Gardening Questions & Answers

[Deleted]

> So....besides shooting them, any creative ways to get rid of squirrels?

I have a wire cage/trap that works well using bird seed as bait. I've hauled away nine squirrels (over to WK's house) and two chipmunks. I've also caught one possum and two birds, but I just let those critters go. (Spouse wouldn't try the possum recipe I found on the web.)

Wanna borrow the trap?

[mikeydokey]

So....besides shooting them, any creative ways to get rid of squirrels?

Get a Terrier, any Terrier will do. You will be happy, the Terrier will be happy, everybody's happy but the squirrels.

[LimitedRecourse]

Picked the first batch of banana peppers yesterday. Been getting some cherry tomatoes sporadically over the past week.

[doodle]

LR
My peas were looking good yet now not so much. String beans have not jumped up as high as I thought. Sporadic yields, enough for snacking ha !

Believe my problem is I planted WAY too much in a small space, the pickling cucumbers and tomato plants are being increasing sucessful in their invasion of the growing space. Is it okay to trim a few branches back ?

[LimitedRecourse]

Yes, just be careful. You should also fertilize with a balanced mixture (15-15-15) every few weeks until production stops.

[Kordax]

Green tomato give-away at the garden Saturday!

PM me for particulars....

[xterragirl]

My hubby picked a few of our grape tomatoes over the weekend. Delicious! Waiting on the larger varieties to grow and ripen!

[doughlady]

This is the first summer I've grown tomatoes in a container on my deck -- cherry tomatoes. I have literally dozens and dozens on my three plants, but they are all green -- and have been for two or three weeks. They get LOTS of sun, are watered and fed regularly, but not even a blush of red color yet. How long will it be before I can expect to see them ripen?

[LimitedRecourse]

doughlady- just be patient. Maybe it's the weather, but our tomatoes seem to be ripening much slower this year than in the past also. I blame global warming, Bill O'Reilly and the Klingons, personally.

[doughlady]

The container cherry tomatoes are beginning to ripen and are very tasty. The garden my daughter supervises at her church harvested 45 pounds of tomatoes (cherry and big boy) Wednesday evening -- will probably have another 45 pounds this weekend!

[LimitedRecourse]

Peppers, cucmbers and tomatoes are all doing well this year.

[wheels]

Aug 5, 2009 13:03:55 GMT -5 LimitedRecourse said:

Peppers, cucmbers and tomatoes are all doing well this year.

mine are doing well also. however, i have encountered a bit of an ant problem with my tomatoes. i'm trying to find a way to get rid of them w/o using pesticides.

[tnponder]

I have had a ton of ants, too. All of my gardens have done wonderful this year. Even my potatoes and onions are doing great. I have to pick my snow peas almost twice a day. Tomatoes, squash, zukes, cukes, green beans (bush), hot peppers and red, green and yellow peppers need to be picked every day.

[LimitedRecourse]

Anyone willing to trade/sell fresh veggies/fruits can PM me...I'm interested in almost everything. For getting rid of ants try diatomaceous earth, white chalk powder, or cotton balls soaked with either Pepperint Oil OR Pennyroyal Oil. If you wish, you can make a spray with some of the peppermint/pennyroyal oil w/water...or just soak some of your mismatched socks that have no pairs. Ants supposedly hate the scent of peppermint oil.

[tnponder]

The bounty keeps coming!
I picked all of these last night and I took a picture this morning. Zukes, Cukes, Squash and Green Beans. Green, Red and Yellow Peppers. Jalapenos, Serrano's, Onions, Tomatoes and Potatoes.



Everything got so wilted while we were on vacation that I was afraid I was done for the year. Thank goodness I was wrong!

[LimitedRecourse]

If anyone has a bunch of "green" or not-ripe veggies at the end of the year, PLEASE don't just throw them away. I (or YOU) can use them to make relish or chow-chow. I am willing to pick them up...or even pick them from the garden if you are willing to let me have them. THANKS!

[julia]

Thorne and I just got a house! There is an old 'serenity pond'/water garden in the back yard that needs some help getting back in shape. There is some standing yellow/green water in it. Anybody have a clue how to go about getting this thing looking pretty again?

[LimitedRecourse]

Is it a "natural" pond or a pre-fabricated container buried in the yard? If it is pre-fab, remove the water and scrub the sides/bottom with a mild (1/10) bleach solution and rinse well. Then add water and whatever plants you'd like. After a few weeks, you could even add fish if you are real adventurous. If it a natural pond, and has no "sides/bottom" to scrub, I would advise draining the old water out and adding some fresh water. You can purchase pond-care products at most hardware stores. I'd start with an algaecide and some simple plants, like lilypads or cattails.

[Deleted]

Better than Clorox:

[Thorne]

It looks as though they've built by using landscaping plastic. It is definitely not a pre-fabbed form that I could scrub. <sigh> Guess that would have been easier. What with fall and winter coming, I'm wondering if I should just leave it til next spring.

[LimitedRecourse]

I would at the very least replace the water and add some algaecide. It will give you a head start on next spring. Call a local nursery and ask which plants help "clean" ponds....it will be helpful to start with some of those. Good luck!

[julia]

Thanks LR, I think we'll do just that.

[wheels]

Sept 4, 2009 17:32:19 GMT -5 julia said:

Thorne and I just got a house! There is an old 'serenity pond'/water garden in the back yard that needs some help getting back in shape. There is some standing yellow/green water in it. Anybody have a clue how to go about getting this thing looking pretty again?

we bought a house w/ a pre-fab pond that had the same problem. We bought some lily pads and water hyacinth. both compete w/ the algae for food and provide shade, which naturally inhibits the algae's ability to grow.

do you have a filter and pump? that helps as well. we already had fish in the pond, so we didn't empty it and clean it w/ chemicals. i did try to pull out any dead plants and debris, but that and the new plants were enough to keep the algae at bay.

[julia]

I've been usy trying to get moved into the house and haven't even glanced at the pond yet. I'm hoping the rain will keep away for awhile so I can get to the yard.

LR, I apologize to you about the pick-up fiasco. As it stands, I won't be needing the items. I am up to my eyeballs in getting stuff into the house and fixing problems. But I am really sorry for any inconvenience I may have caused you.

[LimitedRecourse]

"LR, I apologize to you about the pick-up fiasco. As it stands, I won't be needing the items. I am up to my eyeballs in getting stuff into the house and fixing problems. But I am really sorry for any inconvenience I may have caused you."


No problems or inconveniences. Noone is beating our door down for an old baby swing or double stroller.

Water hyacinth is an excellent choice for any pond.

[Thorne]

Water hyacinth is an excellent choice for any pond.

That sounds wonderful! I may have to try that.

[Thorne]

Does anyone know where I can river rock out of the creek bed? Paying a huge amount of money for a truckload isn't really in the budget right now. Julia's family used to go up into Soddy Daisy when she was younger. We're not sure if that's still allowed. Does anybody know about Soddy or know where we could go?

[LimitedRecourse]

Someone on craigslist had some to sell cheap at one time not too long ago. I'm not sure where it is legal to take river stone out of the source, but you could contact TVA and ask them when they plan to dredge the nexttime, and what do they do with all that river rock they scoop out.

[Thorne]

Thanks LR. That's a good idea.

[Thorne]

Okay, new question...anybody have a tiller we can borrow for a weekend?