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2014 Lawn, Garden, Landscaping , Fishing , and Allergy Thread


mackerel_sky

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I'm surprised that stuff I expected to be killed off with the unusually cold winter

this far south has managed to survive.

 

Went through it all Sunday.  Most still has green stem at the bases. Sensitive bulbs

have not rotted (bore my finger into ground to test).  Did mulch heavily.  

 

<Only remove obviously dry (dead) material before re-accessing another month.  

Open up base by clearing debris and 'scratch' surface material to allow air and prevent

future fungus issues. I fertilized late fall.  Will wait 'till emergent grow is strong to fertilize again.

 

Roses are coming out fast. Healthy!  I shape those now.

 

-Excited! 

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Just to bump this awesome thread back up, here's a list of blooming items in my yard as of today:

Bradford pear- full bloom

Crocus, white daffodils , hyacinths - full bloom

Weeping white cherry 50% in bloom

Daphne- past peak, but still nice

Pansies are looking great!

Creeping phlox- full bloom

Henbit and dandelions - scattered coverage

Lots of new growth on butterfly bushes and roses

Waiting for them to be covered in snow Tuesday!

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Just to bump this awesome thread back up, here's a list of blooming items in my yard as of today:

Bradford pear- full bloom

Crocus, white daffodils , hyacinths - full bloom

Weeping white cherry 50% in bloom

Daphne- past peak, but still nice

Pansies are looking great!

Creeping phlox- full bloom

Henbit and dandelions - scattered coverage

Lots of new growth on butterfly bushes and roses

Waiting for them to be covered in snow Tuesday!

Bradford's stayed open-bloom for two weeks.  Just started to release petals today.

 

I've an Iris (bloomed both Spring and Fall last year) looking magnificent.  Should have separated. Wonderful specimen.

 

I hate Pansies... like having a wife.  Smell nice, but look like **** soon after you marry them.

 

Roses are "prime condition".  Never seen 'em look better.  Another month - they'll be mutilated by fungus or other blight crap... or somebody will roll a car over them.

 

Most the Herbs survived... except Basil (didn't expect it to). I love Rosemary... She died.  Peppermint is emerging in such a way that I'm not sure if I wanna be here in a couple of years.  Don't plant mint!!!!!

 

Still have Birdhouse Gourds stuck in trees.  Hanging by thin tendrils... 60mph+ winds won't blow them down. WTF

 

Waiting on the Fig Tree.  Planted it last year for my wife.  Hearty to about 10F.  Still had green when I cut it back last week.

 

Lots of the "purple fooking crap" blooming... mostly in run-off areas.  

 

<I've thrown 10 birds, 6 moles, 6 mice, 15 unidentifiables into an abyss that's supposed to be a drain pipe in my back yard. <9-12 cats I have.  Waiting for that to bubble-up one fine day.  "Twelve Cats of Christmas?"

 

Don't ever plant a Bradford Pear.  They are like Aspens.  Only one Bradford Pear Tree in the whole 2 States of NC/SC, maybe GA too.  They just spread roots and sprout everywhere... making your spring trimming a Living Hell!

 

<Still looking at that ornamental bush, at the corner of the house, sucking up water in the spring and summer.  Nothing will grow within a mile of it!  I just wonder if I cut it a the base what will happen?  Maybe a giant sinkhole will suck what's left of my life into the ground. Scares me. Dammit!  Just not sure.

 

 

Shiate... I hate Spring! 

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Have the peach trees started budding/flowering yet? Wondering what tonight and tomorrow night's lows in the 20's are going to do to them and the strawberries, which should be close to flowering as well.

 

Check the critical temperatures for fruit trees: I usually protect my trees (and berries) if the overnight lows are within 3-4 degrees of the critical temps, just to be safe. My backyard tends to run colder since it's a rural area.

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Every year but one, in the 15 years I have lived on this house, my back yard has been covered with maple tree seeds like these immature ones.

 

standard.jpg

 

Not this year though. Getting down into the teens two weeks ago nipped them for the second time in 15 years.  Most are very small and black on the tree at this time. I'm glad. Some years I had to use a snow shovel to get them off of my deck. Removing the leaves in the fall are a piece of cake compared to these things.

