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Keeping a Messy Garden
I have a friend who hacks her roses down to stumps every year. I just
cut off what looks diseased. I have blooms now and she doesn't even have buds. She spends hours scraping stuff out from under her shrubs, and cutting out parts of them that she "doesn't like the looks of.". I stuff leftover oak leaves and other yard garbage under all of them and never look back. They get lots of water and some food, and always look great. She calls an exterminator over any insects that show up in any numbers anywhere in her yard. I spray my roses with systemic insecticide, but leave everything else alone. If she sees a spider she kills it! I have those huge, bright green orb weavers and all manner of other spiders all over. I hardly remember to get the abandoned "cob webs" out of the corners of the windows and doors. She frets over cats, swears bumblebees are really carpenter bees, tells me the squirrells are ruining her garden, constantly rakes and bags any waste. I feed the cats, and love watching the squirrels and chipmunks. Every other year or so the big oaks at the back of the property drop millions of acorns, and I never pick them up. They rot right there unless the squirrels bury them, then they sprout. I mow the forest twice and that is the end of them most years. But the squirrels have a Fabulous Buffet, and never touch my roses! When the leaves fall, I shove them under shrubs, use them as mulch, anything but taking the time to rake and bag. If all the beds are overflowing, there is an area under the trees where I blow the leaves with the blower. Thrushes are always back there flipping up leaves as they do, looking for bugs. Voles and moles have built cities under there, but I plant my "must haves" in holes lined with scratchy rock, and they eat the roots of the unprotected weeds, not my precious plants. Yesterday I saw a BIG rabbit in the back, eating the abundant weeds in the patch of green that might pass for a lawn--from an airplane! The rabbits have never bothered my roses, gardenias, etc. A former owner planted liriope as a border EVERYWHERE, and I know I should have dug and divided it. But it is unstoppable! The rabbits do eat it, but who could tell? Because of the vole population, we have our very own Neighborhood redtailed hawk who patrols the area and perches in tall trees staring down at the messy yards. There are lots of sloppy gardeners in my neighborhood. Not much is neat, but everything is lush. Flora and fauna. The choice usually goes like this: there is just enough time to water deeply OR pull up weeds and bag them--or there is just enough time to rake and bag leaves OR spray or feed my roses--or "god those weeds look terrible but I just have time to cut some flowers for the table." It is hard to see why I should change my ways. For once, the lazy person is rewarded! |
Keeping a Messy Garden
I love this thread... I wish the other posters lived by me! My next-door
neighboors seem to be flower-phobic. They have an expanse of green lawn and a wide gravel driveway, which the husband sprays with weed-killer every couple of months. There's one old whisky barrel with a sad little rhody in it and a pot of fuschias on the back deck in the summer...and that's the extent of their plants. And meanwhile, my passiflora is reaching over the fence, racing the honeysuckle to get to the other side first. I try to train the vines back inward, but they do follow the sun, so it always looks like they're threatening the sterile domain next door with creeping, grasping fingers. The crocosmias and glads and daisies and dahlias that I've been encouraging along my side the fence are always poking their little heads through to the neighbors, and I've more than once encouraged them to pick any flowers that visit their side of the fence, but they never have. No worry about any of these spreading into their cement or gravel; they'd get sprayed if a single sprout were to appear. The sad thing is that they have twice the size lot that we do, but it's all given over to lawn and bare wooden deck. But in the summer, we sit on our tiny patch of grass and watch hummingbirds and butterflies at the flowers, and smell the lavender and phlox, and wonder how they can stand to sit on their very clean deck and only smell the waterproofing finish. M. -- B - - - - - - - - - - - - - Melinda Tennielle M10TVC15 (at) yahoo.com |
Keeping a Messy Garden
My garden is out in a field next to the trailer park I live in, and while I try
to keep the weeds and grass from growing over my Iris and other plants, I let the weeds and grass's and whatevers grow in the rest of the area that gets watered by me. I've even taken some chairs people had put by the dumpster and set them out in the area so I can sit and just relax out there. Yet a guy who moved into a trailer about 1.5 months ago and who I'd sware goes out with a ruler and checks how tall each blade of grass is on the postage stamp size lawn he has, has had the gall to say my garden is a trash heap! BUT, the roses left from the last guy are not blooming and right now I've got a load of Iris blooming, my canna are coming up and will be blooming by July/Aug., my ice plant is covered with flowers. He also griped that my yard is a mess, well it is, I've got bags of steer manure, potting soil, pots with seedlings of canna cosmos, Dahlias, and other plants and all the pots I've collected over the last 5 years and I've got the greenest Elm trees in the park too. So I'll enjoy my flowers in my "Trash heap" of a garden! -- In This Universe The Night was Falling,The Shadows were lenghtening towards an east that would not know another dawn. But elsewhere the Stars were still young and the light of morning lingered: and along the path he once had followed, Man would one day go again. Arthur C. Clarke "The City & The Stars" SIAR www.starlords.org Telescope Buyers FAQ http://home.inreach.com/starlord Bishop's Car Fund http://www.bishopcarfund.Netfirms.com/ Starlord's Personal Page http://starlord-personal.netfirms.com "Shiva" wrote in message s.com... I have a friend who hacks her roses down to stumps every year. I just cut off what looks diseased. I have blooms now and she doesn't even have buds. She spends hours scraping stuff out from under her shrubs, and cutting out parts of them that she "doesn't like the looks of.". I stuff leftover oak leaves and other yard garbage under all of them and never look back. They get lots of water and some food, and always look great. --- Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). Version: 6.0.465 / Virus Database: 263 - Release Date: 3/25/03 |
