Gardening, anyone?

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  • Gardennerd
    Gardennerd Member Posts: 174
    edited June 2017

    DeniseG - Sorry that you can no longer garden the way you used to, but LOVE your tenacity in still being able to enjoy in a smaller version. We are in a slow transition of prepping our retirement home (move to one property to another) and I love my current home and garden spots. The new property is pretty much a blank sheet and prior to BC I wondered how many garden spots I would end up with. And admittingly wondered if I wasn't setting myself up for to much work in my retirement years. So naturally with the BC I have questioned that even more. I love your idea of concrete edging. It is certainly something I may incorporate in the new location for us. I literally HAVE to have plants and trees and water and birds and a place to sit and enjoy . . . it looks like you have one already from your photo.

    ScottieMom11 - Beavers? what type of damage do they do? are they after the wood or is it digging?

  • Scottiemom11
    Scottiemom11 Member Posts: 1,298
    edited June 2017

    Gardennerd. . .the beavers chop down trees to build their dams, and they chop down the rose bushes and drag them back to their lair to eat. I have to keep landscape fabric, ie metal mesh, around my giant hydrangeas and crepe myrtles. They go after anything big enough to build with that they can cut down with their teeth.

    Year's ago they cut down an 8 inch caliper weeping willow tree and dragged it across my yard and through the neighbors' to get to the lake. At the time we had large bushes along our lake front blocking their way. We cut down all those bushes three years ago to open up our lake view and the beavers now have open access to all my gardens.

    Scottie

  • WenchLori
    WenchLori Member Posts: 1,558
    edited June 2017

    KB, what a gorgeous rose!

    Scottie, oh man! Stupid beavers! Maybe you should try a crow protector thingy! It's looks just like a huge crow you connect a hose to it and let it chase off the beavers. It works great for deer etc I haven't tried fried radish greens but I do use them in my salads.

    They are calling for rain next Tuesday but I doubt we get any :-(

    The silly guy was back again tonight. He's so stinking cute!

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    Good night everyone, praying you all have sweet dreams! 🙏😴


  • M0mmyof3
    M0mmyof3 Member Posts: 9,696
    edited June 2017

    Trash Panda!!!!!!

  • Jazzygirl
    Jazzygirl Member Posts: 12,533
    edited June 2017

    Wench- stinkin' cute is right. Just adorable!

  • Gardennerd
    Gardennerd Member Posts: 174
    edited June 2017

    Lori and Scottie, Lori mentioned "fried radish greens" . . . I tried to find post on that. What are you doing? stir fry radishes with the green still attached?

  • Scottiemom11
    Scottiemom11 Member Posts: 1,298
    edited June 2017

    Lori, can I borrow you cutie raccoon? He would probably scare off the beavers.

    The additional fencing we put up last night seems to have kept them away. We did not see any tracks in the dew covered grass this morning though, so I don't know if they tried in the middle of the night and gave up or just did not show. Keeping my fingers crossed. I'll take a pic of our temporary fencing and post. It's just stakes a wires and hopefully the HOA won't complain and make us remove them. We've had the front part up for more than a year now but it's less visible.

    Scottie

  • M0mmyof3
    M0mmyof3 Member Posts: 9,696
    edited June 2017

    Sun is out!!!!! So wonderful!!!!!!

  • Wren44
    Wren44 Member Posts: 8,585
    edited June 2017

    We use the radish tops only and cook like any other greens (collards, etc.).

  • Heidibird
    Heidibird Member Posts: 213
    edited June 2017

    Yeah for your sun, MOmmy. :-) We had a half inch of rain last night so I am thrilled I don't have to water.

    ScottieMom, OMG on the beavers destroying the roses. I never would have thought they would do something like that. I am visualizing them dragging off the trees and bushes . That might be a little scary running into them as they are going about their business.

    Speaking of business, I went out to hoe the weeds in the rest of my garden area last night. I still have 2 bales of straw to scatter. Ewww, on top of one of hem the racoon had decided to do its business. I wonder if it climbed that bale specifically to do that. I got super tired last night and did not finish doing everything. Then this morning I fell asleep while watching the local news before going to work. I guess I overdid things. Luckily DH woke me up. He seemed to insist I was snoring. I do not snore. I make melodious night sounds.

    Lori, your visitor might be a part of the family now since he keeps coming back.

    Denise, I like that edging and the idea of less trimming, weeding, etc,. I am in the process of cutting off and taking out some old rose bushes which no longer bloom the color they did when I planted them. I have to put the limbs in a trash can and don't want to fill more than one a week with those. I would love to put such a trim around that bed now that I have seen how pretty yours looks.


