Quick advice please from some “old hands.”
windymess z6a KC, Ks
5 years ago
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I love figs found this forum!! Can I get some quick advice?
Comments (8)Annette.... Growing fig trees is probably one of the easiest, and most delicious things you could do. Decide whether in ground, or containerized. Decide on location. (Full-sun, and heat, is good) Figs grow/develop on new wood, so prune if you must to control growth. Read postings on this forum about when/where to prune, and pinch new growth. The winter will be your problem. If containerized, and heavy...buy a dolly @ Home Depot and roll the plant(s) around. Read postings on winter storage/dormancy. Buying a twig/small, rooted-cuttings is a waste of time. Get a bearing-age tree, and you'll have fruit this year. Check your local garden centers for good trees. Twigs die out if not grown perfectly, and in the long run, you'll get more bang for the buck by starting off with a larger plant. I grow my 6 foot tall, single-stem trees in large storage tubs (with drainage holes), and all branches are grown at the top of the long bare trunks. I roll the trees around on dollies. This saves the back, and I'm hernia free. If you can store the trees (containerized) in an unheated garage or dark, cool, storage shed you'll probably solve your winter problems. Buy a short-season fig variety. If at a bearing age, and growing vigorously, pinch back new growth to 6 leaves on each branch for earlier ripening of main-crop figs. You'll be chowin' down on figs by September, or earlier! Seriously, this forum is the only place to get good, solid, up-to-date, fig-growing information. If you are going to buy figs through the mail, stay away, no...run away! from Ty-Ty, and Willis Orchards. Why?...search this forum. Also, west-coast nurseries are known for selling fig trees with mosaic virus. I learned the hard way. I personally have grown only one short-season variety called "Atreano"...which makes a very large, golden-yellow fig that's really sweet... if, ripened correctly. Do a search for this excellent, smaller-growing fig variety. It's a good start. Deer might not be a problem, but birds could be! Hope this helps you decide what to do. Read everything about growing figs on this forum, then decide how you will want to grow the tree(s)...then, go shopping. It's fun, and you'll be hooked. We were all normal once. : ) : ) BronxFigs...See MoreNeed some advice QUICK please...
Comments (20)"... Her house build demonstrates that. She described the floor and stair riser issues in her first post ..." She does not go into detail on why the condition of the construction is the way it is. You are assuming it was all the gc's fault. While I am certainly not going to defend the GC she fired, I will say part of that condition might have been from the house being open to the elements for a period of time. ANother part was that she never gave the original GC the opportunity to make the work that was done ready to be installed over. The GC did not complete the project and was removed from the job before he could finish his work, so of course it was not ready to be installed over, because the work was not completed and the original GC did not have the opportunity to make sure the stair system or any other part was in a ready state to be installed over. She very well may have had just cause to remove the CG, but nevertheless she took on the GC responsibility on herself to ensure it was ready for finish trades. I believe it is apparent that this house was not ready to have finished trades in it performing finish work, and it was her responsibility as GC to make sure it was unless soneone else accepted that responsibility by contract. "...A person does not require a GC to have a floor put down. ..." The problem with this is that it was not as simple as getting a floor put down in a home that was ready to have finish trade present. Again, we do not know what caused the stair issues, which could have been: Framing problems caused by the GC's incompetance, or being open to the elements, which flooring installer holds no responsibility for because its a hidden condition, unless it was a tile contractor who must check for build stability, and deflection and rigidity requirements. You might not be aware that carpet, wood, and resilient installers are noit trained for, nor do they hold any responsibility or liability for framing issues. All of which she holds responsibility for as the project GC. The only way the flooring installers would hold liability and responsibility for framing (hidden conditions) issues is if it was addressed on their bids that they agreed to do the work. Any flooring installer would address this in their bids if they elected to take on the added responsibility and liability from stair framing condition and height requirements she may ahve had which could only ahve been taken care of with additional prep they should have addressed in their bids if they wanted to take on the