Gardening Questions & Answers

[Gary]

You asked for it, here it is - the Gardening Thread!

[stray]

I have a 'Money Tree' on my desk. How much and often should I water the goddamn thing?

[Justin Thyme]

Just keep the soil moist and it should do well.

[karyotic]

Thanks Gary!

[excelsior]

Grass not the kind you smoke but that green looking plant that sometimes grows in your yard. Anybody know which is better Zoysia or Bermuda? I've planted some sod of both among my weeds and chirt it looks like the zoysia is doing better but it has been in a year longer.

[Warkitty]

I hate bermuda grass. Its runners are very annoyingly persistent in trying to take over my flowerbeds.


This bothers me even on the years like this one where I'm not home enough to care for those flower beds.

[ScarlettP]

Dude. Get "Tennesse Turf". I think the only place you can buy it is at the Barn downtown. That's the stuff that the City tosses down on a chirt bank and ignores. In two weeks, it's a beautiful bright green.

After 3 years of trying to turn my pitiful patch of dirt into something that looks like a yard, here's what I found works. #1 Remove the 20 year collection of unraked oak leaves. (Moving into old rental property is such a JOY) If you actually had to do this, spread lime to bring the pH back to something less than sulfuric acid. #2 Spray all the weeds with Round Up. #3 Arrate - that means run something over it to punch holes in the dirt. I used a hand held rolly thing that looked like a set of 8 cowboy spurs on a stick. #3 Buy bags of 'top soil' (They go on sale for 99 cents a bag. Watch the papers.) and spread about a 1/2 to 1 inch thick layer everywhere. #4 Spread Tennessee Turf and Scott's fertilizer - the kind for new lawns, I forgot the name. #5 Cover it with 'hay' or straw. #6 Water it every day.

In about 2 weeks, you should be able to mow it. Just run over the straw. If you try to rake it, you'll pull up the grass.

Finally, don't allow the tree trimmers to grind up a huge oak tree and dump all the chips on your fresh lawn and call it "Mulch". Also, do not allow the family to set up a "Haunted Yard" on your new lawn or it will never grow back. I know what I'm talking about here.

[excelsior]

Your right Warkitty that stuff does vine alot. I like it though because it's very hardy. I've tried fescues over and over but I think some of these droughts have gotten to them. Of course I'm lazy. I just want to throw it out there and let it grow.

Thanks ScarlettP. I'll look in that Tennessee Turf. Is that seeds or sod? Seems like so far the patches of sod I've put down have taken off really well. Really what needs to be done is to completley start from scratch and I don't have the money to do so. I've got what looks like wild bermuda all over but it looks different than the sod bermuda. Does anybody know if there is a difference between the two?

There for many years I gave up on it and said the heck with it if it was green then good for it. Ya know what I mean.

[mikeydokey]

For the last 2 years I've put out the new heat - drought resistant blue grass, Its taken a- while but this year my grass looked better than ever, I wish it hadn't been so dry so I could have really seen what it could have done. One thing about the dry weather though, no crabgrass this year.

[ScarlettP]

TN Turf is seed. It's what the City uses when they dig up your yard or a bank, then toss out a handful of seed and leave. It actually does very well for filling in bald spots or for the lazy gardener. (Like me) Naturally, anything does better if you work at giving it a good place to start. Just remember to pick up that bale of straw with your seed and you'll be much happier with your results.

[excelsior]

I've never had any luck with seeds because my yard is mostly chirt but I may got get some of this next spring. Thanks.

[ScarlettP]

Best of luck to you. Chirt is such a pain in the neck.

[excelsior]

Yeah one day I thought I would dig up a little rock that was sticking up because I was going to put some sod over it. Well I kept digging and digging and before long it became a boulder. Finally I said nuts to it and gave up and buried it all back.

[mikeydokey]

They say that rocky soil is a sign of fertile soil, maybe you could plant some rocks.

[ScarlettP]

Just walked over to look at the construction on Mom's new house. Gees! The yard! We thought the empty field was like mowing a wash board. It's worse now. Way worse. *shudder*

[LimitedRecourse]

I use dandelions to cover the bare spots in my yard....no maintenance AND you can eat the greens in salads and make the flowers into wine. A versatile plant, indeed.

[Kordax]

I need some manure and/or mushroom mulch delivered to a Lookout Mtn garden. Anyone know a supplier they'd recommend?

[Warkitty]

Dandilion root is even medicinal.

[ScarlettP]

Just FYI - my peace lily is doing SO much better after I gave it a good soaking.

[LimitedRecourse]

A new and revolting development in my garden.....the squirrels have decided that they now LOVE green tomatoes. Now, if they had been fried, I would blame it on geography, as I've never know squirrels to like tomatoes, let alone green ones. But this is the first year (in almost 20) that I've grown tomatoes here that I've had to fight the squirrels for them.

Anyone else having squirrel troubles in their tomato gardens?

[Kordax]

Anyone else having squirrel troubles in their tomato gardens?

Dittos -- my garden is at my aunt's house where she's seen them carrying medium sized tomatoes off in their mouths....

[LimitedRecourse]

I sense an impending slingshot dusting........

[Fun Grrl From Mt Pilot]

for the squirell problem, try dog or human hair...
any grooming shop would be happy to hook you up with this...and no pesticides too...

[Justin Thyme]

Blow guns are much more fun.... and no pesticides there either.

[tuffmustang]

justinthyme said:

Blow guns are much more fun.... and no pesticides there either.

Just bodies if you get lucky and hit one.

[LimitedRecourse]

I don't like the idea of my OWN hair laying around, let alone someone ELSE'S....

[mikeydokey]

Chipmunks have been eating my tomatoes. Hell, they won't just eat one tomato, they take a few bites out of one and then move onto another one.

[ScarlettP]

The squirrels at my old house did that to our pears. They wouldn't eat just one... they took just one or two bites out of EACH of them.

[LimitedRecourse]

So....besides shooting them, any creative ways to get rid of squirrels? I was told that cayenne pepper added to bird seed will stop squirrels from eating it. Will pepper sprinkled around the garden keep them away? I'm sure it will piss of a couple neighborhood cats.

[Warkitty]

*giggling* there's always getting a "have a heart" trap, then putting a plastic bag around the trap with the squirrel in it and the other end of the back on the car exhaust....