    KB, good luck with the new babies. I swear sometimes I can sit and watch the plants growing. Or maybe that's just my excuse to spend a couple of hours sitting on the garden bench doing nothing. :-P


  • Scottiemom11
    Scottiemom11 Member Posts: 1,298
    edited June 2017

    The fence seems to have stumped the beavers for now. These were the only critters in the yard today. They have a nest nearby,

    Scottie

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  • M0mmyof3
    M0mmyof3 Member Posts: 9,696
    edited June 2017

    Clouded up earlier this afternoon. No rain coming though. Going to be even warmer tomorrow.


  • M0mmyof3
    M0mmyof3 Member Posts: 9,696
    edited June 2017

    I keep checking for the baby bunnies that I found in my yard last month, but there is no sign of them. Think either a neighbor's cat must have gotten them or they have moved on. I miss Hoppy and Bun-Bun!


  • Scottiemom11
    Scottiemom11 Member Posts: 1,298
    edited June 2017

    Add my Dh to the list of seasonal tick victims. He asked me to look at his back because it hurt and sure enough he had a nasty swelling around a tick that's probably been there for two days since he was spraying down by our stream. I could not get it off so we had to go to urgent care and he's on ABX. Yuck

    Scottie

  • WenchLori
    WenchLori Member Posts: 1,558
    edited June 2017

    Scottie, your welcome to use my raccoons to scare off the beavers anytime! My little box sitter has been back every night and just sits there. I put a few vanilla wafers in the box for him last night. It was so cute watching him climb in there and just sit and stare at the patio doors. Every night I slide open the door enough until he gets nervous and starts to get up then I close the door so he won't leave. I've been able to open the door wider every night before he gets up. I'm still waiting for the mamas to show up with their little ones. I was able to feed a possum a feeble marshmallows by hand last night. I do it all the time with my raccoons but it was a first with a possum. The ricks are horrible here this year. I've been keeping the area around the house well sprayed when I saw one scurry across one of our windows. Praying your hubby heals with no complications. I've pulled 4 of them off me in the past few weeks. They are disgusting little creatures! What are they good for anyway?!

    M0mmy, I'm glad the sun has finally shown up at your house. We're still waiting for rain here with none in sight for another week or more.

    Heidi, meditation on a garden bench is so refreshing!

    We finally got our pool up and running last night. We've had so many problems with pumps this year. The one we had was 14 years old and started to leak when I hooked it up. We got a new one and the leaf basket housing cracked about 2 hours after plugging it in. I hooked up a third one last night and so far this one works 🙏🤞

    Gentle healing hugs to everyone 🤗


  • WenchLori
    WenchLori Member Posts: 1,558
    edited June 2017

    Just to funny not to share! Silly old raccoo! Not one of mine lol

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  • M0mmyof3
    M0mmyof3 Member Posts: 9,696
    edited June 2017

    I can hear that little bugger now: "Trash Panda catchin' some rays!"

  • Heidibird
    Heidibird Member Posts: 213
    edited June 2017

    Lori, I am amazed that you feed the racoons and possums. I would worry one would nip me. I do love watching them though. One year we had a white skunk for a short while. I was so mesmerized by the coloring that I did get closer than I was comfortable with.

    MOmmy, sorry about the rabbits not coming back. Maybe they just ran off to a safer spot.

    KB, I like your idea of calling it meditation. It does help destress me on days I don't go dancing, :-)

    ScottieMom, the duck family is sooo cute! Sorry to hear about your DH and the tick. We have to be careful here too because of Lyme disease. Also they have already identified West Nile virus this season in the mosquitos. I guess that was the advantage when we were in a drought...no skeeters!

    I was saddened to go outside and check the plants Wednesday and found my newest grapevine had turned completely brown and shriveled. I am not sure what happened to it as 2 days before it looked great and I was excited about the grapes I would get. Hubby thinks maybe a mole or vole upended or ate the roots. :-( :-( Too late to plant another this year.

  • Scottiemom11
    Scottiemom11 Member Posts: 1,298
    edited June 2017

    Lori. . .that trash panda is hilarious. What do you use to spray for ticks? Is there a bug spray that you can wear that deters ticks? Dh and I need to start hiking again and we use bug spray for mosquitos but I don't think it wards off ticks. There is not purpose in life for ticks, fire ants or mosquitos.

    Heidi. . .sending some of our rain your way. We've had quite a lot.

    Scottie

  • M0mmyof3
    M0mmyof3 Member Posts: 9,696
    edited June 2017

    I just hope that the bunnies were not killed by a neighbor's cat

  • Wren44
    Wren44 Member Posts: 8,585
    edited June 2017

    Bunnies can usually hold their own with cats. That kick is mighty.

  • M0mmyof3
    M0mmyof3 Member Posts: 9,696
    edited June 2017

    Maybe they became Kung Fu bunnies!!!!

