|
| Author |
Message |
Grooch
Member
06-16-2006
| Monday, March 31, 2025 - 8:33 am 
Ugh. We finished having the trees taken done last week. 2 of the trees that came down were on the south side by the property line. It opened up the view to where the neighbors park.
I haven't even had a chance to decide what to plant there yet, and this morning, the neighbor's landscapers came and they are planting green giant arborvites there!
I hate! Hate! Hate! Green giants! That's what everybody plants around here now for privacy hedges. They grow to fast, get to tall (60 feet) and about 12 feet wide. And everyone has them planted way to close together because they have to have immediate privacy. It's going to block all the sun on my side and end up encroaching on our side of the yard. Well, hopefully, since the sun will be on their side, they will grow out more on their side, where they park the cars. He has maybe a foot from the property line to the edge of his driveway. What is he thinking? Probably not thinking, to be honest.
When I drive around and see all these stupid trees, towering over people's houses, I think about how much money it's going to cost these people to have them taken done because planting them 3 feet apart instead of 12 is going to make them weak and vulnerable.
And people think they're deer proof. Little do they know that deer are starting to eat them in areas where there's nothing else for them to eat. Maybe this winter I'll tie some deer food to the branches and train the deer around me to eat them. 
Not even 1 week were those trees taken down. Are me and my bf really that bad?
Ha! Ha! I just talked to my bf and he said if any branches grow on his side, he's cutting them off.
He also told me that our landscaper told him last week that the 2 pine trees on his side of the property line need to come down because they are dying. Oof! I just looked at them and they look horrible and 1 of them even has a point trunk. Meaning, it started as one trunk and about 15 feet high, it started growing as 2 trunks. Not good. Better not fall on our house.
|
Grooch
Member
06-16-2006
| Monday, March 31, 2025 - 10:51 am
OK, the landscaper just came back with the trees. He used our driveway to pull up to the trench they dug to unload the trees. He has 8 trees! 8! 
They are scrunching them all up right next to each other. They're probably 6 to 8 feet tall and the tops of them don't look the healthiest. Huge rootballs. The trees look like they were dug up last year and balled, and spent the winter plopped back in the ground. But the burlap on the balls look new. Maybe they were reburlapped. Or maybe they were freshly dug up this spring, but the extremely cold winter made them look like crap. All I know is that they didn't come from where I work. That's for sure.
I wonder if the neighbors are going to add sprinklers where the trees are. They are going to need to be watered everyday for awhile.
|
Grooch
Member
06-16-2006
| Thursday, April 24, 2025 - 7:16 am
So, I went earlier this week to the major town that has all the stores that sells things I need for gardening at half the price. I took my elderly aunt who is half deaf, dementia and has narcissistic tendencies with me. She needed stuff too. It was quite the adventure and wore me out.
The last place we went to was Lowes, and I ended up buying a ton of plants, even though it's still a bit early. Oh, we'll.
So, today I need to get started and I don't know where to plant them. Everything is in a state of flux. I can't start in the beds under the huge picture windows. They are supposed to be replaced in a few weeks. I'm already dreading them trampling on my perennials that are starting to come up, even if I try to block them from doing it.
One corner off the deck would be good to start, but somebody is supposed to cut some railing out and make steps there and put in my fish pond. Don't know when that will happen. And every other place to plant has a similar story. Good place to plant but there has to be work done first. So aggravating.
I think I'll go and take my dog to get his nails cut then stop at my job and pick up some compost and work on my deck pots. Then I'll go on from there.
But first I need to somehow get the bale of dirt out of the van. Argh.
|
Grooch
Member
06-16-2006
| Thursday, April 24, 2025 - 8:28 am
I'm back. Dog groomers have the day off, so that didn't get done. Stopped at work and the first thing the dog did was poop on a pathway. Had to clean that up. Got my compost and bought 2 pepper plants and some scallions and pot toes for 2 planters I have. I needed 8, but the packages come with 6, so I was forced to buy an extra package at $10. The owners wife gave me 2 free Easter lilies just to get rid of them. I'll plant them outside. Sometimes they come back if you find the right spot and the deer don't eat them.
