Gardening

[RolliePollie]

I live on 11 acres and gardening is my alternative exercise for the spring and summer months. This place has a little bit of everything...fruit trees, forest, grass, 5 acre Christmas tree farm, nice landscaping near the house, and loads of WEEDS! (By the way, this is my parents' property and it's up for sale...if anyone wants to buy it, let me know - it's too much for me to take care of all by myself and it needs to sell!). Last summer I learned all about irrigation lines and geysers in the middle of the night, mower tractor repair, and the importance of wearing long pants when you're week whacking (leg skin doesn't hold up well to that weed eater string). I really can't say I'm looking forward to all that stuff again this year.

Anyway, gotta love this time of year for planting flowers. I have a bit of an addiction to flowers. Perennials are wonderful, but I love annuals too. You get so much bang for your buck even with those little 6 packs of basics like petunias and impatiens. Some of my favorite perennials are sedum, yarrow, and hostas. Oh, and as an alternative to grass, ornamental strawberry and vinca minor grow like crazy and use less water.

One thing I discovered a few years back are soaker hoses. But you have to get the good ones...the black spongy rubber ones that let the water leak out all over the place. The green ones with little holes don't last. Anyway, just snake the soaker hoses all through your plants and let them run for several hours about once a week (more or less I guess...depending on where you live). Very easy and very effective. Since the water is coming out right on the ground, you lose less from evaporation too!

[sgtiger]

...the importance of wearing long pants when you're weed whacking (leg skin doesn't hold up well to that weed eater string).

Ooh... OW! My BGF learned that the hard way too. Took a big chunk of flesh off her leg. It looked awful! I'm sure it hurt like a beotch too.

[mhara]

We decided two years ago (when our remaining cat died) that we would develop a garden that was friendly to wild-life (birds, butterflies, hedgehogs, frogs, toads - we don't run to the large animal range of wild-life in the UK that some of you may still have in the US).

First to go was the lawn. We decided which areas we wanted to keep paved for outdoor relaxing/entertaining and then we re-landscaped the rest so that there would be a different type of view in front of the house and out the back. That way, whether inside or outside there was a good chance of seeing our wild visitors. It 's amazing just how territorial birds are.

The rewards have been great. And no more lawn-mowing, plus a drought-resistant garden so our water bills have gone down too. This year we're starting to redevelop down one side of the house.

Only (slight) problem at the moment are the neighbours two cats which are thrilled to have a hunting-ground right by them!

[Trek420]

Only (slight) problem at the moment are the neighbours two cats which are thrilled to have a hunting-ground right by them!

I worry about that too. I'm told that keeping the bird attractive plants, bird feeders, bird bath, bird coffee shop ... just kidding about the last one up and away from predator cover helps.

I have a teeny tiny tiny patio in my condo.

The patio is also where my dog lives when I'm at work and when she's not off walking my dog walker.

When I got the joint it was a patch of cement without a stick of green.

The problem is the small size, dual purpose (doggie) and light. To the East is the other unit and carport roof, the South is the other wall o' the condo, to the West is sliding glass door off the kitchen, and to the North and all sides some big trees.

What I'm planning to do is grow up, no not me the plants.

Two large planters now have redwood trellis and I planted clemetis (sp?). My Mom suggested those plants because they like their "feet in the shade but their heads in the sun". They will make the big boring blank wall....less blank.

These flank a 3 tiered planter stand filled with plants I so far have managed not to kill. and there's a pottery bird bath on it.

I also have a planter on a tricycle, gotta have that bike theme.

Yesterday I found another 3-tiered planter shelf at an Oakland charity run thrift store. That's probably going to go under the kitchen window.

Plan is to ring the patio with plants, add tiny table and chairs so it becomes "oh, nice place to have a cup of coffee" when I turn the joint.

[Kimmyt]

You ladies are inspiring! I have always wanted a gorgeous garden, but my mom wasn't into it and so I never inherited a green thumb. Also, I have to say, I'm lazy when it comes to that stuff. Today I've done a bit of yardwork, but just things like mowing the grass, but I pulled a bunch of weeds from an old flower bed out back in the hopes that maybe some day I will put something in.

On the upside, though, my potted herbs are doing so well that I think I'm going to have to run to the store to get some supplies so that I can use some of them tonight (I'm thinking garlic/mozzarella/basil/tomato personal thincrust pizza to trim back the basil which has made a complete turnaround from when I planted it!

I've also got a very happy looking pot in my front yard, though my azalea has dropped all her flowers I think due to the cold nights recently. All in all, this is very good, for me. I still have that patch of bare mulched garden in my front yard that needs a nice tree or shrub, but that may have to wait until next year. At least I have taken care of the weeds for now!!

K.

[mhara]

This week some of the hedge-sparrow chicks and blackbird chicks have fledged. Their first few attempts at flying are very comical. They seem astonished by what they've just done.

Some of the tiny new sparrows have found the shallow bowl of water under the Bay tree and they go bathing - sometimes two in at a time, water splashing everywhere.

And while the fluffy-feathered baby birds keep us entertained their anxious parents flit back and forth with encouraging cheeps and chirps, still feeding their newly-flown broods.

I love it.

[LBTC]

Thank you, mhara. That was a lovely post that raised my spirits on a particularly difficult work day. Now it is time for me to go get some fresh air for 20 minutes.

Hugs and butterflies,
~T~