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2019 Mid Atlantic Lawn, Garden, Pool, etc. Thread


Eskimo Joe
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7 hours ago, poolz1 said:

Dont worry...I had never heard of it either as of about 2 years ago.  I was researching permaculture and found this method (huglekultur) is just a piece the permaculture pie.  Thought I would give it a try where we had an existing garden that was too far away to water regularly.  Honestly, I have yet to water this bed for 2 years.  I do water seedlings until their root structure can reach the dampness about 6" down.  

Here was the process a few years ago.

Very cool.  You’ve inspired me to try that.

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2 minutes ago, Eskimo Joe said:

Soil temps finally cracked 74 degrees! Time for pumpkins.

First time I’ve put pumpkins (or a garden for that matter).  They’ll probably be ripe by August hah.

6327306F-4824-433E-9376-5EC27A60460B.jpeg

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.31" for the month of June so far.  The yard is parched.....Hopefully a nice soaking tonight.

I was pruning some excess leaves out of our squash a zucchini plants yesterday to encourage some better airflow and found squash bugs.  I have been trying to figure out what the heck has been munching on the leaves.  First time I have seen them in our gardens...

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38 minutes ago, poolz1 said:

.31" for the month of June so far.  The yard is parched.....Hopefully a nice soaking tonight.

I was pruning some excess leaves out of our squash a zucchini plants yesterday to encourage some better airflow and found squash bugs.  I have been trying to figure out what the heck has been munching on the leaves.  First time I have seen them in our gardens...

I read you can also steak them just like tomato plants,  along with pruning .

 

FYI

https://www.theartofdoingstuff.com/youve-been-growing-your-zucchini-all-wrong/

 

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11 hours ago, poolz1 said:

.31" for the month of June so far.  The yard is parched.....Hopefully a nice soaking tonight.

I was pruning some excess leaves out of our squash a zucchini plants yesterday to encourage some better airflow and found squash bugs.  I have been trying to figure out what the heck has been munching on the leaves.  First time I have seen them in our gardens...

BUSTED!  A week from now these would have hatched and proceeded to destroy
a vibrant zucchini plant....

t8x9iNM.jpg

 

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Knocking on wood as I type this, but the garden is looking really good so far. A lot of green tomatoes already set, and several varieties of peppers too. The mystery squash plant is going crazy (by how much it’s running, I’m assuming it’s a decorative gourd that rotted last year), but the pumpkins haven’t taken off yet. Hoping to have about six sugar pumpkins by mid September for brewing. If not, I may have to go steal some from @frd one night.

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3 hours ago, Eskimo Joe said:

Weird thing going on. I have a self watering container on the deck with two eggplants. One plant has ants on itlaying eggs but they're not cutting it up or bothering it otherwise, the other plant isn't even being touched. Really weird stuff.

i have aphids attacking one flowered plant in the garden, nada on any of the others. 

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It really seems to be random sometimes. We have 4 nice, lush basil plants that added to a great caprese salad Saturday... Today 2 of the 4 have been ravaged by June bugs. All of the plants are within 2 feet of each other. The other two are untouched.

Sent from my SM-G973U using Tapatalk

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15 minutes ago, C.A.P.E. said:

Ha yeah.

Its always a losing battle here. The objective is to not have to completely start over. I will shoot for saving half the grass in the back "yard".

Moving this over here, but a friend of mine is moving back from England after a three year placement and bought a house in Severna Park. He’s been delayed because of the virus so I’ve been cutting his “lawn” the past couple of months, and it’s a wreck. The soil there seems really sandy and dry. I’d have no idea what grass to recommend when we aerate and seed this fall.

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1 minute ago, nw baltimore wx said:

Moving this over here, but a friend of mine is moving back from England after a three year placement and bought a house in Severna Park. He’s been delayed because of the virus so I’ve been cutting his “lawn” the past couple of months, and it’s a wreck. The soil there seems really sandy and dry. I’d have no idea what grass to recommend when we aerate and seed this fall.

That's going to be a challenge. My soil is silt and sand and drains very well. I have tried several tall fescue blends over the years and every one has struggled to thrive/survive once we get near the solstice, and the weeks beyond. I have many large trees surrounding my 'grass patch' so that greatly exacerbates the problem.

My advice is to do what I did and minimize the grass area as much as possible- increase mulch areas, add raised beds, build a fire-pit with a large surround and add more plants. I still want to go total hardscape, but stone and rock isn't cheap.

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8 minutes ago, C.A.P.E. said:

That's going to be a challenge. My soil is silt and sand and drains very well. I have tried several tall fescue blends over the years and every one has struggled to thrive/survive once we get near the solstice, and the weeks beyond. I have many large trees surrounding my 'grass patch' so that greatly exacerbates the problem.

My advice is to do what I did and minimize the grass area as much as possible- increase mulch areas, add raised beds, build a fire-pit with a large surround and add more plants. I still want to go total hardscape, but stone and rock isn't cheap.

