Got all the shrub and tree caging done, just in time. I found the PG Hydrangea with rabbit nibbles on a stick, bud gone. They have SO MUCH else to eat, why the PG? They ate it to the ground last year, had to resprout from the roots and finally was looking nice. It is caged now, no more snacks. Funny how other Hydrangeas never get any nibbles, even when it is really cold. Also caged the new tree saplings in sunken pots, out in the holding garden. They are TINY things, probably real tasty, so best protected. Got the field trees caged, used plastic mesh and tomato cages because I ran out of wire. Have to see how they do against rabbits THIS year! Pulled in all the decorations still out, statues, big pots, emptied dirt, stacked in the shed. No frozen dirt in pots like last year!! Felt bad because the plants were still blooming despite the cold, but waiting was what caused problems last year. Got the couple dahlias, two cannas dug up into sawdust, potted geraniums, down in the basement. Only put in a few new tulips, replaced what the puppy dug up. Will probably do more bulb work next year. I may have to redo a bed then to put in a new path. Have to collect seeds from Marigolds, striped Zinnias, Cosmos, fancy Sunflowers still. With rain last week, everything has been slow drying out to collect. Still some trimming of plants, lily and peony leaves to remove. Roses I moved recently seem quite happy, even blooming. I need to pull some trellis', going to just trade locations with tall and short. Should be a quick job. Pond is netted, set until filter needs changing on the bubbler. I leave that run all winter because it keeps the water cleaner, prevents the ice from freezing so quickly. Small pond, so not much work. Water squirter put away and lines drained. Puppy is turning into a nice garden dog. She drags trimmed branches around, likes laying by me as I work in the yard. Luckily she seems happy digging in the empty tomato bed. That will be easy to fix with rototilling in spring. SEEMS to help with keeping holes in the same location! Maybe she likes easy digging, that is nice dirt. The barn cats have been coming out to supervise, rolling around in the garden, wanting to be petted as I work. They tend to stay behind the fence on beds, so dog runs around and around, watching them. Both seem to be having a good time. We still haven't got half the leaves down, so not raking them yet for shredding. Still need to wrap the plastic around fence surrounding the Japanese Maple. Plastic cuts the wind on tree, seems to help prevent as much die-off on the tree top. One of those zone border-line trees, needs no extra work beyond the plastic on fence. Love the curly little leaves it has. Hoses need to be picked up and coiled, put away for winter. We were gone on vacation last week, so coming back after a break makes it more fun. Did have a lot of fun looking at all the plants, trees, gardens as we drove along. Very attractive plantings of wildflowers, mostly Cosmos now, in the dividers of Highways in North Carolina, West Virgina. Ran for long strips of road, bright colors really perked up the view. This warm weather is sure great for being outside, finishing off the yard jobs. After the outside stuff, the garden shed will need sorting. I keep tossing everything in there, run off to do something else, so order needs to be restored!

I lived in Florida (Avon Park/Okeechobee) for many years and am familiar with "Florida Holly" as compost feedstock. As finely shredded chips, the Brazilian Pepper is OK in a pile but break down more slowly than softwoods like slash pine you have there. Leaves are 'leathery' and slightly acidic, which will slow down composting somewhat due to producing an acidic leaf mold, lowering the compost pH. Depends on what your compost end result is going to be used for. If a container potting media, keep the chips very small. If as an anamendment in sandy soil, larger chips are useful...But it takes a LONG time to compost a large amount of such material. Mostly deep sand in S. Florida, and if that's the case where you live, recommend that you rent a 50+ hp tractor with large wheels and a strong PTO tiller and a professional driver. Land clearing company. Should not take more than 4 hours to make several passes in at least two directions on that 'almost acre' to get the majority of those chips tilled into the ground. In my opinion, mulched chips on top of the ground decompose more slowly than wood chips IN the ground or compost pile. It's a matter of moisture. Drier chips break down more slowly because the microbes that do the 'breaking down' require a moist environment to survive/reproduce. Point out to the tractor operator to be aware that larger stumps could be an issue for the tiller, but this 'holly' shrub is usually 'small' diameter trunk and shallow-rooted, and in sand, tilling will 'loosen' stump roots, which should also help keep the stumps from putting up more new growth - which they are prone to do. Cypress trunks are another issue - best to avoid those with the tiller. Stumps that produce strong new growth should be ground down. There are treatments for stumps to kill them - but I don't recommend that treatment if you're going to grow something new in that area. Tilling-in the chips will help them break down faster, since underground the chips will hold more moisture. In sand, broadcasting nitrogen fertilizer (even cheap synthetic ammonium sulfate) will not be cost-effective before tilling - not just because of the large area, but because with frequent afternoon rains through that section of the penninsula, the nitrogen would be quickly leached down, beyond the wood chips, and be lost. AND, you don't want to promote vegetative growth from the understory you just had removed, by providing a nitrogen source to all those cut-down stumps. On the other hand, planting rye grass cover is a good suggestion, to add organics into the soil, but the only rye grass I recommended for your area is CEREAL Rye (Elbon) because it is a R-K nematode 'trap crop' in addition to being a very fast-growing cover crop. Root-Knot Nematodes are common in the sandy soils of south Florida and can do considerable damage to susceptible plants. Sounds to me like that area is a perfect place to start a veggie garden or perhaps sow pretty wildflower seed mixes. Hope this helps, SoilGuy

