Gardeners of AW, unite

Fenika

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Goldfinches love coreopsis and a plant called perennial cornflower, Centaurea montana.

Thanks for the tip. I'm writing those down. I also need something that looks nice and grows in packed sandy soil. There's a spot in our yard that has been bare for YEARS. If I plant something with enough loosened soil near it, hopefully the plant can overcome the poor soil around it when older.

...of course if I plant a Spicebush there will be the temptation of eating the berries, myself :p // Thnx for the link :)

No worries :)
 

Fenika

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i live in an area that is very flat, very sandy. kansas is hot and windy most of the time. water doesn't last long, even the creeks dry up by july. but there are low spots between the sand hills that hold water for a longer time. sloughs we call them-- wild coreopsis, water buttercups, reeds, cat tails will grow there. the frogs start out as tiny peepers and then grow to sousaphones and tubas. red winged blackbirds and meadow larks nest there and snarf up the dragon flies. they are beautiful in the spring. the natural habitat here. i found a book that shows how to make a bog garden--sounds prettier that slough-- and i have a big side yard to fill but i don't want to mess with a pond and fish. fish attract raccoons. raccoons are as bad as sophomores in my book---s6

That sounds lovely. Even the raccoons ;)
 

LaurieD

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This past fall I mixed my beds up a bit - moved my mixed Oriental and hybrid lilies (my avi is a photo of one of my now back bed lilies from last summer) to a back corner bed and planted "ditch" or wild lilies in the front (these are already about 2 inches above the soil). Near the driveway I planted Chinese paper lanterns - we'll see if those come up, they looked kind of gone when I planted them, though the woman I bought them from assured me hers looked the same initially and have now taken over the bed she put them in, so here's hoping.) I also have a rosebed that I have been filling over the last couple of years - reds, yellows, pinks, and a light purple. This year I'm planning on adding a dark red and a white and maybe another, color as of yet undecided. Several years ago we planted a pair of apricot trees in front of the house and last year we had our first fruits - which a frost promptly killed.
 

Maryn

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We have clay soil spade-able only to about a six-inch depth, with the associated drainage problems, plus deer and rabbits. There doesn't seem to be any point in gardening unless I also want to look out at a wire mesh fence.

I would like to add some more native plants, and possibly some additional ornamental grasses (the one which said it would be four feet tall is twice that) just for something to look at out back, where we have a windbreak of "trash trees" on one side and a vast grassland punctuated with neighbors' ugly storage sheds to the west. A few strategically-placed plantings would help. Anybody got earth-moving equipment?

Maryn, not much of a gardener at all
 

Sophia

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I also need something that looks nice and grows in packed sandy soil.


My book What Plant Where by Roy Lancaster suggests several shrubs that are tolerant of drought and rapid drainage, and favour sandy soils. Some I like are:

Ballota acetabulosa (Ballota)
Lavatera 'Barnsley' (Tree mallow)
Hibiscus syriacus 'Woodbridge' (Hibiscus)
Cytisus x praecox 'Allgold' (Broom)
 

shakeysix

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i have a ginormous tiller. i bought it years ago. i wanted one of those little mantis jobs but i let one of my old students talk me into godzilla tiller. he was a nice boy and i thought he could use the commission. the tiller is so big it has to be carried on a trailer. took me a whole year to pay it off. worse, i am terrified of the thing. i have to hire someone to use it---s6
 

Fenika

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Ohhhhh, awesome. I'm gonna look into those.
 

Sophia

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We have clay soil spade-able only to about a six-inch depth, with the associated drainage problems, plus deer and rabbits.

