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What type of plants are you interested in growing? This poll is closed. |
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| Perennials! |
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142 | 20.91% |
| Annuals! |
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30 | 4.42% |
| Woody plants! |
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62 | 9.13% |
| Succulent plants! |
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171 | 25.18% |
| Tropical plants! |
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60 | 8.84% |
| Non-vascular plants are the best! |
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31 | 4.57% |
| Screw you, I'd rather eat them! |
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183 | 26.95% |
| Total: | 679 votes | ||
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Gravel works, but tough weeds seem to seed in it really easily. You might contact some of the tree services around you. A lot of them mulch all the stuff they cut and then give it away. Looks like you're doing a nice job. My Echinopsis subdenudata bloomed today. PRETTY. 
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Jun 5, 2014 23:08
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That70sHeidi posted:viney bitch That there looks like a Virginia Creeper. Not poisonous, highly annoying if it's growing where you don't want. I've been pulling that poo poo out of my strawberry bed all year.
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Jun 6, 2014 11:42
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Well a tree is a plant right? So perhaps someone here can help point me in the right direction. I bought 3 acres of hilly hardwood forested land about 10 years ago and built a house on it. About a year before the purchase they logged it, as in went in and took out the really big trees. Still plenty of forest left. So now fast forward today, there is a lot of growth, like a ton of small trees mixed in with the big old ones that are maybe 1 to 1.5" in diameter and up to 10 feet high. There are so many its hard to walk around and even see. The redneck lumberjack down the road told me I should really cut down a bunch of those to give more light and room to other trees so I end up a nice shady forest that I can actually walk around in again. I have no idea which trees I would need to cut down, how to choose which trees to keep, and how much room each tree needs. I tried some searches on the internet but whenever I search for forestry I just end up in the US forestry website which is a big huge piece of poo poo with very little useable info. I don't even know what really to search for to be honest. If someone could point me towards a website or a book or something that would help me out, I would really appreciate it.
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Jun 10, 2014 19:17
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That can be a tricky business. Do you know what kind of trees you have growing there? Keeping it walkable is going to involve mowing (or copious amounts of herbicide), as understory is always going to want to grow up. One easy way to do it would be to identify tree "islands" that you'd like to keep - two or three trees within 10-15' of each other, then clear 20-30' around each island. This'll allow you to have some definable borders/walking areas. But, if you have something like oaks growing, you're going to want to give each of them their own space.
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Jun 10, 2014 19:59
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Its a mix of maple, poplar, a few oak, and some beech trees. As far as walking around, I just mean being able to actually walk through it, not necessarily put up lawn chairs and have a bbq. Some of the forest is perfect, you can just take a hike, or rake some leaves and cut down a few small thingies here and there and make a sweet trail. But then other places have these little trees literally 1 foot apart from each other (mixed in with some really drat tall trees), you have to climb through it practically sideways.
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Jun 10, 2014 20:27
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Groundcover chat please! I have a rather large pile of dirt in the very back corner of the yard, affectionately named Mt Crumpet. It's about 3 ft tall x 6 ft long, and maybe 2 ft wide (or less). It is the result of all the dirt we dug out for our garden patio and beds. We are more or less done adding to it, so I'd like to cover it with something and just have a mound of green, as opposed to a large ugly pile of dirt. It's midwest clay/crap and gets ~3 hours of direct, late morning sun (after the burning bushes leaf out in the spring; before then it has sun all morning). Shade all afternoon. I don't want something too aggressive; it needs to be able to be kept in check by getting mowed when we cut the grass all around Mt Crumpet. But I want 100% ground coverage, and ideally want it to cover quickly. I don't mind watering back there, but it has to be able to deal with the soil as is. No english ivy. No vinca. Just, no. Far too aggressive. I was looking into bugleweed and sweet woodruff. I used to have bugleweed years ago, and liked it, but it was a much sunnier location. Can it handle some shade? Anyone ever grown sweet woodruff? Can it handle some morning sun? Any other ideas? A short sedum?
