|
What type of plants are you interested in growing? This poll is closed. |
|||
|---|---|---|---|
| Perennials! |
|
142 | 20.91% |
| Annuals! |
|
30 | 4.42% |
| Woody plants! |
|
62 | 9.13% |
| Succulent plants! |
|
171 | 25.18% |
| Tropical plants! |
|
60 | 8.84% |
| Non-vascular plants are the best! |
|
31 | 4.57% |
| Screw you, I'd rather eat them! |
|
183 | 26.95% |
| Total: | 679 votes | ||
|
EagerSleeper posted:Begonia rex-culturums are Devilman Crybaby: the House Plant.  I had 'Escargot' one year, a Rex hybrid with beautiful snail-whorled leaves. But no, I would never have one as a houseplant. My croton is not doing well. It had lost all its leaves, so it was just a short stalk when I repotted it. It hasn't done anything since, and now I see a spot of white mold or mildew right at the base. Boo. My one sunny windowsill is still too drat cold. Dennis McClaren posted:Where would one even view pictures of such bushes online? So that I could know what to look for when I contact nurseries.
|
#
?
Jan 16, 2018 21:15
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 15, 2024 15:14 |
|
|
Bought a new house and it's got a nice lawn - I want to keep it nice, even if I have to hire someone to occasionally come check it out and do work or whatever (I need someone to at least tell me what kind of grass I have, I have no idea). What time of year, in Virginia, should I be doing things to ensure everything stays alive? There are already bare spots where the leaves sat for too long and I hate the idea of it slowly going to poo poo.
|
|
#
?
Jan 16, 2018 22:16
|
|
|
kid sinister posted:There's all kinds: privet, yew, arborvitae, boxwood... Find something you like that will survive in your climate. In general, most cities and HOAs care more about you removing plants, particularly the safe and timely removal of dead ones. If your plants will be blocking a neighbor's view though, they could always raise hell. Yeah cedars (arborvitae) make great hedges, but break under heavy snow. Here's an FAQ with some useful info: https://www.fraservalleycedars.com/faq/ Whatever you go with, get yourself some good hedge trimmers and plan to shape the hedge as it grows. And it cannot be over emphasised to find something that will work in your climate. I'd Google for local hedge providers.
|
|
#
?
Jan 16, 2018 22:34
|
|
|
Dennis McClaren posted:I would be okay with saving some money, in favor of waiting for small ones to grow bigger. Google image search is good, but always go to the sites to verify that you're seeing what you think you're seeing and not some relative. Dave's Garden is also good.
|
|
#
?
Jan 16, 2018 23:32
|
|
|
Dennis McClaren posted:I'm glad I found this thread, it took some digging. Lol soil joke Don't plant bamboo or podocarpus whatever you do. They both spread like absolute weeds, require constant trimming forever, and are completely impossible to get rid of.
|
|
#
?
Jan 17, 2018 04:51
|
|
|
You will thank you in the future if you get a copper beech hedge. It will be an object of beauty with lots of birds living in it rather than a dull wall of green. 
|
|
#
?
Jan 17, 2018 08:40
|
|
|
fuzzy_logic posted:Don't plant bamboo or podocarpus whatever you do. They both spread like absolute weeds, require constant trimming forever, and are completely impossible to get rid of. Actually, clumping bamboo is an excellent choice for a fast-growing (2 - 3 year) privacy hedge that also blocks sound and wind, is edible, and provides excellent building material. The rhizome of clumping bamboo is U-shaped (pachymorph) and new culms form just next to the "mother" plant. This is a good illustration of the differences:  Depending on the variety, they only spread 2 - 12" per year and are less work to maintain than their running cousins.
|
|
#
?
Jan 17, 2018 15:21
|
|
|
These have all been really intersterting reads, coming from a background of almost total "Bush" ignorance. The 3 I'm really attracted to are the Arborvitae, the copper beach hedge, and the Clumping bamboo. Are any of these recommended more, than the others? This will be a mild Texas Climate - rarely dipping below 40 in the winter, and sitting around 90 degrees during the summer. Lots of sunshine available where I plan to transplant them.
|
|
#
?
