The 2020 Garden, Landscape, and Other Stuff Thread...

[bdmicarta]

We've had numerous indoor projects over the past 14 months including the past 3 months when we completely replaced the kitchen. I'm going to try to stop indoor projects for awhile but now my wife will turn her attention to the back yard landscaping. We have a small back yard and a thin side yard. The side yard is shaded and won't grow grass so it will become a gravel path with stepping stones and some planting beds. The back yard will likely get a bit area off of the patio for shrubs and so forth. She will have to have a running fountain of some sort and a relocated bird feeder, maybe a bench. I don't know if we will build any other structures there, we don't need anything for shade because we have some very large trees that provide plenty of shade. The design is only in its initial stages so it will likely evolve. I'm thiinking that the planting part around the patio will be 200SF or so.

 

[cj65]

We've had numerous indoor projects over the past 14 months including the past 3 months when we completely replaced the kitchen. I'm going to try to stop indoor projects for awhile but now my wife will turn her attention to the back yard landscaping. We have a small back yard and a thin side yard. The side yard is shaded and won't grow grass so it will become a gravel path with stepping stones and some planting beds. The back yard will likely get a bit area off of the patio for shrubs and so forth. She will have to have a running fountain of some sort and a relocated bird feeder, maybe a bench. I don't know if we will build any other structures there, we don't need anything for shade because we have some very large trees that provide plenty of shade. The design is only in its initial stages so it will likely evolve. I'm thiinking that the planting part around the patio will be 200SF or so.

If you don’t have crazy dogs or crazy kids/grand kids, I love the feel of walking on pea gravel. However, it could prove to be a nightmare if it gets flung all over the place.

 

[bdmicarta]

If you don’t have crazy dogs or crazy kids/grand kids, I love the feel of walking on pea gravel. However, it could prove to be a nightmare if it gets flung all over the place.

No dogs or kids, and where it will be located there won't be any lawnmowers so it should be fine. I'm split between small gravel and larger stones such as broken limestone, but I won't be the final decision maker.

 

[cj65]

I knew I should probably do Podocarpus gracilior, it does not get a summer scorch, but I like the henkeli species better. I have to deal with the scorch and prune it off after the heat wave. I needed a tall screen for property value and shit. 4 story medical building behind me.

 

[cj65]

The dirt area already has an irrigation valve ready and a landscape plan but no time to execute. Plus the plant material will have to be cuttings. I am doing my slope with Balcolm series ivy geranium. A mix of pink and salmon. The color combo messes with your senses. I have the pink and know where I can grab some cuttings for salmon. Can’t find them in nurseries. Geraniums usually need to be dead headed, cleaning on dead blooms and these are the best at not having to do it too often. I don’t like zonal geraniums due to dead heading needs.

 

[SW-EDC]

 

[knarfeng]

mmmm...Just like Fritos. Bet you can't eat just one.

I know I couldn't. My intestinal track can't hack hot stuff these days. Another part me that don't work right no more.

 

[LEGION 12]

 

[22-rimfire]

Very neat and tidy. One thing about having shrubs near the house.... you don't change them out like you can easily do with plants. I cut my foundation planting down to the ground and they are sprouting back up. They were just too tall and there was no practical way to simply prune them to reduce the height to 3 feet or less. They were growing out over my sidewalk and that has bugged me for years. My wife was against my chopping them off and wait and see what happens approach, but with the re-growth she can see my point about their former size. I honestly didn't care if they all died. Didn't give that piece of info to my wife however.

More and more people are simply not doing the foundation planting like they did years ago. They are simply leaving it grass or doing something like you. LEGION 12 As I get older, I lean toward flowers or very low (VERY LOW) shrubs in a spot like that.

 

[LEGION 12]

Poblones .

 

[taldesta]

This baby girl left on her migration South yesterday, September 11 around noon ... on a beautiful fall day. She will fly about 250 miles to the North shore of Lake Ontario and across its waters to the US. Her tiny wings will carry her to the Gulf of Mexico, across its waters to Mexico. I am but a human and can only stand in quiet amazement of this tiny, fragile winged power ... whose weight can be borne on the petal of a flower. Please welcome and shelter her and others in their travels

 

[Retired UPS Driver]

We will most certainly welcome her and any others that stop by on their migration south. Mine will stay here until October 12-15.

The night before take off they will keep feeding well after dark, and then an hour before sunrise they will be right back at it non-stop. Once the sun warms up a bit and it hits 10am-11am, they will suddenly all be gone until next springtime. Their actions here seem to be quite predictable, at least for me it is after all these years.

I’ve never had a straggler come in yet, but I’ll keep the feeder fresh and full till Thanksgiving just incase, taking it inside at night when it gets below freezing and put back out before sunrise.

 

[tinfoil hat timmy]

Sharp.. Very nice.

 

[22-rimfire]

We're still seeing hummingbirds in Southeast Tennessee as of this morning (Sept. 13th). We usually see them head out in late September or early October based on previous years.