  • coachvicky
    coachvicky Member Posts: 1,057
    edited June 2017

    Good Morning All.

    Here is a Smilebox of our garden.

    http://play.smilebox.com/SpreadMoreHappy/4e4455304...

    Coach Vicky


  • Enerva
    Enerva Member Posts: 3,162
    edited June 2017

    wow . Coachviki so great thanks for sharing.

    Well a few updates from me . My friends the squirrels came back ; ( made a smaller mess 2 plants had soIL disturbance but not a big mess yet I haven't finish my balcony cuz I keep waiting for them to give up before I arrange all the plants. My rose is going several blooms but still no open yet. The first one is now show a bit of red and that is getting me so ancianos lol

    My dahlia is growing supper large I may move her to a larger pot I never knew it could be such large plant lol all are doing great so far .I added 2 more cds but I am sad cuz the squirrels went trough the hole by one side so now I know they are aware the cds won't harm them.

    Look at the rose showing a little red.

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    Took a few more out but only cuz I am home and the squirrels usually stay away on the weekend

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    And took my tomatoes out too

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  • Wren44
    Wren44 Member Posts: 8,585
    edited June 2017

    MIL was trying to grow a tomato in Anchorage, AK. Every morning someone would take it out to sit in the sun and every evening someone would bring it back in because it was too cold at night. I'm not sure she ever got a tomato. I understand, because homegrown and bought are completely different veggies.

  • coachvicky
    coachvicky Member Posts: 1,057
    edited June 2017

    Enerva ... Your plants are beautiful.

    Coach Vicky


  • TwoHobbies
    TwoHobbies Member Posts: 2,118
    edited June 2017

    Coach Vicky, you have a beautiful garden! I would love to have those pretty raised gardens. Love it.

    Enerva, you are doing a lot in your patio gardening. Good job. I had taken my fairy garden outside and it lasted a week before the squirrels or chipmunks dug in it, so I brought them back inside. I can enjoy them in my living room bay window as much as outside. If they dig in the other pots I can just move the dirt back, but of course they didn't bother those!

    Scottie I am always so homesick for a blue hydrangea. I have some hydrangeas that do well up north here, but we don't have the acid soil for the blue and all I've ever gotten is a faint wisp of purple even with trying to alter the soil. I think they are one of the most beautiful flowers there are.

    My cherry tree is ripening, so I'm looking forward to cherries. I now wish I had a vegetable garden after giving up on it. The only edible things I have this year are the cherries, red leaf lettuce and chives.

    I should be shunned from this site. I bought a pretty pre-planted pot of New Guinea impatiens and put it on my front porch and this morning I noticed it is nearly dead! I forgot to water it for probably 3 days. All my other pots are on the deck in the back and I just didn't notice it was dry. I watered it and the back half came back to life but the front is not so I think I'll trim it up and hope it recovers.

  • Gardennerd
    Gardennerd Member Posts: 174
    edited June 2017

    Vicky - love your smilebox, never seen that before. Your raised beds are gorgeous. All I can say is one day I hope to have as many raised beds.

    Enerva - I LOVE your pics. I have this desire to want to name each of your plants. I am still just amazed that squirrels can be problem in a high rise. I tried to search out deterrents for you, but seems most are considered only temporary fixes, as squirrels are apparently very determined little boogers.

    Wren44 - I just don't blame your MIL. I pretty much has sworn off of tomato's for years. I wouldn't even give them a try if on my salad at a restaurant and would push them aside, more than often the taste was just not there. Hyrdrophonically grown definitely never competed with a soil tomato. But OH how I love my garden tomato's now. I only eat my own tomato's or from friends gardens. No more store bought for me. As most vegetables they are not even grown in the US and so genetically changed to keep color, or not to spoil, or tougher to handle shipping. So I am a heirloom gardener also.

  • Enerva
    Enerva Member Posts: 3,162
    edited June 2017

    gardener lol yes me too I already thought about it. So if you like to name my plants send me names lol

    Here is what I just finished doing. Remember the white pots I got at ikea ? Well I took my drill and opened draining holes then move one of my plants to it and relocated her to my bedroom window cuz the squirrels seams to like to shew on her and from 3 I now have 2 ; ( So moved now to my bedroom window. The other two beautiful pots I got from the dollar store lol so cheap $3.00 cad I opened holes so I got 4 of those I now have two with draining holes and 2 without. Cuz in case I just want to place a plant temporarily in those. Still not sure which plant will I have in the ones I made holes. But probably my succulents which I have many growing from seeds .

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    And the CN tower lol from my window

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  • Enerva
    Enerva Member Posts: 3,162
    edited June 2017

    I just saw something I wanted to share with all of you .



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