Jan 17, 2018 15:37
|
|
|
You might have a little challenge finding just the right bamboo in a Texas climate, as they typically don't like hours of blazing sunlight and lots of heat and humidity. Still, there are so many varieties out there that there's probably something that would work for your site. Bambosa multiplex varieties, like the popular 'Silverstripe' are recommended for hot, humid locations. Here are a few more for mild climates. You can also shoot an email to TXBooGuru listed on the page of the Texas bamboo society (http://www.bamboocentral.net/) or contact any one of the many bamboo specialists in Texas for more targeted advice.
Big Nubbins fucked around with this message at 16:01 on Jan 17, 2018 |
|
#
?
Jan 17, 2018 15:55
|
|
|
May I offer you a bougainvillea privacy fence in these trying times?   They're a plant that's classified as a vine, but honestly they can be grown as anything. Vine that can cling to a fence or wall, free standing shrub, bush, sprawling massive cloud of a plant, a goddamn tree, etc. I'd imagine it would take some time to grow it out or finding a nursery that sells bougainvillea large enough, but you could easily have a very lovely privacy hedge that constantly blooms, does well in heat and drought (here in south Texas, I find these plants growing directly in clay soil in a place where not enough water has fallen for grass to grow. They were in full bloom), comes in a lot of different colors, and grows easily but not in a wild way. It has spines too, which I'm not sure if a plus or negative to you. Good for home defense? Either way, I love bougainvilleas. They're pretty badass. Shame Boner posted:Actually, clumping bamboo is an excellent choice for a fast-growing (2 - 3 year) privacy hedge that also blocks sound and wind, is edible, Wait, what? I only knew that the larger bamboo species have shoots that are edible, I never knew of this. This would change everything. Could you give me a species name please? Hirayuki posted:They're pretty happy outside in a Zone 6a late spring/summer. No matter how many times I see an escargot begonia, I'm only struck by how much like something out of a fairy tale they look.  In regards to the croton, yeah, cold windowsills are the devil for humidity issues. With any luck, the stem might still be pliable and alive inside, but the only thing I could think of to do at this point would be introduce on to an outdoor porch that's blocked off to any windchill and snow, or maybe to try having an artificial source of light indoors. It's a shame what's going on, because crotons are pretty cool...  
|
|
#
?
Jan 17, 2018 20:34
|
|
|
my parents have the running bamboo and oh my god it's been such a hassle. my dad's finally taking most of it out. there's a lot of bamboo in the neighborhood and by the streams/reservoir, which I always thought was strange. can you grow clumping or any other type of bamboo in a pot? I know that my parents' bamboo survived fine over the winters. I'd love to have a pot of some kind of bamboo, maybe 4 feet tall (kept trimmed) on our balcony but I don't know if it's possible for that to do well or survive.
|
|
#
?
Jan 17, 2018 20:40
|
|
|
The Snoo posted:can you grow clumping or any other type of bamboo in a pot? I know that my parents' bamboo survived fine over the winters. I'd love to have a pot of some kind of bamboo, maybe 4 feet tall (kept trimmed) on our balcony but I don't know if it's possible for that to do well or survive. EagerSleeper posted:In regards to the croton, yeah, cold windowsills are the devil for humidity issues. With any luck, the stem might still be pliable and alive inside, but the only thing I could think of to do at this point would be introduce on to an outdoor porch that's blocked off to any windchill and snow, or maybe to try having an artificial source of light indoors. It's a shame what's going on, because crotons are pretty cool... I suppose it's no great loss if this one bites the dust, but I'd rather do my best to save it just in case something works. Thanks for the tips.
|
|
#
?
