Azek Decking Material - What do you think about it?
lakemayor
13 years ago
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Kam
4 years agoGN Builders L.L.C
4 years agoRelated Discussions
Just finished my new veg. garden, what do you think about design?
Comments (12)Okay, here's my critique. You probably did not design it, actually, you just built it--a big raised bed with a fence around it. Ideally, I would use a completely different design for a fully-fenced garden as for one not fenced--both as to dimensions and where the garden actually "is" with regard to the house and to the fence and to any paths or stepping stones that will be needed. However, you were able to take some advantage of where you attached the fencing to the perimeter. You can retrofit it now with some kind of step stones or paths in order to try to work in it. It's too close to the house so you lose the ability move very well back there or to work freely through the back fence or to run a wheelbarrow back there. You lose a little bit of some space advantage you could have had to let larger plants (indeterminate tomatoes; peas and beans) which like to spill out over the back sides--but you could still place them at the ends. These types of vegetables are really fun to grow in places where you can just saunter up to pick them at eye level (I am revealing my middle-agedness here). Of course, it isn't that much fun to try to work through the squares of fence, so you will mostly want to work from inside. If you put a path through the middle then will still have a few feet on either side for your crops. You can have a lot of fun with this garden regardless and learn a lot about growing different types of stuff. I always feel pressure to try to put as much as possible in the small veggie garden, but sometimes that can take the fun out of it (pressure! pressure!) as much as it can be fun. But if you do check out some of the photos and articles on small-space or square foot gardening, they will have some helpful tips on where to place different vegetables with regard to each other (height and growth patterns, time to maturity, multi-season planting). I would work out your pathways, and plan on enjoying plenty of tomatoes (next year) , herbs, and lettuces. In your zone, you can plant cilantro and parsley now and it will grow all winter and thaw out great after freezes. Also all kinds of lettuces and greens as suggested above....See MoreCompost crank -- what do you think about it?
Comments (29)The compost crank works perfectly for us to speed up composting of leaf matter primarily since we have no grass. However, it is even a more compelling tool to use on new beds that have been covered with cardboard and six inches of chopped leaves and other vegetable matter in the fall. Take out that compost crank in the spring and mix the soil and the decayed leaves and cardboard together, plant your seedlings, mulch the areas that arent planted, and you're on your way to a good garden. All fall and winter the worms have already migrated to this new food source and the soil is "improved" with relatively litte labor!...See MoreWhat do you think about Agastache?
Comments (43)I am a big fan of agastaches too, and I think people are aware from the above discussion that there are the blue/lavendar agastaches, A. foeniculum and A. rugosa, and then there are a are the various species and hybrids in the pink-apricot-orange range. Both are very useful for me in the garden. In the first group, Blue Fortune is a wonderful long bloomer which grows almost anywhere, blooms for 2 solid months in July and August. There is a relatively newer plant called 'Black Adder' (from this same cross) that has more saturated purplish flowers, and in the few settings I have seen it, looked like an even better plant than 'Blue Fortune (at least if you tend to like more saturated darker colors --I do.....). There is also a brand new plant from this group called 'Purple Haze' which by pictures looks wonderful and is said to be the best of this group. It looks like the 'Heather Queen' above. You can buy it for a small fortune from WFF or wait till it becomes more available. This is just appearing at some of the larger wholesalers so should be much more widely available in a year or two. I think that one of the problems with some plants labelled Blue Fortune is that they may be inferior seedlings from the cross above. I had bad luck overwintering Tutti Frutti (lost 2 plants even in gravel garden with good drainage) but great luck with A. cana, A. rupestris, A. 'Ava' and I think a few others whose names I don't recall. Pay attention to the comments above regarding overwintering. All these are fully hardy in z5 if protected from winter wet. I don't cut any of mine back till spring. A. rupestris is an easy beautiful shrubby plant with attractive silvery foliage even when not in bloom. There are many available from High Country Gardens as stated above. Be careful -- they are addictive and like ordering candy from a candy shop. Once you figure them out, you just want more. And if you love hummingbirds in the garden, and you have other hummer plants, you will want lots of agastaches....See MoreAzek decking and Ipe rails
Comments (7)Would love to see the photos, but when I click on it the only thing I get is a cat food commercial. I'm fairly new to this, what am I doing wrong? We are about to embark on a deck redo also and have looked extensively at Azek. I'm going to do the floor in Acacia color and the railing in Kona (because there is no railing in Acacia). To tie it together I'm going to have the second board in from the outside be in Kona and the Kona color railing will go on the outside board which will be the Acacia.....just trying to change it up a bit. Your comments are letting us know we are on the right track....especially about the ketchup and wine as we entertain outside a lot. Thanks for the informative post....See MoreTimberTech
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4 years agoGN Builders L.L.C
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