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I'm in the process of planting Thuja Green Giant - Arborvitae (https://www.fast-growing-trees.com/products/thuja-green-giant?variant=13940743471156). I'm a little concerned about how they look. 20 new trees arrived about a week ago, and I've planted them all over the last few days. Here's how they looked in the container yesterday, right before I put them in the ground:  This is a tree that had been planted 24 to 48 hours prior. Notice the yellowing on the tips:  For comparison, here's one I planted one year ago. (Sorry, it was difficult to get a good picture that let you really see the coloring. And yes, I know I need to weed) This one has battled with deer, so it's a little rougher.  My concern here is between the first and second picture. Just a day in the ground and it seems like the tree is losing color. Is that normal for a just-replanted tree, or is there something else here? This is how I planted them: -Dig a hole 2x the width and the same depth as the root ball -Put a little brand new dirt in -Put the tree in -Cover the roots with fresh soil, press down with hands -Water generously on the day of planting, and each day after (if it didn't rain) -I'll be putting mulch around the base in the next few days, now that they're all in the ground The Wonder Weapon fucked around with this message at 18:18 on May 26, 2022 |
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May 26, 2022 18:15
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I don't know anything about growing thuja, but it's common for plants to flomp for awhile after they've been planted; root shock is real. Give it a couple of weeks before you worry, for it to put out new roots and recover from the trip.
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May 26, 2022 20:35
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Despite not having a gas powered lawn mower I still ended up with having to fix one. My mother in laws mower stopped working, she was gonna buy a new one since she had someone look at it and they did not get it working either. They claimed the carb was gunked up and needed cleaning. Took it apart, didn't really think about how things were set up, but maybe someone already sees the problem?   I just photo'ed the links and such for when I went to put it back. But when I actually went to put them back as they where I found that this just couldn't be right. The throttle link on it's own was fine, but when the choke lever was added, it just couldn't work, the lever could not actutate the choke like this, and should it not be articulated separately from the throttle? Well this was how it came to me so no wonder it wasn't working. I found the lever for the choke link was actually on the front of the engine, so that link should be oriented 90 degrees from the throttle link, then it fit perfectly. I cleaned the carb in the ultrasonic as well and then put things back together and for a quick fix I put grease on the gaskets (one looks distinctly home made) and it started on the first pull. Revving a bit high but I'll have to adjust that later, should just be a matter of changing the spring tension on the governor lever, perhaps change the oil too. Just who was this guy who took 50€ for this work. 
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May 27, 2022 04:43
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My lawn is infested with what I thought were dandelions but is actually mainly flatweed. I ordered a Fiskars Weedpuller but I think I bought it at the tail end of its production and delivery has been delayed for a month so far. Meanwhile my lawn is still full of flatweed. I read somewhere that unlike dandelions, removing the crown is already enough to remove the plant and it won't grow back from the taproot. If so, I'll just go to town with gloves and secateurs.
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May 29, 2022 09:45
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Fragrag posted:My lawn is infested with what I thought were dandelions but is actually mainly flatweed. Yo, that fiskars is what's up. Good hand tool.
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Jun 2, 2022 03:36
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Is the fiskars weedpuller the standing-height pole with the prongs at one end? If so I have the gardena version and it does the job for clearing typical NZ yard weeds. Might be an alternative if you still have trouble obtaining the fiskars.
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Jun 2, 2022 05:28
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Progressive JPEG posted:Is the fiskars weedpuller the standing-height pole with the prongs at one end? If so I have the gardena version and it does the job for clearing typical NZ yard weeds. Might be an alternative if you still have trouble obtaining the fiskars. The fiskars one squeezes around the taproot when you lean it back, and there’s a weed ejector that feels like chambering a dandelion gun.
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Jun 2, 2022 07:57
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That gardena one's got a similar plunger for pushing the plant/dirt off the tines. Push down on the middle plastic collar like squeezing a mop.
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Jun 2, 2022 08:50
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Hello landscaping thread! I am a new homeowner and coming from the xeriscapes of Nevada and Colorado I have never had to maintain or care for plants. Try as I might everything I touch dies. I finally hired a landscaper to put in some plants and irrigation and figured all would be well, but I still can't make it work. How do I tell what's killing these plants so I can try and save them? Or do I just have to test every possible scenario over the next couple of months? For reference, I'm in southern California. Landscaper put in 2gph drip emitters, and scheduled 20 minutes twice a day (once early morning, once late evening) for 3 days a week. Talking to different landscapers (some licensed, some neighbors, some home Depot staff), I've determined that it could just be shock from the planting and they need more time, out could be too much water, or it could be too little water, or it could be too much sun (assuming it's not bugs or disease), which doesn't help at all. Anything I can do to help diagnose and test in the short term?  