Jan 17, 2018 21:26
|
|
|
EagerSleeper posted:Wait, what? I only knew that the larger bamboo species have shoots that are edible, I never knew of this. This would change everything. Could you give me a species name please? Note that bamboo contains a potent cyanogenic compound, taxiphyllin, that must be boiled out in changes of water prior to eating. All of these clumping bamboo species are edible:
This is not an exhaustive list. See https://www.guaduabamboo.com/types/edible-bamboo-species for more, though I think I hit the clumping genera where I can find good supporting information for edibility. The Snoo posted:can you grow clumping or any other type of bamboo in a pot? Yes you can! Clumping bamboos are in my opinion more suitable because they're typically shorter and don't get rootbound nearly as fast as running bamboos, but both types can be successfully grown in containers. The size of the bamboo is related to the size of the rootball, so expect a container-grown bamboo to have thinner canes and less height than normal. Make sure the container has ample weight at the bottom or can't otherwise tip.
|
|
#
?
Jan 17, 2018 22:43
|
|
|
Too late. I have already eaten 20 lbs of bamboo and discovered that I'm actually a panda. I'm just going to have to live with that discovery, and I don't know how to feel. (no but really, your informative posts about bamboo is honestly pretty badass, and I thank you for it. Bamboo is a cool and strange plant that I'd like to experience out in the wild one day.)  
|
|
#
?
Jan 19, 2018 07:33
|
|
|
Pickled bamboo shoots are absolutely amazing.
|
|
#
?
Jan 19, 2018 10:27
|
|
|
Hey all! Earlier this year I bought some tulip bulbs, and about 6 weeks ago I put them in the refrigerator, so I think they're about ready for planting, though I'm seeing conflicting reports about how long to keep them cool for. Does anyone have any suggestions or good guides for keeping tulips alive inside, and getting them to flower? How large of a pot do I need? How long should I expect them to live for before flowering?
|
|
#
?
Jan 19, 2018 12:11
|
|
|
You want wide and flat rather than deep, I ignore any conflicting advice and don’t leave much space between them. You are looking for a one year display in a pot so the long term health of them isn’t a concern. You want a nice gritty compost, keep it damp, but other than that leave them alone. Posting this just made me chuckle slightly to myself. I’ve done so much potting on and growing of stuff in the last year that I’ve gone from worrying and carefully researching about pot sizes and how much border space a plant will need in the future to “gently caress it it will be enough space for a year or so and then I’ll move it” and “guess my border’s getting widened then, sorry lawn!”
|
|
#
?
Jan 19, 2018 12:32
|
|
|
We've had a very wet winter in southern England, and I've moved house - where before I had lots of awful concrete paths before, they at least kept my feet mostly clean. Now, access to my studio and the garage requires tromping through what can only notionally be described as a lawn and better noted as a mudpit. Under the earth is chalk, and I'm on a relatively steep slope. Is there anything I can/should do to mitigate this in future? I was thinking of some pathways (and dividing up a big section of plain lawn onto garden beds and a little mini-orchard) but don't want to over-egg it! Cheers,
|
|
#
?
Jan 19, 2018 15:49
|
|
|
I over egged it this year and carved up lawn to create borders, put in an orchard and created a path. If you have chalk(/I had to do it over again) then here’s what I’d do. I’d put raised beds in everywhere, including the area you want to put your orchard. If you use M9 rootstock then Apple trees will happily live in there (warning do not put M9 unstaked in an exposed position the wind will rip it out). Not planter height beds, 8-12 inches will be fine, railway sleepers would be perfect. Gravel paths are infinity times 100 easier to put in and maintain than paving slabs or concrete. I didn’t even do what the internet videos told me. Dug out a couple of inches, dumped gravel in, raked it even, and stomped it down. It’s on a hill and the stones stay where they are. Before you even start looking at fruit trees Read and bookmark https://www.orangepippintrees.com/articles/fruit-tree-advice/rootstocks-for-apple-trees (They have other lists for different trees) https://www.orangepippintrees.com/articles/planting-growing/pollination-of-fruit-trees Getting the wrong root stock will royally gently caress you. Other than that get one of the massive RHS books, they updated everything for the 2000 edition and every edition since has been the same content different cover, and start planning.
|
|
#
?
