Plan B Forum

Well I did a lot less with bulbs than I sometimes do. Re-planted some Dutch iris in the 1/2 barrel planters, a few dozen narcissus in pots and renewed the pots which seemed to have nice fat viable bulbs in them for next year. The biggest change is that I excavated a planter bed and lined the whole thing with gopher wire. A lot of good healthy pulaski and shovel work there. When I put the dirt back I supplemented with some 6 cu ft of store-bought dirt and then re-distributed the surplus onto the low spots in the lawn and used it to construct a larger water basin under the "Osaka-Zuki" which still gets sunburned even when I water it faithfully. After pounding in staples to hold the wire in place I planted it back with tulips along with everything else known to be gopher-licius hoping that the wire will keep them safe. We were given a small bonsai-sized Japanese Maple back when we moved in in '05. It is one of those where the trunk shoots off at an angle so I never found a good spot for it until now. It was planted right-center with the stem rocketing off to the left (south) across the planter. My wife has taken a shine to this plant which has persisted in spite of my lack of care, or affection, so now I'm committed to making a go of it.

Our annual 'paperwhite' project to make gifts for neighbors was kicked off with "Bill the Bulb Baron" bulbs. His "Earlycheer" are shorter than paperwhites but more floriferous and put out a very powerful aroma, you really know they're there. If you ever have to hide the body of a surplus relative behind the plasterwork and needed to mask the smell until it mummifies, these would be just the thing. All of them have popped and started putting up green shoots so they will be 'gift ready' even though they won't bloom until later on.

http://www.billthebulbbaron.com/

Never met him but he seems like a nice guy.

Planted something called a "tibetan wonderberry bush". It makes me wonder how far you can push the 'stick to leaf' ratio and still have something that looks like a living plant. It also make me wonder what I was thinking when I bought it. It's an experiment.

<<When Gophers Attack>> Well I found out for sure that gophers don't eat Thyme, Oregano or Verbena because they ate every single other thing in two wooden planters. The original 'scorched earth' strategy. The nasty little creatures tunneled up through a layer of heavy gravel and then found the drain holes were juuuuust the right size to pop though and wipe out two boxes of kitchen herbs. I moved the planters and bombed the exposed tunnels but I need to cover the holes with gopher wire before re-planting. Maybe I'll look into getting an owl box put up in the back corner of the yard.

So what's happening in your yard?

yrs,
rubato

Oh, I redid the back fence. Been wanting to do that for 2 years, that fence has probably been there as long as the park has been. It was literally rotting away by this summer and I 'd had enough. A neighbor down the street is currently jobless so, since the roommate is useless; I asked my neighbor if he did Handyman work? One day of supply gathering and tearing out the old fence; and three days of laboring, resulted in a higher, better and more attractive lot fence. My neighbor is also going to get free fruit from my trees for life!

This winter will be clearing out the yard of debris, trim back the trees; so that in the spring I can put down that tar paper and pour 'mounds' of planting soil. The soil in the mobile home park is crap orchard dirt [hence the fruit trees I have, which are also older than my home], so unless you have a plant that can send down deep roots below it, you need to bring in good soil. I thought of containerizing, but then I thought mounds would be more aesthetic, and I could put in bigger plants like Bird of Paradise. Once the plants are in, I'd like to cover the ground with pea gravel and a paving stone path. Everybody in the trailerhood does large gravel, therefore I want to do something different. I thought about fine sand, even gypsum, to do a Zen Garden, but another neighbor reminded me the stray cats'll just poop in it.
Good point.
I hoping pea gravel will be less poop-able.

It's late fall here in the northeast. Only thing going on in the gardens/yard is me raking leaves, chopping them up and putting them in the compost pile.

I checked & ran up the engine in my sand spreader, cleaned & greased the connections for my truck's snowplow, and tested the hydraulics. Everything good to go...just have to hit the local S&G company for a load of sand when snow is in the forecast.

After 6.25in of rain I can see all my hard work coming to fruition: I spread soil and compost in the low areas and now instead of looking like a lake the back half of the lawn looks like real marshland! Progress. If the environmental protection groups saw it it would be condemned as a 'vernal pool' and I'd be barred from my own yard.

Still, I'm happy about the rain. 22in so far this year at Bonny Doon, about 1/3 of the way to 'normal'.

yrs,
rubato