2021 Mid-Atlantic Garden, Lawn, and Other Green Stuff Thread

[nw baltimore wx]

20 minutes ago, poolz1 said:

Not sure where you get your seeds but Baker Creek has great slow bolt cilantro seed.  The stuff is just never ending and takes forever to shoot up and flower. 

Good to know. I don’t grow cilantro anymore because it bolted so fast. Maybe I’ll give those seeds a try.

[mattie g]

4 hours ago, poolz1 said:

Not sure where you get your seeds but Baker Creek has great slow bolt cilantro seed.  The stuff is just never ending and takes forever to shoot up and flower. 

 

I was growing a pot of cilantro under a light for a couple months, then after a few weeks outside it bolted. I love cilantro, but the bolting thing gets under my skin, so I’d definitely be interested in a slow-bolt variety.

[backedgeapproaching]

On 6/22/2021 at 7:24 AM, mattie g said:

It must all be variety-related when it comes to hydrangeas. Our NNW-facing side of the house - which gets *very little* sunlight - is awash with mop head hydrangeas in full bloom all summer, every summer.

We prune them from time to time, but generally we just let them ride. We have others (limelights) around the house that were more mindful of pruning on the right schedule, and those also do quite well.

It's all about whether they bloom on "old wood" versus "new wood".   New wood varieties like Limelight(like you mentioned) and others like Annabelle types bloom on new wood every year.  They will bloom and come back no matter how harsh the winter or pruning.  You can prune some of those down to the ground in fall or spring and they will still bloom every summer.  Its the only ones I have seen reliably bloom here in VT because the harsh winters and cold springs.  I have 15-20 and they all bloom every year.

Endless summers varieties (big leaf hydrangeas) bloom on old wood only.  They are more susceptible to not blooming due to a number of factors--winter harshness, pruning time, spring time thaw/freeze cycle/etc.  When I lived in PA my endless summers would bloom some years and not others(like Cape mentioned).  Glad it seems like a good year for those varieties for you guys this summer.

[poolz1]

Finding cucumber beetles, squash bugs and squash bug eggs this morning.  The battle has started.  Trying to keep a regular spray of neem oil going this year.  This, along with killing what I can see and removing eggs I hope to keep damage to a minimum.  

Any other methods out there for organic gardening?  Japanese beetles are more prolific this year than years past.  Doing a number on our strawberry patch.

[CAPE]

8 hours ago, RDM said:

Welcome any suggestions you may have.  Echo'ing CAPE's comments about what a challenge it is to grow grass around here.  I mulch leaves in the fall, put down lime to offset the acid based clay soil and mulch the clippings with Gator blades.  The popular trees along the back of our yard just suck all the nutrition out of the soil. In the spring the grass grows like gangbusters until the poplars break out in leaves and then it's like the grass puts the brakes on.  

Some years ago I reclaimed a half acre of our yard in front, which is interlaced with maples and 6 very large white pines.  Used a power landscape rake to wind-row the rocks and debris.  Hauled out 3 dump trucks and 2 30 yd dumpsters full of stumps, rocks and debris.  Spread over 200 cubic yards of 50/50 (topsoil and compost) and put down over 300 lbs of grass seed.  The end results were to grow a nice 1/2 acre plot of weeds.  The grass starts reasonably strong in the spring and then goes to weeds when it gets warm.  

 

Too much competition with the trees ultimately seems to be the primary issue. Its not lack of water. I have used the most heat resistant/drought tolerant blends and still makes no difference. I reseeded using mostly Jonathan Green Black Beauty "Sunny" tall fescue last Fall. Used their Ultra on the shadier side. Grass does well here through early June, then you start seeing the signs. I have patches now where the grass has given up- brown and quickly withers away to thatch. That will only expand over the next few weeks. Like you, I end up with mostly weeds.

[RDM]

2 hours ago, CAPE said:

Too much competition with the trees ultimately seems to be the primary issue. Its not lack of water. I have used the most heat resistant/drought tolerant blends and still makes no difference. I reseeded using mostly Jonathan Green Black Beauty "Sunny" tall fescue last Fall. Used their Ultra on the shadier side. Grass does well here through early June, then you start seeing the signs. I have patches now where the grass has given up- brown and quickly withers away to thatch. That will only expand over the next few weeks. Like you, I end up with mostly weeds.

