Just a chit-chat thread..

Is there anything that you all had always wanted to do in your
yard/garden but have not done so far?



Myself, well, I have a few things I'd always wanted to do but still have
yet to in any of the places I'd lived.

One close to the top would be to build a nice flagstone or other style
rock patio with 2" of space between the rocks for plantings.. Since we
have a larger yard now I may end up doing that within a few years...
Maybe..

Scott Hildenbrand expounded:

Is there anything that you all had always wanted to do in your
yard/garden but have not done so far?

There are so many things....

A chicken coop

A small garden pond

A terrace for the backyard (this is a huge project involving moving
bulkheads and building decks - along with a screen porch)

A brick pathway to the driveway

I am in the process of moving the rest of my veggie garden to the back
yard. Where it was out front will become a more formal ornamental
herb garden (with a few edibles tucked in because it's so close to the
kitchen).

All of it takes time and a strong back, of which I have neither, but
I'll just keep plugging )
--
Ann, gardening in Zone 6a
South of Boston, Massachusetts
e-mail address is not checked
******************************

Ann wrote:

Scott Hildenbrand expounded:

Is there anything that you all had always wanted to do in your
yard/garden but have not done so far?

There are so many things....

A chicken coop

A small garden pond

http://personalpages.bellsouth.net/t...nter/Fall.html

I took these pictures several years ago back before the drought
reduced the Farm pond to a small mud hole. well, with you Ann
mentioning pond and it being fall I thought they'd make a nice
addition to an 'Always Wanted to Do' kind of thing since I just
now got around to placing them on my web page for shared viewing.


A terrace for the backyard (this is a huge project involving moving
bulkheads and building decks - along with a screen porch)

A brick pathway to the driveway

just a suggestion, use a plastic tarp underneath
the brick as a weed block.


I am in the process of moving the rest of my veggie garden to the back
yard. Where it was out front will become a more formal ornamental
herb garden (with a few edibles tucked in because it's so close to the
kitchen).

All of it takes time and a strong back, of which I have neither, but
I'll just keep plugging )

a mountain of dirt can be easy to move if considered one
shovel at a time.

"Scott Hildenbrand" wrote in message
...
Just a chit-chat thread..
One close to the top would be to build a nice flagstone or other style
rock patio with 2" of space between the rocks for plantings.. Since we
have a larger yard now I may end up doing that within a few years...
Maybe..

I made a lovely patio out of recycled concrete. On my way home from work one
day I saw a construction crew tearing up old sidewalks. They were just
lifting it with the teeth of the back hoe bucket and dropping it to break
enough to put in the dump truck. I costs a lot of money to dump in a
landfill so......I asked the guy if they'd like to dump that concrete in my
yard, about a mile away....SURE! It was in nice big, random shape and sized
pieces and about 4" thick. They dumped the whole load next to my driveway. I
had 3 big teenaged boys at home then so grunt labor wasn't a problem I
laid out my patio area, dug down six inches, slight grading AWAY from the
house, laid down a good two inches of coarse sand and then supervised the
boys in placement. We did have to make a tripod and rig a block and tackle
to move a few larger pieces. They also learned to use a level. I just told
the boys these were valuable life skills .....I won't tell you their
grumbling answers to that but they learned it was better to do what Mom
asked at a very early age. (The wrath of unhappy Mom aint pretty.)

I had anywhere from 2-6 inches between the concrete slabs, some pockets I
left even bigger. After it was all set and leveled I filled in with some of
the soil I removed and planted a variety of dense growing creeping plants,
most scented. Lemon thyme, the tiny mint, there was some teeny prehistoric
fern looking thing and little blue star flowers, etc. In the larger pockets
I planted edelweiss, snow drops, miniature narcissus and these tiny little
red tulips. It really looked stunning. The soil I dug out I just piled and
made mounds for a couple of flower beds, more interesting than "just flat" I
think.

When people walked over it and in the evenings the scent was wonderful. The
little bulbs popping up through the last of the snow and early spring made a
nice scene. By the time it was nice enough to be outside the bulb leaves had
died down and the creeping plants grew right over the top. After the second
year it took only about 5 minutes of weeding a few times a year because the
ground cover was so thick.

It took me one full weekend to dig this out, grade, level and spread sand.
One Saturday afternoon to supervise "life skills" and help with setting the
slabs and I planted Sunday morning. The only cost was sand and plants, lots
of picturesque bang for the buck.

