The 2023 Lawn, Garden, Landscape Party Discussion

[DavisStraight]

44 minutes ago, wxeyeNH said:

Meteorological summer is about over.   Our lawns enjoyed the rain.  We have had to do very little watering.  This picture is of the back of the house.  We are trying to save our Ash tree from the Ash Borer and have had it treated the past couple of years.  I'm sure it is a loosing battle after we are dead and gone.  In the meantime we planted a Eastern Redbud ( I think) that is on the left of this picture.  We also planted a oak tree (not in picture) that is just off to the right.  That will be the shade tree in future years if the Ash does not survive.  That Ash is now getting so big that it may interfere a bit with my anemometer during NW wind events.

I like how you cut your lawn, just mowed in a perpetual circle.

[wxeyeNH]

7 minutes ago, DavisStraight said:

I like how you cut your lawn, just mowed in a perpetual circle.

Ha,  I like to be creative.

[BrianW]

15 hours ago, wxeyeNH said:

Meteorological summer is about over.   Our lawns enjoyed the rain.  We have had to do very little watering.  This picture is of the back of the house.  We are trying to save our Ash tree from the Ash Borer and have had it treated the past couple of years.  I'm sure it is a loosing battle after we are dead and gone.  In the meantime we planted a Eastern Redbud ( I think) that is on the left of this picture.  We also planted a oak tree (not in picture) that is just off to the right.  That will be the shade tree in future years if the Ash does not survive.  That Ash is now getting so big that it may interfere a bit with my anemometer during NW wind events.

Nice to see another old ash being saved. Any idea on the age? 

I've been treating my 125+ year old green ash since the borer arrived around 8-10 years ago. It might be even older than that. It shows up on the 1934 Fairchild aerial survey of Connecticut as a good sized tree. I also used my neighbors ash tree that was smaller and removed and I counted 119 rings to try and compare to get a rough age. 

This picture was from the spring when it first leafed out. 

 

 

[moneypitmike]

Feeling very good about the lawn at Pit2 this year.

 

 

[BrianW]

What a summer for lawns.

 

[rimetree]

Our garden is having it's best year ever. We have a small raised bed roughly 2'x5' to accommodate a mix of tomatoes and cukes, but there's plenty to pick every day. Some zucchini and summer squash but those haven't done as well. Guessing we're also picking 1/2 to 1 pint of raspberries a day...saving a little money on produce lately.

[OceanStWx]

9 hours ago, rimetree said:

Our garden is having it's best year ever. We have a small raised bed roughly 2'x5' to accommodate a mix of tomatoes and cukes, but there's plenty to pick every day. Some zucchini and summer squash but those haven't done as well. Guessing we're also picking 1/2 to 1 pint of raspberries a day...saving a little money on produce lately.

Mine has pretty much done all its work in the last month. June just hit pause on everything. 

[Typhoon Tip]

Cucumbers this late above 40 N is unheard of

[tamarack]

2 hours ago, OceanStWx said:

Mine has pretty much done all its work in the last month. June just hit pause on everything. 

That all-the-time-wet month not only lacked sun, but also inhibited weeding (I've read that doing so when plants are wet spreads disease) such that low plants like carrots and beets hardly stood a chance.  This will be the first year in 20+ with too few carrots to be worth overwintering under mulch.  No fresh carrots next April. 
Only the cherry tomato "trees" have done well.

Cucumbers this late above 40 N is unheard of

Will probably pick our first cuke today, at 44.67 N.

Edit:  Actually found 2!  (And another 15-20 cherrytoms)

[dryslot]

12 hours ago, rimetree said:

Our garden is having it's best year ever. We have a small raised bed roughly 2'x5' to accommodate a mix of tomatoes and cukes, but there's plenty to pick every day. Some zucchini and summer squash but those haven't done as well. Guessing we're also picking 1/2 to 1 pint of raspberries a day...saving a little money on produce lately.

Been picking non stop on Beefsteaks and Cherry tomatoes, Jalapeno and cayenne peppers, Still getting a few cukes too.

[CoastalWx]

Stein making sunny areas a little crunchy. This will be the first time all season some parts of yard need water. LOL.

[Damage In Tolland]

1 minute ago, CoastalWx said:

Stein making sunny areas a little crunchy. This will be the first time all season some parts of yard need water. LOL.

Yup lawns are torching. No rain here in 2 weeks tomorrow 

[tunafish]

3 hours ago, tamarack said:

That all-the-time-wet month not only lacked sun, but also inhibited weeding (I've read that doing so when plants are wet spreads disease) such that low plants like carrots and beets hardly stood a chance.  This will be the first year in 20+ with too few carrots to be worth overwintering under mulch.  No fresh carrots next April. 
Only the cherry tomato "trees" have done well.

Cucumbers this late above 40 N is unheard of

Will probably pick our first cuke today, at 44.67 N.

Edit:  Actually found 2!  (And another 15-20 cherrytoms)

 

5 hours ago, Typhoon Tip said:

Cucumbers this late above 40 N is unheard of

Not when a groundhog eats all your early plantings so you plant more in July.  Picking 3-5 cucumbers every day now, and to my surprise we'll have enough for pickling.