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Jun 10, 2014 20:29
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Begby posted:Its a mix of maple, poplar, a few oak, and some beech trees. AC, try SunSparkler sedums. Chris, the breeder is a nice guy, and they have great colors.
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Jun 10, 2014 21:41
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AlistairCookie posted:Groundcover chat please! I guess you're looking for something shorter and smaller, but what about hostas?
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Jun 10, 2014 22:41
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/\//\ Yes. Preferably shorter, smaller, with a more rapid spread. I like hostas, and have some in other beds, but I really want something along the lines of creeping thyme or irish moss, but can handle the shade. (They both like lots of sun, IIRC.)
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Jun 10, 2014 23:47
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AlistairCookie posted:/\//\ Well then you're going to have a problem: "rapid spread" = aggressive. There is no ground cover that expands rapidly yet stays contained.
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Jun 11, 2014 00:13
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unprofessional posted:Sounds like a nice mix. I would work around what's already a decent size and just clear a bit. I know it sounds like crap, but do a section, come back to it a week later, and see how it feels to you. A little bit at a time and you'll get a sense of what you want. I would give preference to oaks, just because nearly nothing will grow under a nice mature one, and they have much character. Ok, thanks for the help. Thats just what I'll do.
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Jun 11, 2014 00:38
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So my competition pot of Drosera burmannii is coloring up really well in advance of the BACPS Annual Show and Sale on the 21st. Sundews turn red as a protection against excess sunlight – the anthocyanin (a type of pigment) reflects red-spectrum light and gives the plant a bit of a break. Anthocyanin builds up over time, so if the plant is growing very rapidly it will often stay greenish pale without ever developing the red color. Therefore, to get the reddest plants possible you need to stop feeding, and give them as much light as possible. I moved my plant to within 3 inches of my lights, and last fed them on May 19th. Compare the colors with this post – excellent progress. Now that the middle plant is blooming it will get a bit more complicated. I may just move my two light fixtures close together and then let the stalk go up between them. I want to collect seed from these still, but for the next 10 days I just want them to stay pretty.
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Jun 11, 2014 07:47
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Ajuga (bugleweed) can take straight up full shade no problem. I have a patch of Ajuga in a tricky spot in my yard- north side of the house, between the two heat pumps and under the fireplace overhang. It's pretty much 100% shade, the sun never shines directly on it. My six baby Ajuga reptans 'chocolate chip' plants I put there have spread into a solid mat that's filled the whole area.
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Jun 11, 2014 11:57
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Marchegiana posted:Ajuga (bugleweed) can take straight up full shade no problem. I have a patch of Ajuga in a tricky spot in my yard- north side of the house, between the two heat pumps and under the fireplace overhang. It's pretty much 100% shade, the sun never shines directly on it. My six baby Ajuga reptans 'chocolate chip' plants I put there have spread into a solid mat that's filled the whole area. Oh man, this looks perfect for our side yard but it seems to run into problems in zone 3, and we live in 3b. I guess it won't hurt to experiment.
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Jun 11, 2014 13:20
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Kenning posted:So my competition pot of Drosera burmannii is coloring up really well in advance of the BACPS Annual Show and Sale on the 21st. They look gorgeous!! The red is fantastic. My sundew is doing pretty well. It opened up 5 new leaves since I got it and started flowering a few days ago.
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Jun 11, 2014 13:37
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Marchegiana posted:Ajuga (bugleweed) can take straight up full shade no problem. I have a patch of Ajuga in a tricky spot in my yard- north side of the house, between the two heat pumps and under the fireplace overhang. It's pretty much 100% shade, the sun never shines directly on it. My six baby Ajuga reptans 'chocolate chip' plants I put there have spread into a solid mat that's filled the whole area. Perfect. Thank you. I used to grow it in full sun, and it's growth habit is exactly what I want, I just didn't know how much shade tolerance it had. Decisions, decisions. I'm thinking "Burgundy Glow".
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Jun 11, 2014 14:25
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I don't know how many Ausgoons are here but I found this map which converts US zones to Australia.
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Jun 11, 2014 15:54
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I got two new plants recently.   Drosera binata var. dichotoma "Giant" that just arrived today. (Any tips, Kenning?)  Dog-tail cactus I saw at walmart and just had to take home. I hope it does well enough to flower.
