New to forum...candle questions
sudimari
15 years ago
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sara-s
15 years agosudimari
15 years agoRelated Discussions
Newbie Questions New to zone 7a and new to ws.
Comments (4)It's not too late! I'm in your zone but in North Georgia. I've just started winter sowing this past week. I also have red clay. Red clay is usually high in nutrients but lacking in organic matter. You should be able to drastically improve your soil with adding organic matter. I've found the best way to improve my clay soil is laying down builders paper and or cardboard and then covering with a thick mulch of things like straw, hay, leaves etc. The worms will show up under the paper and start breaking it all down and aerating the hard clay underneath and bringing organic matter into it. I also do raised beds but I don't want my whole yard raised beds iykwim. With my raised beds I've just had truckloads of landscapers mix brought in. The clay will take some time to improve though. I'm working on improving most of my yard and it's an acre. The soil was worse than average with all the topsoil having been scraped off and not even grass would grow in most places. :/ I've ordered from Diane's, Swallowtail Seed's and Fedco Seeds this winter. Fedco sells more vegetable seeds but I really like their flower and herb selection because they do have some good things and they offer a LOT of seed for far less than the average asking price. So I buy flower seed from them every year when I order my vegetable garden seeds. My plan this year is to start focusing on seed saving though so I don't have to buy so darn much! Good luck with your new yard!...See MoreNew acquisitions and new questions.
Comments (16)You took the words right out of my mouth . Where is here? I heard that they thought it might be hardy to around 20F which would mean that I would have to protect it occasionally and possibly loose it an a huge cold front. That is what shovels are for. I lost an 8 ' O. cochenellifera, and a bunch of opuntias during an unusually hard freeze a couple of years ago (12F). O ficas indica is hardy to just above 15. It came back from the ground. @ GS, Thanks I went again and the link did show it. Interesting discussion. Mine looks to be a bit different. These pads are flat elongated but more of the classic wide paddle form associated with opuntia, a darker green, The pony tails were spaced farther apart, but all in all, definitely similar. I have contacts on flicker that are involved in the Mexican cactus scene. maybe , I should shake their tree for information. @ Karen, Your cactus are also rooting and showing growth. Thank you again. Give me a couple of years and I might have some spare pads of this one , but taking into account that every person that passed me as I made my way to the car, asked me where were this plants in the store and if it was the last one, this plant will be making its way into the trade in a hurry. I think that it was grown somewhere near by because others had been munched on by the dreaded cactus coreid bug. I do not think that it is as much of a pest in Arizona and ponts west as it is here. I could be mistaken.....See MoreNew Member, New Homeowner, New Questions
Comments (17)Actually, that was the side I didn't do anything to other than cut a few of the larger berry bushes at the bottom of the hill. That birch is in rough shape and without staking it up and waiting several years, it won't survive. I would just assume take it down since it's not really in a great location anyway. I hate to do it since they are becoming relatively scarce due to disease and insects. This picture http://minus.com/lbx4OfKnwRF4xc shows what are definitely blackberry/raspberry bushes. I wouldn't mind having them, in fact I would welcome having a ton more, just not here. Being on the slope they will not be easy to get to when the mature and have fruit. If there was a way to transplant them or something I would love to hear it. I had tried it in the past, but the only way I have ever seen them grow was by accident and negligence. Based on the size of a few of the lower bushes, I would bet they may produce a limited amount of fruit. The smaller ones at the top of the hill however are definitely not mature enough from my experience. Going off on a tangent... I loved having berry bushes growing up and we had a large sandy area on my parent's property that they grew like crazy in. They eventually began to die off and my dad chopped them all down. The began to come back by the time I went to college, but it took a while to get any amount of fruit from them. My last year at college I rented a small cottage on a back road that had the biggest patch of black raspberries I had ever seen. I started picking as soon as they began to ripen and then ever couple days for the next 3 weeks. I stopped for lack of room in the freezer for 1gal ziplock bags. I made at least a dozen pint jars of jam and a few quarts. I gave a bunch away but i'm hoarding the last few of the "good" batch for myself. :) So in other words, I would love to have berry bushes, just not where they are. A lot of what you see on the ground on the left side (looking from the house) is debris and not much in the way of live plants other than some weeds. Obviously it is still very early here and not much has come up yet though. The tree shown in the background of this picture http://minus.com/lbwhVJrx76OE9d appears to be planted from what is left of the mulch/preparation around the base. This shot http://minus.com/lvFny84VUSjeW shows a rock swail that comes down from what is left of the last owners fish pond sort of thing. There is a reddish low lying plant growing on either side that I failed to get a close up picture of. It appears that it will look nice later in the spring but needs some weeding and/or mulching. I will take your advice and try posting some pictures on the "name that plant" forum. In the meantime, would I benefit from getting some sort of tall meadow grass mix to put down in a few weeks? *whoops, I wrote a book...See MoreNew plan, new builder, question about columns
Comments (12)Thanks everyone. I was definitely leaning towards the equidistant columns plan. Holly, that's a great idea, but my concern with that is two fold--first, these columns are bloody expensive, but second, our porch isn't terribly deep, and if these are 18" x 18" at their base, it does not leave much room behind each column. Four columns would leave little space for chairs between the columns, and I'm afraid would look a bit busy. Thanks Autumn, we are thrilled with the little girl! But there are definitely some bright spots form the house planning, as well. Frankly, the plan we're getting is not clearly worse than the one I created, and in a few ways is better. And, had I not struggled over that plan and received acres of great advice here, I would not have known what to change about the plan to make it really work well for our family. Here is a cut out of the floor plan of the front. I know this builder has had problems with people copying this plan illegally, so I'm not sure I'm comfortable posting the whole thing without his approval. The plan is scanned a bit crooked, but assume it's straight (and I had to reverse the plan to match our house). I've drawn in the lines and measurements to the center of each 18" column base, the window, and the door. Off to the left is the garage; the room on the front right is the living room, and there is a 6' deep entry hall as soon as you enter the front door. See how I really don't think it changes too much to have the door move the door around--it might change the view through the sidelites and what you see when you first walk in, but I think that is minor compared to how the house will look from the street....See Moresara-s
15 years agosimplemary
15 years agobphobrien
7 years agoSara Bein
7 years agoJerry Utz
7 years agoAiny Waya
last yearRudolfo Meluleni
10 months ago
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