Hehehe...subscribe to the Arizona Republic Barb...it is always a book! Sometimes it's so heavy the driving has trouble lugging it out the window onto the driveway =)
Now I'm wondering...it seems in some areas, grass and things won't grow where pine needles exist. Pine needles however, are an excellent mulch for roses, as in our climate they tend to bring up the acidity levels which are very low. But, is it the shade of the tree that does not allow things to grow under it? Or is it something in the pine needles?
--
Chat with you later...
-----
Alan Chandler, Arizona Sunset Zone: 13
http://www.gizmoaz.com
Over 250 roses and over 160 Different varieties! Never a dull moment!!
***** Year of the Rose, 2002! *****
Have you crashed your Windows today ?
Ok Bob, do as I say and not as I do. I mulched a long strip of path and some
other areas this year, did I remember to put in the paper first?
Nooooooooooo. DO I see crabgrass et al popping up? You bet. Do I really want
to move all that mulch over to the side and put in paper and put the mulch
back? Noooooooooooo I do not! So there. rotflmao There's only one chance to
do it right. If you are mulching 21 acres, well, that could be a gargantuan
task.
Our little local paper is only about eight pages a day. At that rate it
would take me years to do just the path in paper. SO maybe I should ask my
neighbors to save some for me. In the good old days I used the Wall Street
Journal. Now there's a paper you can count on. :)
Barbara M. Martin
Current Mid-Atlantic Garden Report: "Goodbye, Coneflowers!"
http://nationalgardening.com/regional/report13.html
Now at Cottage Garden: "Gardening on the Internet: Bookmarks to Keep"
http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/253/92857
Co-Owner, Gardens List http://www.kiva.net/~dorsettm/notes.html
of
from
> the ground. I therefore wait to mulch until the plants are large enough
> not to disappear underneath. Of course, many seed germinate when I plant
> flower seed and a lot of those here not planted by me. They are the
> opportunists of the flower bed and hope to prosper right along with the
> fancy flowers. I must gently but firmly discourage this and therefore I
weed.
> Your suggestion on weed control is splendid and I am sure that I shall
find
> it effective when the time comes. Until then I send my thanks for your
> thoughtful suggestions and I look forward to other equally helpful
pointers
top
> it with mulch? The drill is about eight sheets of newspaper (dampen in in
a
> bucket to keep it from blowing away while you work) covered with mulch so
it
Thoughtful gardeners,
Two or three days ago I wrote of weeding my front flower bed, the one by
the highway. It isn't impressive so far but I have dreams and they include
masses of color, happy plants and deep mulch. I can almost see it now!
Of course I have discovered that the local flora enjoys the benign
conditions I am providing as much or more that my choices of plants. These
native species (AKA weeds) have grasped the opportunity and have made the
most of what must seem heaven-sent. I have a marvelous crop of
weeds. Sunday I wrote of kneeling down and pulling weeds and I spoke
wistfully of the meditation and subsequent feeling of peace that came while
weeding. It is indeed a time of thoughtful solitude.
I did not mention that I accumulated several fire ant bites in the
process. I don't react badly to fire ants but they do tend to discourage
staying in one place too long. I saw no mound but I certainly knew they
were there. In South Carolina and in Texas I have discovered that fire
ants don't make much of a mound in dry weather. The burrow deep and stay
far underground where their presence is usually undetected unless you are
unfortunate enough to stand atop such a nest and they swarm up you
legs. That will certainly get your attention and (I have discovered) will
lend a certain sensitivity to standing overlong in one place. These are
not nice guys and they can make even the most demure shed cloths in public
with surprising speed.
Vexed by my plant bed miscreants, I ventured over to my local Wal-Mart to
see if there might be some especially dreadful poison that would make my
fire ant population dwindle to zero. I felt no mercy for them and I hoped
that I could rid my flowerbed of them without causing a general die off of
all the fauna in the yard. I discovered "Over And Out" by GardenTech (let
me hasten to add that I am not an employee, stockholder or invested in any
way in the success or failure of the company or the product). It was
expensive ($19.95 for enough to treat 5000 square feet (1/8th of an
acre). It promised to rid my flower bed of fire ants for the rest of the
"season" and considering it was to be used only in the southeast United
States that might mean several months!
I have applied the granules in the fashion that was directed and have
watered them in. I am looking forward to weeding in a few days without the
sting of fire ant bites and the discomfort of wondering if they were
crawling into my shorts. I'll let you know how this stuff works (from my
one-man test lab). Perhaps this will be somewhat of an answer to those of
us who live in the infested land of the stinging fire ant.