Minimizing the grass area is right in line with my thinking. He’s got some large trees on the property that shade a pretty much a large dirt area. I was going to suggest mulching a pretty large area and putting it in some azaleas and other plants that tolerate shade, and maybe a swing set or something for his two young daughters. There is a smaller lower area that gets plenty of sun and does seem to have better soil because what is there does at least grow. He will definitely put in some type of fire pit. As we get closer to September I’ll post a few pictures and ask for more suggestions.

By the way, when I lived in Arizona for a short time, I loved the look of the hardscapes. You should go all NPZ and plant cactus.

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2 hours ago, nw baltimore wx said:

Moving this over here, but a friend of mine is moving back from England after a three year placement and bought a house in Severna Park. He’s been delayed because of the virus so I’ve been cutting his “lawn” the past couple of months, and it’s a wreck. The soil there seems really sandy and dry. I’d have no idea what grass to recommend when we aerate and seed this fall.

Get topsoil imported and spread it out. Put some lime down to balance the pH and aerate/over seed this fall. Repeat the process next year as well.

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On 6/11/2020 at 8:53 AM, mappy said:

i need to take more flower pics for you, everything i planted is thriving and looking great

That’s awesome. Would love to see ‘em, ty.

This pic is kinda funny, imo. Wild flower seeds I spread years ago are finally thriving where I usually mulch. Waiting on a letter from the HOA...

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11 hours ago, Eskimo Joe said:

How did you knock the weeds down so much?

First, I don’t till (though I suspect most don’t), and I also pile all the fall leaves in the yard on the garden, and I mean it’s piled. It’s about two to three feet of dry leaves that compacts to about a soggy inch by spring. Then, even before I plant, I bag my lawn clippings as mulch. I usually get to August before the lawn clippings are too scarce to keep down any weeds, but by then everything is so overgrown that it’s pretty shaded.

Thanks for noticing!

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Beautiful sight in the garden this morning.  Loads of honey bees creating a steady buzz....frantically moving from flower to flower, legs and abdomens covered in pollen.  I haven't seen this kind of activity from honey bees in years.  So cool to watch them in action...

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3 hours ago, poolz1 said:

Beautiful sight in the garden this morning.  Loads of honey bees creating a steady buzz....frantically moving from flower to flower, legs and abdomens covered in pollen.  I haven't seen this kind of activity from honey bees in years.  So cool to watch them in action...

Good to hear! I haven’t seen that many here but hopefully they are on the rebound. While out watering this morning, the most prominent pollinator that I saw was a big bumble bee. 

Overall, our garden is doing really well this year. We’ve had a few of the Mr. Stripey’s (I like to pick them a little early so they don’t crack), and the crook neck squash, beans, and various peppers are supplying us with a veggie medley whenever we want, but the most encouraging thing is the number of large green tomatoes on the plants. It should be a really good harvest. Hopefully the pumpkins are also ready for an early September brew day.

There are a couple of concerns (always the case) including a night time varmint visiting. I’ve seen some scat (I’ll spare you the pictures) and one of the early tomatoes that was perfectly ripe had a singular bite out of it. I can’t imagine it being a groundhog in this hood, but my neighbor across the street says one is living under his garage. The distance between my garden and his garage is indirectly about 200 yards. Does anyone know if they roam that far? And if so, any good deterrents? The other concern is pictured. I haven’t had a lot of insect damage but there are a lot of pumpkin and squash vines, so I’ve got to stay on top of the eggs. But, so far, very pleased with how things are unfolding this year.

image.jpeg.e667bef001b143e13c4504ed1de7a7b4.jpeg

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@nw baltimore wx  That's awesome...I agree, it has been a great growing season so far. 

I pulled a few hornworms off some tomato plants the other day.  Those suckers waste no time gorging themselves...I have seen them plow through a green tomato and leave what looks like someone took a perfect bite out of it.  You would definitely see their waste pile beneath that tomato if this was the case.  Otherwise, a live trap set with some watermelon in it should catch the critter.  You can then relocate it or...return your neighbor's cat! 

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23 minutes ago, poolz1 said:

@nw baltimore wx  That's awesome...I agree, it has been a great growing season so far. 

I pulled a few hornworms off some tomato plants the other day.  Those suckers waste no time gorging themselves...I have seen them plow through a green tomato and leave what looks like someone took a perfect bite out of it.  You would definitely see their waste pile beneath that tomato if this was the case.  Otherwise, a live trap set with some watermelon in it should catch the critter.  You can then relocate it or...return your neighbor's cat! 

I haven’t seen any hookworms, and the green tomatoes look great. The one with a bite out of it was a ripened red and on the ground so I think it’s a groundhog. Also, I talked to another neighbor while getting a haircut in the front yard and she said she’s seen two “very cute” groundhogs. I guess one man’s pest is another man’s pet, but I’ll soak a couple rags with ammonia In a few frisbees and see if that keeps them away. They haven’t done any real damage yet, but I don’t want them getting comfortable.

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