Val

On 11/25/07 10:11 PM, in article ,
"Scott Hildenbrand" wrote:

Just a chit-chat thread..

Is there anything that you all had always wanted to do in your
yard/garden but have not done so far?



Myself, well, I have a few things I'd always wanted to do but still have
yet to in any of the places I'd lived.

One close to the top would be to build a nice flagstone or other style
rock patio with 2" of space between the rocks for plantings.. Since we
have a larger yard now I may end up doing that within a few years...
Maybe..
I really want to add a couple of garden benches/seats, maybe one under an
arbor with a great vine climbing over it. (Something lush and green with
wonderful scent - in NH - yah right)

I'd love a spot for a real rock garden to grow some of the sweet alpines I
see at the nurseries.

Cheryl

On 11/25/07 10:21 PM, in article ,
"Ann" wrote:

Scott Hildenbrand expounded:

Is there anything that you all had always wanted to do in your
yard/garden but have not done so far?

There are so many things....

A chicken coop

A small garden pond

Oh - I forgot the pond (completely impractical, but I want one)

C

Jim expounded:

a mountain of dirt can be easy to move if considered one
shovel at a time.

Thank you for your suggestions, Jim, and yes, the above is so true!

I read an article once about a woman who built her own brick walkway,
a week's worth of work at a time. Breaking the project down into
manageable pieces is key. My backyard is such a mess, no lawn, due to
a septic install and indecision on my part as to what I wanted to do
out there. Things are starting to coalesce, though, but I've got to
stop being overwhelmed at the sheer size of the project!
--
Ann, gardening in Zone 6a
South of Boston, Massachusetts
e-mail address is not checked
******************************

Scott Hildenbrand wrote:

I wanted to put nice tiers held by really good dressed stone blocks on
my back terrace, maybe 30' or more of it. I've dragged my feet on that
because of the expense of the stone and don't want to rip something up I
may not be able to maintain, plus a couple trees are in the way and
should clear them out but hate to do it. Of late, I've been thinking of
planting the terrace as it is, clearing, planting and mulching a little
at a time.

The other thing is that I have always wanted to experiment with plant
propagation and hybridization, the old-fashioned way, not with genetic
manipulation, wish I'd taken more courses in botany and biology in college.

I would love to do more with lilacs, heirloom roses, trees and shrubs,
have been working with roses lately with many disappointments and
failures just getting them to root, have tried several different
methods. I would like to cross pollinate roses, but you have to do
hundreds of seedlings and have a place to keep them; some take a couple
years to come into bloom, same with the lilacs.

Of course, you can buy all that stuff, but I've always been fascinated
with the work of Luther Burbank, Mendel, that Canadian woman who worked
on lilacs, and a man whose name I can't remember who worked on getting
higher yields on food crops before they knew the science of altering
genes. He did his work in Mexico. It is very tedious and
labor-intensive work.

One of my big regrets in life is that I have found unusual trees and
things growing out in rural areas in ditches, etc., and didn't have the
means with me, strength and motivation to dig them out of the mess and
drag them home to see what they would do. Someone would know what some
of the things I've seen were.

I'm always on the lookout for odd mutations, wish I'd saved dandelion
seeds that grew a fuzzy top like a cockscomb lol and a viola that
crossed with the johnny jump ups. I got a light yellow one with a
pretty sky blue border one year, wish I'd been motivated to try and save
the seeds from that.

Val wrote:

That is inspiring. Just last week I've been trying to get rid of some
on freecycle for a neighbor, some has brick facing in it from an old
garage floor. No luck.

I could find a use for it on my terrace, but there isn't quite enough,
and it would be too much for me right now anyway. Some needs to be
broken down more.

Think I'll go out and take a photo of the pile and try something else.
Just met the young couple, and they are incredibly nice, offered to help
me with chores in my yard, but I don't like to take advantage of people,
certainly might call on them for an emergency.

My garden is the way it is at this time. I'm grateful for coming
into a few friends that had similar and contrasting ideas of just what
a garden can be.
Current issue seems to be devoted to perennials and more pines as it
requires lest hand work. Luckily my better half is a Swedish garden
devotee. (likes to weed)
Always wanted a small green house but got by. Current interest is
starting to center around how do we give all these Japanese maples away.
Also will the leaves be down for a fall cleanup after tonights wind and
rain. Who knows?

