The Gardening Thread

[C2H5OH]

Originally Posted by Wolf Larsen

... I'm using a mix of 2-4-d and dicamba.

I've got 2-4-D (I call it 'Agent Orange', because that was the primary ingredient in that shit) for use on the blackberries that just refuse to fucking die, even when I also use Roundup and Spectracide on them. I'll have to try adding the dicamba to the mix.

[Jaglavak]

Originally Posted by Youngkody

I can already picture lazy afternoons spent lounging with a book and a cup of tea in the spring.

Holy crap dude, you went nuts! Are those cushions OK to get rained on?

[Wolf Larsen]

Well, the battle has started. Yesterday's broad leaf killer attack did a lot of damage. But I noticed that the back fence neighbor has some Tree of Heaven on their side of the fence. And the roots are all interconnected. So this is going to be a long slog.

[Jaglavak]

A couple years ago I managed to slay a bamboo clump by hacking it to the ground and then building a three day fire on it.

But today's project wasn't quite so dramatic. There's a nice rhody bush that is being slowly strangled by morning glory and shaded out by a volunteer sapling of I think alder. So I worked my way around it with the pole lopper and pruning shears. I didn't get all the way to the top but now there is a whole lot more rhody showing and it should grow well this summer.

Then I got medieval with the blackberries again. I'm not worried about a crop of berries this year so it was take no prisoners. I made a dent but it still blankets the corner of the fence. All that got lopped up and stacked on the compost pile. Tomorrow I can mow the lawn and have around 50 gallons of grass clippings to go on top. I'm hoping that will wake up Audrey the hot compost heap again. So far she's hanging around 20 degrees warmer than ambient. I still need to trim a few tree branches out front that are overhanging the road enough to smooch the UPS truck on the way by. My goal is to have all the burnables cleaned up and outta here by the 4th of July.

[stormie]

whoa. You're an herbicide!

My neighbor want to build a very raised bed or two in Mom's back yard, for annuals. Mom's totally into it. This will be great!

[Jaglavak]

Got the lawn mowed and it was more like 100 gallons of clippings. So Audrey has lots to snack on if she wants to come out and play. We have a soggy weekend coming up, and then I'm going to broadcast some grass seed with my handy little hand cranked whirl & hurl gizmo. Still lots to do but I'm gaining on it.

[SmartAleq]

Whoo, I am back in the garden biz lol. Few weeks ago I put together this cool metal raised planter thingie and finally got around to getting it filled and planted. I didn't even use all the possible panels for it, it could have been almost twice as long but I don't have room for that. I do have four extra panels though and I'm thinking of maybe putting them together by screwing into a 2x2 on each corner but that's a project for another day. Even with it being short it still took nearly 16 cubic feet of planting mix to get it to the right height. I put in some panels of "No, dog, do NOT get in here to dig" wire fencing, the decorative kind, and cut a piece of 2x3 welded fencing to embed in the back of it to form a trellis.

Then I went nuts with the plants. I had the new raised bed, 5 container pots, 2 hanging baskets that I plant red flowers in to lure the hummingbirds to the feeders next to the pots and a goodly section of the racetrack garden to fill in. I got into the racetrack area with a twist tiller and pulled out a metric buttload of unwanted weeds. I am happy to report that I seem to have fought the nightshade to a standstill in there, took a few years but I'm declaring a tentative victory. We'll see.

Then it was off to Tony's where I decided to go super cheap and easy with a shit ton of six pack annuals, on the basis that nothing I plant out there that isn't vinca or some very stubborn gladiolas (that grow nicely but never flower, WTF?) ever makes it through the winter anyway. I did have a borage plant out there that actually came back during the mild part of the winter, only to be slaughtered by the ice storm--didn't think it was possible to kill borage but here we are. Anyway, I ended up with:

Heliotrope (the girl at the nursery says they all think it smells just like cake batter and by gosh, that's extremely accurate!)
Sweet pea, to go up the trellis and along the racetrack fence
Salvia in Vista Red and Victoria Blue--big hummingbird lures, they are
Verbena in mixed colors, mostly purple/white
Petunias, Hula Hoop Mix (deep purple with white edges and a pinky red also with white edges)
Alyssum, Easter Basket Mix, mostly purple and white
Gazania, in a brilliant orange
And I think I got some marigolds, they didn't have a tag and I don't usually plant them because they smell kinda yucky but the colors were incredible, bright orange shading into a deep red in the center, very showy.

