stories about gardening and landscaping #1
 

Today I did my first grafts. I grafted rock or cork elm
onto other elm species. I had saved several elm trees
from the mower blade to get to a certain height and then today I cut
some branches of ulmus thomasii
to use for several grafts. I did the bud graft and the V
graft. I even tried a new type of graft where I drill out the interior
bark except the cambium layer and then
fit that into the hole.

I did not use the "whip graft" and am anxious to try it
in the future.

I used cloning hormone gel and plenty of tape.

I then used concrete block to protect the graft from
animals, or any other movement.

Three weeks is what I am told I will know if they "took".

I will be happy if just one takes hold.

Archimedes Plutonium
http://www.iw.net/~a_plutonium/
whole entire Universe is just one big atom
where dots of the electron-dot-cloud are galaxies

strawberries and potatoes stories about gardening and landscaping#2
 

I have had excellent luck with strawberries planted one year in large
pots and the second
year in the ground in beds. Actually the pots are better than the beds
for fruit since the pots
are easier to weed and to control. I may, one of these years do
strawberries totally in pots
and simply change out the soil in the pots every year. Strawberries
are just not tough enough
to compete with the grasses and weeds. I suppose strawberries came
from a woods environment as their native environment.

So I guess every year I am going to keep buying more of those huge
pots of plastic, until
they are too much to cope.

Also, through the years I have found that fresh lettuce in springtime
and radishes are best
grown in pots and when summer comes, then I plant them with more
strawberries.

Potatoes last year did excellent with alot of sun and alot of
watering. The thing I want to
do this year is plant them in perfect rows, so I know where they are,
whereas last year
the rows became indistinguishable.

This is the last year I am going to try watermelon. In the past they
are hard to control
as they get into the lawn. And by the time they ripen, the cool Autumn
has come. I would
like to see them in the middle of summer. Maybe that is too much of a
demand and if so,
the last attempt for watermelon.

Archimedes Plutonium
http://www.iw.net/~a_plutonium/
whole entire Universe is just one big atom
where dots of the electron-dot-cloud are galaxies

have my potatoes in; whip graft #3
 

I am happy today, for I have all the potatoes in and this time I put a
brick walkway
down each row, so I know where to stand if I go through a row to weed
or water.
And I know where to harvest. Now last year was a bumper crop of
potatoes. And
the reason I believe is because I put a layer of horsemanure over the
potatoes
and kept them watered through the summer. If I get a bumper crop this
year,
I may have to sell or barter away some of them.

My first experience with grafting was last week where I grafted about
15 rock
elm to that of other elm species. I had not done a whip graft but
almost all
the other types. I may have invented a new type of grafting where I
take a
drill bit of the same size of stem and make it hollow leaving only the
cambium
on the rootstock. Using a portable drill remove about 2cm and then
with the scion, gently removing the bark exposing the cambium. This is
a maximum cambium exposure and should be even more successful than the
whip graft. But I suspect the bud graft is the graft
of choice.

Archimedes Plutonium
http://www.iw.net/~a_plutonium/
whole entire Universe is just one big atom
where dots of the electron-dot-cloud are galaxies