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


mattie g
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After mowing the chickweed down, the grass(and clover) look pretty good. Beginning of the "good lawn " period. That will last until about mid June here, then it will gradually burn to hell from the Solstice through August. Then it is rinse and repeat in the Fall. Or just give up lol.

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Fearing I was too ambitious and planted too early after seeing possible over night lows next week.

Spent the last two weeks pulling English ivy, roots and hand filling this little plot. Laid some top soil today and mixed it in.

Can we cover these up and be safe if we get overnight lows in the 30s?

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2 hours ago, CAPE said:

After mowing the chickweed down, the grass(and clover) look pretty good. Beginning of the "good lawn " period. That will last until about mid June here, then it will gradually burn to hell from the Solstice through August. Then it is rinse and repeat in the Fall. Or just give up lol.

Is that a firepit area in your yard? If so...really, really nice. Also, where is your wetland in relation to what we're looking at here?

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1 minute ago, vastateofmind said:

Is that a firepit area in your yard? If so...really, really nice. Also, where is your wetland in relation to what we're looking at here?

Yes it is, and thanks. Did it on the cheap a couple years ago and it turned out pretty good. The motivation was to further lessen the grass area, which is hard as hell to keep going in the woods and with the silty/sandy soil here. The wetland is back in the woods towards the left in that photo. 

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On 3/27/2021 at 6:50 PM, WeatherShak said:

Fearing I was too ambitious and planted too early after seeing possible over night lows next week.

Spent the last two weeks pulling English ivy, roots and hand filling this little plot. Laid some top soil today and mixed it in.

Can we cover these up and be safe if we get overnight lows in the 30s?

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If those are tomatoes and peppers I would definitely cover them at night when it is expected to get below 40 - they don't like getting cold.  If it is going to get closer to 32, you might think about putting some warm water in old milk jugs or something similar and putting the jugs near the plants under the cover at night.  If it is sunny/warm during the day you can leave the jugs out there when you take the cover off in the morning and let them heat up so they'll be ready to go in the evening again.

The good news is that if the peppers make it, some time in cool weather should make the plants more productive when it warms up.  Don't think that works for tomatoes though.

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On 3/27/2021 at 6:50 PM, WeatherShak said:

Fearing I was too ambitious and planted too early after seeing possible over night lows next week.

Spent the last two weeks pulling English ivy, roots and hand filling this little plot. Laid some top soil today and mixed it in.

Can we cover these up and be safe if we get overnight lows in the 30s?
 

Looks great!  And sorry I definitely jinxed you by saying we're through with the freeze.  Looks like we may get sub-32 Thursday/Friday night.  But hopefully that's it.  

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5 hours ago, nj2va said:

Looks great!  And sorry I definitely jinxed you by saying we're through with the freeze.  Looks like we may get sub-32 Thursday/Friday night.  But hopefully that's it.  

No worries!  I got ahead of myself too.  Should have known better.  Just glad we've got the garden ready to go.  Took me 5 mins to dig up the tomatoes, jalapenos and bell peppers.  Will replant after re-evaulating the forecast at the end of the weekend.  

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Just now, WeatherShak said:

No worries!  I got ahead of myself too.  Should have known better.  Just glad we've got the garden ready to go.  Took me 5 mins to dig up the tomatoes, jalapenos and bell peppers.  Will replant after re-evaulating the forecast at the end of the weekend.  

Good plan.

Personally, I never plant tomatoes or peppers before April 25. The relative chill in April doesn't really lend itself to allowing either of them to grow, so I figure there's really no huge benefit to getting them out that early. Come the end of April, though, I think the benefit outweighs any potential cost to doing so. I will say though...the cold last May had me scrambling to cover up all my plants!

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16 hours ago, mattie g said:

Good plan.

Personally, I never plant tomatoes or peppers before April 25. The relative chill in April doesn't really lend itself to allowing either of them to grow, so I figure there's really no huge benefit to getting them out that early. Come the end of April, though, I think the benefit outweighs any potential cost to doing so. I will say though...the cold last May had me scrambling to cover up all my plants!