You could try Aster novi-belgii 'Marie Ballard', the Michealmas Daisy, which grows to one metre and which rabbits find unpalatable. It's gorgeous. Other tall plants are Lysimachia clethroides (Loosestrife) and Astilbe 'Ostrich Plume' (Astilbe). They are also rabbit-proof and like moist soil. All of these are perennials.
 

shakeysix

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i have my geraniums blooming in my classroom window--red and white. i like the single blooms better than the double. and coleus. i like geraniums and coleus together--a combo i got from a landlady of mine back in the seventies. --s6
 

Ol' Fashioned Girl

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Our herb garden survived another Oklahoma winter... the rosemary, bay, oregano, thyme, and parsley are all showing signs of life. Very soon, we'll put up the 'Wall-O-Waters' for the tomato plants. The bed is covered now with black plastic to keep out the grass and weeds and help warm up the ground. April 15th is the 'last frost date' for our area... and I'm SOooooooOOOO ready for a home-grown tomato!

I'll start haunting the Farmers Market soon, looking for the first ones up from Texas and in from the greenhouse growers. $3 a pound? $4? $5? What's money when you've got an addiction such as mine?
 

Susan Gable

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Anybody tried those upside-down, hanging tomato planters?

I'd like to use those to grow my front-porch tomatoes this year. I am like the only person in my family who eats tomatoes, so one regular plant, and one cherry tomato plant keeps me happily in tomatoes all season long.

But I really like the idea of the hangy things. Anyone with experience with them?

Susan G.
 

Tepelus

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Last year I discovered a method of growing plants from seed called winter sowing. You take an empty gallon milk jug (or any clear, plastic container) and make mini greenhouses out of them. Cut holes in the bottom for drainage, slice the jug open about 3/4 of the way around, leaving one side as a hinge, fill with about 4 to 6 inches of potting mix (not soil) and sow the seeds as it says on the package. Close the container using duct tape to hold the top to the bottom, remove the cap for ventilation and to allow moisture to enter, and mark the container so you know what you planted. Take the container outside in a sheltered area, preferably somewhere where the sun doesn't shine on it all day, and wait for them to sprout when it gets warm. When they are big enough to handle, plant them in your garden. You can grow tons of plants this way for a whole lot less than buying full size plants. I have 16 containers outside right now of hardy perennial seeds, and the annuals will get started in about a month.

Daylilies are my thing too. Last year I bought about 130 different named cultivars and plan to cross a few. Also, when they begin to crowd each other out, I'll thin the clumps and sell the fans, making a little of my jingle back that I spent on the plants. Now what I need is a greenhouse, but that'll just have to be a dream for a while.
 

brad_b

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Somewhere in my mind... it echoes in here ...
Anybody tried those upside-down, hanging tomato planters?

I'd like to use those to grow my front-porch tomatoes this year. I am like the only person in my family who eats tomatoes, so one regular plant, and one cherry tomato plant keeps me happily in tomatoes all season long.

But I really like the idea of the hangy things. Anyone with experience with them?

Susan G.

They work quite well, though you need to make sure they get enough water. As in any hanging basket, they need more frequent watering in the absence of rain since the evaporation rate is higher than for plants in the ground.

It's that time of year again in the Northern Hemisphere. As a landscaper this subject is always dear to my heart and one that provides many hours of enjoyment if done right. One of the ways to help keep the growing season more of a delight than a chore is companion gardening. This site is one of many that lists plants that help deter the bugs and critters while offering a variety of plants and flowers that complement each other. I believe companion gardening is well worth the time to look into for many reasons.

One of the many services I offer in my business is pond construction, pondless waterfalls, and wetlands. The basics for all are the same though each offers a wide variety of attraction. Bogs can be incorporated into a pond setting with a little extra effort and the plant variety adds to the setting. If constructed properly, ponds and aqua systems are relatively maintenance free and provide a habitat for many birds and other critters. I get most of my pond supplies from Aquascapes and they also offer 'how-to' videos on construction that help installation.

It's always a good idea to have a plan when gardening, no matter the size of the project. It helps keep the frustration level down and makes the season much more enjoyable.
 