Hopefully,
Bob Blakely
Fireants aside, why are you weeding? Didn't you put down newspaper and top
it with mulch? The drill is about eight sheets of newspaper (dampen in in a
bucket to keep it from blowing away while you work) covered with mulch so it
looks nicer. Did the weeds come up through that? If they did, you 've got
more problems than just fireants. :)
Barbara M. Martin
Current Mid-Atlantic Garden Report: "Goodbye, Coneflowers!"
http://nationalgardening.com/regional/report13.html
Now at Cottage Garden: "Gardening on the Internet: Bookmarks to Keep"
http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/253/92857
Co-Owner, Gardens List http://www.kiva.net/~dorsettm/notes.html
include
Mulch, only resting on the soil, not mixed in with it, shouldn't alter the
pH of the soil, as i understand it. When you start raking pine needles
out, you'll be amazed at the thickness of that mulch. Margaret L
Dear Barbara et al,
I have been taken to task for weeding or (more correctly) needing to
weed. I must admit that your point is well made and that I have even
started to conform to your helpful suggestion even before I got your
post. I have 21 acres here in northern South Carolina and (as is the case
for most of the Piedmont of Carolina) I have a great quantity of
pines. That being the case, it occurred to me that I could avail myself of
an almost limitless supply of pine straw and duff from the forest floor as
a mulch. Using newspaper had not occurred to me because I don't take a
newspaper and therefore have none to use.
Still, I do have the products of the pine and I have begun to haul that
lovely stuff from the woods to my gardens. It does help, it really
does. Still, then I am planting new rows with tiny seed I find that
mulching gets in the way and I can't see the new babies as they emerge from
the ground. I therefore wait to mulch until the plants are large enough
not to disappear underneath. Of course, many seed germinate when I plant
flower seed and a lot of those here not planted by me. They are the
opportunists of the flower bed and hope to prosper right along with the
fancy flowers. I must gently but firmly discourage this and therefore I weed.
Your suggestion on weed control is splendid and I am sure that I shall find
it effective when the time comes. Until then I send my thanks for your
thoughtful suggestions and I look forward to other equally helpful pointers
in the future.
Sincerely,
Bob Blakely
Ok Bob, do as I say and not as I do. I mulched a long strip of path and some
other areas this year, did I remember to put in the paper first?
Nooooooooooo. DO I see crabgrass et al popping up? You bet. Do I really want
to move all that mulch over to the side and put in paper and put the mulch
back? Noooooooooooo I do not! So there. rotflmao There's only one chance to
do it right. If you are mulching 21 acres, well, that could be a gargantuan
task.
Our little local paper is only about eight pages a day. At that rate it
would take me years to do just the path in paper. SO maybe I should ask my
neighbors to save some for me. In the good old days I used the Wall Street
Journal. Now there's a paper you can count on. :)
Barbara M. Martin
Current Mid-Atlantic Garden Report: "Goodbye, Coneflowers!"
http://nationalgardening.com/regional/report13.html
Now at Cottage Garden: "Gardening on the Internet: Bookmarks to Keep"
http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/253/92857
Co-Owner, Gardens List http://www.kiva.net/~dorsettm/notes.html
of
from
> the ground. I therefore wait to mulch until the plants are large enough
> not to disappear underneath. Of course, many seed germinate when I plant
> flower seed and a lot of those here not planted by me. They are the
> opportunists of the flower bed and hope to prosper right along with the
> fancy flowers. I must gently but firmly discourage this and therefore I
weed.
> Your suggestion on weed control is splendid and I am sure that I shall
find
> it effective when the time comes. Until then I send my thanks for your
> thoughtful suggestions and I look forward to other equally helpful
pointers
top
> it with mulch? The drill is about eight sheets of newspaper (dampen in in
a
> bucket to keep it from blowing away while you work) covered with mulch so
it
I think both/all of the above -- pines are very aggressive competitors for
water, nutrients and light.
If flower garden soil is already acid and you are adding pine needles as
muclh then you may also need to lime some. You would ahve to run some soil
tests to see for sure.
Barbara M. Martin
Current Mid-Atlantic Garden Report: "Goodbye, Coneflowers!"
http://nationalgardening.com/regional/report13.html
Now at Cottage Garden: "Gardening on the Internet: Bookmarks to Keep"
http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/253/92857
Co-Owner, Gardens List http://www.kiva.net/~dorsettm/notes.html
Sometimes it's so heavy the driving has trouble lugging it out the window
onto the driveway =)
> Now I'm wondering...it seems in some areas, grass and things won't grow
where pine needles exist. Pine needles however, are an excellent mulch for
roses, as in our climate they tend to bring up the acidity levels which are
very low. But, is it the shade of the tree that does not allow things to
grow under it? Or is it something in the pine needles?
some
> other areas this year, did I remember to put in the paper first?
