-Anita (who managed to crawl into a bed of cactuses as a two year
old -- a dangerous plant not yet mentioned in this discussion.)
My dad put a cactiin by his driveway there's about a 6 inch drop off the
driveway at that point. I took one look at it and asked my dad if he
was going to pull all the prickers out of whichever of my kids falls in
it. The next day it was gone.
It's impossible to make your garden totally kidproof, but some things
are more obvious than others.
Deborah
I got my hardy cactus garden moved out to Sparrowood yesterday. They =
were the only thing I could transplant in the 90+ heat! I had one pad I =
rooted last summer that developed 12 new pads this summer. It's so =
fascinating to see these plants that conjure up images of hot, dry =
deserts, growing and blooming in our zone 5 snow belt!
Lee Ann
Lee Ann Reiners
Edinboro University of Pennsylvania
reiners@edinboro.edu
I used the kitchen tongs to lift them as I dug them, but left them behind
when I went out to plant them. Even with leather gloves, the spines came in
through the few cloth areas on the gloves. The plants are still relatively
small, so I hope I never have to move them again!
Lee Ann
Lee Ann Reiners
Edinboro University of Pennsylvania
reiners@edinboro.edu
That sounds like a hazardous job - moving cactus.
Karen in Pittsburgh, PA (zone 5b/6)
Thanks for the suggestion, Bill. I tried scotch tape yesterday, but it
wasn't strong enough. I don't have duct tape here at work, but I have
something stronger--book binding tape! I think it got most of them!
I did use newspaper yesterday, but once the newspaper came off and my clumsy
hands got in the way of each other, I bounced off the cacti several times.
Lee Ann Reiners
Edinboro University of Pennsylvania
reiners@edinboro.edu
Duct Tape is great for removing those tiny spines which itch for weeks.
When moving my cacti I use a rolled newspaper wrapped around the base to act
as a kind of tongs. FWIW
Ontario Bill in Kars, USDA Z 4B/5A
ReUse, Recycle, or Rot
That sounds like a hazardous job - moving cactus.
Karen in Pittsburgh, PA (zone 5b/6)
On Fri, 20 Jul 2001 16:26:03 -0400 Lee Ann Reiners
writes:
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Duct Tape is great for removing those tiny spines which itch for weeks.
When moving my cacti I use a rolled newspaper wrapped around the base to act
as a kind of tongs. FWIW
Ontario Bill in Kars, USDA Z 4B/5A
ReUse, Recycle, or Rot
in
> through the few cloth areas on the gloves. The plants are still
relatively
Hi Jaime,
One of my neighbors just removed a gigantic patch of prickly pear. He
tried several ways to deal with the spines, and finally settled on
burning off the spines with a rented blowtorch. He was still pretty
careful, as some of the spines were in hard-to-torch places, but it
did the trick for him. Good luck. That stuff can be beautiful in the
right place, but it's nasty to work around.
Therese
East Texas, zone 8b
I must say, this thread couldn't be more timely for me. I've been
attempting to pull the large (and relentlessly spreading) prickly pear
cactus I inherited with the other lovely landscape material attached to
this house.
Those tiny, soft (#*$&% things have gone directly through very heavy
cowhide gloves with a thick lining (great for handling stone in winter).
I have now tried every glove I own, including the thick green
rubber/plastic chemical-safe ones. I have not successfully found one
that those spines will not pierce. I've now decided that rolling
segments of cholla aren't so bad after all. ;-)
So I greatly appreciate the duct tape removal method, for certain.
Thanks, Bill. I was hoping that Bob Stewart or another cactical sort
had suggestions for hand protection. Things (i.e., hands and pads)
slide around too much with newspaper. [Bob, you *must* be ready
for a break from Seridium canker.
jaime, now strangely appreciative of bramble, thistle and locust
thorns. good thing, since I am covered head to toe with reddened
punctures and ragged tears.
NW NJ,USDA zone 6/5
Jaime: Got any cows around? Out in west Texas they burns the spines off the pear
cacti and then the cows eat it. Particularly good for them in a drought year.
The only way I ever found to handle it was to whack each palm off with a machete
then pick it up with a shovel and put it in a trash can. You can't leave it
lying around either, it will take root and make a new patch.
Would you believe folks have exported prickly pear to most of the arid regions
of the world. I've seen it in the Middle East and in South Africa. In Saudi they
even have some mesquite trees, obviously imported by homesick Texans.
George
jaime wrote:
> I must say, this thread couldn't be more timely for me. I've been
> attempting to pull the large (and relentlessly spreading) prickly pear
> cactus I inherited with the other lovely landscape material attached to
> this house.
Ah, Jaime, I should have sent my old landscapers down. Last year, they cut
down my current bushes, my gooseberries, rubarb, dug under my garlic, cut
the tops off my Peach trees, cut down a Plum. Prickly pear would be mean
nothin' to them. Hell, kudzu wouldn't stand a chance.
John"Who is now covered with poison ivy thanks to my dog Dingbat who rolled
in it and then slept with me"Mertus
May the new cactus bed flourish and reward you with flowers and fun.
Speaking of cactus, for anyone in the Washington, D.C. area, the local
society, National Capital Cactus and Succulent Society, will hold its
annual show and sale on August 3-5, 2001 at Brookside Gardens in
Wheaton Maryland. I'll have a few plants in the show and quite a few
hardy cacti and other succulents in the sale. I'll be there on Sunday,
August 5th. Nicole and I will come right from the radio show so we
should be there around 11:00 a.m. and be there until the show ends at
around 5:00 p.m. If you're in the area come on by and say hi. There
are always a lot of interesting plants in the show.
----------------------
Bob (prickly pear) Stewart
Southern Maryland (USDA Zone 7)
rs72@umail.umd.edu
Hi John,
cut
> down my current bushes, my gooseberries, rubarb, dug under my garlic, cut
> the tops off my Peach trees, cut down a Plum. Prickly pear would be mean
> nothin' to them. Hell, kudzu wouldn't stand a chance.
> John"Who is now covered with poison ivy thanks to my dog Dingbat who
rolled
> in it and then slept with me"Mertus
You're leaving yourself wide open for comments with a line like this John;-)
Mary L.