Fenika

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Thanks for the links and info folks. Interesting stuff :)
 

shakeysix

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anyone go in for goofy garden decor? in my part of the world you can always tell the catholics because of the garden statues of mary and st. francis. my dad had a st. francis. some of the grandkids were horsing around and broke st. francis's head off. dad fixed it with duct tape and glue but nothing held very well. my sibs and i were always putting his head in the birdbath, on top of the mailbox, on a picket in the the front gate like thomas moore's head--macabre but funny.

my worst folly is a concrete frog couple. they are making out, his hand is on her boob. tasteless but cute. the minute i spotted it i had to have it. my husband and kids hated it, but i still have it---s6
 

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I'm mostly a birdfeeder / birdbath person. I've got three feeder poles and about 16 feeders. Birdbaths... mmm... lessee... five. And a fountain with heaters to keep the water flowing. Ol' Boy keeps me in check. :D
 

shakeysix

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the shop boys make birdfeeders for me out of scrap in the wood shop. i have seven or eight. thing is, i'm not very tall so they are all pretty low to the ground. technically they are as much cat feeders as bird feeders. nature is cruel--s6
 

Fenika

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My biggest 'sin' is a NO WAKE sign by the path to our 10' diameter pond. I found the sign floating in a cove of a much greater pond.

And I'm with OFG on the feeders. I have 5 up, including a finch sock. 2 suet feeders (one's a bbq 'cage' thingy), and a ton of food on the ground (very few of our birds pick the feeders, so the ground feeding has gone up). I've got one heated bucket of water, with a shelf inside. And of course there's the NO WAKE pond ;)

I bet I could convince my mom to put native plants instead of hostas around that pond this year...
 

Fenika

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technically they are as much cat feeders as bird feeders. nature is cruel--s6

Can you redesign/move things so that the cats can't sneak up and pounce? *Nature* is cruel, but fat domestic cats with nothing better to do than follow instincts is not natural but human induced.

We have a neighborhood cat that comes around but the birds can see him coming. I'm sure he's prolly gotten a few when I didn't see, but mostly he comes for the water. I've not seen him actually hunt, so I hope it is rare and unsuccessful. And ofc I chase him off when I see him.

Certain types of plant cover are good for birds and not as helpful for cats. Our holly trees are sparse enough to not hide a cat but give a bird tons of shelter.
 

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They work quite well, though you need to make sure they get enough water. As in any hanging basket, they need more frequent watering in the absence of rain since the evaporation rate is higher than for plants in the ground.

Thanks, Brad. I'll bear that in mind. Most of the time I have a black thumb - not so great with the growing things. (Except for african violets. For some reason, I can grow those like crazy.)

Anybody have any advice for getting rid of a vine that will not die? I have a vine/weed thing in my front flower beds that has plagued me for a few years. I can pull the damn thing out until the cows come home, and a few days later, it will be back. I tried spraying with something or other last year, and that didn't make it die, either.

Why do the weeds grow so well, and the plants, not so much? :cry:

I also have a huge problem with ants, and they won't go away, either. I've tried to poison those suckers, and they just laught and go about their business.

This year I am going to rototill the flower beds to start with. They're a mess from severe neglect last year.

I'm just not good with this gardening stuff. (And I can't afford to hire a landscaper! LOL.)

Susan G.
 

Atani

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We like to do a big family garden with tomatoes, okra, beans of many types, peppers of many types, lots of lettuces, just about all the herbs you can think of, squash, and lots more I won't list... mostly because we won't be able to do it this year. Central Texas is experiencing quite a drought & it doesn't look like rain will be coming anytime soon. It's quite hard to water a garden the size of ours (not to mention expensive since we live in the city limits of our small town). We may do some Okra & squash though - both are pretty good for a hot, dry climate.

I always love growing basil, savory and thyme in half whisky barrels right outside my house though... love to make compound butters out of the flowers... sooo yummy.
 

Mr Flibble

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Anybody have any advice for getting rid of a vine that will not die?

Sounds like convulvous - you have to get the roots up or it takes over - it's an arse of a job. I keep getting it through the fence from my neighbours. Grr.

In better news I got most of my plants for the year today - including one of these which should perk up a dreary corner.