Thanks for moving this here.  Same experience in our back yard and parts of our front yard with the trees.  You've done a lot more experimentation with the different kinds of grass than I have.  Hopefully our expert will be able to shed some light on the secrets.  After all, golf courses have trees too.  Yet, most courses have a thick stand of rough along the fairways that makes my hodge podge look like - #@$%&   

[CAPE]

My house and the "cleared" area surrounding it is right in the middle of the woods. The area that amounts to my back yard is essentially atop the septic drain field, with acres of hardwoods completely surrounding it. I am only trying to maintain "nice grass" on that rectangle just behind the house, which has been reduced by enlarging the mulch areas and adding a firepit with surrounding mulch bed and plants. The small clearing out front and on the north side I have let the moss take over and whatever else grows there. Some random grass, but mostly various weeds.

[RDM]

1 hour ago, CAPE said:

My house and the "cleared" area surrounding it is right in the middle of the woods. The area that amounts to my back yard is essentially atop the septic drain field, with acres of hardwoods completely surrounding it. I am only trying to maintain "nice grass" on that rectangle just behind the house, which has been reduced by enlarging the mulch areas and adding a firepit with surrounding mulch bed and plants. The small clearing out front and on the north side I have let the moss take over and whatever else grows there. Some random grass, but mostly various weeds.

Sounds very similar to our situation.  I seem to recall you posted some pictures before - remember a fire pit and think it was you when we were ranting about grass last year.  It's a real challenge.  

Our back yard is a leach field for our septic system too.  2 separate sections with 4 lines each.  You'd think the perk in the drainage area would help keep the grass healthy.  But it seems the clay base in the soil compounds the challenge.  I've been mulching the leaves for 10+ years now and still don't have a very thick thatch in most of our yard.  The fresh grass in the spring loves the mulched leaves from the previous fall, but once the trees sprout and start their thing it's as if the grass can't compete and gives up.  

Anxious for our grounds keeper pro to provide some tips. 

[CAPE]

19 hours ago, RDM said:

 

Anxious for our grounds keeper pro to provide some tips. 

[nw baltimore wx]

3 hours ago, CAPE said:

Maybe quote him in the other thread and let him know the discussion moved here? He may not see it.

[CAPE]

2 minutes ago, nw baltimore wx said:

Maybe quote him in the other thread and let him know the discussion moved here? He may not see it.

I did a multiquote in the other thread. He only has like 6 posts so maybe he is a very occasional poster or just passing through. Besides, I have talked to enough lawn 'experts' to know the situation here is futile. 

[RDM]

8 hours ago, CAPE said:

I did a multiquote in the other thread. He only has like 6 posts so maybe he is a very occasional poster or just passing through. Besides, I have talked to enough lawn 'experts' to know the situation here is futile. 

Awwww come-on man!  We can't ever ever give up...   ever...  (tic)  I have faith in your persistence to ID the secret so the rest of us can benefit from it...  

[CAPE]

2 minutes ago, RDM said:

Awwww come-on man!  We can't ever ever give up...   ever...  (tic)  I have faith in your persistence to ID the secret so the rest of us can benefit from it...  

A 'southwestern' hardscape is the answer!

[RDM]

29 minutes ago, CAPE said:

A 'southwestern' hardscape is the answer!

Haha - with my luck, I'd kill that too!  As it is, I have to pick up rocks in our yard every spring that are exposed from frost heave.  

[nw baltimore wx]

My butterfly bush delivered this morning.

[BlizzardNole]

On 7/8/2021 at 10:05 AM, nw baltimore wx said:

My butterfly bush delivered this morning.

Nice pic!  I expect to have monarch caterpillars soon

 

[WxUSAF]

I’ve seen 2 monarch caterpillars on our butterfly weed so far. Hoping for many more.

[nw baltimore wx]

I know that you butterfly peeps have talked about this before, but how do you get the monarch caterpillars in your gardens?
 

And please post pics. Those caterpillars are cool.

[H2O]

7 minutes ago, nw baltimore wx said:

I know that you butterfly peeps have talked about this before, but how do you get the monarch caterpillars in your gardens?
 