Keeping a Messy Garden
I fully understand your angst! I collect everyone's bags of raked leaves. We
live in Texas and live oak trees shed their leaves in spring. First come down these hard brown leaves (carbon). A few weeks later, the catkins come down (nitrogen). Free organic matter! My neighbor is still out at 7:39 pm vacuuming his leaves and catkins. He also has plants which are addicted to chemical fertilizers. I adore looking at the garden seeing the remains of everything I cut back and lay onto the ground. I cut larger pieces into 4 inch size pieces and lay them right where I removed them. I garden because I have to. I bleed green. Some people are anal about it. I'm anal that I have to have every plant known to Texas! We all have our ways. On Sat, 19 Apr 2003 15:22:28 GMT, (Shiva) wrote: I have a friend who hacks her roses down to stumps every year. I just cut off what looks diseased. I have blooms now and she doesn't even have buds. She spends hours scraping stuff out from under her shrubs, and cutting out parts of them that she "doesn't like the looks of.". I stuff leftover oak leaves and other yard garbage under all of them and never look back. They get lots of water and some food, and always look great. She calls an exterminator over any insects that show up in any numbers anywhere in her yard. I spray my roses with systemic insecticide, but leave everything else alone. If she sees a spider she kills it! I have those huge, bright green orb weavers and all manner of other spiders all over. I hardly remember to get the abandoned "cob webs" out of the corners of the windows and doors. She frets over cats, swears bumblebees are really carpenter bees, tells me the squirrells are ruining her garden, constantly rakes and bags any waste. I feed the cats, and love watching the squirrels and chipmunks. Every other year or so the big oaks at the back of the property drop millions of acorns, and I never pick them up. They rot right there unless the squirrels bury them, then they sprout. I mow the forest twice and that is the end of them most years. But the squirrels have a Fabulous Buffet, and never touch my roses! When the leaves fall, I shove them under shrubs, use them as mulch, anything but taking the time to rake and bag. If all the beds are overflowing, there is an area under the trees where I blow the leaves with the blower. Thrushes are always back there flipping up leaves as they do, looking for bugs. Voles and moles have built cities under there, but I plant my "must haves" in holes lined with scratchy rock, and they eat the roots of the unprotected weeds, not my precious plants. Yesterday I saw a BIG rabbit in the back, eating the abundant weeds in the patch of green that might pass for a lawn--from an airplane! The rabbits have never bothered my roses, gardenias, etc. A former owner planted liriope as a border EVERYWHERE, and I know I should have dug and divided it. But it is unstoppable! The rabbits do eat it, but who could tell? Because of the vole population, we have our very own Neighborhood redtailed hawk who patrols the area and perches in tall trees staring down at the messy yards. There are lots of sloppy gardeners in my neighborhood. Not much is neat, but everything is lush. Flora and fauna. The choice usually goes like this: there is just enough time to water deeply OR pull up weeds and bag them--or there is just enough time to rake and bag leaves OR spray or feed my roses--or "god those weeds look terrible but I just have time to cut some flowers for the table." It is hard to see why I should change my ways. For once, the lazy person is rewarded! |
Keeping a Messy Garden
Shiva,
Yours sounds like a wonderful garden! There are much better ways of spending ones time than pulling every weed and spraying every bug. Some of the other comments reminded me of a peice I read some time ago: God's View on Lawns Imagine the conversation the Creator might have with St. Francis on the subject of lawns. GOD: Frank, you know all about gardens and nature, what in the world is going on down there in the U.S.? What in the world happened to the dandelions, violets, thistles and the stuff I started eons ago. I had a perfect no maintenance garden plan. Those plants grow in any type of soil, withstand drought and multiply with abandon. The nectar from the long lasting blossoms attracts butterflies, honey bees and flocks of songbirds. I expected to see a vast garden of color by now. All I see are patches of green. ST. FRANCIS: It's the tribes that settled there, Lord. They are called the Suburbanites. They started calling your flowers "weeds" and went to great lengths to kill them and replace them with grass. GOD: Grass? But it is so boring, it's not colorful. It doesn't attract butterflies, bees or birds, only grubs and sod worms. It's temperamental with temperatures. Do these Suburbanites really want grass growing there? ST. FRANCIS: Apparently so, Lord. They go to great pains to grow it and keep it green. They begin each spring by fertilizing it and poisoning any other plant that crops up in the lawn. GOD: The spring rains and the warm weather probably makes the grass grow really fast. That must make the Suburbanites very happy. ST. FRANCIS: Apparently not, Lord. As soon as it has grown a little, they cut it---sometimes two times a week. GOD: They cut it? Do they bale it like hay? ST. FRANCIS: Not exactly Lord. Most of them rake it up and put it in bags. GOD: They bag it? Why? Is it a cash crop? Do they sell it? ST. FRANCIS: No sir, just the opposite. They pay to throw it away. GOD: Now let me get this straight. They fertilize it to make it grow and when it does grow, they cut it off and pay to throw it away? ST. FRANCIS: Yes, sir. GOD: These Suburbanites must be relieved in the summer when we cut back on the rain and turn up the heat. That surely slows the growth and saves them a lot of work. ST. FRANCIS: You aren't going to believe this Lord. When the grass stops growing so fast, they drag out hoses and pay more money to water it so they can continue to mow it and pay to get rid of it. GOD: What nonsense! At least they kept some of the trees. That was a sheer stroke of genius, if I do say so myself. The trees grow leaves in the spring to provide beauty and shade in summer. In the autumn they fall to the ground and form a natural blanket to keep the moisture in the soil and protect the trees and bushes. Plus as they rot, the leaves are compost to enhance the soil. It's a natural circle of life. ST. FRANCIS: You'd better sit down Lord. As soon as the leaves fall, the Suburbanites rake them into great piles and pay to have them hauled away. GOD: No way!! What do they do to protect the shrubs and tree roots in the winter to keep the soil moist and loose? ST. FRANCIS: After throwing the leaves away they go out and buy something called mulch. They haul it home and spread it around in place of the leaves. GOD: And where to they get this mulch? ST. FRANCIS: They cut down the trees and grind them up to make mulch. GOD: Enough!! I don't want to think about this anymore. St. Catherine, you're in charge of the arts. What movie have you scheduled for us tonight? ST. CATHERINE: Dumb and Dumber Lord. It's a real stupid movie about... GOD: Never mind, I think I just heard the whole story from St. Francis! |