> Nooooooooooo. DO I see crabgrass et al popping up? You bet. Do I really
want
> to move all that mulch over to the side and put in paper and put the mulch
> back? Noooooooooooo I do not! So there. rotflmao There's only one chance
to
> do it right. If you are mulching 21 acres, well, that could be a
gargantuan
case
> for most of the Piedmont of Carolina) I have a great quantity of
> pines. That being the case, it occurred to me that I could avail myself
> of
> an almost limitless supply of pine straw and duff from the forest floor
as
plant
in
> a
> bucket to keep it from blowing away while you work) covered with mulch
so
> it
> looks nicer. Did the weeds come up through that? If they did, you 've
got
How about the Washington Post! That's a fat one, too.
ok I'll stop the literary commentary now.
Barbara M. Martin
Current Mid-Atlantic Garden Report: "Goodbye, Coneflowers!"
http://nationalgardening.com/regional/report13.html
Now at Cottage Garden: "Gardening on the Internet: Bookmarks to Keep"
http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/253/92857
Co-Owner, Gardens List http://www.kiva.net/~dorsettm/notes.html
Sometimes it's so heavy the driving has trouble lugging it out the window
onto the driveway =)
I have heard that if you mulch Bleeding Hearts with the Washington Post
they will do quite well.
Bob (ducking and running)
In the long run I suspect that the rotted down pine straw or pine needles
would be buffered through composting -- as are oak leaves, for example --
but in the short term, eg a year, I believe the pine needle or pine straw
application does acidify the soil. (It also settles a lot.)
Here is an abstract from the ISA's Journal of Arboriculture in re some
different mulches' effects on soil.
http://www2.champaign.isa-arbor.com/JofA/abstracts/joamar99.html#what
Barbara M. Martin
Current Mid-Atlantic Garden Report: "Goodbye, Coneflowers!"
http://nationalgardening.com/regional/report13.html
Now at Cottage Garden: "Gardening on the Internet: Bookmarks to Keep"
http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/253/92857
Co-Owner, Gardens List http://www.kiva.net/~dorsettm/notes.html
for
> water, nutrients and light.
> If flower garden soil is already acid and you are adding pine needles as
> muclh then you may also need to lime some. You would ahve to run some
soil
Barbara et al,
Can you do the newspaper trick over a bed that has been overtaken (for years,
it would seem) with ivy?
In a message dated 7/23/02 10:31:47 AM Central Daylight Time,
rblakely@INFOAVE.NET writes:
Maybe. Hedera helix, right? This stuff is invasive and does well in tough
places for a reason -- it is almost unstoppable. If you mowed it off short,
grubbed out the roots as best you could, then layered down cardboard, then
mulch, then maybe. I have never tried it so I am not convinced it would
work. It would slow it down for a few years, but I am not sure it would kill
it. Has anybody tried it and seen long term results?
Footnote, Often when there is a big patch of ivy it is there because lawn
would not grow, or for some other problem solving solution..... in many
cases it pays to think long and hard before deciding to do away with it.
Barbara M. Martin
Current Mid-Atlantic Garden Report: "Goodbye, Coneflowers!"
http://nationalgardening.com/regional/report13.html
Now at Cottage Garden: "Gardening on the Internet: Bookmarks to Keep"
http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/253/92857
Co-Owner, Gardens List http://www.kiva.net/~dorsettm/notes.html
years,
case
> for most of the Piedmont of Carolina) I have a great quantity of
> pines. That being the case, it occurred to me that I could avail myself
of
> an almost limitless supply of pine straw and duff from the forest floor
as
from
> the ground. I therefore wait to mulch until the plants are large enough
> not to disappear underneath. Of course, many seed germinate when I
plant
find
> it effective when the time comes. Until then I send my thanks for your
> thoughtful suggestions and I look forward to other equally helpful
pointers
late in this thread, but D just arrived from FLA and says - Mr. CLEAN, the
YELLOW floor cleaner, kills fire ants!!!!!!!!!! Pour it on the hills, never
see that hill again. Fire ants move, so you just keep pourin. But
ofcourse, there goes your garden.
karen, nj
include
> masses of color, happy plants and deep mulch. I can almost see it now!
> Of course I have discovered that the local flora enjoys the benign
> conditions I am providing as much or more that my choices of plants.
These
> native species (AKA weeds) have grasped the opportunity and have made the
> most of what must seem heaven-sent. I have a marvelous crop of
> weeds. Sunday I wrote of kneeling down and pulling weeds and I spoke
> wistfully of the meditation and subsequent feeling of peace that came
while
(let
the