And I did get a few perennials that I hope will be hardy and survive to return next year,

Ivy Geranium in Ivy League Red
Pink Coreopsis
"The Governor" Lupine

The bees have already started taking notice, hooray!

Now I'm gonna take advantage of it being overcast and cool by baking up a blueberry pie. Mmm, blueberry.

[JackieLikesVariety]

awesome!

[Wolf Larsen]

I was watering out in the backyard and saw a pretty good sized snake. I got a good look at the tail and no rattle. It had a bright orange stripe and this turns out to be the identifying trait of a Plains Garter Snake. Harmless, so I'll let him hang and eat bugs.

[Solfy]

I thought I displaced our resident garter snakes when I rebuilt the front steps, but there's one hanging out under the new steps. Must be prime real estate.
It's cool with me, but I don't breathe a word about it to my mother.

[Wolf Larsen]

We had garter snakes that liked the front step area at our old house. Not sure exactly why they liked it, but they did. Mrs. Larsen offended one by inadvertently dumping ice water on it as it was sunning in a bush.

[SmartAleq]

Sneks in the garden are a goodness, they keep pests under control and are themselves quite inoffensive and good neighbors. My doggos have learned the hard way to leave the garter sneks strictly alone as they emit a truly foul odor when harassed. Fine by me, I like sneks and Oregon on the wet side doesn't have any medically significant species. I wish we had hognoses though, they're so freaking cute.

[Wolf Larsen]

Well, I got the irrigation system working. I had opened the cutoff valve in the basement and nothing happened. Some sleuthing with a flashlight and I found a second cut off valve that the contractor has drywalled over. I used a tape measure to figure out when to cut and made a hole big enough to get my hand in. Once pressurized, the system seems to mostly work. There is a leak in the hard PVC pipe at the backflow preventer. The previous people had tried to repair that with silicone caulk, which completely did not work. I also found at least two of the drip hoses that were broken. There are drip areas that didn't fire up, but I don't know if they have cut hoses or the controller didn't start them. All four parts of the lawn sprinklers seem to work pretty well.

The system is usable until I get someone out to fix the PVC. There is a cutoff valve upstream of the backflow preventer and that stops the leak. This is going to need to be blow out in the fall, it is much too complicated to use the ShopVac on.

[Solfy]

In your part of the world is an irrigation system a nice to have (lawn does better with watering) or a must have (no water, no lawn)?
Our rainfall here is such that irrigation systems (for lawns or even farming) are rare. Just a bit to the south they start to get a lot more popular.

[Wolf Larsen]

Originally Posted by Solfy

In your part of the world is an irrigation system a nice to have (lawn does better with watering) or a must have (no water, no lawn)?
Our rainfall here is such that irrigation systems (for lawns or even farming) are rare. Just a bit to the south they start to get a lot more popular.

We're not quite sage brush and tumble weeds, but pretty close. If you don't water it, it pretty much dies. I've been getting by so far with hoses and an oscillating sprinkler that has a pretty good reach. We're not really growing anything this year, but will need to have the drip system working next year. There is a raised bed that is currently all clay, but as we get into the fall I'm going to have the yard guy dig a bunch of sheep and peat into it.

[thorny locust]

Originally Posted by C2H5OH

I've got 2-4-D (I call it 'Agent Orange', because that was the primary ingredient in that shit) for use on the blackberries that just refuse to fucking die, even when I also use Roundup and Spectracide on them. I'll have to try adding the dicamba to the mix.

Dicamba is notorious for rising up from the area it's intended to be applied on and drifting, sometimes large distances, and causing major damage to other plants/crops which aren't resistant to it, often on other people's property entirely. Please don't use it.