I forgot to get plant-tone. I should have some here, but can't find it. I'll have to look again. Now I'm gonna start changing the dirt in the deck parts.
Oh, and this is strange that I need to figure out. I asked the owners wife how much a bale of promises was this year. I wanted to see what a deal I got by buying it at the wholesaler that they use when they run out from where they order. She told me it was $40. I asked if that was correct. I just paid $55 for mine and last year the price for a bale went up from $60 to $80 where I work. How could the price be cut in half? Either they made a mistake on the price list or maybe it's not a full bale? I'd text the daughter in law, but I don't want to start a big fight since the wife will know I started it. Oh, well. Maybe when I go out to the post office, I'll stop by again and hope the DIL is still there or one of the landscapers. Hmmm...
|
Grooch
Member
06-16-2006
| Friday, March 20, 2026 - 2:13 pm
I'm starting seeds this year. I figure with what's going on in the world, I better do some.I'm behind already. Lol!
I haven't been able to get seed starting mix anywhere! So I made my own. I came across Blossoms and Branch on YouTube. She's into regenative gardening, which so am I.
I found her by looking for how to make wood seed starting trays. There's a place I shop in the spring where they grow their own vegetables in them. Either you can buy the whole flat and pay a deposit for the wood flat and you get your money back when you return it. Or, if you only want a few plants, they cut them up and wrap them in newspaper for you. It sure beats paying a $1.50 a plant compared to $4 or $5 for a parsley plant. And it's so much easier than using those cell packs. And who wants your plants growing in black plastic that is probably made from recycled tvs?
So, I followed her recipe, except I used peat moss instead of coco coil. I had to use what I could get. I called the wholesale dirt guy to see if he had fox farms coco loco (what she uses) and boy did I get an earful from the owner. Last year I set him off about trying to buy bumper crop. Something about how that stuff is political. Needless to say, I can't get it unless I want to pay an obscene price on Amazon. So peat it is.
I had to sift my peat first with an old colander I have. Thank goodness it was only an 8 quart bag. It took forever! I need to find something better to screen it with. But it does make a huge difference with the end product.
The recipe is 4 parts peat, 4 parts vermiculate, 6 parts worm castings (thank goodness I bought some on a whim last year at Costco, and never used it) and a teaspoon of mychorizal. I screwed up and used a full tablespoon. Oh, well! Except that I hate I wasted so much of it.
My bf had made me flats and I lined the bottom with sheep fleece I bought off of Etsy and got a good deal for it. I had never heard of using sheep fleece before, but it is full of nitrogen and it retains water and makes a great mulch and repels slugs. Almost makes me want to get my own sheep. But I'm not.
So far, I have my sweet peas out in my green house, and I've planted parsley, steak tomatoes, and some sweet and some hot peppers. And I have my lemon bee balm planted. The parsley I did on Monday and they are already starting to pop up.
I had to move everything away from my 2 hugs bay windows and the seed trays have taken over them. For the first time I'm glad they are west facing windows. 
I have so much more to go, and I need to get more supplies tomorrow to make more dirt. I also have to figure out where my garden will be outside and dig it up. So much to do, so little time.
|
Grooch
Member
06-16-2006
| Friday, March 20, 2026 - 2:16 pm
I'm leaving now to pick up my bf at the train station, go to Costco, where I'll get more worm castings. And he's going to have to understand that the house doesn't get cleaned this time of year and just deal with the disarray.
|
Grooch
Member
06-16-2006
| Wednesday, April 01, 2026 - 9:48 am
So a few days ago I bought some strawberry starts at Agway. I bought 2 sets of them not realizing there are 10 plants in each bunch. Way to many!
Anyway your supposed to soak them and plant them the same day. I didn't know that at the time, until I read up on them.
I remembered my mother had mailed ordered strawberry starts over 20 years ago. I also remembered she stuck them in the crisper in her fridge until she was ready. So, I did the same thing.
Well, I just pulled them out of the fridge to get ready to plant them, and I guess I have a problem with my fridge. They are all frozen!