Jan 19, 2018 16:50
|
|
|
Southern Heel posted:We've had a very wet winter in southern England, and I've moved house - where before I had lots of awful concrete paths before, they at least kept my feet mostly clean. Now, access to my studio and the garage requires tromping through what can only notionally be described as a lawn and better noted as a mudpit. Winter does that. Enough foot traffic on winter grass will wear away the thatch and expose the mud. Too much traffic and it will kill the roots too. Way too much traffic and the ground will be too hard for anything to grow there. I say put down some gravel and pavers. That's the only thing you could do right now. Otherwise, you'll have to wait until the spring and try growing some dense turf grass, which may be hard considering sun exposure, shade, water, awful dirt, etc. kid sinister fucked around with this message at 20:42 on Jan 19, 2018 |
|
#
?
Jan 19, 2018 20:39
|
|
|
learnincurve posted:Gravel paths are infinity times 100 easier to put in and maintain than paving slabs or concrete. I didn’t even do what the internet videos told me. Dug out a couple of inches, dumped gravel in, raked it even, and stomped it down. It’s on a hill and the stones stay where they are. Why is gravel easier to maintain? You have to weed it! (I inherited a 100% gravel garden when I bought my house and it was horrible) Surely the lowest maintenance form of path across a lawn is paving slabs set just low enough that you can mow over them?. If you did it stepping stone style you would never have to weed in between them either so it ends up being no more work than cutting the grass already is
|
|
#
?
Jan 21, 2018 12:51
|
|
|
Put in and maintain paving slabs are an absolute bitch if you have a slope and/or clay soil. Plus you can do curves and increase and reduce width as you like. You have my sympathies though. Gravel is a pig if somone has not kept on top of the weeds, or put enough gravel down to supress them, whole garden is going to be a massive twice yearly weedkiller and constant hoeing job and be harder to keep on top of than grass.
|
|
#
?
Jan 21, 2018 15:00
|
|
|
learnincurve posted:Put in and maintain With gravel you can go through with a weed torch, though
|
|
#
?
Jan 21, 2018 16:44
|
|
|
Hirayuki posted:They're pretty happy outside in a Zone 6a late spring/summer. Are you guys having trouble with Rex's? I have an escargot* that came from Home Depot of all places. I definitely haven't been treating it right (it was stuffed in the corner with too-low light, near the register, certainly no regular misting...) but it's doing great, especially after I moved it to a more sunny location. *you know, this thread is why I got the escargot begonia in the first place! The first page has a pic of a gorgeous escargot begonia and I fell directly in love with it. I have a few other interesting begonias - I should make a post sometime.
|
|
#
?
Jan 22, 2018 10:08
|
|
|
Plant of the day: Cedrus atlantica Glauca Pendula or weeping blue pine. https://www.rhs.org.uk/Plants/133008/Cedrus-atlantica-(Glauca-Group)-Glauca-Pendula/Details Is tiny now, but this thing will grow 2ft a year, possibly 4ft if it is feeling especially vigorous. You can buy them full grown but here’s why you shouldn’t: What you do is move it into a big pot and put a massive tree sized stake in it. Then you twist and tie it round the stake as it grows and you get a big corkscrew shaped tree with weeping branches flowing down, when it’s established you can either keep it in a pot or move it in the garden. When it’s nearing the height you want you cut the central leader (main stem) and open up the middle so the bugger can’t grow 10m and eat your foundations. Edit: landscaping is happening in the bed there.
|
|
#
?