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Jun 5, 2022 04:44
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Getting trees removed is expensive.
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Jun 5, 2022 13:26
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PageMaster posted:Talking to different landscapers How about talking to the SAME landscaper you paid to do this job and say "you messed up, this isn't working. Fix it."
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Jun 5, 2022 15:33
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The Wonder Weapon posted:-Water generously on the day of planting, and each day after (if it didn't rain) I wouldn't water EACH day, just when the top 6 inches of soil dries out.
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Jun 6, 2022 01:49
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Progressive JPEG posted:Is the fiskars weedpuller the standing-height pole with the prongs at one end? If so I have the gardena version and it does the job for clearing typical NZ yard weeds. Might be an alternative if you still have trouble obtaining the fiskars. Thanks for the recommendation. I canceled the Fiskars and got the Gardena instead. I'm managing to pull the flatweeds with taproots pretty consistently now! I just now have to find time to do the whole garden...
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Jun 7, 2022 08:04
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I like the look of this one, been thinking about how I could make one myself: https://grampasweeder.com/
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Jun 7, 2022 09:07
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I have that fiskar's weed puller. It was pricey, like $50 or $60, but it's reasonably effective. I don't see anything being better that isn't just a shovel. A week or two ago I posted about my yellowing trees. There's still several that look rough, but the rest are bright green, so I have no idea why ~7 out of 19, in the middle of the row, are yellow while the rest are green, but I'll give it some time to see what happens. In the meantime, I'm going to put a semi-permanent fence around them to keep the deer out. Here's my row of trees, and stakes in the ground where the fence will run.  I want to plant creeping thyme down the row, in-between the red lines. I wont' be able to mow in there, so eliminating the grass is necessary, but I also don't want to try and maintain all of that space with mulch every year. If I want to plant the thyme, what ground prep is necessary? I don't suppose I can just sprinkle the seeds across the grass as-is and water, and they'll overtake the grass?
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Jun 7, 2022 18:11
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Burn it down (chemically - I'd suggest glyphosate - gonna be tough with those little trees there so I'd cover them while applying), till/scratch it up, fertilize, seed, compact for maximum soil contact (i.e. a roller), cover with your favorite water retention thing (recycled newspaper pellets, straw, whatever). Take soil samples first and know what you need to add as a starting fertilizer.
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Jun 7, 2022 18:21
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Speaking of tools, I bought this spade last year and it absolutely rocks. For those situations where you need more leverage than a trowel gives you, but a full-sized spade won't fit (e.g. a raised bed). Light, easy to maneuver, good sharp edge. They also make a full-sized one.
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Jun 7, 2022 18:37
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Motronic posted:Burn it down (chemically - I'd suggest glyphosate - gonna be tough with those little trees there so I'd cover them while applying), till/scratch it up, fertilize, seed, compact for maximum soil contact (i.e. a roller), cover with your favorite water retention thing (recycled newspaper pellets, straw, whatever). ugh your posts are always simultaneously the best and worst Is it too late in the season to do that if the seeds wouldn't be in the ground until sometime in July? Would I need to wait until the fall planting season?
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Jun 7, 2022 19:07
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The Wonder Weapon posted:ugh your posts are always simultaneously the best and worst I would absolutely do it in the fall. Unless you want to spend the next few months watering that patch every couple of days. And if you can, rent a slit seeder. Your germination rate will go way up and you can skip rolling. E: and if you wait for the fall, burn it down in august and scratch it up/till it once everything turns brown in a couple weeks. Then give it 2 more weeks to germinate all the weed seed your tilling just kicked up and spray it again at least 2 weeks before seeding. Motronic fucked around with this message at 19:22 on Jun 7, 2022 |
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Jun 7, 2022 19:18
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Ok so my order of operations here is: 1. In mid-august(?), spray grass thoroughly with roundup 2. Wait ~2 weeks for the grass to all turn brown 3. Till the soil 4. Wait ~2 weeks for germination to occur 5. Spray again 6. Wait ~ 2 weeks 7. Fertilize, seed, roll, cover Sound correct? If I start mid-August and wait exactly two weeks each time, that puts the seeds in the ground at the end of September. (Zone 6a here)
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Jun 8, 2022 15:08
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Yeah, that should work. But I'd start earlier. Depending on the amount of rain you've gotten before it could take longer than 2 weeks for the first application to work (or it may take multiple applications). 2 weeks is the "save to reseed time", not how long it will take for sure to be effective. Remember, glyphosate is a systemic that interferes with water uptake. So stuff that's already well watered can take a long time to die. If you weren't dealing iwth grass I'd be pointing you at 2,4-D which is an artificial growth stimulator and works a lot faster but not on cerial/grains. Motronic fucked around with this message at 16:09 on Jun 8, 2022 |
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Jun 8, 2022 16:07
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It's funny, I really loving hate mowing which is why I went high-tech and got a robot, but it was quite relaxing to cut down the tall grass in the ditch with the scythe. Swish swish...
