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Smugworth posted:Spinach One of the "AI enhanced" suggestions I got was Malabar spinach it's not that either
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Jul 28, 2023 13:15
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FizFashizzle posted:This is an eastern hemlock right on the corner of my house.
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Jul 28, 2023 15:52
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The hemlock ecosystem is in decline, but you don't need to feel bad about removing a single one on your property. It wasn't part of the larger system that we're trying to protect. You can definitely plant new hemlocks though. There are some native plant organizations that sell saplings and can even help you to treat them for the adelgid, like these guys: https://www.savegeorgiashemlocks.org/index.htm
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Jul 28, 2023 16:43
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Thank you guys that’s very helpful.
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Jul 30, 2023 16:03
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Xposted from the garden thread: Does anybody know where to buy a well-made Japanese shishi odoshi (deer-scaring fountain), the kind that has a bamboo arm that fills, tips down, and falls back to hit some external object with a solid clunk? Google is worthless for shopping nowadays, and the stuff I see on Ebay and Etsy hasn't looked sturdy or even functional. This would be used with an electric pump, not in a stream.
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Aug 1, 2023 03:29
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My backyard is plagued with guinea grass and wedelia. What's my best bet for chopping them out, a machete and a root shovel?
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Aug 1, 2023 14:22
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Motronic, I forget; what's your favorite available-to-consumers weedkiller? We have a gravel driveway that needs to be exterminated regularly. We're right above a river draining to the sea, so it needs to be non-toxic to fishes, frogs, and so on.
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Aug 2, 2023 01:16
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Arsenic Lupin posted:Motronic, I forget; what's your favorite available-to-consumers weedkiller? We have a gravel driveway that needs to be exterminated regularly. We're right above a river draining to the sea, so it needs to be non-toxic to fishes, frogs, and so on. One of my more sensitive area favorites is Vaslan. https://www.corteva.us/products-and-solutions/land-management/vastlan.html Does that look like it's applicable for your area? I know you have a lot of concerns with runoff into water, etc. For me this is a go-to woodland area herbicide to kill off early sprouting invasive species so the natives have a chance to grow.
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Aug 2, 2023 02:43
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Ugh, we need to find places for all of the landscaping around the back patio to go except for the tree. It all needs to be cleared out by the end of September so they can start on the patio remodel. Hopefully too many don’t die with the transplants!
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Aug 2, 2023 18:34
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Does anyone recognize this I guess algae? My best guess from googling it is mustard algae, although I'm not sure why it suddenly appeared in this stream. It's really powdery, you disturb it and it just floats up into the water. About a week before it appeared something killed all the fish, I'm kinda wondering if it's related.
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Aug 3, 2023 23:51
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devicenull posted:Does anyone recognize this I guess algae?
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Aug 4, 2023 00:41
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Motronic posted:One of my more sensitive area favorites is Vaslan. https://www.corteva.us/products-and-solutions/land-management/vastlan.html
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Aug 4, 2023 00:42
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Kaiser Schnitzel posted:This is definitely 'Call your extension service and/or Dept of game and fish' territory imo. Man I really don't want to have the hazmat department here again... we called them a few months ago for weird cloudy water, and then again when all the fish died. Our DEP just sends out hazmat because they're staffed 24/7
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Aug 4, 2023 01:54
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devicenull posted:Man I really don't want to have the hazmat department here again... we called them a few months ago for weird cloudy water, and then again when all the fish died. Are you downstream from chrome plating factory or something  This definitely seems like the kind of thing state/federal/whoever environmental regulators would want to know about.
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Aug 4, 2023 02:02
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Kaiser Schnitzel posted:Are you downstream from chrome plating factory or something I'm downstream from Target and a giant commercial park... actually now that I think about it there's a pharma company in the same complex. I've reached out to someone from the local coop service, we'll see if she can offer any assistance. We called hazmat when the fish died, by the time they showed up they couldn't find anything in the water. They tried to say it was all the recent storms, but we've never seen all the fish die in the 5+ years we've been here. (The guy telling us this said he was googling fish kill on the way over)
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Aug 4, 2023 02:11
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devicenull posted:I'm downstream from Target and a giant commercial park... actually now that I think about it there's a pharma company in the same complex. You could call your local newspaper too in the unlikely even they still exist. Or local news. They would love a 'why are the fish dyeing?!?! Are your children safe?'
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Aug 4, 2023 02:54
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devicenull posted:I'm downstream from Target and a giant commercial park... actually now that I think about it there's a pharma company in the same complex. Where are you at? It's hard to tell from the picture but most freshwater algal blooms that are going to cause issues are from cyanobacteria. Those are going to be a different green color in the water. There are certainly other species that will bloom but that's an interesting color. As for fish kills, the majority of them are from low dissolved oxygen (DO) in the water. What typically happens, is an algal bloom or something similar will die off and part of the die off will be bacteria breaking down the cells, which drives the DO down. With the current climatic changes that are occurring and the El Nino year that we are in, I would ascribe the fish kill to a mixture of things. Depending on where you are, the environmental department, or any university could help you identify the algae. If you have access to a microscope and get a picture, I could potentially ID it.