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Every year but one, in the 15 years I have lived on this house, my back yard has been covered with maple tree seeds like these immature ones.

 

standard.jpg

 

Not this year though. Getting down into the teens two weeks ago nipped them for the second time in 15 years.  Most are very small and black on the tree at this time. I'm glad. Some years I had to use a snow shovel to get them off of my deck. Removing the leaves in the fall are a piece of cake compared to these things.

Ah... the little helicopters flying around.  That's one of the spring things we all look forward.  I'll trade my Bradfords for your Maples!

 

BTW - I don't think Peaches or Strawberries are in peril yet.  Everything seems a little slow this year (my obs). I can't really imagine issues this early.  Mid-April is time to get worried?

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Ah... the little helicopters flying around. That's one of the spring things we all look forward. I'll trade my Bradfords for your Maples!

BTW - I don't think Peaches or Strawberries are in peril yet. Everything seems a little slow this year (my obs). I can't really imagine issues this early. Mid-April is time to get worried?

Jim , hold on to that re blooming iris you had in your garden! They are available at a few better garden centers and online, but they are expensive!
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Have any of you guys used chicken litter as lawn fertilizer?

 

I haven't but thats the best fertlizer for grass there is. Just don't let it pile up in one location too long due to the fact that chicken shiz is considered "hot". Too much nitrogen in one spot will burn the yard.

 

Though you have two options.... get you some chickens and a mobile "chicken tractor" so you can moved them every couple of days or get you some chickens an allow them to free range. But if you let them free range make sure they have a coop to roost at night. If not they take a liking to porch and deckings and will be covered in chicken shiz in no time.

 

They are very good about scratching and eating bugs, small snakes really anything that looks yummy to them. Just about anything and every thing looks yummy to them. But another good benefit from scratching is the loosening of thatch in the lawn.

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Loving this temperature bust! Forecast 70, currently 72. Getting lots of yard work done as the expected rain keeps delaying.

It was a nice day. Went for a run and went to the driving range. I was gonna do some yard work, but spring fever got me and I ended up playing instead. I have a lot of weeds that need to be sprayed soon. And I have a bunch of those weeds that make the little purple flowers all throughout my yard...and onions too.

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Any of you use cat droppings as lawn fertilizer?  Free!  Just come clean out

out my wife's 9 litter boxes 2x daily... it's yours!

 

Bring your own gas mask.

 

No one in the history of the internet, has a more appropriate screen name than do you.

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Just got my Redbud " vanilla twist" tree in the mail, time to go plant and let the rain water it in tomorrow! In case anyone was wondering, it's a weeping redbud tree with white flowers , instead of the normal pinkish-purple.

 

Weeping redbud tree with white flowers..........$39.95

 

Weeping whitebud tree................$4.95

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Just got my Redbud " vanilla twist" tree in the mail, time to go plant and let the rain water it in tomorrow! In case anyone was wondering, it's a weeping redbud tree with white flowers , instead of the normal pinkish-purple.

Used to have one of those in the apartment complex, next to the lake, I lived. White blooming.

Gorgeous specimens.  I always thought they looked well-suited for shaping... had a "Japanese Garden"

look about it.  Delicate in appearance, but hearty.  Blooms don't last but about a week?

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Bradford pair: I pay you 5$ to not plant!

Bradford Pears are covertly taking over the SE... In such a way people aren't really concerned.

Smart.  I haven't seen a single Dogwood Tree since I moved here.  There's a strange disappearance

of other common species like the once formidable Kudzu!  Yep, Bradford's are choking them out too.

 

Oh sure - you like those nice blossoms blowing in the wind...

... but, have you looked around?!!  What about those strange inoffensive

little 'thingies' that are supposed to pass as fruit.  What are they... really?

 

How clever those extraterrestrials.  You'll see soon enough.

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Bradford Pears are covertly taking over the SE... In such a way people aren't really concerned.

Smart. I haven't seen a single Dogwood Tree since I moved here. There's a strange disappearance

of other common species like the once formidable Kudzu! Yep, Bradford's are choking them out too.

Oh sure - you like those nice blossoms blowing in the wind...

... but, have you looked around?!! What about those strange inoffensive

little 'thingies' that are supposed to pass as fruit. What are they... really?

How clever those extraterrestrials. You'll see soon enough.