I currently have them on my counter to defrost. 
|
Grooch
Member
06-16-2006
| Wednesday, April 01, 2026 - 9:52 am
In the meantime, I'm going to plant my Tom Thumb lettuce seeds. They are miniature bibb lettuce.
|
Grooch
Member
06-16-2006
| Wednesday, April 01, 2026 - 10:53 am
OK, I went to put my lettuce in the greenhouse. I then counted how many sweet peas sprouted. And grrrr.... I noticed one of then had been cut at the base. I have to assume it was a cut worm, but how could I have gotten one? And will it get the others? I have 38 left so losing one is no big deal, but if I lose them all? 
They are on a shelf, inside, with all new dirt that I mixed myself. I am just flabbergasted.
Anyway, I also seeded my yarrow this morning and stuck it in the greenhouse. I figure they can take the cold.
I also threw my parsley in there, too, with no acclimation to the temperature changes. They have sprouted really well. I figure parsley is tough and I have more seeds. They look happier out there with more light than they were getting inside. It was a tradeoff. I also have Mizuno out there. I just seeded that yesterday, so to soon to know how that will do.
Inside the house, I have tomatoes, hot and sweet peppers, moon flowers, celtuce, and 2 types of bee balm.
I probably have something else planted that I can't think of right now.
And I haven't even started on making a garden bed outside yet. Or thought of how I am going to protect them from the deer and squirrels.
I realize I am doomed.
Off to soak my strawberry plants now.
|
Dipo
Member
04-22-2002
| Wednesday, April 01, 2026 - 12:29 pm
I received my 3 geranium plants and it said to open them, see if they need water, remove any yellow leaves and let them acclimate for 3 days before planting.
Good thing, Since I am not ready to deal with them. They are sitting in a bowl on my counter where I can easily check the soil until I plant.
|
Dipo
Member
04-22-2002
| Wednesday, April 01, 2026 - 12:30 pm
Wow, Grooch, gardening at your house is very complex, LOL.
|
Grooch
Member
06-16-2006
| Wednesday, April 01, 2026 - 1:41 pm
I know. And my strawberries are still sitting on the counter defrosted. They are just going to have to figure out how to survive until tomorrow. Lol!
Geraniums are tough plants. They will be fine.
|
Grooch
Member
06-16-2006
| Monday, April 06, 2026 - 10:06 am
So, on Friday, I spent the day removing the garden fabric i had on a bed in the front of the house and cleaned up the area. Removing it was quite the job. Don't use that stuff, it's made out of plastic. I had to put it down over 5 years ago to try to get rid of the LILY OF THE VALLEYs that had completely crowded everything out and are impossible to kill. I don't see any. Yet. It was such a frigid winter, my guess is, is that they haven't come out of hibernation yet and are laughing at me.
Saturday, I mulched the area with cedar chips that a landscaper friend had dumped a whole dumpster load in my backyard last year. They came from trees he had cut down and chipped. So at least I know they are organic.
Easter Sunday was a day off, besides it rained.
I probably did more, but I can't remember.
Today, the seedlings I still have in the house, I have on my deck in a mini greenhouse. They will come back in tonight.
My strawberry plants still aren't planted. They are in a bowl of water on the deck and they look quite happy. I would plant them today, but it's supposed to go down to 30° tomorrow night. So, they have to wait along with my garlic and shallots.
Still need to figure out who will build me a deer fence (wishful thinking, I will have to rig something together myself.
I also need to get some hardware cloth to put down where I'm putting my vegetable beds because I saw a hole in the ground in one of the spots and it's from a mole or something horrible like that. Gotta keep them out. So, that's putting me behind starting that.
My Mizuno has sprouted.
I want to start raking out the area on the south side of the deck and taking care of that area, but there's an idiot who is going to start talking in 10 minutes if he's on time, so I will wait on that and maybe make some more seed starting soil and start some basil seeds.