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Jun 8, 2022 19:36
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I am continuing my never ending mission of digging up every crape myrtle sprout from the stumps I ground out of the ground 2 years ago. This time I found a piece of root that goes under my houses foundation footer and I cut it as far down as I could. I'm praying it dies and doesn't sprout up in my crawl space. If any plant can grow without any sun it's probably the crape myrtle. gently caress crape myrtles forever. They're a god drat cancer. SpartanIvy fucked around with this message at 20:41 on Jun 8, 2022 |
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Jun 8, 2022 20:23
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SpartanIvy posted:gently caress crape myrtles forever. They're a god drat cancer. They are beautiful and I love them 
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Jun 9, 2022 01:25
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Just moved into a house that sits on 1.5 acres. Luckily I have a ride-on mower because it’s a lot of grass to cut. The previous owner apparently decided to just pile all his grass clippings and leaves right in the back yard, leaving a loving mountain of leaves. A few questions/thoughts: My ride on has a bagger, but should I be using this all the time or just every now and then? With my push mower, I never really bagged because I had a mulching blade and would use the clippings as fertilizer. I’m assuming I could do the same with the ride on and maybe just use the bagger for fall (leaves) or if any of the grass is diseased so I prevent spreading anything around? Also I’d bag if the grass gets too long i suppose. If I continue bagging, wtf should I do with all these clippings? I plan on hauling or burning the current mountain he left me. I was thinking compost, but my ride on mower with a 2 bin bagger filled up twice on my last cut, so that’s a lot of clippings to compost. I don’t currently have a garden, so I’m not even sure what I’d use the compost for.z
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Jun 19, 2022 11:50
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My Worx automatic lawnmower just arrived, suck it lawns.
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Jun 19, 2022 18:39
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I pretty much never use a bag for mowing, too much work and I imagine it's effectively taking nutrients away from the grass when I do it. Also mowing sucks in general and I'm planting trees and other plants so that over time I can do less of it.
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Jun 19, 2022 19:09
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Progressive JPEG posted:I pretty much never use a bag for mowing, too much work and I imagine it's effectively taking nutrients away from the grass when I do it.  Bagging is good if you have a pool, or you're trying to avoid spreading fungus-infected grass clippings. Maybe also if you're planning to overseed, start bagging in advance to not have as much dead grass covering the soil. Otherwise get a mulching blade and put it all back into the lawn.
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Jun 19, 2022 20:07
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I finally bought a line trimmer again after wearing out my old one. This one has more power. Works as expected on stiffer stuff like dandelions but it seems to be creating a lot of wind that's blowing taller grass and wispier weeds down before the line can cut it. Anything I can do about that besides easing up on the throttle to try to reduce the draft?
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Jun 20, 2022 02:04
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I live in perma-drought southern California so am considering artificial turf for a portion of our yard. Does anyone have experience with them? My main concerns are heat retention on hot summer days and toxicity of the loose rubber substrate or whatever it is they use now. If anyone has other suggestions for very low water use yard cover that isn't dirt/gravel, I'm interested.
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Jun 29, 2022 19:50
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Do you have a dog? I've heard that dog poo poo and turf is a bad combination.
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Jun 29, 2022 21:06
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Are you in an HOA or something where it has to be lawn? If not I'd personally just go with planting socal natives
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Jun 29, 2022 21:11
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Ambassadorofsodomy posted:Do you have a dog? I have also heard that artificial turf gets way hotter in the sun than soil/lawn and so could burn pet paws (or humans) when it's hot out.