[JackieLikesVariety]

Originally Posted by thorny locust

Dicamba is notorious for rising up from the area it's intended to be applied on and drifting, sometimes large distances, and causing major damage to other plants/crops which aren't resistant to it, often on other people's property entirely. Please don't use it.

wouldn't it be nice if all the toxic chemicals out there at least only harmed the people using them? in fact, as long as I'm dreaming, how about if only the people up at the top of the companies that make them were the only ones being poisoned.

going to take it up with God when I meet her.

[Wolf Larsen]

Mrs. Larsen bought a basil plant yesterday. Today I put it outside in a big pot. Hopefully we get enough for Thai chicken with mint and basil.

[Wolf Larsen]

Got the fire pit put back together. The movers dropped it and broke a lot of the cobalt glass beads. I finally got it cleaned out and ready to rock. Can't use it yet, the insects are relentless, but frost is coming and they will learn.

Need to get a new cover, this one is sun rotted.

[Wolf Larsen]

New cover arrived and is on. Fire pit now fully operational.

[Wolf Larsen]

Going to be really hot tomorrow, so I'm watering today. Still no idea how to get the drip system to work. But the main sprinklers work quite well.

[Wolf Larsen]

We have Japanese beetles in the basil. Repeat, we have Japanese beetles in the basil.

Neem oil resources are being deployed.

[C2H5OH]

I had those a few years ago that were attacking one of my cherry trees. I made a 'nicotine tea' by snarfing a bunch of cigarette butts from a public butt-can and soaking them in hot water, then sprayed it on. Got rid of them nicely.

[thorny locust]

Originally Posted by C2H5OH

I had those a few years ago that were attacking one of my cherry trees. I made a 'nicotine tea' by snarfing a bunch of cigarette butts from a public butt-can and soaking them in hot water, then sprayed it on. Got rid of them nicely.

That's pretty toxic stuff, to just about any species. And it can apparently be taken up by the plant by at least some species, ruining the flavor and presenting health hazards to the eater. I don't know about cherries or basil and don't have time to hunt longer, but here's a cite for broad beans:

https://www.sciencedirect.com/scienc...4765132031633X

Some old books recommend it as an organic pesticide; but it's been banned for use in organic production for decades now.

[teela brown]

We have a spot in one of our planter beds where nothing will grow. We think being right next to where the sewer lines exit the house has somehow poisoned the soil there.

So I hope to find a big handsome garden pot and stand it there and plant something nice in it. But it's in shade for half of the day (morning sun, afternoon shade), so I have to do some research and see what's appropriate.

It's a pain to have to remember to water plants in pots, though. Maybe Mr. brown can set up a little auto-watering system.

[Jaglavak]

My uncle has a system of 1/4 inch poly tubing around three sides of the house with drip outlets for a whole whack of potted and hanging plants. Four lengths of tubing connect to small quarter turn valves on a manifold at the hose bibb. He controls them manually, but it would be easy to add timers.

[C2H5OH]

Originally Posted by thorny locust

That's pretty toxic stuff, to just about any species. And it can apparently be taken up by the plant by at least some species, ruining the flavor and presenting health hazards to the eater. I don't know about cherries...

It was the first year I planted the cherry trees, so they hadn't yet borne fruit, and the tree still hasn't completely recovered. Now, several years later, is the first fruit I got off of that tree. I got 2. The birds got the other half-dozen, before they were ripe.* But the japanese beetles haven't attacked again (they never touched the other tree, a different cultivar), so I don't think it had any effect on the fruit. The tree is badly stunted compared to the other one. The two I got from it this year were fine. No strange taste at all.

I just needed something RIGHT then, since they had eaten more than half the leaves entirely off the tree, overnight, and were working on the rest. It was the only thing I could think of to try without spending enough time researching and shopping for a commercial alternative for the bugs to kill the tree before I could deal with them.

As I said, the tree still hasn't recovered well from that attack.

*Note: I don't mind about the birds getting most of them. Feeding and sheltering wildlife is most of my goal in keeping my yard in the semi-wild state I do. I always expected the birds to get most of the cherries when I planted the trees. Plus, of course, I'm lazy, and don't want to spend time and effort mowing an otherwise useless lawn...