Keeping a Messy Garden
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Keeping a Messy Garden
I agree with your philosophy! I always chuckle when I see my neighbor getting a
delivery of expensive mulch to spread under his trees when he just finished raking out all his natural leaf mulch! BT "Shiva" wrote in message s.com... I have a friend who hacks her roses down to stumps every year. I just cut off what looks diseased. I have blooms now and she doesn't even have buds. She spends hours scraping stuff out from under her shrubs, and cutting out parts of them that she "doesn't like the looks of.". I stuff leftover oak leaves and other yard garbage under all of them and never look back. They get lots of water and some food, and always look great. She calls an exterminator over any insects that show up in any numbers anywhere in her yard. I spray my roses with systemic insecticide, but leave everything else alone. If she sees a spider she kills it! I have those huge, bright green orb weavers and all manner of other spiders all over. I hardly remember to get the abandoned "cob webs" out of the corners of the windows and doors. She frets over cats, swears bumblebees are really carpenter bees, tells me the squirrells are ruining her garden, constantly rakes and bags any waste. I feed the cats, and love watching the squirrels and chipmunks. Every other year or so the big oaks at the back of the property drop millions of acorns, and I never pick them up. They rot right there unless the squirrels bury them, then they sprout. I mow the forest twice and that is the end of them most years. But the squirrels have a Fabulous Buffet, and never touch my roses! When the leaves fall, I shove them under shrubs, use them as mulch, anything but taking the time to rake and bag. If all the beds are overflowing, there is an area under the trees where I blow the leaves with the blower. Thrushes are always back there flipping up leaves as they do, looking for bugs. Voles and moles have built cities under there, but I plant my "must haves" in holes lined with scratchy rock, and they eat the roots of the unprotected weeds, not my precious plants. Yesterday I saw a BIG rabbit in the back, eating the abundant weeds in the patch of green that might pass for a lawn--from an airplane! The rabbits have never bothered my roses, gardenias, etc. A former owner planted liriope as a border EVERYWHERE, and I know I should have dug and divided it. But it is unstoppable! The rabbits do eat it, but who could tell? Because of the vole population, we have our very own Neighborhood redtailed hawk who patrols the area and perches in tall trees staring down at the messy yards. There are lots of sloppy gardeners in my neighborhood. Not much is neat, but everything is lush. Flora and fauna. The choice usually goes like this: there is just enough time to water deeply OR pull up weeds and bag them--or there is just enough time to rake and bag leaves OR spray or feed my roses--or "god those weeds look terrible but I just have time to cut some flowers for the table." It is hard to see why I should change my ways. For once, the lazy person is rewarded! |
Keeping a Messy Garden
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Keeping a Messy Garden
On Sat, 19 Apr 2003 10:29:41 -0800, Melinda Tennielle
wrote: I love this thread... I wish the other posters lived by me! My next-door neighboors seem to be flower-phobic. They have an expanse of green lawn and a wide gravel driveway, which the husband sprays with weed-killer every couple of months. Eeeyyu, I hate this look. [...] And meanwhile, my passiflora is reaching over the fence, racing the honeysuckle to get to the other side first. I try to train the vines back inward, but they do follow the sun, so it always looks like they're threatening the sterile domain next door I love my neighbors on the south. When I had the new bed put in , I wanted to grow some roses right up against our shared chainlink fence. Some are big 'uns, so I knew they would spill over eventually, and some are climbers, and, well, that's kind of the point of climbers. So I met the female half over the fence and showed her photos of what I had in mind. She said she liked my choices, so I went ahead and planted. There is ivy on the fence that we both agreed to pull and both took half-hearted stabs at pulling, then left it alone. In the end, I decided it will look pretty as a backdrop for the roses, so I'll TRY to keep up with it just to the point that it won't strangle the roses. This lady is very laid back. She once watched voles (or something) pull some of her hostas right into their holes, POP, Bugs Bunny style, no you see 'em now you don't, and she actually laughed. She uses Permatil in her planting holes now. |
Keeping a Messy Garden
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Keeping a Messy Garden
Shiva wrote:
What an interesting take on things. Could be. For my part, I notice that this kind of, shalll we say, "controlling" ("tight-*ssed might offend!) behavior tends to be exhibited throughout the lives of those to whom it comes naturally. Very Virgo, you know? G I'm only half kidding. Hey! I'm a virgo! *grin* However, I love sprawling abandon with multihued beds without any dirt and/or mulch to be seen because of the grooundcover. I really don't weed except for the stuff that tends to get invasive such as chickweed. We have seven birdfeeders in the yard and love to sit out on the patio watching the multitude of birds come and go. My latest project is to figure out where I'm going to put the ladybug house up that I just got mailorder. To make a purchase of, say, a piece of furniture or clothing, she must drag around to ALL stores and agonize over every choice. That bores me so, I am more apt to order something directly from an online shop, sight unseen. I actually ordered an armoire that way. To her way of thinking, it should have been the wrong size, cheesy looking, etc. But it was perfect. I was not punished for my slapdash ways, and I could tell she was both amazed and irritated. I hate to shop. Well, except for bookstores and garden shops. The WWW has made my life wonderful. I want a book, I order it online. Most plants I order online these days as I can get exactly what I want that way. Best of all, I can be out in the yard enjoying it all while UPS delivers my purchases. On the flip side: I bought a front exterior light on a whim, and I really am spacially challenged. It needed to be a size bigger. Too lazy to take it back, I put it up anyway. So now if you look close, you can see the hole made by the first one off to one side. Probably why I have light strips in boxes in the master bedroom that I bought on a whim for the master bath, decided i really didn't like them and haven't yet gotten a round tuit to returning them. This was probably almost a year ago. I do have the receipt in my hand bag now at least. *laugh* Susan s h simko at duke dot edu |
