The 2021 Gardening Thread

Status
Not open for further replies.

susanm9006

Willow
Top Cat
Joined
Feb 20, 2011
Messages
13,152
Purraise
30,219
Location
Minnesota
I just love your retaining wall / steps and garden, susanm9006 susanm9006 . :redheartpump:



Isn't that always the way. :lol:
Thank you. When I first moved here I had a steep hill that was just horrible to mow so I finally got around to getting bids for a retaining wall. One was from a young man who did what he called “these small jobs” on the weekends to supplement his other job. Other than asking for general ideas of what I wanted, two levels, steps and some curves, he did this in two days seemingly without plans. Amazing work.
 

Winchester

In the kitchen with my cookies
Veteran
Joined
Aug 28, 2009
Messages
29,730
Purraise
28,024
Location
In the kitchen
susanm9006 susanm9006 That retaining wall is just lovely! What was the name of the stone you used and where did you find it? (If you don't mind me asking.) We have a similar area in the back yard and, while we do have a flower bed there, Rick has been talking about some kind of retaining wall. I showed him your pictures and he's very impressed. He asked me to ask you about your stone. That young man did an absolutely beautiful job!
 

susanm9006

Willow
Top Cat
Joined
Feb 20, 2011
Messages
13,152
Purraise
30,219
Location
Minnesota
Thanks Winchester Winchester . The stone came from a local place, Patio Town and I am pretty sure it is VERSA-LOK. Here is a page from their catalog, which is online.
2E217AD9-C8F5-4B32-88E3-B29E331FCE3D.png
 
Last edited:

MoochNNoodles

TCS Member
Veteran
Joined
Apr 30, 2005
Messages
36,646
Purraise
23,465
Location
Where my cats are
B2C5D42D-5527-45B4-9E52-F2F1077A4B14.jpeg

This is my plan for the afternoon. :cloud9:

I was pretty disappointed with our Lowes yesterday. The selection is still pretty slim but more than that it looked neglected and half the plants were dry. The white geranium was so dry it took several tries to get it to take any water. I set it in a clay saucer and just kept giving it small drinks. Poor thing.

I did come home with this beauty and the new hook. (Which I managed to pull down from a shelf in the garden center because there were no employees to be found.) My kids and I decided to call the color “Pink Lemonade. The hummingbirds have been coming around so I was excited to get the feeder and more flowers up. I may reposition everything once I get my other hanging baskets filled. DH gets grumpy about mowing around them.

3D846F89-0D89-4F25-84DB-0ACA3CE87DB7.jpeg

09EF47A7-D3C4-4FA4-BDB8-0CBF05052B40.jpeg


We also had a surprise science lesson in the shed. I went to count my stack of flower pots before we went shopping and ANTS were nesting in them! I had seen ants in the shed a few weeks ago and told DH but we didn’t get to empty it out yet. The pots were empty so its not like there was dirt to live in. There were hundreds in there. And babies and eggs and everything. DS helped me hose them off in the yard and they were busily carrying the larvae away.:rolleyes2: I took a short video to send my godson and a few pictures. But I’ll spare us here. :crazy:It was gross. We studied ants in science last year so it was cool to see in that regard. But now I know what DH’s project for the weekend is!
 

NY cat man

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Aug 6, 2018
Messages
7,033
Purraise
21,284
My plan for the afternoon today is........nothing. It is in the low 40s, as it was yesterday, and a drizzly rain, so any plans for the gardens have gone down the drain. The tomato plants are showing good progress, but given the weather we are having, actually planting them is not an option. On a better note, I noticed some tulips are budding that I don't recall previously. The buds are a deep purple in color, and the only other tulips in that bed are yellow. In fact, when I think about it, I don't recall having any purple tulips before, and we haven't planted any new ones there. 'Tis a mystery to me where they came from.
 