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Jun 29, 2022 22:33
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Yes we do have a dog and that is another concern I’m in favor of native plants at the moment but still considering all options No HOA thank god bawfuls fucked around with this message at 06:54 on Jun 30, 2022 |
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Jun 30, 2022 06:48
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Hi landscaping thread. We bought our first house a little over a year ago and initially focused on some interior work. Now it's time to figure out how to maintain the land! Total novice here, moved to the burbs of New England (6b) from renting in a west coast city. For the last year we've just been paying a landscaping company to keep doing whatever the PO was doing through them, but feel like there must be a better way to handle this hill. For reference, the ledge is about 100 linear feet. The backyard has a relatively steep drop off into the woods - our property line ends at the willow tree which is ours and then goes back like 75 ft from the deck. Also some of the area at the bottom of the ledge is protected wetlands. My husband back in May being very much over my gardening bullshit.  Worth it - baby hydrangea hedge is coming along nicely. Hope to eventually propagate and fill the rest of the hedge in. We should also probably learn basic lawn care to make the grass less patchy but that's for another time.   According to the landscapers and our neighbors, the PO created a "rock garden" where he had a wood ledge installed, gravel added and then paid them to mulch the hill annually. He apparently had some kind of thorn proof hazmat suit thing he wore to go down there and hand weed a few times a year? Last year the landscaping company charged 'gently caress off' money to weed it and none of the extender tools we bought could reach very far.   On the left hand side of the ledge we have this PVC pipe coming out which I'm assuming is some kind of French drain. The chipmunks sure love it! Not sure of the implications, if any, of using ground cover near it or near protected wetlands.    Would love any thoughts for lower maintenance ways to approach this. Leaning more toward ground cover instead of landscape fabric since the view of the woods is a lovely feature from large windows in most common areas inside the house.
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Jul 7, 2022 17:01
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amethystbliss posted:Would love any thoughts for lower maintenance ways to approach this. Leaning more toward ground cover instead of landscape fabric since the view of the woods is a lovely feature from large windows in most common areas inside the house. Tear all that poo poo out, kill everything, especially whatever weeds those are and plant a wildflower mix. What a terrible place to try to over-landscape. Slopes are the worst. It's just nothing but a bunch of effort for very little return.
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Jul 7, 2022 17:12
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Motronic posted:Tear all that poo poo out, kill everything. New fuckin thread title right here if I ever saw one
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Jul 7, 2022 18:50
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Ambassadorofsodomy posted:New fuckin thread title right here if I ever saw one That's the truth too. First thing we did when the snow melted at the new place was hire a dude on a skid-steer to grind up every single thing that wasn't a tree on 2.5 acres. Totally worth the $650 it cost me.
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Jul 7, 2022 18:55
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Motronic posted:Tear all that poo poo out, kill everything, especially whatever weeds those are and plant a wildflower mix. What a terrible place to try to over-landscape. Slopes are the worst. It's just nothing but a bunch of effort for very little return. It is 1000% a bunch of effort for very little return. When you say ‘kill everything’ do you also mean my new beloved hydrangeas  ? Or just the weeds? Another issue is that a lot of the neighborhood kids run around and play in our yard and there are obvious safety concerns. A fence was cost prohibitive so I figured a long hydrangea hedge would at least fill in those empty spots along the ledge so they can’t play there. With the added bonus of a) hiding the slope so I don't have to maintain it and b) disguising the ugly gray gravel, at least during the spring and summer months. Plus they're pretty.Is there any risk of a bunch of wildflowers clogging the French drain or anything? Probably not but nervous about somehow making it worse. First time maintaining a yard so am very new to this all, thanks in advance. Ambassadorofsodomy posted:New fuckin thread title right here if I ever saw one
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Jul 7, 2022 18:58
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amethystbliss posted:It is 1000% a bunch of effort for very little return. When you say ‘kill everything’ do you also mean my new beloved hydrangeas It really depends on the end result you're looking for. If you want to keep them as a border and put in wildflowers everywhere else like I initially suggested I might be convinced it's possible to save them in place, but it might be dicey and you may want to temporarily reloace them. Because when I say "kill everything" I'm talking about chemically "burning down" the grass and weeds with something like glyphosate, 2,4-D and some surfactant. That's the kind of thing that will take 80% of that stuff out on the first application after 2-3 weeks, 95% after the second application and then maybe you'll need to spot treat a bit. Bonus point for tilling/soil prep, waiting a couple weeks to let the weed seeds you just kicked up germinate, then one more application with a 2 week buffer before planting the wildflower seed. Your target date for that planting should be the end of the summer/very early fall. So it's a whole timing thing. With all of those applications of sprayed on plant death do you really want to risk the hydrangeas? I'd be looking for a temporary home somewhere else in the yard until all the spraying is done. Of course it's gonna be real tough on them to move them this time of year. So maybe wait until fall when they go dormant, move them, and start all of this insanity middle of next summer for a early fall 2023 planting, then move the hydrangea back early spring 2024 right before the come out of dormancy.
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Jul 7, 2022 19:11
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