Keeping a Messy Garden
On Mon, 21 Apr 2003 11:07:33 -0400, "Susan H. Simko"
wrote: Hey! I'm a virgo! *grin* Hee! You mean you don't act the same as 1/12th of the rest of the world's population? However, I love sprawling abandon with multihued beds without any dirt and/or mulch to be seen because of the grooundcover. I really don't weed except for the stuff that tends to get invasive such as chickweed. We have seven birdfeeders in the yard and love to sit out on the patio watching the multitude of birds come and go. Clearly your sense of the Joy of Life has overpowered the stars, grahhshoppah! My latest project is to figure out where I'm going to put the ladybug house up that I just got mailorder. This sounds damned near unbearably cute. Which mailorder? And when can we see it? Probably why I have light strips in boxes in the master bedroom that I bought on a whim for the master bath, decided i really didn't like them and haven't yet gotten a round tuit to returning them. This was probably almost a year ago. I do have the receipt in my hand bag now at least. *laugh* As long as we are moving in a positive direcetion we are doing fine! I hear that changes in later life to "as long as we are moving ... at all! s h simko at duke dot edu |
Keeping a Messy Garden
Shiva wrote:
Hee! You mean you don't act the same as 1/12th of the rest of the world's population? Nope. I act like Susan. The s.o. claims the mold broke afte rme as the world couldn't take more than one without coming apart at the seams. Clearly your sense of the Joy of Life has overpowered the stars, grahhshoppah! Oh yeah. I'ld never get very far with a formal garden with a colour scheme. Witness my trip to Witherspoon's to get another Pristine and coming home with Granada because the colour caught my eye. Glorious, riotous colours are my delight. I also don't like things laid out just *so*. It's too artificial to my eye and because of that tends to take away some of the enjoyment for me. Not saying I don't like it in other people's gardens but I don't want to live with it day in and day out. This sounds damned near unbearably cute. Which mailorder? And when can we see it? It is unbearably cute. Just like my toad houses under my bushes that no one notices unless I choose to tell them. *grin* Anyway, I ordered it from http://www.bestnest.com I think one of my neighbour's is having horrors over the "invasion" of ladybugs I am going to bring on when I put it up. When all of you can see it depends upon me getting back to tackling my test server. I refuse to cop out and put the photos up on my current site as then I will have no motivation to get this other server done. As long as we are moving in a positive direcetion we are doing fine! I hear that changes in later life to "as long as we are moving ... at all! My family has a history of keeping going until we drop. My g'father had a large garden that he kept every year up until his death at 88. I truly believe you're as young as you want to be. My mom is very young for her age and does remarkable stuff despite her physical disabilites. I get in trouble with my friends in PA if we make plans to go out and I don't bring her with me! Susan s h simko at duke dot edu |
Keeping a Messy Garden
"paghat" wrote in message ... You're doing it my way. The nature-phobic gardening you describe as your friend's method seems to be very common. I used to deeply wonder how it could ever have come about that anyone could love flowers but hate nature. I've come to the conclusion that the majority of gardeners are motivated by a fear of the natural world & a need to so completely tame it that it is no longer fearful. A minority of gardeners have the opposite approach of trying to duplicate something of nature. Here's one of my past-rants on nature-phobic gardening: Lawn Loonies & Envirophobia-- http://www.paghat.com/lawnloony.html I had to laugh at the page on moles. I live next to a wooded area and everyone in the neighborhood has moles. I came to the conclusion a few years ago that life would be better if I accepted the fact that there will always be moles. I have reduced the amount of lawn I have for the moles to destroy. That makes more room for all the plants that I just have to have but don't know where I am going to put them once they are home. Today the weather was warm but overcast -- perfect for digging and dividing perennials. I decided that one of the azaleas I moved last year was indeed dead so I got the shovel and decided to dig it and replace it with a big clump of daylilies that had become too bid for its site. I plunged the shovel into the ground, pushed with my boot, and applied leverage to free the azalea. The plant popped right out and when I looked down I had a large dazed mole in the shovel! I had to look twice as I was totally amazed to see that I had removed both the dead plant and a completely intact animal in a single effort. The mole looked dazed. It barely moved. My first reaction was to drop it and cut it in two with the shovel. I put it on the ground and poked it lightly with the shovel. It let out a pathetic squeal. I couldn't bring myself to kill it so I just picked it up with the shovel and tossed it a couple of feet into the wood. It laid there for a few minutes. When I checked back later it was gone. I thought that anyone could kill a mole, but only an intelligent being could lean to live with them. |
Keeping a Messy Garden
