Week 89: what mistakes did you make?
Texas_Gem
8 years ago
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Jillius
8 years agolast modified: 8 years agocpartist
8 years agoRelated Discussions
What "mistakes" did you make this year?
Comments (22)Same "mistake" I always make - I forget to water. Or, rather - I just don't water. I HATE to water plants, so I tend not to [shrug]. I will water the potted annuals if I notice they're wilting or if I remember it's been a few days and I *should* water them. Come mid-August or so - forget it already. Got a sprinkler system installed this past spring - money VERY WELL SPENT. The beds finally aren't a crispy mess by August and I don't even have to think about watering - except the potted plants...see above. I haven't gotten around to planting some plants I purchased in August, and I do consider that a "mistake", although really it is a time issue rather than a mistake. I'm debating planting tomorrow, because this season everything is early, all the way from spring onward, we've even had FROST already in my area. I realize frost won't harm hardy perennials and shrubs, but I'm thinking perhaps the hard freezes and temps cold enough to affect soil temp aren't far off this year - normally I'll plant all through October, and I have planted into November in years past with great sucess, but this year does give me pause. Then again, I should just DO IT already because I do have the time tomorrow; otherwise, it just won't get done because of my schedule then I have haul everything in the garage for the winter. BAH!...See MoreDid I make a mistake?
Comments (8)Many of my daylilies die down to the soil, the leaves all die, not the crowns, after they finish blooming. They all start putting up new growth within days of the final leaf dieing off. I've thought that I was loosing some of my plants too, only to have the new growth start in a few days. I grow most of my daylilies in pots but I do have some in the ground and they do this in both pots and ground. I think that it just gets too hot and dry(of course I water my plants in pots but nothing compares to good old rain) for the plants to support the leaves and the crowns, so the leaves die off and the plant continues to feed the crowns until better weather arrives. I saw a lot of this happening this year when the days were over 100 degrees for 3 weeks. I've been putting pine bark mulch on my pots for about 4 years. I try to be careful and keep it from being right against the plants, but this is going to happen when plants are in pots no matter how hard you try. Especially when you have over 1000 pots. I've lost one plant to crown rot in 4 years, it was Mort Morss and it was the first winter after having gotten it in late fall. I've not lost another to crown rot since. I do grow most of my pots in some afternoon shade. I also keep all new arrivals and recently repotted(500 and counting now) under my big old oaks in pretty heavy shade. I'm sure this helps out by not being in that 105 degree sun. It was only 100 in the shade!!!! If your mulch wasn't totally green chips, you should be ok. Also, see if you might have critters eating the crowns and roots. I did lose one completely this year to voles and the little stinker managed to eat about 20 fans on other pots before I learned to watch for him and I pulled most of my partially underground pots up and made sure they were above the soil line.(No more trying to keep the pots insulated by burying them partially in the soil!!!) This was the first year I had this happen. I mean the little stinker(I'd love to say what I said when I found out he had killed my Spc Cranberry Kid totally!!) ate every fat root and all the crown up into the leaves!!!! Maybe your plants are just hiding from the terrible heat. I wish you good luck and please do let us know about your plants. Blessings to all, Mona...See MoreDon't make the mistake I did
Comments (3)No mortgage. We sold our primary home and converted the homeowner's to a renter's policy while living with our in-laws (mostly to cover wedding ring, etc). All of our furniture is in storage until the house is done. We obviously intended to convert renter's back to homeowner's when it was time to move in. The building contract does go into some detail about covering the project; however, we just plain missed the "what ifs" outside of the builder's insurance coverage. There's no question it was a HUGE goof- hence, my post....See MoreDon't make the same mistake(s) I did thread.
Comments (88)Great thread. I've made many mistakes over the years. When I needed drapes for 5 very tall and wide windows, I thought I would save money by making them myself. I ended up buying 30+ yards of a synthetic moire on sale at a chain fabric store, along with drapery lining, and after making up one panel, found that even with lining, the light coming through the fabric made the color brighter and kind of gaudy. The bolt is still in an upstairs closet, and I found 96" crushed voile panels online that I like very much for about $20 each. Lesson: keep it simple. A couple of years ago, I hired a local designer mainly to help me choose paint colors and advise on accessories/tweaking. In the master bedroom, I had some custom green silk drapes that I never liked that much, and she talked me into spending the money to have them interlined and a printed fabric border added, along with custom shams with the same fabric. I had already spent $2000 on the drapes, and now I spent another $1000, and I still didn't like them. I took them down, and they and the matching euro shams are in the closet in the guest room. I put up natural linen-look semi sheers from target, and I like them better. Lesson: keep it simple, and don't throw good money after bad. We weren't using our formal dining room much, and the same designer suggested moving the dining furniture into one end of our large living room, and making the old dining room into a den and the old den into a home office, which was really needed. Since I wanted to replace the old LR sofa anyway, I moved the den furniture into the living room and had a custom ($$$)sofa made for the new den. It was not a huge space, and we tried to keep the sofa scaled down. When it arrived, the fabric was gorgeous, the style just what I wanted, but the seat depth was so shallow that it was not very comfortable. I had also slipcovered the old den chairs to go with the new sofa ($$). I ended up moving the new sofa to the living room, where it was more appropriate for perching ladies than lounging TV viewers, and now none of the colors I had chosen (with help paid for by the hour) for the LR and new den would work. Plus, the newly slipcovered den chairs (on swivel rocker bases, I love them) don't work that well with the old sofa color. Fortunately, I hadn't painted yet. Lessons: Don't buy furniture without sitting on it. Choose paint colors after you are certain of your fabrics. Don't let your designer talk you into stuff you don't really need. Keep your major pieces fairly neutral. The worst was the master bath update. I had chosen tile for the walls and floor, and the tile vendor gave me a couple of names for the installation. The guy with the higher quote was very highly recommended but I went with the other guy because he said he could also do some other work I needed done. Even though I had a gut feeling I was making a mistake. He did a horrible job on the tile, broke my toilet, and disappeared. I had to buy more wall tile and pay another contractor to replace it, and I'm still stuck with a bad job on the floor. Between the cost of doing the job, redoing the job, and buying a new toilet, I could have had the better contractor do the job, and replaced the vanity and sink as well, and upgraded to a better tile. Lessons: A jack of all trades might be a master of none. Go with your gut. Ask contractors for their license numbers and CHECK IT online with your state to see if it's in effect. I've made more, but these are the recent highlights, LOL. I feel better having confessed them here....See Morebeachem
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8 years ago
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