9/13/2009

I'm posting this after the fact, BUT I believe I fertilized the yard this day w/ WOW Plus using the exact same instructions I recorded in here earlier in the year! Exact date isn't so important, but that it was actually complete!

6/28/2009 - Mite Control, Planting update

For the record, I sprayed all the foundation shrubs today w/ All-Seasons dormant oil to control for mealybugs and mites. I seem to have a bad case of both and I've already lost one - no make that two - japanese hollies to mites/mealys. The remaining 3 0r so are under attack. I can tell from the leaf drop and twig die-off. My camellia, piers japonica prelude, and aucuba also have damage so I sprayed those as well. The piers japonica especially has been badly affected - it's leaves from last year are all stipled w/ yellow dots. I sure hope this helps. I'm going to apply a little bit more cause I ran out.

I applied it at 5 T./gallon of water or 2.5 fl oz/gallon using the handy-dandy ortho sprayer. I got down low and tried to spray toward the undersize of the leaves. It wasn't nearly as bad spraying or as difficult to apply as I'd envisioned. I feel badly that I've procrastinated this long and won't put it off as long once I get some more. The label seems to imply that I should apply monthly. So, I think I'll put a reminder on the old calendar and come end of July I will treat them again and maybe again in August. Mites tend to get worse in the summer - not sure about mealys - and it's hard to know if they've been treated. I promise to myself to keep a closer eye on them! I need to inspect the hollies near the end of the driveway and maybe spray those, too.

In other news, I finally planted my two aspidstra big bubbas - or whatever they'll called as well as the fatsia. They were all getting kind of pot bound but I took care to free the roots and disentangle them before moving them. I also moved a bear's breeches that I bought last year that wasn't doing so hot. I think it was eaten up by voles, but then resprouted and it did have small leaves. So, I dug it all up and separated all the root parts out and planted them down in the former magnolia bed. Will be interesting to see how they do there. That area has morning sun and some sun into the afternoon, but not much hot afternoon sun. I hope they take off. They are supposed to get 4-6' feet wide as a clump. They didn't seem to get getting that big in the shade, so I think moving them was a good idea. I still have one more in the shade that maybe I should move as well. It doesn't seem to be thriving either. It's leaves are big, but it's not growing that fast. The label says part sun-light shade I think, so this new location might be better. We'll see... The fatsia, which is supposed to like deep shade, is in a spot where it will get an hour or so of full to partial afternoon sun. Maybe a bad idea? I'm keeping an eye on it and if it starts burning I'm going to try moving it under the dogwood where the the rhodie used to be. I think it will like that spot, though I will need to keep in mind that if I plant more shrubs behind carissas that it's view could be blocked, so I'd have to locate w/ an eye toward that.

Also, last weekend I planted a bunch of impatiens and they are doing okay. In a second, I'm going to try doing surgery on my rain barrel to see if I can fix it so a real spigot can be attached and then I can use the soaker hose w/ the rain barrel. I hope I don't ruin it!

Also, I dug up that spice shrub that I got at a master gardener something or other a while back and planted out. It's been there a few years. Since it can take full sun to partial shade I decided to try putting it at the edge of the house on the side where the hose bib is. It's supposed to be a rounded mound shape when it gets full sun up to 6' wide. So, we'll see how it grows there. I'm experimenting! I think this is how gardeners and many others in life get things done. Get some info and then make a guess. If it doesn't work, then try something else. I think many things come down to a process of trial and error which you can sometimes limit w/ research on the front end, so that's what I did. We'll see how it goes!

5/28/2009 Update

Okay, the castor oil thing doesn't seem to be working as far as I can tell. There are still little vole holes everywhere and new ones everyday. I think I will reapply when I get around to it since I already bought it.

Also, yesterday I found two small Oakleaf Hydrangeas growing near the area where I walk Woody in the woods. I probably never noticed them before because they just started blooming - very beautiful w/ large, cone shaped flower clusters and gorgeous oversized oak shaped leaves.

I'm thinking of digging one of them up and planting it in the yard. =:0 I know this is a no-no. But I can give it a good home where it will be loved and appreciated!! Who is going to appreciate it planted there in a dumping grounds where it very will may get plowed over. I'm actually saving it - like stray dog!

They are native plants I believe, but I've never seen them growing in the wild before. It's in an area where people dump stuff - so maybe someone dumped it or maybe it's just a volunteer. They supposedly can take more sun than the other hygrangeas (macrophylla) and can also tolerate a lot less moisture w/o wilting - which my other one does all summer long during the heat. Will be interesting to see if it lives if I take it. They like well drained soil, so that could be a problem. Maybe I can add some sand into the soil along w/ some rocks to keep the voles out.

I still have more plants to get into the ground from PDN and more mulching to do. I've been sick - so that hasn't exactly helped. Haven't started on the wall either!

There was something else I was going to post about, but I seem to keep having senior moments. It really is all downhill after 35 isn't it? Sux.

5/18/2009 For the record...

I worked a bit more today on clearing debris off the rear hill in the backyard where the azaleas are. I also dragged out the backpack sprayer and sprayed RoundUp on the back hill, the location of the patio to be, the verdant kidney bean, along the side of the house that's a total mess, along the shade bed, as well as the driveway area. Trying hard to keep the weeds to a minimum this year. We'll see how that goes!

Need to find some cardboard and get to mulching under the areas where I will someday put more shrubs in the front yard (as if I didn't already have enough areas ready to go in the backyard I suppose). Maybe I should start back in there in the Fall w/ more shrubs? Probably best to finish the wall and patio first and then plant. Wonder how many years that will take??