"Vox Humana" wrote in message .. . I plunged the shovel into the ground, pushed with my boot, and applied leverage to free the azalea. The plant popped right out and when I looked down I had a large dazed mole in the shovel! I had to look twice as I was totally amazed to see that I had removed both the dead plant and a completely intact animal in a single effort. The mole looked dazed. It barely moved. My first reaction was to drop it and cut it in two with the shovel. I put it on the ground and poked it lightly with the shovel. It let out a pathetic squeal. I couldn't bring myself to kill it so I just picked it up with the shovel and tossed it a couple of feet into the wood. It laid there for a few minutes. When I checked back later it was gone. I thought that anyone could kill a mole, but only an intelligent being could lean to live with them. I've heard that high pitched mewing too. It reminds you this is another living creature. My dogs catch moles and drop them right at my feet, usually alive. I can't kill the little buggers so I take them down to the wildlife area and let them go in the tall brush where they can hide. Oh, the mole mounds you see there now...... |
Keeping a Messy Garden
.. My dogs catch moles and drop them right at my feet, usually
alive. So do my cats, but they are just trying to teach me the art of molehunting. They think playing with ones' food is de rigeur, in catiquette. Waste not, want not, they demonstrate. One fat bud on one of the unnamed J&P minis, been there three days, stubbornly won't pop...hope it blooms before the buggies come out after it! Scopata Fuori |
Keeping a Messy Garden
Susan H. Simko wrote:
Nope. I act like Susan. The s.o. claims the mold broke afte rme as the world couldn't take more than one without coming apart at the seams. When I was born, they threw away the mold. Eventually some of it grew back.... -- Warren H. ========== Disclaimer: My views reflect those of myself, and not my employer, my friends, nor (as she often tells me) my wife. Any resemblance to the views of anybody living or dead is coincidental. No animals were hurt in the writing of this response -- unless you count my dog who desperately wants to go outside now. |
Keeping a Messy Garden
We used to live next door to what we lovingly termed "lawn nazis." After
mowing, husband and wife both would put on knee pads and crawl over their yard on hands and knees uprooting every last little weed. The wife even carried scissors! We never could figure them out. |
Keeping a Messy Garden
"CG" wrote in message ... We used to live next door to what we lovingly termed "lawn nazis." After mowing, husband and wife both would put on knee pads and crawl over their yard on hands and knees uprooting every last little weed. The wife even carried scissors! We never could figure them out. Funny, but I have been referred to as a Lawn Nazi. I'm not sure why. I have very small lawn in the front that I do try to keep orderly. I mow once a week, run the edger and string trimmer, and water when it needs it. The back lawn has more weeds than grass. There are at least three mole hills out there right now. I see others who spend far more time on their lawns than I do, but they do stupid things that cause more harm than good. There are people who roll their lawns every springs. Then there are the people who have the lawn services that drench the turn with chemicals every few weeks. I guess that because my lawn looks better than theirs, they must assume that I spend more time and effort than they do. It is amazing how much good an inch of water does in August as opposed to 50 pounds of turf builder with Haltz in April. |
Keeping a Messy Garden
What's to figure out? Live and let live. Since I signed on the dotted line and
agreed to the deed restrictions, I keep a relatively kept front yard. The backyard is mine to do with as I please. I wish I had a neighbor who hand pulls weeds. My neighbor dumps every sort of chemical he can get his little man complex hands on. He then had the f'n nerve to tell me I shouldn't plant oleander because his kids could be poisoned. When you figure him out, let me know. On Wed, 23 Apr 2003 16:05:03 -0500, "CG" wrote: We used to live next door to what we lovingly termed "lawn nazis." After mowing, husband and wife both would put on knee pads and crawl over their yard on hands and knees uprooting every last little weed. The wife even carried scissors! We never could figure them out. |
Keeping a Messy Garden
Vox Humana wrote:
Funny, but I have been referred to as a Lawn Nazi. I'm not sure why. I have very small lawn in the front that I do try to keep orderly. I mow once a week, run the edger and string trimmer, and water when it needs it. The back lawn has more weeds than grass. There are at least three mole hills out there right now. I see others who spend far more time on their lawns than I do, but they do stupid things that cause more harm than good. There are people who roll their lawns every springs. Then there are the people who have the lawn services that drench the turn with chemicals every few weeks. I guess that because my lawn looks better than theirs, they must assume that I spend more time and effort than they do. It is amazing how much good an inch of water does in August as opposed to 50 pounds of turf builder with Haltz in April. Reminds me of the conversation I had with my neighbor last night. She was bemoaning the fact that our yard looked better than hers and she paid a service a lot of money to get hers in better shape. *laugh* That's the exact reason why I refuse to pay anyone to do anything with my yard. It doesn't take much and it certainly doesn't need the heavy amount of chemicals they put down to get it to look decent. All I do is seed, put down some fertilizer and lime and occasionally I strap on my aerating sandals and take a stroll through the yard. Last night she was putting down major amounts of weed and feed fertilizer. I told her that I won't do that because at least the weeds are green and without them I would have major bare patches. I'm trying to eliminate bare patches not create more. Thank goodness her property is downhill from mine though I do wonder what the neighbors on the other side (downhill) of her are going to think.... Like I said before, I love of beds with tons of flowers and no dirt to be seen. The mess and profusion of colours make me happy everytime I look at them. Susan s h simko at duke dot edu = real email address |
Keeping a Messy Garden
On Wed, 23 Apr 2003 16:05:03 -0500, "CG"
wrote: We used to live next door to what we lovingly termed "lawn nazis." After mowing, husband and wife both would put on knee pads and crawl over their yard on hands and knees uprooting every last little weed. The wife even carried scissors! We never could figure them out. I think there must be a certain thrill in this sort of perfectionism that is nevertheless very hard to watch. If you think about it, there are two kinds of perfectionism--the one achieved by taking things away and another by adding. |