Bill

--

S Jersey USA Zone 5 Shade
http://www.ocutech.com/ High tech Vison aid

"Jim" wrote

just a suggestion, use a plastic tarp underneath
the brick as a weed block.


The weed cloth is better as it allows water to flow in and out, and doesn't
promote mold.

Steve

Is there anything that you all had always wanted to do in your
yard/garden but have not done so far?

Make an overhead substantial frame so that I can put up and take down
sunshade cloth, hang basket plants, and carry a drip/spray system.

I weld, so it's going to be no problem to do this. I'll probably use pvc
for a lot of it, though, as it lasts pretty good.

Steve

"Hettie®" wrote in message
...


Val wrote:

That is inspiring. Just last week I've been trying to get rid of some on
freecycle for a neighbor, some has brick facing in it from an old garage
floor. No luck.

Post that picture on "Craig's List" and put FREE in the heading. Seems to
work better around here than Freecycle.

Val

On Nov 26, 3:59�am, "Val" wrote:
"Scott Hildenbrand" wrote in message

...

Just a chit-chat thread..
One close to the top would be to build a nice flagstone or other style
rock patio with 2" of space between the rocks for plantings.. Since we
have a larger yard now I may end up doing that within a few years...
Maybe..

I made a lovely patio out of recycled concrete. On my way home from work one
day I saw a construction crew tearing up old sidewalks. They were just
lifting it with the teeth of the back hoe bucket and dropping it to break
enough to put in the dump truck. I costs a lot of money to dump in a
landfill so......I asked the guy if they'd like to dump that concrete in my
yard, about a mile away....SURE! It was in nice big, random shape and sized
pieces and about 4" thick. They dumped the whole load next to my driveway. I
had 3 big teenaged boys at home then so grunt labor wasn't a problem �I
laid out my patio area, dug down six inches, slight grading AWAY from the
house, laid down a good two inches of coarse sand and then supervised the
boys in placement. We did have to make a tripod and rig a block and tackle
to move a few larger pieces. They also learned to use a level. I just told
the boys these were valuable life skills .....I won't tell you their
grumbling answers to that but they learned it was better to do what Mom
asked at a very early age. (The wrath of unhappy Mom aint pretty.)

I had anywhere from 2-6 inches between the concrete slabs, some pockets I
left even bigger. After it was all set and leveled I filled in with some of
the soil I removed and planted a variety of dense growing creeping plants,
most scented. Lemon thyme, the tiny mint, there was some teeny prehistoric
fern looking thing and little blue star flowers, etc. In the larger pockets
I planted edelweiss, snow drops, miniature narcissus and these tiny little
red tulips. It really looked stunning. The soil I dug out I just piled and
made mounds for a couple of flower beds, more interesting than "just flat" I
think.

When people walked over it and in the evenings the scent was wonderful. The
little bulbs popping up through the last of the snow and early spring made a
nice scene. By the time it was nice enough to be outside the bulb leaves had
died down and the creeping plants grew right over the top. After the second
year it took only about 5 minutes of weeding a few times a year because the
ground cover was so thick.

It took me one full weekend to dig this out, grade, level and spread sand.
One Saturday afternoon to supervise "life skills" and help with setting the
slabs and I planted Sunday morning. The only cost was sand and plants, lots
of picturesque bang for the buck.

Val

Sounds really nice... post some pictures.

On Mon, 26 Nov 2007 06:30:26 -0500, Cheryl Isaak
wrote:

On 11/25/07 10:21 PM, in article ,
"Ann" wrote:

Scott Hildenbrand expounded:

Is there anything that you all had always wanted to do in your
yard/garden but have not done so far?

There are so many things....

A chicken coop

A small garden pond

Oh - I forgot the pond (completely impractical, but I want one)

C


I am very fortunate to have a pond. It happened by chance, actually.
When I moved here there was a low spot in the backyard with wild
roses, wild raspberries, and soggy soil. After removing the
vegetation I found seven springs that kept the ground wet. I built a
pond--no liner, no pumps. A PVC pipe was buried to catch the overflow
to a nearby stream. The pond is about 8,000 gallons and the water
runs during a drought. I use the water for watering the garden and to
breed goldfish.