5/17/2009 - Castor Oil Application / New Plants

Yesterday I spent the afternoon putting in a bunch of new shade plants I bought at the Plant Delights Open House - some more ferns, pulmonaria, a new Farfugium (sp?), brunnera macrophylla, a new aspidistra, and others. I planted everything using my hopefully vole-proof planting methods - rocks in the bottom of the hole, chicken wire cages around the inside of the hole, etc. It takes a couple years for most of these shade perennials to look nice, so I decided to step up my plant acquisitions this year so I can enjoy all the plants sooner. I also estimate that I lose maybe 1 out of 3 plants I buy to voles and in the past dog urine. I'm resolved to be more dedicated to my vole-proof cages - even though I do believe I've had some of my cages infiltrated by voles in the past. Some of my ferns that are NOT in cages are absolutely gorgeous now and I'll be so sad if they are killed by voles.

Anyhow, I finally applied some castor oil to the perimeter of my planting area and I drenched the vole holes per the instructions on the bottle. I sure hope it works! When I have a chance to get back out there (it rained today) I will try covering all the many, many vole holes w/ compost and then see if any of them reappear as a means of monitoring vole activity. Strange thing about voles is that you never really see them - so I'm blindly assuming that's what I have. I could try the apple shingle trick and see if the apple gets eaten - that's supposed to be the definitive vole test. We shall see!

Still haven't finished my mulch application! Hurry up! The weeds are a comin!

4/26/2009 - Yard Update

Okay, yesterday I started doing a couple things I've been meaning to get to for a long time. I dug up the Fatsia Japonica 'Variegata' from the front bed and moved it to the verdant kidney bean. This may have been a fatal mistake, but I just didn't think the spot where it was living was doing it justice even though it seemed to be very happy there. :( I'm not sure it's going to make it or maybe I'll loose only all the new growth? I'll post a photo here of what it was looking like immediately after the move, but I must say this morning it's looking very pathetic - totally droopy and pathetic. When I dug it up I honestly did not seem to get much of a root ball. The soil it was planted in was nice and loamy and crumbled apart when I dug it up and there were not a lot of roots there - a few big ones but no fibrous looking roots or much of a root ball. Not sure whether I somehow missed them in spite of being very careful or what. It sure did look happy before I moved it so there must have been roots there somewhere? I will be sad to see it go if it dies. I'm planning on getting a couple more just in case.

In it's place, I planted a Leatherleaf Mahonia from Norwood Rd. Garden Center. It's looking okay in it's new home. I fertilized both of the Mahonia and the Fatsia this morning with Hollytome that I had on hand and have been keeping them watered. Let's hope w/ the time that the poor Fatsia bounces back. It really just needed a spot where it could be it's own focal point and shine! It's in a pretty good spot now, but the shining thing just isn't happening.


I also moved some hostas forward in my shade bed, planted a couple Holly Ferns I picked up at Lowe's, and put in some Irish Moss between the stepping stones. I wonder what will live and what will die?? The hostas were really looking nice before I dug them up. They were new last year so it pains me to move them, but I think I need to keep taller stuff in the back and these were too far back and would've been blocked eventually. I figure it's better to move them sooner rather than later. However, now they are in danger of someone stepping on them - mainly Mark.

As usual I lined my holes w/ gravel and put cages around everything. I have vole holes everywhere. Annoying. The moment you create nice soil, it's like sending an engraved invitation to voles.

4/21/2009 - Bamboo Update

Also wanted to note for the record that sometime last week I dug up all the variegated bamboo I planted years ago that was taking over. I know better than to think that it's completely gone, but I think I got a lot of it out and now I'm free to put something else there. Could be I'll be spending years digging up little shoots that pop up every so often - we'll see. In any case, no more bamboos for me unless they stay in a container I suppose and maybe none even then - too dangerous!

Spring 2009 Lawn Care Update

For future reference I want to write down how much WOW! Plus I applied to the backyard. Hopefully, this will save from remeasuring every time I go back there to fertilize:

Largest grassy area is 250 sq feet requiring 3.11# of WOW! Plus to deliver 1# of N/1000 sq ft.

Smaller grassy area is 140 sq feet requiring 1.75# of WOW! Plus to deliver 1# of N/1000 sq ft.

REMEMBER: WOW! Plus is 8-2-4 meaning 8% of a 20# bag is N or 1.6# of N per 20# bag.

See notes from last fertilization in file folder "GARDEN - Backyard" for review!

2/27/2009 Spring WOW! Supreme Application

Okay, a year to the date after my last Spring application I've applied more Wow! Supreme to the front yard. I applied 1 20# bag plus the remainder of another bag, about 12#. The exact correct amount to apply to get 1# of N per 1000 square feet is 27.5#, so I applied a bit more, but that's okay since I should get better weed control. Also, in the Fall I skipped applying fertilizer to one area I thought I was going to reseed. I never got around to it and that area is looking especially pathetic so I tried to get it a bit extra. Can't wait for things to green up! We should have rain all weekend, so that ought to settle it in.

I'm out of Wow for the moment and haven't applied any to the backyard yet. I do have some regular old fertilizer I should probably use up, so maybe I'll go that route. I think Gardens Alive! is having a sale right now on WOW though, so I do plan to stock up. Also, I will take some photos of the backyard once things green up so I can see how my grass seeding worked out. I did manage to grow some grass, so that's better than nothing I guess.

Also, I raked the yard clean prior to fertilizing and mowed over a ton of leaves to shred them for bean mulch. I also picked up a ton of sticks. Pretty much a full days worth of yard work. I think I started at 12:30 or so and it's now almost 7 - so a long day out in the yard, but it was a balmy 60 degrees, so that made it okay. I look forward to getting around to fertilizing the back yard and then eventually doing a serious mulch job, as well as finishing leaf pick-up and shredding and clearing leaves out of my bed. A gardener's work is never done!