That late cold snap last year really did a job on a lot of the bushes and flowering trees that had new leafing and budding well along or newly emerged at that point. There isn't much uglier and sadder than a plant wilted/killed by cold temps...especially in mid-spring.

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3 hours ago, WxUSAF said:

Frost nipped some magnolia blossoms this morning and rain and wind knocked some down. Probably will lose more tonight...too bad.

Yeah, I have two nearby neighbors whose mature magnolia trees where in magnificent full bloom prior to sunset last night...and each took a bad hit overnight. Both trees now have a brownish-pink canopy, and the petals are increasingly falling and flying in the wind.  :( 

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29 minutes ago, vastateofmind said:

Yeah, I have two nearby neighbors whose mature magnolia trees where in magnificent full bloom prior to sunset last night...and each took a bad hit overnight. Both trees now have a brownish-pink canopy, and the petals are increasingly falling and flying in the wind.  :( 

Mine wasn’t in 100% bloom yet either. Close, probably needed 1-2 more warm days.

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4 hours ago, jacindc said:

My dream of having a bed of phlox spilling out through my fence has finally been achieved. (There's a row of brick running below the bottom of the fence that gives a touch of added height.)

Looks awesome, as usual....a neighbor has a beautiful bed of phlox going, I LOVE that stuff.

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28 minutes ago, vastateofmind said:

Looks awesome, as usual....a neighbor has a beautiful bed of phlox going, I LOVE that stuff.

Thank you! Though my phlox has nothing on some of the houses in the next block, which have retaining walls that are about five feet high--cascades of phlox in various colors coming down some of them.

 

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On 4/2/2021 at 8:53 AM, WxUSAF said:

Frost nipped some magnolia blossoms this morning and rain and wind knocked some down. Probably will lose more tonight...too bad.

So many magnolias in my neighborhood popped early then got nipped by the cold weather last Saturday AM. Not looking like a good year for them.

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Picture of my seedlings taken about 10 days ago. Parsley, basil, and cilantro (indoor-only) on the left with tomatoes and jalapeños scattered throughout. I’m the very front are some later-planted basil that will go outdoors in a few weeks.

Im pretty excited to have found a basil that was bred with resistance to downy mildew. Downy mildew has ravaged my basil in the July timeframe the last five years or so, so it’ll be great to try to keep a crop going all summer long!

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On 4/7/2021 at 5:17 PM, WxUSAF said:

Operation Move 8 Yards of Mulch commencing 

I’m beginning to think these lawn companies aren’t very precise in their measurements. I got 6 yards before and it wasn’t enough. Now I’ve done everything and I’ve got an easy 2 yards left. 

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@FXW176

Here is the hummingbird feeder I like to use (sorry so big -- can't figure out how to shrink the image).  I like the square one -- it glows red when the sun shines through it.  Make nectar using 4 parts water to one part white cane sugar.  Do not add coloring or anything else.  This feeder does well with about 12 oz. in it.  One thing -- they do tend to leak where the bottom fits together.  I make gaskets out of thin foam sheets from a craft store (or Amazon) using the metal piece as a template.  I use an exacto type knife and make the gaskets about 1/4".  When you put the halves together, it stops any leaks.

Please, please change feeders regularly if you put them up!  I see people leave them out for two weeks and the nectar gets gross.  That can harm or kill a hummingbird.  12 oz can go 5-7 days in cool weather like now, especially in the shade.  In hot summer weather, change no more than every 3 days.  I keep 2 up and rotate 2 more through so I can let them get clean and dry.

 

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Wanted to do my herbs different this year. I usually do all containers. Found this three tiered stand made of cedar. The top two boxes can tip out 45 deg for sun. Also started some green onions in an egg carton. 
 

Also the oldest Miss J went with me and we took the old herb box and made a fairy garden. Complete with a Gnome named Gerald who sells shrooms :lol:

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