And please post pics. Those caterpillars are cool.

@FXW176 would be our resident expert.  And he looks like ZZ Top now

[mattie g]

Harvested the first of our San Marzano Gigante tomatoes on Saturday. It had the slightest first blush of orange on it, so I picked it before the squirrels could possibly get at it (which is right when they've stolen them the last couple years). Grabbed another this morning. This is the earliest I've been able to harvest in quite a few years (maybe even the earliest ever), and I have a *ton* of others of all varieties that should be ready in the next week or two. Really psyched about it!

My girls have been eating the occasional Orange Paruche Cherry tomato for the last week. Looking at the plant and knowing what generally happens with my cherry tomatoes, I fully expect they'll be sick of them by the end of this month and I'll be left with dozens of uneaten fruit by the end of the season.

[WxUSAF]

1 hour ago, nw baltimore wx said:

I know that you butterfly peeps have talked about this before, but how do you get the monarch caterpillars in your gardens?
 

And please post pics. Those caterpillars are cool.

Plant milkweed! They seem to like butterfly milkweed more than common milkweed when I look around the neighborhood, but YMMV. Common, swamp, and butterfly milkweeds are the best choices. 
 

There’s a certain critical mass of milkweed you need before the monarchs will lay eggs on them. Doesn’t have to be a huge amount, but one small plant won’t do it. Also have some other plants and things nearby where the chrysalis can hang. We’ve yet to find any chrysalis despite 20 some caterpillars last year.

[BlizzardNole]

5 hours ago, nw baltimore wx said:

I know that you butterfly peeps have talked about this before, but how do you get the monarch caterpillars in your gardens?
 

And please post pics. Those caterpillars are cool.

I use tropical milkweed in our butterfly garden to bring in the monarchs.  Swallowtails and hummingbirds also love the nectar from the orange/red flower clusters.  Being tall weeds (easily 5 feet), they look best in the back with stuff in front of them -- I use annual vinca and lantana since deer and rabbits don't eat that stuff.

[BlizzardNole]

Here's a caterpillar munching on a tropical milkweed flower

 

[BlizzardNole]

Here is one from last year just hatched

[Eskimo Joe]

Garden I built in spring is on fire finally.

[nw baltimore wx]

This is what happens when you ignore your yard for a month. I was lucky to only get stung twice, and through gloves. I’m very allergic to these sobs.

[North Balti Zen]

5 minutes ago, nw baltimore wx said:

This is what happens when you ignore your yard for a month. I was lucky to only get stung twice, and through gloves. I’m very allergic to these sobs.

Huh. I literally just took out a nest of that size from bushes in my front yard about a week ago. Probably cousins of those in your yard. 

[mattie g]

15 minutes ago, nw baltimore wx said:

This is what happens when you ignore your yard for a month. I was lucky to only get stung twice, and through gloves. I’m very allergic to these sobs.

Bald-faced hornets?

[nw baltimore wx]

14 minutes ago, mattie g said:

Bald-faced hornets?

I don’t know. Two were on hand stinging me and I was just swatting like a mofo. And running.

Black and white stripe?

eta: I just looked them up. Yep. That’s them. Hand is swelling but I don’t think it will be as bad as last time. This was a few years ago when I got stung bare-handed. Compare to other hand.

 

 

[mattie g]

1 minute ago, nw baltimore wx said:

I don’t know. Two were on hand stinging me and I was just swatting like a mofo. And running.

Black and white stripe?

Yup - that's them. They'll leave you alone if you don't rile them up, but once they get going they're nasty as hell.

We had a huge nest in a shrub in our front yard a two summers ago, but we had no idea it was there. Our neighbor got stung while mowing the lawn after getting too close to the shrub, but we still didn't see it. A few days later, my wife pushed the mower right up under the shrub and got tagged 4-5 times. Of course, she's (truly) deathly allergic to bee stings and she didn't have an epi-pen on hand, so we had to call 911.

I went out the next day in about five layers of clothes and a makeshift helmet and sprayed the thing with a full can of wasp and hornet killer. Hit it again the day after that. After a few days, there was a pile of a couple hundred dead hornets on the ground, so I carefully removed the nest. Luckily, nothing in that nest was left alive.