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Jun 12, 2014 01:18
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That70sHeidi posted:Tons of beautiful pictures. To answer your question about whether to prune or not to prune, err on the side of pruning, or at least pinching off the leaf buds at the tip of the plant. Doing so can make sure your plants never get lanky, and stay vigorous. Also, I second Marchegiana's call that you have a Virginia Creeper in your photo. Super aggressive growing weed, that likewise seeds aggressively too. unprofessional posted:Gravel works, but tough weeds seem to seed in it really easily. You might contact some of the tree services around you. A lot of them mulch all the stuff they cut and then give it away. Looks like you're doing a nice job. Unprofessional, that is a very happy looking Echinopsis. Congratulations! Kenning posted:So my competition pot of Drosera burmannii is coloring up really well in advance of the BACPS Annual Show and Sale on the 21st. Thank you for the write up on your process, Kenning! I admit that I know little about about plant show competition, but from what you said, it seems that the competition is a chance for plants to not only look pretty, but also demonstrate technique. Tremors posted:I got two new plants recently. Haha, what is this? I didn't even know that sundews can look like bamboo-copters. The plant world will never stop amazing me. The dog tail cactus looks very cute, Tremors.  I hope you get to see its flowers as well!Speaking of things in the plant world that amaze me, here's a photo of an underground orchid that lives its entire life in the dirt (even the blooms are subterranean):  Article here: http://www.australiangeographic.com.au/news/2011/02/underground-orchid-is-evolutionary-enigma/ This is quite literally old news to most people, but still.  What pollinates those flowers?
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Jun 12, 2014 16:22
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EagerSleeper posted:To answer your question about whether to prune or not to prune, err on Better yet, how are the seeds dispersed?
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Jun 13, 2014 01:25
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EagerSleeper posted:Thank you for the write up on your process, Kenning! I admit that I know little about about plant show competition, but from what you said, it seems that the competition is a chance for plants to not only look pretty, but also demonstrate technique. All plant showing is a demonstration of horticultural technique – you want to grow the most perfect plant possible. But different plant shows have different criteria. Orchids are like 95% flower, 5% foliage, and nobody cares about pot or media or anything. Cacti and succulents are all about fancy pots, and nice staging, and a cool rock you have in there or whatever. Carnivorous plants are pretty niche, and a little weird, because depending on the genus it's either a flower thing or a foliage thing, or a trap thing (which can be flower, foliage, or neither), and it's also about keeping your traps clean and bug-free, and it's also about getting the best possible coloration. Who knows! We'll see how I do. I'm proud of my efforts at least – I'll post a picture right before the show and let you all know how it went! Tremors posted:I got two new plants recently. D. binata is a great plant, extremely robust and vigorous in my experience. If that is in fact dichotoma Giant then it will get big. To get it to its full potential you're going to want it in like a 12 inch pot. Also, same as other sundews – as much light as you can possibly give it, pure water, and regular feeding once it dews up again. Good luck! Also, unless you really want to see some flowers, cut the stalk before it blooms – most clones are not self fertile.
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Jun 13, 2014 07:25
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D. Capensis flowering 
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Jun 13, 2014 13:15
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Love seeing all the carnivorous stuff. Please keep sharing, all. Shot a 30-second vid of three nice waterlilies that are blooming right now. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jExqO-vdsbM Nymphaea 'Peaches & Cream'  Nymphaea 'Pink Sparkle'  Here's a cool one - I germinated some trifoliate orange 'Flying Dragon' seeds. A really sweet looking, thorny citrus that's hardy to zone-5: 
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Jun 13, 2014 14:18
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In a few weeks, when the pods mature, I'm going to have a ton of blue false indigo seed. I cannot overstate how much I love this plant. I have three of them growing in native clay, mixed with a bunch of garbage gravel that was in the bed already, in full, roasting sun from midday through sundown and they are awesome in every way. Hardy is an understatement. I never water them and they don't care. They die back to the ground every winter, and now at year three grow about 4 feet tall and 5 feet wide, and are covered in flowers all May. They are the very best thing I could have planted in that bed, considering the soil, rock, and sun. If you have a problem spot that gets sun, this is the plant for you. I'm happy to spend a stamp on anyone who PM's me that they would like some seed. The pods won't be ready for a few weeks though. They dry out and turn black and rattley when they're good to go.