[Wolf Larsen]

The grapes are under heavy Japanese beetle attack. I used a pyrethrin spray yesterday, but I'm afraid it got washed off by last nights heavy rain. I'm going to spray again today.

[Wolf Larsen]

Got the biological stuff to put on the lawn to kill the Japanese beetle grubs. That won't help this season, but for next. I'll put some on in August and some in September. Also got more Neem oil spray, there are a lot of those beetle around.

[silenus]

I have now officially picked a peck of peppers and pickled a bunch of them. Fresnos, hot cherry peppers, Hatch, Italian Frying, pepperoncini, regular and purple jalapeños...you name it. The freezer is getting full and I'm giving jars of pickled peppers to all my friends. I have a plethora of peppers!

[Wolf Larsen]

So I was at the hardware store and they had a Japanese Beetle trap. And I bought it and decided to put it in a tree at the far corner of the lot by the big shed. So I assembled it, but decided to wait to open the bait pouch until I was there. I put the bait pouch in place and twist tied it to the tree.

There was a Japanese Beetle flying around me before I got the twist tie in place. There is currently a swarm of the beetles around it and every few seconds, one falls into the bag. At this rate I'm going to have a full bag of bugs in a day or so.

The grape vine on the arbor is damaged, but still seems to be producing grapes. The other grape vine that is partially in a neighbor's yard is pretty much wiped out. The basil plant is badly wounded.

[Wolf Larsen]

Got a second Japanese beetle trap for the front yard. The various stores are out of them, but the Ace Hardware I went to said the manager was going to the other store to get some. I went and ate lunch and came back to find that he had a total of 8 traps with one already spoken for. But I got one and will put it up this evening after it cools down.

[teela brown]

I hope you put a dent in the number of beetles, Wolf.

We bought a tall blue-glazed ceramic pot and installed it in the bare spot in our planter bed. I filled it with azalea/rhododendron potting mix and planted a white azalea in it. I'm hoping the plant will do well, as it likes a mix of sun and shade and the place gets morning sun and afternoon shade. My mom grew gobs of azaleas in pots in hot southern California, and they did fine in the dappled shade of a pepper tree. We'll see how my one azalea does.

Meanwhile, I have rosemary, basil, Thai basil, holy basil, chives, and garlic chives growing in pots in the backyard. I should use some of these herbs at lunch today and will plan a recipe accordingly.

[Wolf Larsen]

So along the north side of the garage was a line of juniper bushes. They were pretty obviously put there as a "I don't know what to put here, so I'll put junipers and ignore them" option. They looked like shit and caught leaves and trash.

Today we had the yard crew rip them out. They did a great job. All the junipers are gone and they put the rocks back so you can't really tell anything happened. In the long run I want to do something nicer, but this is a massive improvement and I'm very happy with it.

Probably tomorrow I'm going to put the first dose of the Japanese Beetle grub killer out.

[Wolf Larsen]

Put the Milky Spore out to kill the Japanese Beetle grubs. I'll do one more treatment in September and then another one next spring. The recommendation is to do this for two years, but I think this will be annually until we sell the house.

@Solfy How do I tell when the concord grapes are ripe? They are starting to turn purple.

[thorny locust]

Originally Posted by Wolf Larsen

Put the Milky Spore out to kill the Japanese Beetle grubs. I'll do one more treatment in September and then another one next spring. The recommendation is to do this for two years, but I think this will be annually until we sell the house.

@Solfy How do I tell when the concord grapes are ripe? They are starting to turn purple.

They'll be quite dark purple when ripe. Also, taste one from time to time. Unripe ones are quite tart; if they're sweet and very concordy (Concords have quite a distinct flavor), then they're ready.

(Not Solfy, but used to grow Concords, primarily as a wine grape but I sure did eat some.)

[Solfy]

I second what thorny said. In my area they tend to be ripe in mid-August, so now-ish. They're also forgiving of when it's time to pick. I've picked them on the early and late side of the ripeness window and find the window itself forgiving.

The deer have done a number on my vines (and blackeyed susans, and day lilies. . . why don't they eat the crab grass?! ) this year. I'd skip harvesting and let the critters have their fill, but it appears I'm still fighting some black rot fungus and I don't want to leave food for fungi, too.
Next spring I'll have to get the mancozeb back out. I didn't spray this year and can see it's back, though not as bad as prior years where it took the whole crop.

