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So I've got to get someone to do some tree work on our yard. Had one guy out and give us a quote for removal of 2 trees (one is diseased and the other is just kinda old and hosed up), and trimming an oak tree and a honey locust. The guy seemed pretty knowledgeable, but he also called my oak tree a red oak, when I'm pretty sure it's a pin oak (at the very least not a red oak). Is that like a red flag? He went and stared at the tree for a while to get a quote so it's not like a driveby quote or anything.
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Jun 26, 2023 19:09
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| # ¿ May 14, 2024 04:48 |
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Ok thanks, I kinda figured the guy would know but that threw me for a bit of a loop. Edit: oh I was shortening the Northern red oak to just red oak in my head. Eeyo fucked around with this message at 22:22 on Jun 26, 2023 |
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Jun 26, 2023 22:19
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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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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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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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Oh I meant mow/de-thatch in lieu of controlled burns. But yes, dethatching the planting area before seeding is also good.
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Aug 23, 2023 20:19
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Prairie moon is a reputable source as well, if you're in the midwest. Their mixes are usually midwest focused (since they're base in Minnesota), so depending on where in zone 6 you are it might be good. Wild ones (https://wildones.org/) is an organization that promotes native landscaping and at least for my local chapter they list nearby nurseries which you can contact. Looks like they're mostly active East of the rocky mountains though so if you're in that zone 6 then it's more sparse.
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Aug 24, 2023 22:19
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FAT32 SHAMER posted:I have been fighting buckthorn and it is absolutely my enemy Yeah me too, common buckthorn here. Thankfully cutting the plant to the base and painting with 20% glyphosate controls it really well. Apparently that does not work on the tree of heaven mentioned earlier. When we had 2 trees taken out the company threw in taking out the 15’ buckthorn for free. I asked to get it herbicided instead of stump ground, and the guy that did the work was incredulous that I wanted it herbicided and not ground down. But just grinding it is a good way to get more buckthorn suckers everywhere.
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Aug 25, 2023 19:01
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Yooper posted:I had 1/2 acre of buckthorn ground up with a guy on a skidsteer, it was just too much to go through tree by tree. Two years of mowing and the suckers quit coming up, I still see an odd sapling here and there but that's easy enough. The glyphosphate is really the way to go. Thankfully mine aren’t super dense and we have a relatively small lot. We just had about half a dozen clusters, plus a monster male in the back. Tons of small ones everywhere though. All the ones I killed off are less than an inch diameter, so I’ve just been letting nature take its course. They tend to have an extensive, shallow, and wide fibrous root network, so it’s very annoying to re-plant areas they colonized. Thankfully the seeds are only viable a handful of years, so hopefully you’ll stop getting sprouts soon.
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Aug 25, 2023 20:38
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Yeah, I've read that mowing and de-thatching is the alternative to prescribed burns from several sources. That's what I'm planning on doing anyway. I don't remember reading you'd have to do it every year. You don't burn the whole planting every year at any rate, and usually you burn only patches so you don't kill off the insects living in the planting. So you can probably just rotate part of it every couple of years and dethatch and it's probably good enough. Worst case scenario? You don't like the results and you can just kill everything off again and plant something different. Edit: I must have read it here as well. I remember UMN's site from earlier research too, that was posted earlier quote:https://www.prairiemoon.com/blog/resources-and-information/how-to-grow-a-prairie-from-seed They also recommend yearly clearing for the 1st 5 years, then dividing in 3 thereafter. Eeyo fucked around with this message at 21:16 on Aug 28, 2023 |
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Aug 28, 2023 21:04
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About the only thing I'd say is avoid anything that will spread with like rhizomes or similar. They might creep into the neighbor's yard and they may not like it. So yeah just check if any of them are aggressively spreading from roots and act accordingly.
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Sep 3, 2023 22:30
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I'm looking for some pruning shears and loppers. I gather I should just get some felco #2 shears. Are their loppers good? What length should I go for? My first instinct is to get a size where I can cut things on/close to the ground without bending over very much.
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Sep 28, 2023 02:18
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Alright thanks for the suggestions! Another question: I was going to seed a little area for a native planting. Should I call the dig hotline to get a locate around that area to make sure there aren't utilities nearby? I'm not actually going to dig, so I'm not sure if the call-before-you-dig service is the "right" thing to use. I'm in chicago 'burbs if that matters.
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Sep 29, 2023 01:25
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BigFactory posted:It’s free but do you have a reason to think there’s a really shallow utility where you’re digging? Are you using an excavator? I won’t be digging but afaik the roots for perennial wildflowers can go quite deep, like many feet deep. right arm posted:just look around the area to see if your electric meter, gas meter, or coax / fiber boxes are nearby. fiber and coax lines to homes are usually done as cheaply and lazily as possible and can be like 1” deep in places. if you’re far away from them then you’ll probably be just fine, but if you gently caress it up you’ll get in trouble if you didn’t call 811 I’m mostly concerned about the sewer, I think the area is away from the incoming utilities. I know there’s a sewer cleanout port on the same side of the house I’ll be planting but IDK where the sewer actually exits.
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Sep 29, 2023 03:32
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Alright thanks! I remembered there's also a cleanout in the house, so I figure it's got to be a straight shot between the two. I'll probably just pick up some of the "septic friendly" mix, and that will hopefully be fine. I am also going to install some bushes on other parts of our yard, and I'll get those located before digging. It'll be easy enough to move something around a bit of needed.
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Sep 30, 2023 01:52
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A few days ago I planted two bare root pagoda dogwoods. However I think I planted them a bit too deep. Should I just dig them back out and try to get them higher, or will that hurt them?
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Oct 13, 2023 16:27
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There's obviously a bunch of other shrubs you could replace the buckthorn with, but that's going to be a slow job and they'll take a while to establish. And will cost lots of money to replace a large area if you buy bare roots or potted plants. Like a bunch of dogwood and hazelnut could probably slide in there, they tolerate shade. I looked around and couldn't find much of anything that's annual (so it will establish really quickly), tolerates shade, and won't be noxious/a nuisance. Maybe like plant a big swath of sunflowers somewhere where the'll get enough sun or something like that? You'll probably end up with sunflowers everywhere though 
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Oct 19, 2023 16:31
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Yooper posted:I'd love a shitload of sunflowers, but I think I'll see more nuisance neighbors in the winter than summer. Oh right I didn't understand what all those words meant, I obviously do not love things that go braaaaap. This may be a bad idea, but the middle path is something like just cutting down all the female buckthorn so it at least doesn't spread, then planting your favorite privacy shrub and wait until that's filled in to go in and kill off the rest of the buckthorn. You'll be dealing with it for years that way though. If you want to hit it with herbicide though the fall may be better, I thought you want to hit it when it's not dormant so it will move down to the rest of the plant. And you can probably tell which ones are female still too?
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Oct 19, 2023 16:57
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I wish I could...
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| # ¿ May 14, 2024 04:48 |
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Any opinions on the best kind of cage/protection for a small sapling shrub? I planted a row of shrubs in my front yard but I think a dog leash/dog/strong wind snapped a few of them. So I'd like to give them some protection from that. I probably can't do much against rabbits/squirrels and there's no deer, so just something to prevent dogs from bowling them over. The shrubs are about 3 feet high and a single trunk.
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Dec 26, 2023 18:44
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