slightly OT: storing bagged compost over the winter
ac91z6
4 years ago
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Pine Bark: Should I buy now and store over winter?
Comments (9)Thanks everyone for the advice. I stopped at the garden center today and picked up a couple of bags of pine bark. The cost was $2.75 each for a 2CF bag. The material in the bags looked slightly different, perhaps a little better, than the bags I bought earlier this year. From what I could see there might have been less sapwood in this batch. They had about 1/2 a pallet of pine bark fines left, much of it very wet from the recent rains. I dug around and tried to get the driest bags I could find. If I had use for more bark, and a place to store it, I would have bought several more bags at that price. I simply don't have room in my garage to store more than a few bags, unless I want to park my vehicle out in the driveway lol. TYG...See MoreSlightly OT: Do you cater to critters?
Comments (23)My garden and house caters first and mostly for my dog - he's the most pampered pet you can imagine :-) This includes his own doghouse in the garage (that he hardly ever uses, but is used by the roaming cats in the neighborhood, much to Timmy's distress), an enclosed front porch with doggie door, basket, rug and private sofa, free roaming of the garden, two more beds inside the house, etc. You get the picture - he's the king of it all :-) As for wildlife, since we live on the foothills of a small mountain range and part of a natural park, we do get quite a lot of critters. We have a birdbath that is used not only by the birds but also by the bees and wasps, of which there are gazillions (we are in a honey producing area). Birds in the garden include sparrows, robins in Fall and Winter, loads of blackbirds, gold finches and a multitude of others I can't name. Last Saturday I saw my first swallow of the year. Above us on the hill we can frequently spot hawks, of which there are some colonies in the park. At night owls are a frequent visitor and we can hear their calls many times. Cuckoos are also a familiar sound as soon as Spring is here. I have a lot of evergreens in the garden and this provides excellent nesting sites for the birds. Preferred are the bay trees, laurustinus and the conifers. I'm constantly finding nests whenever I prune anything. I had a resident bat for about a year, sleeping in a closed garden umbrella we had on the patio. Unfortunately I had to remove the umbrella because the wasps decided it was a good place to nest, so it had to go. I was already stung twice, didn't want to be stung whenever I opened the umbrella! Still, bats visit frequently and it's common to see one or two flying around the garden at dusk. Some years we have glow worms in the Spring, which I absolutely love. It's magical to see them hovering around the garden at night. Other assorted critters include geckos, small lizzards, snakes, mice (yuk!), crickets, locusts and the occasional hedgehog. In terms of specifically catering for critters, I keep the birdbath going all year (we don't have hard freezes) and try to plant things I know will be used by the wildlife. This includes berry shrubs like pyracantha which are a major hit with birds in the cold Winter months. I also have a weeping mulberry tree and let its production go to the birds, who have a feast with the fruits. The compost pile is also a good feeding ground and there's a little bird that spends hours there hunting for the small fruit flies that proliferate inside the pile. Butterflies are catered for with things like lantana, mock orange and buddleia. I need to add more larval food to cater for butterflies, but haven't come quite up to it yet. I don't use any sort of chemicals in the garden, don't even spray the roses, and this of course translates into a welcome sign for critters, even if it means that slugs and snails are huge, sigh... I don't use a slingshot to get rid of them, like Edna does ;-), but I do throw them onto a neighbooring field that is kept wild. All in all, I consider a privilege to have wildlife in the garden and have been slowly educating myself to encourage it as much as possible. Eduarda...See MoreHow do I store peony over winter?
Comments (9)Peonies.....you've got peonies?.......in California? They must be California grown, I thought peonies only grew in northern latitudes where they receive a winter of content.... When a plant, that should bloom, doesn't....then the first thing to do is STOP ALL FEEDING....NO MORE FERTILIZER. The idea of this is make the plant think---yes, plants think---that they are in distress and whaddya know....they begin to produce buds....in order to produce flowers..which then produces seeds.....and we know what a seed does. So stop any and all fertilizing until it does bloom. Plants stop blooming...or wont bloom, for many reasons. You have to figure out which ones causes yours to not bloom. Too much water; too much fertilizer; too little water; too high a temperature; too much sun; too little sun' tired out soil; too much shade; too cold at night; too warm at night;.....and it goes on and on. Sometimes too when a plant just refuses to bud and produce bloom, the first thing you might consider is to divide it.....as we do when perennials like lilies when they stop or bloom small or not as many. Usually, just dividing the plant makes the plant want to produce more. Since dividing is easy....make sure each division has at least two 'eyes' and make sure to plant no more than 2" below surface----otherwise, the plant may never bloom. Now, having said that....maybe that's where your trouble lies....its too deep in the ground. Bring it up....its easy too, just put a spade into the ground on the four sides....lifting a bit each and then finally lifting the entire plant out and plant it --at the correct depth--in its now home which you have prepared ahead of time. Water it well, then wait....See MoreSlightly OT - Are you a garden bling junkie?
Comments (92)Sultry oh my gosh that is crazy they would dig under a fence !! Lucky cats . I would be very cautious anywhere in Florida over those !! Altorama , love your bird bath !! It’s so pretty . The swing frame is great for roses !! That Dino is cute and would look beautiful tucked into large ferns I got this off Craigslist for $5 . I thought she was so cute. It’s a birdbath Oh what a pretty sun and cacti jeri !!...See More
ac91z6
4 years ago
Stephanie, 9b inland SoCal
4 years agolast modified: 4 years agoac91z6 thanked Stephanie, 9b inland SoCalac91z6
4 years ago
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