Keeping a Messy Garden
Vox Humana wrote:
Funny, but I have been referred to as a Lawn Nazi. I'm not sure why... Someone put a column in our local paper last year with a test that would tell you if you were a lawn nazi. I took the test and found out that I'm an extremist (in the other direction -- I scored 5 out of the 100 that indicated your status as a lawn nazi). My lawn gets mowed 3-4 times a year, whether it needs it or not. It hasn't seen fertilizer or (non-natural) watering in 20 years. I drive and park on it. I plow snow off it in the winter, scalping large sections in the process. In the spring I throw some grass seed on the scalped sections and forget it. It's green because the weeds are green as well as the grass. My neighbor has a lawn service that comes in once or twice a week and mows the lawn. They cut it short. In the dry summer last year my long grass was green and their short manicured lawn was brown. |
Keeping a Messy Garden
"Susan H. Simko" wrote in message ... Reminds me of the conversation I had with my neighbor last night. She was bemoaning the fact that our yard looked better than hers and she paid a service a lot of money to get hers in better shape. *laugh* That's the exact reason why I refuse to pay anyone to do anything with my yard. It doesn't take much and it certainly doesn't need the heavy amount of chemicals they put down to get it to look decent. All I do is seed, put down some fertilizer and lime and occasionally I strap on my aerating sandals and take a stroll through the yard. Last night she was putting down major amounts of weed and feed fertilizer. I told her that I won't do that because at least the weeds are green and without them I would have major bare patches. Where I live it is still pretty cool. Weeds aren't growing that well. While it might be a good idea (probably a little late) to use some pre-emergent herbicide, it is a waste of money and detrimental to the environment to apply a post-emergent herbicide now. I have explained this until I am blue to my neighbors. They insist on putting down "weed and feed" regardless of the circumstances. What's more frightening, they NEVER read the directions on any product they use. God only know if they are applying the stuff at the rate suggested by the manufacturer. I have also concluded that they shouldn't bother removing any plants from the container they were grown in because they move things all year long until the plants are dead. They prune shrubs at the wrong time and complain that they aren't getting many flowers. |
Keeping a Messy Garden
animaux writes:
to tell me I shouldn't plant oleander because his kids could be poisoned. you should tell him to keep your kids off of your property, or monitor them while they are on it, lest they start grazing like wild animals on your plants and poison themselves... -- be safe. flip (who has several *fine* patches of Atropa Belladonna in the back yard) ^___^ Count to three. Make a wish. Close your eyes. \^.^/ Wait. Scratch that, reverse it. ==u== - apologies to Roald Dahl |
Keeping a Messy Garden
Dwight Sipler wrote:
Vox Humana wrote: Funny, but I have been referred to as a Lawn Nazi. I'm not sure why... Someone put a column in our local paper last year with a test that would tell you if you were a lawn nazi. I took the test and found out that I'm an extremist (in the other direction -- I scored 5 out of the 100 that indicated your status as a lawn nazi). My lawn gets mowed 3-4 times a year, whether it needs it or not. It hasn't seen fertilizer or (non-natural) watering in 20 years. I drive and park on it. I plow snow off it in the winter, scalping large sections in the process. In the spring I throw some grass seed on the scalped sections and forget it. It's green because the weeds are green as well as the grass. My neighbor has a lawn service that comes in once or twice a week and mows the lawn. They cut it short. In the dry summer last year my long grass was green and their short manicured lawn was brown. You are way cool, please speak with these crazies in that thread that discusses using power tools to direct rocks at their face in order to obtain a finely edged lawn. (just spent hours and hours getting shredded mulch then raking some leaves in, on top, to hide my shame and play woodlands, then there are other extreames) |
Keeping a Messy Garden
Vox Humana wrote:
They prune shrubs at the wrong time and complain that they aren't getting many flowers. This one always gets me. There are some folks near me with very nice forsythia hedge. They keep it cut to about 1 1/2 feet high, pruning it off and on including late in the fall. In the spring, while all their neighbors have splashes of yellow and they could have a wonderful line of color the entire width of their front yard, they get an occasional flower or three. I'm not crazy about forsythia but it does give us a nice display early in the spring. But without the week of flowers, what's the point? -- Henry |
Keeping a Messy Garden
"Henry" wrote in message ... Vox Humana wrote: They prune shrubs at the wrong time and complain that they aren't getting many flowers. This one always gets me. There are some folks near me with very nice forsythia hedge. They keep it cut to about 1 1/2 feet high, pruning it off and on including late in the fall. In the spring, while all their neighbors have splashes of yellow and they could have a wonderful line of color the entire width of their front yard, they get an occasional flower or three. I'm not crazy about forsythia but it does give us a nice display early in the spring. But without the week of flowers, what's the point? The forsythia are about done here, but every spring when they bloom I make a mental note to get one for my mixed shrub border. Most of the year they are pretty ordinary, but one would be a nice splash of color in the early spring. On a more positive note (for me), the above mentioned neighbors got tired of their lilac that never bloomed so they decided to remove it. I offered to do the job if they gave it to me and they were happy to be rid of it without any work. It looked pretty sorry last year, but it is nearly ready to burst into bloom. When it is fully covered with flowers, I want to show it to them so they can see how good it looks without the ill timed pruning. |
Keeping a Messy Garden
Hiya Pete honey......... I am a messy gardener. But its very neat. If that makes any sense. Cathy |
Keeping a Messy Garden
Well, I broke down.