[Wolf Larsen]

Thanks everyone for the info. The grapes don't look ripe yet. It looks like the Bon Neem does the best job of discouraging the Japanese Beetles. So my plan for next year is to keep the Milky Spore treatments going and use the Bon Neem on the vines and herbs early and often. And put out three traps to hopefully deplete the breeding population some.

[Wolf Larsen]

So I think my air conditioner compressor has turned into a wasp eating machine. I went into the back yard and noticed a large crowd of wasps flying around it. They ignored me and kept flying angrily at it. Every once in a while I'd hear a spang noise as one hit the whirling fan blades.

What I think happened is one flew in, got smashed and that released the angry wasp pheromone. Which drew over more wasps, some which got sucked in and smashed and now it seems to just be going merrily along.

Tonight after it is good and dark I'll do a recon with a can of wasp spray and see if I can find the nest.

[thorny locust]

Originally Posted by Wolf Larsen

So I think my air conditioner compressor has turned into a wasp eating machine. I went into the back yard and noticed a large crowd of wasps flying around it. They ignored me and kept flying angrily at it. Every once in a while I'd hear a spang noise as one hit the whirling fan blades.

What I think happened is one flew in, got smashed and that released the angry wasp pheromone. Which drew over more wasps, some which got sucked in and smashed and now it seems to just be going merrily along.

Tonight after it is good and dark I'll do a recon with a can of wasp spray and see if I can find the nest.

Wasps are beneficials.

Can you just turn the air conditioner off for the night and let the pheromones dissipate?

[Wolf Larsen]

I did something that was stupid and cheap, but it looks really nice. There's a flower bed in the back yard where I took out some trash trees that looks like it need something. So I bought a 6 ft shepherd's crook plant stand (for $11) and a string of warm white solar lights ($7) and made sort of a tree shape with the lights. It looks pretty good. I think I'm going to change the mode to slow wax and wane rather than steady on. I didn't pull the light string tight, so there is some slack if the wind makes things move some.

[Wolf Larsen]

Put the second Milky Spore treatment down. And my BiL is getting some for his lawn as his roses have been vexed by the Japanese Beetles.

[stormie]

Sounds like your garden is coming up roses . . or, you know, if not actual roses then really pretty stuff.

We are in Weed Season. I am allergic to many plant saps. Tried weeding and got attractive puffy red hands. Weeds won, weeds 1 me 0.

[thorny locust]

Weeding gloves?

They make some now that allow quite a good feel but still protect your hands. I like these:

https://womanswork.com/weeding-glove.html

but there are a batch of versions out there. Goat leather gloves or thin deerskin work well too.

[Wolf Larsen]

There is one of the small planting beds near the patio that has some kind of mint growing in it. By smell it isn't either sweet mint or peppermint. It's too green to be catnip. It doesn't smell particularly good, but is definitely a mint. Going to rip it out next year and put flowers there and put sweet mint in a couple of big pots.

[Wolf Larsen]

The sprinkler system has been blown out, so we are closer to being ready for winter. Still have the fall cleanup, the tree guys and some rock work to do before we call it a year.

[silenus]

I'm still picking peppers. Pickled another half gallon of hot cherry peppers this weekend. Still more in the fridge to be stripped and frozen. I'll be harvesting Gypsy peppers well into December.

[Wolf Larsen]

Originally Posted by silenus

I'm still picking peppers. Pickled another half gallon of hot cherry peppers this weekend. Still more in the fridge to be stripped and frozen. I'll be harvesting Gypsy peppers well into December.

Won't have to worry about intestinal parasites any time soon.

[C2H5OH]

Originally Posted by silenus

I'm still picking peppers. Pickled another half gallon of hot cherry peppers this weekend. Still more in the fridge to be stripped and frozen. I'll be harvesting Gypsy peppers well into December.

Regular Peter Piper, ain'tcha! So, how many pickled peppers ARE there in a peck?

[silenus]

2 dry gallons. I've picked at least 3 pecks and pickled 1.

So far.