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Aug 5, 2023 00:35
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calandryll posted:Where are you at? It's hard to tell from the picture but most freshwater algal blooms that are going to cause issues are from cyanobacteria. Those are going to be a different green color in the water. There are certainly other species that will bloom but that's an interesting color. I'm in NJ - I do have Rutgers nearby, I should see if they can help me figure out wtf it is. I'm not exactly sure where all the water comes from, it's mainly storm runoff, but it's consistently flowing the entire year. I grabbed a solar pond aerator, but I don't know that's going to do a whole lot. I'd expect the water continuously flowing over rocks and stuff would already be aerating it.
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Aug 7, 2023 00:13
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devicenull posted:I'm in NJ - I do have Rutgers nearby, I should see if they can help me figure out wtf it is. I can't think of who would be at Rutgers, but I do know most of the HABs people at NJDEP, so if Rutgers is a crap shoot I can give you a few contacts. I'm in DE so I've worked with a few of them.
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Aug 7, 2023 00:47
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It's all mysteriously gone today... no big storms happened or anything.
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Aug 8, 2023 00:15
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I've got a pin oak (posted about it earlier), but it looks like it's dropping a bunch of tiny acorns. Is that a normal thing? We had a pretty extended drought about a month or two back, but we've gotten at least some rain since then. We also ended up cutting down a tree just to the south of it, maybe the light has changed on some of the branches. Edit: It also gave lots of acorns last year, do they do the thing where they bear every other year?
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Aug 9, 2023 01:45
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Eeyo posted:I've got a pin oak (posted about it earlier), but it looks like it's dropping a bunch of tiny acorns. Is that a normal thing? We had a pretty extended drought about a month or two back, but we've gotten at least some rain since then. We also ended up cutting down a tree just to the south of it, maybe the light has changed on some of the branches. The weather has been pretty messed up everywhere lately. Are things too hot/too wet/too dry where you are? Plants protect themselves in these situations by going into emergency "OMG SURVIVAL AT ALL COSTS FORGET THE PROCREATING" mode.
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Aug 9, 2023 02:01
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Eeyo posted:I've got a pin oak (posted about it earlier), but it looks like it's dropping a bunch of tiny acorns. Is that a normal thing? We had a pretty extended drought about a month or two back, but we've gotten at least some rain since then. We also ended up cutting down a tree just to the south of it, maybe the light has changed on some of the branches. Basically if the tree looks otherwise happy and healthy, it’s nothing to worry about.
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Aug 9, 2023 03:30
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Alright thanks. Probably a little bit of drought and a little bit of the other factors you mentioned then. We've been getting ok rain about once a week for now so hopefully it will rebound ok. Another question: I put in some dormant bare root plants (virginia bluebells and wild geranium). How much do I need to water them given they're dormant? Just make sure it's not too dry? I gave them a good water right after planting and the day after, then they got some rain.
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Aug 10, 2023 18:07
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cut down and wow....I've got some growing space now.    
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Aug 19, 2023 19:44
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It would be stunningly beautiful if you terraced that entire hill in 6ft steps
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Aug 19, 2023 21:12
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FAT32 SHAMER posted:It would be stunningly beautiful if you terraced that entire hill in 6ft steps How do you mean? Wide or high….or both? that top part is already terraced. It’s just overgrown.
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Aug 19, 2023 23:01
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FizFashizzle posted:How do you mean? Wide or high….or both? Basically just repeat that first terrace down the hill so there's a series of them.
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Aug 20, 2023 01:56
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Douche4Sale posted:Basically just repeat that first terrace down the hill so there's a series of them. Yeah this. Think like the rice paddy terraces you see in Vietnam or China.
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Aug 20, 2023 02:19
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Yeah that's a cool hill
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Aug 20, 2023 02:21
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My legs hurt just looking at that yard. You must have some rear end clapping thunder thighs working on that hill.
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Aug 20, 2023 06:04
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whiskas posted:My legs hurt just looking at that yard. You must have some rear end clapping thunder thighs working on that hill. I moved in last may and we didn’t have a bad ice or snow storm this year. Ive told all my employers I will be physically incapable of making it to work if it snows.
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Aug 20, 2023 13:26
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As someone who has lived in Flatland, USA, my entire life, my brain can not understand why your house has not simply fallen off that hill.
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Aug 20, 2023 14:50
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Discussion Quorum posted:As someone who has lived in Flatland, USA, my entire life, my brain can not understand why your house has not simply fallen off that hill. Hello from your sister city, Flautland, Canada. Any kind of buildings on hills/slopes/cliffs just feel.... confusing to me. God bless the engineers!