I bought Don Juan. Rescued it from WalMart. $6.97 Shiva just wore me down chuckle. I planted it in my messy yard on the other side of the sidewalk from Sombreuil and my messy side porch. And I couldn't afford to spend a lot of money on a trellis so I bought one that's only 4 ft. tall. I figure that I'll buy two more over the season and put them next to this one and train the Don Juan to grow laterally. Maybe I'll just keep adding trellises as it expands and end up with a wall of Don Juan next to the sidewalk. I'll try to post photos in the coming days. Portland From Glendorra now has 3 fully opened blooms and about 20 bloom clusters with 4 -5 buds per cluster. if I remember last year, the side buds don't open until the center bud is just about finished. that's going to be one fragrant area of the yard because it's only about 6 feet from Aloha, which is highly fragrant when in full bloom. |
Keeping a Messy Garden
dave weil wrote:
Well, I broke down. I bought Don Juan. Yay! Rescued it from WalMart. $6.97 Boo! If it didn't have a bloom on it, there's no telling what you have! Shiva just wore me down chuckle. Excellent, just excellent! I am nothing if not persistant, you know! You will not be sorry. It is a great rose. I planted it in my messy yard on the other side of the sidewalk from Sombreuil and my messy side porch. Red and white. Can't go wrong. Very nice! (Damn near haiku, eh?) And I couldn't afford to spend a lot of money on a trellis so I bought one that's only 4 ft. tall. I figure that I'll buy two more over the season and put them next to this one and train the Don Juan to grow laterally. Maybe I'll just keep adding trellises as it expands and end up with a wall of Don Juan next to the sidewalk. Hey, Dave, didn't I see some chain link fence in your yard? It's the best to grow roses on. I'll try to post photos in the coming days. Super! Portland From Glendorra now has 3 fully opened blooms and about 20 bloom clusters with 4 -5 buds per cluster. if I remember last year, the side buds don't open until the center bud is just about finished. that's going to be one fragrant area of the yard because it's only about 6 feet from Aloha, which is highly fragrant when in full bloom. Makes me wish for a scent snapshot. Just what we need, a new invention! It's cold and rainy today and I am hibernating before a busy weekend. Nice and cozy! |
Keeping a Messy Garden
On Fri, 25 Apr 2003 16:05:11 -0400 (EDT), "Shiva"
wrote: dave weil wrote: Well, I broke down. I bought Don Juan. Yay! Rescued it from WalMart. $6.97 Boo! If it didn't have a bloom on it, there's no telling what you have! We'll see what happens. It has 4 really plump unopened buds on it. I should know soon... Are you saying that we shouldn't rescue roses from WalMart? g Shiva just wore me down chuckle. Excellent, just excellent! I am nothing if not persistant, you know! You will not be sorry. It is a great rose. If I could only do the same with Felicia chuckle. I planted it in my messy yard on the other side of the sidewalk from Sombreuil and my messy side porch. Red and white. Can't go wrong. Very nice! (Damn near haiku, eh?) Damn near... And I couldn't afford to spend a lot of money on a trellis so I bought one that's only 4 ft. tall. I figure that I'll buy two more over the season and put them next to this one and train the Don Juan to grow laterally. Maybe I'll just keep adding trellises as it expands and end up with a wall of Don Juan next to the sidewalk. Hey, Dave, didn't I see some chain link fence in your yard? It's the best to grow roses on. Yes, however, it's already covered in roses. There *is* another length, but it's under a 40 foot tree, so it's not ideal for roses. I'll try to post photos in the coming days. Super! Portland From Glendorra now has 3 fully opened blooms and about 20 bloom clusters with 4 -5 buds per cluster. if I remember last year, the side buds don't open until the center bud is just about finished. that's going to be one fragrant area of the yard because it's only about 6 feet from Aloha, which is highly fragrant when in full bloom. Makes me wish for a scent snapshot. Just what we need, a new invention! Well, there's always John Waters' Smell-o-rama. However, the scents on that are a bit different... It's cold and rainy today and I am hibernating before a busy weekend. Nice and cozy! I'm getting ready to face the masses at work. I'm hoping for a profitable night... |
Keeping a Messy Garden
dave weil wrote:
I bought Don Juan. [...] I planted it in my messy yard on the other side of the sidewalk from Sombreuil and my messy side porch. When we got DJ i could only think of one spot for it, climbing up the back of the house to the bedroom window... ;) -- be safe. flip ^___^ Count to three. Make a wish. Close your eyes. \^.^/ Wait. Scratch that, reverse it. ==u== - apologies to Roald Dahl |
Keeping a Messy Garden
On Fri, 25 Apr 2003 16:35:04 -0400, Philip Edward Lewis