You might try corn gluten meal, as a grass killer. Lay it early as a pre-emergent, and reapply if you get sprouts. Not supposed to be poison for animals or birds, since it is almost regular corn meal. Garden sounds interesting, lots of fun for the cats. Geraniums might be of interest, not poison. They come in many sizes of tiny to large. Huge selection in flower colors, scented leaves and leaf shapes. Apple, rose, lemon, orange are scents that I have smelled. Put them where you will brush against them to release the scent. Bloom almost all the time in full sun. Pergoliam is the Latin, I think, which they might be listed under. They were real popular in Colonial times for scented leaves used in potpourri, flavoring food. Mine are floral, but the cat here does enjoy biting the leaves at times, sitting in front of the french doors in the sun. She also likes the Rosemary plant topiary! Nasturtiams are edible though not my favorite flower on food. Kind of a peppery taste when we ate them in a salad. Flowers are pretty, bright colors, like the sun. Martha Stewart sold seeds for a climbing variety, but mine missed the fence, just crawled around. Foliage is cute too, round leaves. Chrysanthemums are edible, very popular in Asian food. Japanese or Chinese, can't remember. They sprinkle the petals in soup, salads. Should be OK for a cat to chew on. Many shapes, heights, colors to choose from. They flower better with pinching tips back until 4th of July. You get more blooms on sturdy, shorter stems. They are perennials, can return each spring. Mine tend to be shorter lived, but other folks plants live for long times. Two of the flowers I named are annuals. Geraniums can be saved as plants over winter, dry in the dark basement or potted in front of windows over winter. Nasturtiams are available by seed in spring or you might be able to save seeds from this years plants.

So glad you brought this thread back to the top Helen. I plant a little more every year for the hummingbirds and last summer was the first year that I've had a LOT of hummingbirds around my yard. It wasn't unusual to see a dozen at a time and in past summers, I would just see one or two at a time. I have planted Yvonne's Salvia. I believe it's salvia splendens, the bright red annual type like you see at Wal-Mart every year but Yvonne's gets much taller. I read in another forum that Yvonne passed away recently. She was 94. The story alone makes them a joy to grow. They even had an article in Birds and Blooms about Yvonne and her salvia. I started mine late and they didn't get as tall as they should have. Last year I bought lonicera sempervirens 'Alabama Crimson' at the farmers market in Springfield and also got the species in a trade. The arbor I'm going to plant them on is still a pile of boards though so I just stuck them in the ground and will have to move them. I planted a Dropmore Scarlet in full sun on our chainlink fence and it bloomed a long time last summer but l. sempervirens is supposed to bloom even longer. Mexican Sunflowers (tithonia) are great for attracting hummingbirds and swallowtails. It gets pretty tall though. Helen - was it you that posted a photo of your tithonia last summer after they fell over and kept blooming so well? I'm a bit tempted to knock mine over on purpose. lol Pam - I should have plenty of zinnias and tithonia but thanks for the offer. I expect some volunteers and have seed packets too. Glenda - I never got out to Dorothy's last summer. No need to apologize though since I'm typically behind and really have no business buying more plants anyway. lol violet - Your photos are wonderful!