Had a hummingbird get stuck in my garage the other day. Their instincts are to "fly higher" which inside a garage means they are hitting the ceiling and missing the exit. Anyway, I eventually caught the female and released her. She was getting very tired by the time I caught her.

Added: This happens about once or twice a year. It is usually a death sentence for the hummingbird as they simply can't find their way out even with the garage door open. Think I am going to order a net for catching them easier and hopefully not injuring them.

9/22/20: Got the net. Now I just have to put it someplace I can find it when I need it. Certainly not something I use often.

 

[LEGION 12]

I overdid the peppers this year .

 

[22-rimfire]

I overdid the peppers this year .

Easy to do. I have a lot of bell and pimentos. Looks good however!

Made spaghetti today and sliced a couple peppers and onions to be added to the sauce. That made a small dent in things. Too many to use. I just love the pimento's on sandwiches. They have just a bit of tang to them.

 

[22-rimfire]

This baby girl left on her migration South yesterday, September 11 around noon ... on a beautiful fall day. She will fly about 250 miles to the North shore of Lake Ontario and across its waters to the US. Her tiny wings will carry her to the Gulf of Mexico, across its waters to Mexico. I am but a human and can only stand in quiet amazement of this tiny, fragile winged power ... whose weight can be borne on the petal of a flower. Please welcome and shelter her and others in their travels

View attachment 1417968

Nice shot by the way. They seem to be on time for your area as you had mentioned September 10th. Maybe she will visit my house and tank up at my feeder on her way South. "Dinner will be waiting for her."

This year had been a total flop as far as Hummingbirds go at the house until the babies started hitting the feeder and flowers in Mid-July. But I work with what nature throws my way. The nest must have been a good distance away from me since I never saw any during April when they usually show up.

Likely tropical storm Sally is supposed to track close to my area and bring rain. The predictions keep shifting the track East and a bit South as it moves inland. We could use some rain, but we don't need buckets of the stuff like they are likely to get near the coast in AL and MS. This storm appears to be mostly a rain event past the coast and still predicted to be a hurricane at landfall. Been a busy tropical year in the Atlantic and there are more to come it seems.

The predicted storm surge thing has me troubled as the last hurricane didn't have a surge anywhere near what was predicted close to the landfall area. But I suppose I would pay close attention to the projections if I lived there, just in case.

 

[taldesta]

We will most certainly welcome her and any others that stop by on their migration south. Mine will stay here until October 12-15.

The night before take off they will keep feeding well after dark, and then an hour before sunrise they will be right back at it non-stop. Once the sun warms up a bit and it hits 10am-11am, they will suddenly all be gone until next springtime. Their actions here seem to be quite predictable, at least for me it is after all these years.

I’ve never had a straggler come in yet, but I’ll keep the feeder fresh and full till Thanksgiving just incase, taking it inside at night when it gets below freezing and put back out before sunrise.

As I write there is a straggler here just now, outside my window tanking up on the zinnias. I must learn more about the hummer diet because it seems to me that the zinnias - extremely popular for these birds - aren't offering a lot of nectar ... perhaps other dietary requirements in the pollen. I know that the complete food that saved the hummer overwintered here looked like pollen and that the scent of it was absolute heaven - a treat to take the lid off the container just for the 'sniff' especially in winter. In spring and fall I make sure the feeder stays available as well ... a little insurance for a quick nectar fix. The chipmunks and squirrels are drinkers - what can I say

We're still seeing hummingbirds in Southeast Tennessee as of this morning (Sept. 13th). We usually see them head out in late September or early October based on previous years.

Had a hummingbird get stuck in my garage the other day. Their instincts are to "fly higher" which inside a garage means they are hitting the ceiling and missing the exit. Anyway, I eventually caught the female and released her. She was getting very tired by the time I caught her.

Added: This happens about once or twice a year. It is usually a death sentence for the hummingbird as they simply can't find their way out even with the garage door open. Think I am going to order a net for catching them easier and hopefully not injuring them.

Delicate work, capturing such a tiny bird unharmed

I've been working on my 'wings' with a little success - getting there. If these flowers weren't drawing the hummers so close to the window I would be chasing them around the property recording the blurs that they are. Yes, a blind would be ideal and I wouldn't be shooting through two panes of old glass ... you know it's kind of a relief now to put the camera down! ... well, for a moment or two.

 

[taldesta]

Forecast for tonight is +1C with frost. I'm ready to dig in for fall, move some perennials out from under the gable overhang so more rain gets to them, tidy up the gardens once the frost does hit. Not worried about it for tonight, though.

Time to look back from springtime - the before:



Now ... my wild and crazy cosmos (view from my easy chair) ... at least the finches and hummers love my garden such as it is.



And the fall brings the best, fresh working weather - and 10 cord of wood to stack ... and yes, I love my tarps!

 

[22-rimfire]

Just a bit above freezing are the frosts that bite you. You think it won't happen because the temp won't drop below freezing, but it does. I think you're "ready".

There is a thread over in Gadgets about a bucket garden container (5 gallon buckets), sort of like the City Pickers container principle.