Jan 22, 2018 10:28
|
|
|
My monstera unfolded a new leaf last week and I don’t have any measurements or numbers but it looks like the leaf has gotten bigger over the past few days, after it’s already unfolded. I was under the impression that leaves stay the same size the entire time—ie whatever size the leaf was while it was still folded up is the size it’ll be until it dies. Am I totally wrong about this?
|
|
#
?
Jan 22, 2018 18:54
|
|
|
learnincurve posted:Plant of the day: Cedrus atlantica Glauca Pendula or weeping blue pine. https://www.rhs.org.uk/Plants/133008/Cedrus-atlantica-(Glauca-Group)-Glauca-Pendula/Details If you don't train it into the shape of a weird shaggy beast and give it googly eyes, your goon card is getting revoked. 
|
|
#
?
Jan 22, 2018 23:49
|
|
|
I have never wanted anything more Twisted stem and googly eyed monster are not mutually exclusive so I can give it a shot.
|
|
#
?
Jan 23, 2018 06:31
|
|
|
learnincurve posted:Plant of the day: Cedrus atlantica Glauca Pendula or weeping blue pine. https://www.rhs.org.uk/Plants/133008/Cedrus-atlantica-(Glauca-Group)-Glauca-Pendula/Details ugh stoooopppppp I want one so badddd but I shouldn't get anymore trees Also I see and raise you my dawn redwood, which should put on more than five feet next year despite being in a pot.
|
|
#
?
Jan 24, 2018 03:32
|
|
|
fuzzy_logic posted:ugh stoooopppppp I want one so badddd but I shouldn't get anymore trees I planted a giant sequoia at my parents' place like 10 years ago. It was doing great until they had 3 awful summer droughts in a row. It survived the first two but the third got it. I don't have good luck at their place. The loving deer stripped all of the black locusts I planted there and my dad's pony stepped on the dogwood sapling I moved there. I know it was him too that did it, the horse footprints around it were too small to be his mother. No flowering trees for my parents.
|
|
#
?
Jan 24, 2018 03:42
|
|
|
learnincurve posted:I have never wanted anything more Absolutely! I've seen a ton of them around here in the twisted stem form that have a great sad, lanky dragon kind of thing going on. So, I'm kinda starting to make my own garden plans. I'm currently living in an apartment building, but we're on the ground floor, and have control of both a patio area (with a few roses in it) and a large bed outside our window. (I'll take photos sometime.) We also basically have free reign to do stuff to the lawn out front (within reason), e.g. the bed by our window had this enormous fern which was crowding things out, so I split it in two and transplanted it to two spots at the edge of the lawn to create a bit of a border with the sidewalk. Over the last few months I've been cleaning things up in the bed (hacking out a whole lot of blackberry and ivy), pruning the little Japanese maple that was there, thrown in a blueberry bush, and planted a whole lot of bulbs. I also found bulbs that had been there before while I was digging around and adding a border, so I did some dividing of some of the clumps. I also put a few daffodil bulbs in around the green pillar pin oak between the sidewalk and the road to keep it company. Now I have a local seed supplier catalogue in hand, and am planning all kinds of mayhem, mostly around getting a bunch of wildflower seed and setting up a few guerrilla garden beds around the sidewalk. I'm also planning on ordering some native plants (white sage, sweetgrass and Artemisia ludoviciana), plus some lovage for giant parsley goodness. I may also create a tiny rock garden (since rocks basically come out of the ground every time you stick a spade in it over here).
|
|
#
?
Jan 24, 2018 06:19
|
|
|
Since a picture is worth a thousand words here’s a few thousand words: New growth on my monstera. WHAT COULD IT BE?  Oh it’s a new leaf. Hello little guy.  its_happening.gif  Almost…  😍 
|
|
#
?
Jan 24, 2018 07:34
|
|
|
Boris Galerkin posted:its_happening.gif Haha, that's great. How long did that whole process take?
|
|
#
?