wrote: dave weil wrote: I bought Don Juan. [...] I planted it in my messy yard on the other side of the sidewalk from Sombreuil and my messy side porch. When we got DJ i could only think of one spot for it, climbing up the back of the house to the bedroom window... ;) Philip, this is hilarious! But did you really? And if so what else are you growing? |
Keeping a Messy Garden
dave weil wrote:
Well, I broke down. I bought Don Juan. .. And I couldn't afford to spend a lot of money on a trellis so I bought one that's only 4 ft. tall. I figure that I'll buy two more over the season and put them next to this one and train the Don Juan to grow laterally. Maybe I'll just keep adding trellises as it expands and end up with a wall of Don Juan next to the sidewalk. And you don't have to waste the trellis on the bottom two feet or so - that's just a waste of good lumber. Portland From Glendorra now has 3 fully opened blooms and about 20 bloom clusters with 4 -5 buds per cluster. if I remember last year, the side buds don't open until the center bud is just about finished. that's going to be one fragrant area of the yard because it's only about 6 feet from Aloha, which is highly fragrant when in full bloom. Isn't zone just amazing? We're mild zone 9, one frost all year, and yet Glendora is just now opening flowers one at a time. I just received Aloha from Amity Heritage Roses. Boy, did they send out nice plants. Aloha came with a bud that I thought had been bug eaten - it was oddly shaped. That sucker opened up the this bloom, quartered in the center, with that wonderful freesia scent. I'm sold. |
Keeping a Messy Garden
On Fri, 25 Apr 2003 16:35:04 -0400, in rec.gardens.roses you wrote:
dave weil wrote: I bought Don Juan. [...] I planted it in my messy yard on the other side of the sidewalk from Sombreuil and my messy side porch. When we got DJ i could only think of one spot for it, climbing up the back of the house to the bedroom window... ;) SPEW! You owe me a new keyboard... |
Keeping a Messy Garden
"dave weil" wrote in message
... Well, I broke down. I bought Don Juan. Rescued it from WalMart. $6.97 Shiva just wore me down chuckle. Me too....Shiva, uh, "convinced" me last year. (that's OK, I talked her into Joseph's Coat anyway, so we're even...!) My Don Juan looks like he's started on Human Growth Hormone, and this is only barely the 2nd season. .. And I couldn't afford to spend a lot of money on a trellis so I bought one that's only 4 ft. tall. I figure that I'll buy two more over the season and put them next to this one and train the Don Juan to grow laterally. Maybe I'll just keep adding trellises as it expands and end up with a wall of Don Juan next to the sidewalk. I had to laugh at this .....I was gonna do this too..... Not only is the trellis that my Don Juan on also a shrimpy little 4 ft one, it's also along the sidewalk, and starting to crowd his neighbors..... I was thinking of doing the exact same thing, adding another one and growing sideways. There's a tree above it, so he can't grow upwards anyway.. In fact, tomorrow I think I'm going to have to move a Mr. Lincoln that's right next to him. At the rate things are going, it looks like little Juancito is not going to stand for Mr. Lincoln as a next door neighbor. Funny, it SEEMED like plenty of room between them just a couple of weeks ago.....! JimS. Seattle |
Keeping a Messy Garden
Heh. I never follow gardening 'cookbooks'. I love messy gardens! More creative
and interesting. /z. |
Keeping a Messy Garden
On Fri, 25 Apr 2003 15:11:43 -0500, dave weil
wrote: On Fri, 25 Apr 2003 16:05:11 -0400 (EDT), "Shiva" wrote: Boo! If it didn't have a bloom on it, there's no telling what you have! We'll see what happens. It has 4 really plump unopened buds on it. I should know soon... So, how's it looking? Last time I did that I got two "Granada" that were so NOT. Scentless orange and yellow things, nothing like it. I hacked them to death with great pleasure muhahah. Are you saying that we shouldn't rescue roses from WalMart? g Nope. My two circus are from Lowes. BUT they were blooming and healthy, in good-sized pots. I do think one ought not buy bare root Walmart roses if one gives a poop about what variety one is actually buying. G If I could only do the same with Felicia chuckle. Try me again. I'm having a weak moment. Hey, Dave, didn't I see some chain link fence in your yard? It's the best to grow roses on. Yes, however, it's already covered in roses. There *is* another length, but it's under a 40 foot tree, so it's not ideal for roses. Aha. So, how much do you like that tree? Makes me wish for a scent snapshot. Just what we need, a new invention! Well, there's always John Waters' Smell-o-rama. However, the scents on that are a bit different... Eeeyuu, you mean the scratch and sniff thing?! You are perverse. |
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