LTS3

TCS Member
Veteran
Joined
Aug 29, 2014
Messages
19,209
Purraise
19,695
Location
USA
Not sure how many of you have already started planting, but I saw this picture and thought it was a pretty neat idea to have perfectly spaced plants.
Martha Stewart had something similar in a magazine once. It was a homemade item, a piece of plywood with spaced out "dimples" (pegs? Small blocks?). I think she called it a "dimple board" or something. An old muffin tin (dented yard sale find perhaps?) works just as well.

Can someone identify these plants?

20210507_130219_HDR[1].jpg

20210427_153810[1].jpg 20210427_153823[1].jpg
 

WillowMarie

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Sep 18, 2019
Messages
1,958
Purraise
5,916
Had another frost overnight, so got some exercise carrying my plants inside last night and back out this morning. Glad I haven't started the herb pots yet, haha, as there would be many more to worry about. I may wait until the grill gets moved that is on the porch landing where I'm keeping my plants. Mom is planning to get rid of it since we don't use it and we had yellow jackets nesting in it last year. So once it is moved there will be much more room to organize my plants.
 

susanm9006

Willow
Top Cat
Joined
Feb 20, 2011
Messages
13,152
Purraise
30,219
Location
Minnesota
I just put a couple bags of brown mulch around the bushes that edge my egress pit. I can’t say how much I hate how it looks, sort of like dirt with a lot of sticks in it. Fortunately the plan was/is to pull it up and toss it every fall so I only have to hate it for three or four months. Next year natural color only
 

MoochNNoodles

TCS Member
Veteran
Joined
Apr 30, 2005
Messages
36,646
Purraise
23,465
Location
Where my cats are
We mulched around a bunch of plantings a few years ago and came to hate how much weeding it required. Stuff grows in it even if you put weed block under the mulch. Especially crab grass.
 

susanm9006

Willow
Top Cat
Joined
Feb 20, 2011
Messages
13,152
Purraise
30,219
Location
Minnesota
We mulched around a bunch of plantings a few years ago and came to hate how much weeding it required. Stuff grows in it even if you put weed block under the mulch. Especially crab grass.
I know. This bed used to have medium size rocks and is close to the bird feeders so lots of seeds in it. It was just impossible to clean out so I decoded mulching it and then pulling it up and disposing of it was the easiest way to keep the weeds down. We will see on that.
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #217

Norachan

Moderator
Thread starter
Staff Member
Moderator
Joined
May 27, 2013
Messages
32,668
Purraise
32,854
Location
Mount Fuji, Japan
Had another frost overnight, so got some exercise carrying my plants inside last night and back out this morning
Do you do that too? I cart a big tray load of cacti and succulents outside every sunny morning. Great exercise for the arm muscles.

:lol:
 

posiepurrs

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Jan 11, 2015
Messages
2,696
Purraise
6,231
Location
Western Massachusetts, USA
I will be happy when it warms enough that I am not moving 6 trays of tomatoes and 5 trays of peppers as well as all of my houseplants, and tender herbs in and out every day! Since the rabbits or other critters decimated my brassicas after I forgot to recover them when fertilizing them, I now have to replant. I think the bunnies are cute, but at the moment I DO NOT LIKE THEM! I use tulle since it is light weight to cover the seedlings and it is cheaper than a row cover. I got 50 yards on amazon for $15 last year. I would love to work in the yard today, but will be leaving at 11 to go visit hubby in the hospital. I still have flowers to plant as well as finishing the veggie garden.
 

WillowMarie

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Sep 18, 2019
Messages
1,958
Purraise
5,916
Random plants from the yard, including the beautiful purple plum tree leaves, and updates on my veggies. There was another frost last night, so carried them in and back out again. Getting my exercise!

PXL_20210512_195526624.jpg
PXL_20210512_180652313.jpg
PXL_20210512_180746225.jpg
PXL_20210512_180806181.MP.jpg
PXL_20210512_180930087.jpg
PXL_20210512_181019322.jpg
PXL_20210512_181220279.jpg
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top