Native dogwoods ( cornus Florida ) has a serious disease affecting them called " Anthracnose " . Once they have this disease , it's almost certain death within a few years. The Chinese dogwoods, cornus Kousa, are unaffected by this disease! There is an awesome dogwood specimen on W Georgia rd. , right across from Greenville tech. It's half white and half pink native dogwood , about 25' tall and wide. Always looks amazing! And when the Dogwoods are blooming, the largemouth bass are spawning!
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<My wife (and, I) have 9-12 cats. Moles, mice, birds, big bugs are NO PROBLEM!

Flies, however, are not an art the cats go paint.

Darn ****tin' machines ARE good for something.

-Depletion of Food. LOL

For some reason I missed this one earlier. 9-12 cats is impressive! It's funny that you give a range of cats instead of a specific number. Haha....growing up, we had a similar range of cats as well. Once you have a couple of non-fixed females, it's on like donkey kong. The days of two or three quickly become a distant memory!

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For some reason I missed this one earlier. 9-12 cats is impressive! It's funny that you give a range of cats instead of a specific number. Haha....growing up, we had a similar range of cats as well. Once you have a couple of non-fixed females, it's on like donkey kong. The days of two or three quickly become a distant memory!

To make a long story short... my English Bride (once a cat hater) got her first job as an Administrator at a Prison here in SC a couple years ago... just after immigration to the US.  She brings home hopeless strays from just outside the prison.  Most of them are only weeks old - some even younger.  She bottle feeds them to health (I help) with the intention of adopting them out.  A few cats in the neighborhood mix into the fray.  We've lost a few due to 'roadkill' and dog attacks.  It's hard to count them at any given moment.  I do remember all of their names, usually!  

 

We do get all of them their appropriate shots and spay/neuter as soon as each is old enough.

 

My wife is developing relationships with others and authorities within the arena.  Hard to tell where this is going (as I think to myself while cleaning house).  It makes her happy - and there's no way I would turn away from a needy being.

 

BTW - Wife brought home a kitten barely over a week old two days ago.  Its head is smaller than a Walnut!  I just feed it.  Very healthy.  I would never have thought possible before.

 

If you know of anyone interested in saving animals - or helpful contacts, anything.... Please respond.  Again - I don't know where

this is going. 

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To make a long story short... my English Bride (once a cat hater) got her first job as an Administrator at a Prison here in SC a couple years ago... just after immigration to the US.  She brings home hopeless strays from just outside the prison.  Most of them are only weeks old - some even younger.  She bottle feeds them to health (I help) with the intention of adopting them out.  A few cats in the neighborhood mix into the fray.  We've lost a few due to 'roadkill' and dog attacks.  It's hard to count them at any given moment.  I do remember all of their names, usually!  

 

We do get all of them their appropriate shots and spay/neuter as soon as each is old enough.

 

My wife is developing relationships with others and authorities within the arena.  Hard to tell where this is going (as I think to myself while cleaning house).  It makes her happy - and there's no way I would turn away from a needy being.

 

BTW - Wife brought home a kitten barely over a week old two days ago.  Its head is smaller than a Walnut!  I just feed it.  Very healthy.  I would never have thought possible before.

 

If you know of anyone interested in saving animals - or helpful contacts, anything.... Please respond.  Again - I don't know where

this is going. 

 

 didn't they open a new chinese restaurant over in Woodruff ???

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 didn't they open a new chinese restaurant over in Woodruff ???

That's awful!  You should be ashamed...

... but, every time a cat is missing I envision a bunch of local restaurant people,

in a van, gathering cats in the wee hours of the morn.  They are armed with heavy artillery -

at least... that's my story to the wife.

 

 

<<Can't imagine what they might be frying in Woodruff.  Bull Dogs... probably possum.

 

Closer to Waycross, Georgia than I thought about before.  I'm scared.  

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Allergies are kickin' in 'big time', or I've got lung cancer!

<<I'm the old man hacking up frogs in the morning now.

I bury myself under a pillow... but can't manage to suffocate myself.

Cats and Frogs sleeping allover me. No wonder.

If you eat the fish sandwich from the Golden Arches , your eating carp! Just a heads up, sounds like you don't need anymore surprises!
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