 

The dews did manage to claim an unlikely victim this year - about 25 heads of garlic had to go straight to the compost.  After drying we stored them in an area of the basement that was not getting enough airflow from the dehumidifier.  Sucks, but we salvaged about 20 heads.  Enough to last until early Spring, but not the full time until next years harvest.  

 

The more lawn we turn into plant-able soil each year, the less impact these (what I consider to be) preventable mishaps have.  We sheet-mulched an additional 100 square feet of lawn in August, which will be ready to plant into in the Spring.  Plan is to do another 100 next summer for 2025 planting.  Less useless lawn and more food, flowers, and other native plants - not for everyone but that's the name of the game for us.  One of these days I'll post pictures of the 5 year transformation, but they really don't do it justice.

[tamarack]

1 hour ago, CoastalWx said:

Stein making sunny areas a little crunchy. This will be the first time all season some parts of yard need water. LOL.

Whether it's leaves "tiring" due to an early leaf-out or the current heat, leaves on maple, basswood, birch branch tips are curling with some coloring, and today they're falling as if it were October first.  Something new every season.  After my mildest of 25 winters here but also being the first AN for snow in 4 years, who knows what's next.

[OceanStWx]

18 hours ago, tunafish said:

Not when a groundhog eats all your early plantings so you plant more in July.  Picking 3-5 cucumbers every day now, and to my surprise we'll have enough for pickling.

The dews did manage to claim an unlikely victim this year - about 25 heads of garlic had to go straight to the compost.  After drying we stored them in an area of the basement that was not getting enough airflow from the dehumidifier.  Sucks, but we salvaged about 20 heads.  Enough to last until early Spring, but not the full time until next years harvest.  

The more lawn we turn into plant-able soil each year, the less impact these (what I consider to be) preventable mishaps have.  We sheet-mulched an additional 100 square feet of lawn in August, which will be ready to plant into in the Spring.  Plan is to do another 100 next summer for 2025 planting.  Less useless lawn and more food, flowers, and other native plants - not for everyone but that's the name of the game for us.  One of these days I'll post pictures of the 5 year transformation, but they really don't do it justice.

It won't be long before I'm building something like this for myself.

 

I'm up to 80 sq ft in beds, and another 100 or so in a corner garden mainly for flowers and fruit trees.

[tunafish]

10 minutes ago, OceanStWx said:

It won't be long before I'm building something like this for myself.

 

I'm up to 80 sq ft in beds, and another 100 or so in a corner garden mainly for flowers and fruit trees.

You and me both. 

I relocated 5 hogs this summer.  They were relentless.

 

[dryslot]

The only good thing about having a wet summer is was able to repair this section of my lawn, It came in great.

 

[DavisStraight]

The only downside is I had to cut my lawn every week, it's an hour and a half plus (sometimes I have to weed whack) but the lawn looks great.

[RUNNAWAYICEBERG]

Nice pics guys and great work.

This was in mid August. Never had this green of a lawn in mid summer since I never water it myself. 

 

[WxWatcher007]

I probably missed the window to reseed now that we’re back to dry  

[Chrisrotary12]

5 hours ago, RUNNAWAYICEBERG said:

Nice pics guys and great work.

This was in mid August. Never had this green of a lawn in mid summer since I never water it myself. 

 

Where'd you get the swing set? Also, what is underfoot there?

[mreaves]

4 hours ago, Chrisrotary12 said:

Where'd you get the swing set? Also, what is underfoot there?

Looks like 3” crushed granite. He wants his kids to grow up tough. 

[DavisStraight]

12 hours ago, RUNNAWAYICEBERG said:

Nice pics guys and great work.

This was in mid August. Never had this green of a lawn in mid summer since I never water it myself. 

 

Wide tracks, you have a zero turn mower?

[RUNNAWAYICEBERG]

20 hours ago, Chrisrotary12 said:

Where'd you get the swing set? Also, what is underfoot there?

Rubber mulch. Not sure about the swing set, my wife got it…probably amazon.

[RUNNAWAYICEBERG]

13 hours ago, DavisStraight said:

Wide tracks, you have a zero turn mower?

Nope. After I mow I attach my lawn sweeper to pick up the grass while making those wide stripes. 

[dendrite]

It is pouring pine tree seeds today. The wind plus a bumper crop makes this perfect timing for them. They’re blowing across to the middle of my lawn. 

[Lava Rock]

On 9/14/2023 at 10:39 AM, WxWatcher007 said:

I probably missed the window to reseed now that we’re back to dry  

lol, was thinking the same. Going to throw some seed next wknd and hope for the best

[WxWatcher007]

8 minutes ago, Lava Rock said:

lol, was thinking the same. Going to throw some seed next wknd and hope for the best

I may just wait until spring at this point. 

[amarshall]

In Florida for work. Loamed and seeded a hill Saturday. Expecting the worst when I get home .


.

[backedgeapproaching]

23 hours ago, WxWatcher007 said:

I may just wait until spring at this point. 

If its a smaller area, spring seeding can work.  It becomes more difficult if the area is bigger, you pretty much have to water all summer long to make sure it survives--unless we get a repeat of this years monsoon  

I would go now, or next fall--again if its the whole lawn or a bigger area.