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Jun 13, 2014 18:17
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unprofessional posted:Love seeing all the carnivorous stuff. Please keep sharing, all. I now feel like Milhouse with his horsey on show and tell day.  There's another one to the upper left of this one, but it appears to have become submerged after filling the pond up a bit. Is it done for, or will it eventually resurface?
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Jun 13, 2014 22:47
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Kenning posted:D. binata is a great plant, extremely robust and vigorous in my experience. If that is in fact dichotoma Giant then it will get big. To get it to its full potential you're going to want it in like a 12 inch pot. Also, same as other sundews – as much light as you can possibly give it, pure water, and regular feeding once it dews up again. Good luck! Also, unless you really want to see some flowers, cut the stalk before it blooms – most clones are not self fertile. Can I drop it in a 12 inch pot now or should I gradually up size it?
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Jun 14, 2014 00:22
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If you have the right sort of soil (peat moss and washed sand), I would just size it up right away. D. binata roots get significant.
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Jun 14, 2014 01:43
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stubblyhead posted:I now feel like Milhouse with his horsey on show and tell day. It'll shoot up. You've got some runaway rhizomes, though! Pull them out, break rhizome off where there aren't any growing tips, and repot in a wide tub (dollar store kitty litter boxes are perfect). Use garden soil or composted manure (couple bucks at lowes) with some slow release fertilizer mixed in, like osmocote, and you'll be set for a couple of years.
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Jun 14, 2014 12:39
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Help me, (plant) doctor goon! I bought these bunch of succulents last week, in my first attempt at gardening anything ever. Now the edges of the middle plant are turning brown... Should I worry? Am I watering it too much? Not enough? Is it the sun? Is it the soil? Am i talking to it too much? 
shelper fucked around with this message at 10:30 on Jun 15, 2014 |
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Jun 15, 2014 10:26
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That's a great little planting. I don't see any brown in that picture; do you mean the red edges? That's something most succulent growers aim for. If there is browning we can't see, best thing you can do for it is put it right outside for the summer and let nature take care of it. I put all my succulents outside and don't water them at all during the summer.
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Jun 15, 2014 11:31
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Note that the whole "no water at all" thing only applies in climates where it rains sometimes during the summer. If you did that here in California your succulents would definitely shrivel up after receiving no water whatsoever for months and months in the full heat of summer.
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Jun 16, 2014 02:30
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unprofessional posted:It'll shoot up. You've got some runaway rhizomes, though! Pull them out, break rhizome off where there aren't any growing tips, and repot in a wide tub (dollar store kitty litter boxes are perfect). Use garden soil or composted manure (couple bucks at lowes) with some slow release fertilizer mixed in, like osmocote, and you'll be set for a couple of years. I'm new to this whole aquaculture thing and I don't understand any of this. 
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Jun 16, 2014 06:12
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Shelper, those lithops are enviable. Nice.
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Jun 16, 2014 06:52
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shelper posted:Help me, (plant) doctor goon! Lovely! You may have some trouble keeping your lithops alive in there though, as their watering needs are quite different from the other two. If I were you I would consider re-potting them on their own to avoid rot.
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Jun 16, 2014 13:26
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stubblyhead posted:I'm new to this whole aquaculture thing and I don't understand any of this. No worries - it's super easy. See the long snake-like tuber thingy? That's your rhizome. As hardy waterlilies grow, the rhizome heads sideways, putting out new growing points. The old rhizome eventually loses stems and can be broken/cut off for repotting. All you want is the part of the rhizome that still has growing points. Take a nice wide tray (since hardy waterlilies grow across, not up, you don't need anything deep) and bury in the rhizome in soil from your garden or bagged soil. You just don't want potting soil, as it has a lot of additives that float. You can give a bit of slow release fertilizer if you like, then back in the water and enjoy. Kenning posted:Note that the whole "no water at all" thing only applies in climates where it rains sometimes during the summer. If you did that here in California your succulents would definitely shrivel up after receiving no water whatsoever for months and months in the full heat of summer.