additional responsibility and liability for an added fee. Additionally, she admitted she has no local building codes for such things as stair height. Could they have done better...sure. But it begins and ends with who is liable and responsible. She took that on by electing to be her own project GC. "... While it might have been possible for her to have stepped in earlier to babysit the install where she would have seen that they weren't able to handle the job, stopping it sooner than what happened, that doesn't relieve that company of their total responsibility for having installed a floor over an (obviously) unsound substrate. You can't remove prep from the flooring equation. The flooring company is the professional here and in charge of their own work. It's their job. Once they start putting the floor down, they have accepted the substrate as sound and taken ownership of the results. They did not act responsibly or professionally. Period. Doesn't matter who did the hiring. They and they alone are responsible for their own incompetent work ..." Again, (and again, and again, and again) an installer absolutely is responsible and liable for the surface they install over. However, I will disagree that prep cant be removed. It very well can, and often is removed. While most professional flooring installers do much surface prep, others do not, and FEW, if any, will concern themselves with framing issues AT ALL. I do, but most do not. It all boils down to what was included in the bid. Flooring installers have no responsibility to do added prep work unless they agree to be contracted to do it. They ahve every right to stop work, tell the GC this or that prep needs done before continuing, and tell them to give them a call when its ready to be installed. Lastly, you seem to be taking everything she says as gospel. I dont. I have alot of experience with customers, and customers lie alot... and often. Mostly to save face, save a buck, and/or to shirk their responsibility. The customer is not always right. Thats a falicy. I find it hard to believe that she had issues with the GC, then issues with all the trades. Everyone was wrong in every aspect of this project ... except her. I dont believe that for a moment, but I am not saying its impossible. What I see as possible is someone who bit off more than they could chew, and is blaming everyone else. I am not stating no one else holds any blame though. Could be a little of each. Bottom line its mostly her responsibility unless she has a piece of paper saying different ...except the subfloor issues which the installers absolutely are responsible for if they elect to do the prep and/or install over it....See MoreNeed advice - and some hand-holding on second marriage issue
Comments (48)Well, thanks for all the posts. I'm kinda surprised this thread is still kicking around after all these months. Not surprisingly, our marriage is still in what I'd call "a struggling phase." If I could find (and afford) a marriage counselor, I'd seek one out. Our problems continue and i guess that's just part of life. Last week, he helped my daughter with a thorny problem. He's a professional and was able to give her some sound counsel on a financial matter. I was so grateful that he was willing to do that. And then when he came home that day, he groused and groused about how he had to skip lunch because of *my* daughter and her problems and it took him two hours to do the research and then send her a note explaining what he'd found and how he sure would have liked to have had lunch and blah, blah, blah. I keep revisiting the Ann Landers question: Am I better off with him or without him and I still don't have an answer. He's just so selfish sometimes and he's smarter than I am (by a lot) so he wins all the arguments. My self-esteem has plummeted since I met him and I've gained 25 pounds and some days, I just sit and cry. Still glad you asked?...See MoreSome Advice From an Old lady About Love LONG
Comments (15)I'm so sorry for your loss. What a lovely way to inform us, citing all the good things you were able to share after being reunited. Your story reminds me of the suitor my mother refused when they were both very young. (She was only 17, and she and her parents thought this was premature.) As my mother was dying of leukemia, a lifelong friend sent her news of this man -- by then a widower of many years. He came across the country to spend a week with my mother, bringing the photo she'd inscribed to him so long ago, and bringing the perfect little diamond ring he'd kept all these years. I know their marriage would have been uneven. He was a quiet, homebody person, and my mother became a successful career woman. However, I thought he was a much finer person than the successful businessman she did marry (and divorce) -- my father. Sometimes we underestimate how romantic and sentimental a man can be....See Morewindymess z6a KC, Ks
5 years agowindymess z6a KC, Ks
5 years ago
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