Advice for best approach to making garden paths
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5 years ago
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Best gardens of New Zealand..and other tourist advice!
Comments (6)Hi Becca My wife and I honeymooned on the south island 5 years ago, and the Botanic Gardens in Christchurch is the place to start! You will really enjoy NZ, because they grow things there year around that would be an anual here, thus the size of the plants is huge compared to what you would see here. We traveled to Queenstown from Christchurch, and back to Picton thru Greymouth on the west coast. My wife says that you will not be allowed to bring back live plant material, but you can buy seeds and bring them back. If your looking for a place to stay in Christchurch I highly recommend Buckingham Palace Hotel. Its a mom and pop operation as most hotels are in NZ. A tip on driving in NZ, as they drive on the other side of the road from us, is to follow behind someone........then you won't get into trouble, and watch yourself while crossing the street as you will naturaly look the wrong way when stepping off the curb and you can get run over that way, as I nearly did! I was told on my first trip that while God was making the world, he saved a small peice of everywhere and put those pieces together to make NZ. If you are luck enough to get to travel NZ you will see that its true. NZ is a beautiful place and so are the people. Bill...See Moremaking garden paths
Comments (7)I would probably set the stones down into the mulch, moving aside the mulch and nestling the stones down into it for a more level surface. If it's a path you'll be walking on a lot, I would probably fit them closer together or just leave it as mulch, without the stones in the path. I find stepping stones difficult to walk on since they never seem to fit my stride, but if you don't mind that, set them as you want. You could use rocks as edging to differentiate the path from the beds since it will all be mulched. I have a garden where the previous tenant used carpet as mulch. Whatever bound it together decomposed, and 17 years down the road I'm still removing carpet fiber from the soil, so I wouldn't recommend that....See MoreSoil amendments and overseeding - best approach in terms of timing?
Comments (2)In this case, overseeding while amending won't be a problem (having told me that, I'm going to ride amendments--what few there are--out of the seeding period). Your overall soil condition is very good! The analysis is below, but you really don't need much in most locations, and as of next year you can fold the Front and Back into one test. The side should probably stay separate since you won't finish the calcium in a single year, but after that it can roll back in with the others. EC 10-11: A nice soil, featuring plenty of silt. It holds good resources and doesn't let them go too easily. Once balanced, it should tend to stay balanced for a couple of years without much effort on your part. pH: Really only a symptom. The side is the only one that's out of range, and that only slightly. Although the front's a touch high, we'll just let nature take its course there as it certainly isn't a problem. OM 5.2-6.8%: Good to Excellent. No emergency correction required, but certainly mulch mow, mow all your fall leaves, and possibly consider feeding organically. You have no great need to raise this, so there's no need to go nuts with it. Sulfur 12-ish: Perfectly reasonable numbers with wide windows for additives. Which I don't need, actually. Phosphorus 290+: The target would have been 200, 290-380 is well within perfect range and completely fine. No phosphorus required or desired in this soil. Calcium 70.9%, 67.7%, 54.5%: Front and back are fine (optimal, in fact), the back is low. We use high-calcitic lime for this, Encap, Mag-I-Cal, or Pennington Fast Lime. Recommendations below. Magnesium 15-20%: All very close to optimal with slightly over the top amounts showing in the soil. No magnesium required or desired. Potassium 2 - 2.5%: While within normal percentages, the soil shows a shortage that should be corrected. We use potassium sulfate (sulfate of potash) to correct this, which you can get at most garden stores or landscape shops--or they can order it for you. Potassium sulfate is very gentle and can actually go directly with your seed, but I'm separating it out by a month or so just to be absolutely certain. Recommendations below. Sodium (side) 4.3%: Very high, high enough that sodium sensitive plants will struggle a bit. Fortunately, grasses aren't that sodium-sensitive. Let's keep an eye on this and if the calcium doesn't help, we'll do something about it next year. Sodium levels in the front and back are much better and not a problem, although I wouldn't mind kicking some sodium out of the soil there either if it comes down to that. Minor Elements: Most are within good range, although I mention boron below. Boron 0.28, <0.2, 0.23: Very low, Deficient, Very Low. These are all close enough (the back could be 0.01 for all we know, but still gets the same treatment) to work with together. We use Milorganite as a carrier and 20 Mule Team Borax as the boron source. You can