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Aug 20, 2023 17:40
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VMF1dpygnq0
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Aug 20, 2023 20:00
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I would like to talk about my mountain house on a hill and ask for your advice/suggestions/ideas Here is the driveway up. I'm at the top of a private drive. Private not in the sense that it's gated, but that in the trash doesn't pick up here. all three sides are very dense woods. To the north is a bird sanctuary, east and north are just woods. there's a road like 800 yards east i think. House was completely overgrown when I bought it.  To the right is terraced garden beds about 20x50 feet, overgrown completely. I cleared out the lowest one and turned it into gourdlandia. All the shrubbery is getting torn out soon. it gets good light. Thinking cattle panel trellis arches?   To the left is what was just free'd from an eastern hemlock hogging all the light. this butts up to my neighbors property which is a rental house full of 25 year old anarchist environmentalists. Bottom of the hill is a little patch of yard I turned into a garden patch this year. Gets full sun, was thinking of building a path and raised garden beds on both sides for next season. Soil isn't very good.   That blue fir is going nowhere (and will be decorated at christmas) but the little tree growing besides it is not long for this world. The part directly west of the house was just cleared out and you can see it's terraced, just overgrown. That too will be ripped out soon. This now has full light. I definitely want to plant some flowers here next year, and was even thinking of doing a "local to western nc" style design. Depending on how many planters i grow below I might grow some veggies too. Could also build more boxes south of the path, or terrace it like was suggested. also thinking of doubling the size of this little side garden with crushed tomatoes, turning it into a small fire site for friends when we come over post BBQ/relax/whatever    Front yard gets terrible light. Built some flower boxes that didn't do great. Buts up to a hill covered in trees that are VERY fun to look at while on shrooms. You can tell where the dog loves to run up and chase balls. Eventually some of those will have to come down but the arborist doesn't think that's necessary for a while. The trees are pretty healthy. Just sucks about the light. Also there's a random porch up in the woods too. It rains...a lot here. I would like to build a path around the edge against the hill there looping around to the backyard. But since water comes down that would I need to dig in some irrigation stuff? Or just do a stone path? And what about grass here? I'm going to take these boxes apart in the fall and would like to plant some kind of grass. Nothing fancy (my dog would destroy it) but definitely need something that can survive a poo poo ton of water and shade. i gets more light now that the hemlock is gone but still not ideal.  
FizFashizzle fucked around with this message at 01:13 on Aug 22, 2023 |
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Aug 22, 2023 01:10
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Nice house, you’re going to have tons of fun. It would be helpful if you could tell us: usda plant hardiness zone, state if you feel comfortable or general east coast/west coast, general orientation (the driveway is facing south yes?), and what the soil is like (clay, sand, rocky). Any invasives in there? For the path, do you have existing drainage problems? If you don’t already, adding a simple gravel path or some stepping stones won’t be a big problem. It’s different if you need to dig out the hill or want something bigger.
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Aug 22, 2023 16:05
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I am going to finally get started on re-doing the swale from turf to native wildflower/prairie grass, about 1300 sq ft. Decided that getting it done now for that cold moist stratification should get it off on the right foot. I plan on throwing various bulbs out there too, whatever Costco has in bulk this fall. Glyphosate and dye are on-hand and a local rental place has a high brush mower to cut down the existing grass growth, i haven’t cut it all year. Debating whether to also rent a slit seeder when it’s time or just hand broadcast. And since prescribed burns are part of managing it every few years, I left a voicemail to talk with the fire marshal about it since I’m in the middle of a neighborhood. From how I read state law I am in the clear, but I suspect they would appreciate a heads up with a burn plan at minimum. devmd01 fucked around with this message at 16:54 on Aug 23, 2023 |
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Aug 23, 2023 16:46
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I've read that you can just mow and de-thatch it every once in a while too, but at 1300 sq ft that's probably too much. IDK much about seeders, but from my reading handling the different seed sizes can be difficult unless you account for it. Some wildflower seeds are super tiny and need light to germinate, others are fluffy, some are hard and dense and might get spat out quicker. My plan for a tiny patch by my house is to broadcast just before a snow, the snow supposedly helps the seeds settle into the ground and keeps the light ones from flying off too quickly. I've got a swale too in front of my house, I'll have to consider the killing it off and seeding route. Our town encourages bioswales to slow down rainwater, so they won't mind. Do you have any resources for swales in particular? I've read about prairie plantings, but that could be a cheap way for me to get something I don't have to mow down there because mowing a swale fuckin' sucks.
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Aug 23, 2023 19:40
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I like to cut the grass pretty short before doing an autumnal dethatch and core aeration, then I’ll scarify to help get those cores broken up faster and doing their job prior to overseeding. From there I water it until it germinates. A week after laying the seed down, I put fertiliser down since it shouldn’t burn anything at that point. Once it starts to get to freezing temps overnight, I like to do another round of overseeding and rake it in before the ground is completely frozen and hope we get some snow to keep the birds from running off with much of it. Core aerating is fantastic for your soil, as it brings up goodies from below to the top and helps give your soil better drainage. If you’re planning on doing native grasses and plants, I would prioritise dethatch > core aeration > scarify just to ensure your seeds get good soil contact
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Aug 23, 2023 20:08
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