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Jun 16, 2014 16:52
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unprofessional posted:No worries - it's super easy. See the long snake-like tuber thingy? That's your rhizome. As hardy waterlilies grow, the rhizome heads sideways, putting out new growing points. The old rhizome eventually loses stems and can be broken/cut off for repotting. All you want is the part of the rhizome that still has growing points. Take a nice wide tray (since hardy waterlilies grow across, not up, you don't need anything deep) and bury in the rhizome in soil from your garden or bagged soil. You just don't want potting soil, as it has a lot of additives that float. You can give a bit of slow release fertilizer if you like, then back in the water and enjoy. OK, in short cut off the bits of the rhizome that don't have any lilies attached and discard it, then repot the bit that does have things growing on it? What time of year should I do this in? I also have some tall grass that I think will be growing cattails at some point and some other thing with tall stalks topped with a spade-shaped leaf. This was all part of the house I bought recently, and unfortunately the previous owner died so I'm really just kind of playing the whole thing by ear. Can you recommend any good books for beginners?
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Jun 16, 2014 19:28
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unprofessional posted:That's a great little planting. I don't see any brown in that picture; do you mean the red edges? That's something most succulent growers aim for. If there is browning we can't see, best thing you can do for it is put it right outside for the summer and let nature take care of it. I put all my succulents outside and don't water them at all during the summer. Yeah, i meant the red-brown. If it's supposed to do that, I'll worry no more. I don't dare let it outside though. There's... elements out there.  Zratha posted:Lovely! You may have some trouble keeping your lithops alive in there though, as their watering needs are quite different from the other two. If I were you I would consider re-potting them on their own to avoid rot. Oh man, oh man. Thank you so much for this! The guy at the store said to water the lithops 'meh, whenever you can remember to', and the succulents 'every two weeks or so', so i was planning on just keeping them both on the same schedule, because what the hell do i know! What is a good watering schedule for lithops? Internet is ranging from 'none at all during the summer months' to 'every three weeks or so'. I moved it per your recommendation. It's the second time i've moved it in as many weeks, so i really don't think it enjoyed that, but hopefully it can suck it up.
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Jun 16, 2014 21:03
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shelper posted:Yeah, i meant the red-brown. If it's supposed to do that, I'll worry no more. I don't dare let it outside though. There's... elements out there. The info on this page is thorough and it has little images for each season that are useful http://www.lithops.info/ I managed to kill a whole bunch of lithops babies due to over-watering so am now on a mission to warn others against it!
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Jun 16, 2014 21:38
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I managed to kill all my lithops, too. I wasn't watering much, but apparently "at all" was still too much for that little plant.  Kenning posted:Note that the whole "no water at all" thing only applies in climates where it rains sometimes during the summer. If you did that here in California your succulents would definitely shrivel up after receiving no water whatsoever for months and months in the full heat of summer. I have a few succulents outside in the California heat that do alright with little or no water, but they're well-established, large plants; mostly jade plants. I think they're Crassula ovata and Portulacaria afra. Some of the crassula still get a little shriveled and red, but they bounce back every fall and turn green again and start flowering. Aloe doesn't seem to like where it is, though. I also managed to rescue several succulents that my neighbor was going to throw out several weeks ago. Some of them need quite a bit of rehab and might not make it, but at least the pots were nice. 
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Jun 17, 2014 05:40
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| # ? May 15, 2024 23:02 |
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So I put some Sedum in with a couple goldfish plant starts in an 8" pot. I figured the goldfish plant is really susceptible to root rot, so having something else to wick up excess water is a good idea. They both seem quite happy, the Nematanthus growing slowly as usual and the Sedum exploding. I've trimmed back the Sedum some, at least the few parts that are outpacing the Nematanthus and planted them in the yard. If I keep the Sedum trimmed, should these two live together in harmony?
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Jun 17, 2014 06:05
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