View attachment 1359566

Lots more weeds, so little time

You need to dig Burdock if you want to get rid of it. It doesn't spread much. Not familiar with dogbane, but I'm interested.

My yard is fairly "groomed" in terms of weeds and turf. My biggest problem weed are the wild violets as neighbors on both sides of me have what seems like a yard full of them and they spread via seed into my yard and are most difficult to kill with herbicides. Basically, I dig them with about 85% reduction success. Sometimes they will sprout back up with their tiny roots but if you get the "kernal" root, that is where most of their energy comes from and why they are so difficult to kill.

Dogbane is mostly a field and forest plant for me and not an issue in yards unless they are all grown up. I haven't seen it in a good while and it may not do well in my locale.

 

[taldesta]

Re: the violets and similar invasives that take so much persistence - and even then with no guarantee of eradication. At my last digs I fought Snow on the Mountain - also named goutweed. I liked it but the foliage turned ugly quickly - other than that it stayed in dappled shade, avoided full sun and looked for all the world like a great groundcover. I routed it mercilessly and then began the daily 'starving to death' of picking every new leaf (hands and knees type devotion to the task). I won that battle. I cannot see tackling violets in the lawn this way - they love full sun, go to seed under mower height and I think they propagate by root as well?

Long story - I replaced the goutweed with creeping Jenny and had to move

I believe what I posted above is curly dock (may be edible), not burdock. I do have burdock as well but it seems self-contained and not a problem unless my dog ambles into it.

My most recent big fight here is with the common mallow - a great wild perennial groundcover - but it outgrows the lawn and looks unkempt. I've dug and dug it, seeded grass over it - but the new seedlings are hard to remove unless I attack it like goutweed .. and I won't be doing that. The musk mallow in the fields puts up a beautiful flower and I like that one.

Too bad when a gardener is on a first name basis with as many weeds as desirable plants among the crops

 

[LMT66]

Driveway meets sidewalk project.

Started out like this. (it was here when we bought the house) The city replaced the sidewalk so the honey said that takes priority. The whole thing was sunken from neglect and water.


Removed as much of the shredded tire mulch as I could and dumped 7 bags of topsoil to raise it up. Borrowed a few pacman bricks from the side bushes border and got to this.


The coral bell came with the house. I split some hosta from the back yard and planted it in the center and honey put marigolds around the edge. (we planted way too many flower seeds in pots this year)


The hosta came out shortly after. I bought a Salvia and a small coral bell to even things out.


My OCD made me take out the red coral bell and go get two more (palace purple) that match the other one I planted. I may reposition the CB's and Salvia. They are a bit too close and will not be spaced good when they start maturing.

 

[LMT66]

The garden's are coming along. Late start planting. Everything planted from seeds this year except for our 3rd year chive garden. We planted onions last fall and they were coming up thru the snow this spring. We ate them all then tilled the garden before planting.


Some tomato plants popped up in the middle of this years lettuce spot in the main garden. Must have been from the tomatoes the critters knocked off and partially ate last fall.


Couple cucumber plants threw out tendrils last night so we put up the wire for them to climb.


Peppers are slow this year but gaining steam!


Tomato stems are getting thicker and gaining height.


Sesame leaves are coming along nice!


We made hand made and rolled chive/egg/shrimp dumplings the other day!


Chive garden with some green onion, sesame and old pantry garlic thrown in.