purchase 20 Mules at the grocery store in the laundry section. In a wheelbarrow or the like, dump the Milo. Spraying very, very lightly with water (I use a spray bottle like the kind people use to damp their clothes when they iron) will help the boron stick. Add the recommended amount of 20 Mule Team Borax and stir, spraying occasionally to get the stuff to stick to the Milo. Then apply over the recommended area. So if going for bag rate Milorganite (1 bag per 2,500 square feet), you'd add 10 tablespoons of 20 Mule Team Borax. Recommendation: October 1: (All Areas) Apply 3 pounds per thousand square feet potassium sulfate. October 15: (Side Only) Apply 9 pounds per thousand of Mag-I-Cal, Encap, or Pennington Fast Lime. Some paling of new grasses may result, but this will reverse on its own. If severe, follow up with a feeding of Milorganite to add some free iron--which I arranged to do on November 1 with the boron in any case to hold off any problems. November 1: Apply 4 tablespoons (not a misprint) per thousand square feet of 20 Mule Team Borax. April 1, 2016: (All Areas) Apply 3 pounds per thousand square feet potassium sulfate. April 15, 2016: (Side Only) Apply 9 pounds per thousand of Mag-I-Cal, Encap, or Pennington Fast Lime. Severe paling is extremely unlikely at this time....See MoreWhat is the best approach if a FSBO is priced too high?
Comments (52)I would have gone and talked to the owner behind you before it showed up as listed -- both to reduce the competition and to possibly make it easier to negotiate, but I still wouldn't rule out making an offer now. Let them know the listed rent is more than your parents can swing and that you can add something to it to make this work for everyone, but not what they are asking. Tell them you were hoping that the $1600 they mentioned might make it possible to work something out. Make an offer that is either the max or close to the max you can do with you chipping in. If it is the max, let them know that. You know they have some flexibility because they talked about listing it for less. If they don't need max dollars out of the home, they may have the flexibility to take the $1600 or even less (asking $1600, they might have been looking to get at least $1450 or $1500 -- or they might have been firm at $1600). Some folks are only about dollars and some situations require anyone to focus on dollars, but sometimes other factors weigh in too. Doesn't hurt to let them know your DH passed and your situation is a bit more limited than it might be otherwise. Let them know you will be there to make sure everything is well cared, that your parents need help and you need them to be closer, but you having trouble finding the right solution. Tell them what a blessing it would be to have your parents hem so close at this time in their lives. It's okay to yank their chain a little. It may or may not work, but nothing ventured, nothing gained. Whether you talk to these folks or not, you are going to have to be proactive and stay on top of things. I looked at rental listings that are online and even a couple of senior apartment options last night. There ae not a ton of options that appear to be very close to you that are near your price range (only a couple of homes that showed active and in Kingwood - looks like there are more in Atascocita and Humble, and I don't know if those are close enough to meet your goals). But the ones that look best are aleady pending. Are you working with an agent to help you locate possiilities and to jump on new listings? You need to be getting some networking on your side to find things as they open up and to get a sense of where there may be flexibility. If you are working with an agent and they are just showing you what you see online and ask about, they aren't working for you. If that is the case, I'd find another agent. This time of year is likely to have fewer new options, so you want to jump on anything that looks good. There may also be fewer people looking to move this time of year, but it only takes one to snap up that perfect place before you do, so don't be too lax. Also, be assertive. You have every right to ask for anything. If it is reasonable or well presented, it will likely be considered. You may not get it, but you are guaranteeed to get nothing if you don't ask. Put yourself in the shoes of the landlord or seller and tell yourself all the reasons why you and your parents would be good tenants or buyers for them. Convince yourself so you can convince them. Get that agent to work with you -- they are used to seeing the needs and wants on both sides and should be able to help you make your best case. Are you the only family member? Are there others, even if out of town that can lend support and help you with all this? It's a lot harder to act and make decisions when you have the emotional involvement with your parents, they have issues that ake it more difficult and you are feeling the weight of the world on your shoulders. If you don't have family or friends to lean on, at least you have this forum. Use it -- and get a good agent working for you. And I talk too much. Sorry it's so long....See MoreMelissa Northern Italy zone 8
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