Jan 24, 2018 15:16
|
|
|
UK goons Quick! Quick! Wilco’s £3/£4 compost is in. 3 sack maximum of each. Don’t assume it will be in later, or when you need it, same as the compost bins and wheelbarrows. There will be a brief glory period of lots of stock and then really inconvenient droughts through the rest of the year where you have to set up email alerts and snipe.
|
|
#
?
Jan 24, 2018 15:16
|
|
|
kedo posted:Haha, that's great. The first photo I posted was taken on 12/30. Next one was 1/6. The “it’s happening” one was 1/11. The next one where it’s almost unfolded was 1/15, and the final picture was today, though it’s been like this for a few days now and possibly even last week. I was wondering about whether or not the leaves can get bigger over time because in the second to last photo the leaf was definitely smaller than the other big one in the picture, but today the leaf is like bigger than my entire hand and is either the same size as the biggest leaf or slightly bigger.
|
|
#
?
Jan 24, 2018 16:37
|
|
|
My back hurts. Timed everything so beautifully, new flowering shrub hedging (x50 bare root) to turn up on the same day as the compost for it. Dug the holes for the plants, no compost, checked emails and compost showing out for delivery. Light started to fade so had to dig everything into the ground, as of this morning compost still showing as out for delivery. Anyway what hurt my back was having to use a mattock to cut through the roots to next door’s conifer/other completely overgrown evergreen trees so I could get my own plants in. With permission of course, new neighbour is having them cut down and dug out at some point so does not care what I do. .
|
|
#
?
Jan 28, 2018 08:00
|
|
|
When is the best time to repot orchids? My gut tells me not to do it until after the flowers fade, when you'd normally cut the spike back. I have a cymbidium and a cattleya that are both straining at the sides of their nursery pots with the latter trailing air roots outside the pot. The pseudobulbs on the new growth of both orchids are swole, but no sign of flower spikes.
|
|
#
?
Jan 31, 2018 21:13
|
|
|
Boris Galerkin posted:Picked up a new plant today, the tag says it's a "Maori Corokai Silver." I think this is the same plant: This thing is weird. The leaves are weird. From what I can tell, the leaves grow and start off really big (relatively speaking) and roundish and bright green and it looks amazing. Then they just start to shrivel up and shrink and turn into this weird shape, and the color fades into a weird green/gray color too.
|
|
#
?
Feb 3, 2018 15:13
|
|
|
Some may remember I posted a while back about accidentally leaving my Dragon Tree(s) outside in the freezing weather for a week and being terrified I killed it. Well the good news is it seems to be on the rebound! I also realized it really needs a bigger pot. One of the trees trunk seems to be dead, but I haven't trimmed it yet just in case it isn't. That one has a new bud on the base of the plant, just above the dirt. The other tree has 4-5 buds on the top of the trunk and one forming at the base as well! It's growing slow as gently caress right now, but that's probably because it's not getting direct light. As soon as it warms up here I'm planning to stick it back on my patio and let it soak up those Texas rays. I'll also re-pot it once it gets some leaves and gets established again.       e: I took off the top layer of sand to check on it, but replaced it afterwards. It's crazy how some of the roots are growing up into the sand. After I repot it, I'm not going to add back the sand.
|
|
#
?
Feb 3, 2018 18:22
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 15, 2024 15:14 |
|
|
Hi thread. I'm super excited to have a garden for at least the next three years, and it happens to come with a rose bush. The landlords basically said "don't kill everything, but other than that shape it how you want" so this is on me, which I'm happy for. I don't know anything about pruning roses, though, and could use some advice. This is what I've got:    (from last fall)  As you can see, it's a big mess. I've got to start with identification. Doing some research, it's obviously not very compact, and the flowers aren't very clustered, so I'm thinking Hybrid tea? Grandiflora? As I said, the flowers aren't very clustered, but that also might be a symptom of the lack of pruning it's had Climber? Whoever managed it last tied up the top together against itself to keep it more upright. Shrub? I'm in Belgium
|
|
#
?
Feb 6, 2018 14:50
|
|
