SusanB I was just looking at my butterfly bush today. I am going to cut off the last years growth, Am I supposed to remove some of the new growth? This is just second year. Thanks.
Can you Google or Ask.com to get an answer? I am now somewhat into gardening (replaced my lawn with a woodland garden....in progress) as therapy, but do not have a butterfly bush. Not sure it would stand the TX heat. I have a Southern Living Garden Book that is my bible. It is awesome.
Exciting news. Have lettuce, onions, beets, green beans popping through the ground. It has been wet here for several days and we are going to get sunshine the next couple of days, I think.
Since it looks like we will be staying here for the summer (can't find workamper jobs that pay in the NW), I will be heading to Home Depot in search of English cucumbers and tomatoes. We will give my DIL the regular garden plot and my sister and I will use the raised beds we made a couple years ago. Also, my sister and I will make some hanging baskets of flowers to put hang on the back deck. May end up hanging the cucumber and tomatoes - who knows. I also want to plant some beets - love them - but will plant the cylandro ones (they grow like carrots - never get woody).
Grandsons cleaned and spaded my garden area yesterday. It's pouring down rain right now (also it's almost midnight) so I probably won't be planting right away. :) But soon! Real soon. I didn't plant for the last 2 years. Kind of looking forward to do it now. My next project is pruning rose bushes--they are a mess. Also my buttefly bush is 6' tall and needs pruning badly.
Last fall I sent my contrib. to the Arbor Day Foundation and got 10 'free' Dogwood baby trees. I put them in pots so I could protect them from rabbits and squirrels. They have done nothing yet, but this morning I discovered 2 little green leaves popping out near the base of the "trunk" on one of them. Hope for the future! Now all I have to do is live 10-20 more years to see them mature. Also need to transplant them to the 'woodland garden' in soil that will support their survival here in North Texas. Need to acidify the soil, I know, and keep it that way all the time. I think they will take the heat o.k. Now if it will quit raining enough for me to get outside...I really need the therapy!
I'm getting my ark out here in KY. The more it rains the more the weeds grow. I need to work on those weeds - but can't in the rain. Everything is drowned I think.
Hope your dogwoods do good, Texas Joe. They are so very pretty.
Oh, Vickie, you said the bad word...weeds! Since I haven't been able to get out they are taking over. I need to pull, dig, spray with Roundup, and put down more mulch. The 4" of mulch I put down when I killed the lawn two or three years ago have become a great place for weeds to take hold. It is all becoming less mulch and more compost. Two years ago I got 10 other flowering trees from the Foundation including Goldenraintree, Washington Hawthorn, Eastern Redbud, Dogwood, and Crabapple (2 each). Unfortunately, there was some mislabeling, plus hungry rabbits and squirrels, so I'm not even sure what I have left. Have to wait until they get big enough to identify.
TexasJoe, what all do you have in your "woodland"garden? We have a large front and side yard (we live on a corner) that is more weeds than grass. I would like to eliminate most of the grass.
Hi redbud73086, I stapled together 7 sheets of newspaper and laid it on the grass, then covered it with 4" of mulch. It took a long time to get the whole yard covered, but it did the job and killed the lawn. ($300 worth of mulch, to give you an idea). After that, so far all I have planted is 3 Knockout Rose bushes, 3 fountain grass plants, and 3 Agapanthus plants. Also, I have all the trees I planted plus a Red Maple. It has been so great not having to mow, edge, fertilize, water, and do all that stuff you do with a lawn. Now I just water as required, and feed when I should, really on MY schedule rather than weekly or bi-weekly as with a lawn. The 2 mature Ash trees are past their prime, which is why I planted all the baby trees to create the 'forest' later on. Also planted 12 purple leaf wintercreeper groundcover plants. I have a lot of hardscape and more planting to do, but I like that kind of work so look forward to doing it when I can (weather and DW permitting).
I have a number of plants I need to get into the ground. I don't remember the names of them all, but they are all some type of shrub or groundcover. I do know the most important ones I need to get into the ground are the Cottonester, and the Massachusets (sp) Kinnikinnik. I live on a hill, and the house is built below the driveway. So there is nearly a 1/2 acre of rocky bank that I have had to stand upon and weed whack year after year. I have always dreamed of getting out to plant some hardy evergreen/ornamental shrubs that would spread out and help keep the grass and weeds down. Problem is, the ground is very weird. All of it is rocky, but also alot of clay and sand. I have lost plants before....usually to deer, but also to the fact they couldn't spread out. I know there are special types of soil additives I should use here in the NW, but I guess the most important thing is that I dig the holes wide enough. Anyone got suggestions what additives would be good?
BTW, Texas Joe. Did you mean you stapled newpaper seven layers thick? Or side by side?
New Realm, I didn't make that clear, did I? It is 7 layers thick. That way, the weeds or grass don't have a chance to penetrate it, and it lasts for 2-3 years before it breaks down. At that point, you just need to add more mulch (couple of inches) to maintain weed control. I am a bit late in putting down more mulch, so I do have a weed problem now. After I get rid of 'em I'll put more mulch down. Sounds like your property has a lot of potential to have some really great looking landscaping. Check out P. Allen Smith or Martha Stewart sites as well as lots of other gardening sites for ideas. I think its fun to browse those sites to see all the pics of plants and where/how to plant them.
TexasJoe, thanks for the information. Think I will start it on a small scale in part of the front yard for now.
Talking about weeds, I have to get out there, weed and add more mulch to my front flowerbed. The flowers are so pretty, but after this last couple of gullywashers, the weeds seem to be taking over.