Which reminds me. I went to Lowe's the other day and they had their Bonnie Bell plants outside. I went to buy a cilantro plant (to hold me til my seeds grow) and they wanted $6 dollars for 1 plant! Last year they were $3.50. Last year, where I work, we sold organic herbs and veggies that are locally grown for $5. We're a speciality store and we're expensive. So the cheap, mass produced herbs sold at a big box store are more money than what we sold them for? Both are in the same sized container. I can't imagine what ours will cost this year. And you wonder why I'm trying to grow my own.
|
Juju2bigdog
Member
10-26-2000
| Tuesday, April 07, 2026 - 12:19 am
Grow your own, Grooch! Hugs.
|
Grooch
Member
06-16-2006
| Wednesday, April 08, 2026 - 5:24 am
Juju, the other night I came across a YouTube video about Hugelkultur. It's my new obsession and I am determined to build one this year.
I'm sure you have heard of it in your many travels. Have you seen one? It's a German thing where you take old logs, lay them down and, cover them up and then plant your garden. The logs as they decompose (thats why you use old ones) absorb water 500 times their weight. This makes it so you never have to water the whole summer unless you have a really bad drought. Plus the roots of the plants go to the logs and get all the nutrients and fertilizers it needs. You never have to fertilizer either. And they last over 10 years.
I have the old logs, I need to find a young man to dig the hole for the logs. Lol!
On another note, I spent the day raking out the very large area on the south side of the deck. It would have been easy, but the wild raspberries had taken over and I had to cut them down and try to dig out the roots. These are nasty, huge plants and the raspberries taste horrible.
I now need to go and put all my seedlings back into the green house. It went below 29° so I brought them all into the house. I will have to do this again tonight. Spring is supposedly coming next week. It's supposed to hit 80.
|
Juju2bigdog
Member
10-26-2000
| Wednesday, April 08, 2026 - 10:06 pm
quote: I need to find a young man to dig the hole for the logs.
Nextdoor.com - ask (their parents, aim it at parents who want to teach their kids to WORK for money) for strong teenagers to do manual labor.
I have not heard of Hugelkultur. Sounds fascinating, though.
|
Grooch
Member
06-16-2006
| Thursday, April 09, 2026 - 3:07 am
Juju, my landscaper friend is coming by today to drop off more cedar chips from a job he is doing. Im going to ask him for a rough estimate. I know he's way, way to busy to do it now, but if I can get him intrigued with the idea....
I also was thinking of asking the college kid when I go back to work next month. I'd call him now while things might be slow for him right now and it's not hot yet, but I need to figure this out first. He's getting his landscapers design degree so he might be intrigued, too.
++++++++
I had 5 Tom Thumb bib lettuce seeds and 2 yarrow seeds pop up. I planted them 8 days ago and the packet said it would take 14 to 21 days for them to do that. I impress myself.
All 20 of my biggie chile hybrid peppers are going strong and they popped up way early, too. But nary a sweet pepper to be seen and they should have popped up before the hot ones. I'm gonna blame that on the fact that I bought the sweet pepper packet at the dollar store and you get what you pay for.
I think it's my seed starting recipe thats doing such a good job and letting them pop up so early.
One other note, I seeded my big leaf basil yesterday. Basil seeds are the most difficult to seed that I've come across so far. They are small seeds but I've had a lot smaller. The problem is, is that they stick to my wetted toothpick or my fingers and I couldn't tell if or where they dropped. Or let alone if they went deep enough in the hole. Some holes might have gotten 5 seeds or none by the time I was done. It will be interesting to see that tray if things start popping up.
+++++++
OK, Now a rant.
My weather app last night said it was going to be 32° last night. The local tv news said it would be 34°. So, I left my seedlings in the green house last night covered with burlap thinking things would be fine even if it went down to 30°. I was exhausted at the time from pulling out the grass in that one bed with a pitchfork.
Well, I looked at my thermometer this morning and it's fricking 24°! How can these weather people be 10° off?!?
Come on! This is fricking ridiculous. 
They better be alive.
|
Grooch
Member
06-16-2006
| Thursday, April 09, 2026 - 5:22 am
Oh, great. I went out to take the burlap off my seedlings (they are still alive and the water in the bucket that I have my raspberry plants in didn't freeze) and I have a Carolina Wren determined to make a nest in my green house. It makes me feel guilty that I'm disturbing her, and I will keep on disturbing her. Neither of us are going anywhere.
|
|
|
|
Closed: New threads not accepted on this page