The Home Improvement Thread
- Thread starter texasislandboy
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CowboyTaco
Well-Known Member
Oswego
n00b
Whats wrong w/pine bark? Few successful organic farms up here are using it for food and weed block. They lay down at least 4" and add new layers every year. Not new chips - at least 1 year mulched. New chips drain the minerals. I'm just curious because in nature I always find more wild blueberries near pine trees than cedars. Cedars block out to much lite and are usually in areas too wet for blueberries. At least around here.
I ended up using pine needles I procured for free last weekend. Filled a 10 gallon trash bag right from the top of the trail. Got the top and bottom so the new needles and decayed. Need to go out tomorrow and fill a 50 gallon drum liner.
Day started with this fun. Couldn't even get my shovel blade in the ground
How quickly I had a flash back to a nightmare from 15 years ago. After I cut down 20+ trees I wanted to grade my yard because it was fubar. Put the word out and one of my best friends from grade-school was driving a dump truck for a company and said he would bring over a few loads clean topsoil. He ended up dropping 3 loads of road base while I was at work. Fucking moron. I was pissed that entire year moving it all by hand then having to cover it all over again by hand. I threw out the big stuff and buried the small stuff in the holes in my yard. I had totally forgotten about that until I hit today's holes. Man did that slow me down sifting it all today (top soil/sand/rocks/asphalt).
Used the road base orange dirt in front of my shed door to level out where Ive tracked a rut into the ground. Put the extra sand w/o pebbles in unlevel spots in the yard. Ill use the asphalt for the bottom of post holes and add the pebbles to my existing stone beds.
best work day Ive had in a while....even with it raining half the day
deflowered and slight trim to all of them. after I get the other row in Ill go back and lay some cardboard in between and around them then top it with some wood chips to kill off the weeds so the plants don't have any competition and so I have less weeds to mow
tomorrow the next row hopefully
Taco Loco
Tired and Lazy, married to ‘The Laundry Fairy’
Blue berries like more on the acidic side like, 4-5 level like the pines, you can add various what knots to get the desired ph in the soil, I use a cedar mix, mostly cedar, and cedar repeals insects(ants and wood destroying type insects;
just a quick googly search...Cedar and Cypress
Cedar chips repel, kill or can inhibit insects such as termites, cockroaches, cloth-eating moths, carpet beetles and certain ants, such as ordorous and Argentine. Spread cedar or cypress mulch around your garden or landscape plants to keep insects away).
I don’t know much about BB plants, so I don’t know about how hardy they are with disease/insects. I do know that BB grow like weeds in that region if the conditions are right, we ate wild BB on hikes in NH & ME.
So this may or may not apply... In addition to using cedar mulch, it has less chance spreading any diseases to other plants/trees.
There are pros and cons to either one, and we’re in totally different eco systems, but if I were to have shrubs or trees that provides food down here, I would (with minors in horticulture and crop science) use something that is a natural repeal/insecticide because there are organic products to lower ph, like Espoma soil acidifier, it’s easier for me to maintain soil ph than fighting unwanted insects with/using non toxic methods. .02
just a quick googly search...Cedar and Cypress
Cedar chips repel, kill or can inhibit insects such as termites, cockroaches, cloth-eating moths, carpet beetles and certain ants, such as ordorous and Argentine. Spread cedar or cypress mulch around your garden or landscape plants to keep insects away).
I don’t know much about BB plants, so I don’t know about how hardy they are with disease/insects. I do know that BB grow like weeds in that region if the conditions are right, we ate wild BB on hikes in NH & ME.
So this may or may not apply... In addition to using cedar mulch, it has less chance spreading any diseases to other plants/trees.
There are pros and cons to either one, and we’re in totally different eco systems, but if I were to have shrubs or trees that provides food down here, I would (with minors in horticulture and crop science) use something that is a natural repeal/insecticide because there are organic products to lower ph, like Espoma soil acidifier, it’s easier for me to maintain soil ph than fighting unwanted insects with/using non toxic methods. .02
Taco Loco
Tired and Lazy, married to ‘The Laundry Fairy’
forgot the best part....the foreign objects.. found
the infamous plastic straw aka coffee stirrer
View attachment 23811
the gophers bring up plywood clips, nails, rocks, pieces of plastic etc
Oswego
n00b
Blue berries like more on the acidic side like, 4-5 level like the pines, you can add various what knots to get the desired ph in the soil, I use a cedar mix, mostly cedar, and cedar repeals insects(ants and wood destroying type insects;
just a quick googly search...Cedar and Cypress
Cedar chips repel, kill or can inhibit insects such as termites, cockroaches, cloth-eating moths, carpet beetles and certain ants, such as ordorous and Argentine. Spread cedar or cypress mulch around your garden or landscape plants to keep insects away).
I don’t know much about BB plants, so I don’t know about how hardy they are with disease/insects. I do know that BB grow like weeds in that region if the conditions are right, we ate wild BB on hikes in NH & ME.
So this may or may not apply... In addition to using cedar mulch, it has less chance spreading any diseases to other plants/trees.
There are pros and cons to either one, and we’re in totally different eco systems, but if I were to have shrubs or trees that provides food down here, I would (with minors in horticulture and crop science) use something that is a natural repeal/insecticide because there are organic products to lower ph, like Espoma soil acidifier, it’s easier for me to maintain soil ph than fighting unwanted insects with/using non toxic methods. .02
makes sense about the bugs. Ill check out cedar chips, but if they are $$ Ill be filling up on free pine needles
the gophers bring up plywood clips, nails, rocks, pieces of plastic etc
That's funny. I'm about to order that british squirrel bolt gun killer I posted months ago and make a hide for it at the base of one of my trees so no one can see whats going on. Legal or not these sob's are driving me crazy digging up all my beds that Ive seeded.
I also found more glass than I'd like to have found.....with my hands usually. Also caught another mouse in my basement and got a chipmunk thats getting a little too brash for someone that keeps digging tunnels under my deck. Freaking invasion of rodents this year. Wonder what took out all the local snakes and cats?
Oswego
n00b
Pretty cool solar maps Project Sunroof
take the #'s for what it's worth - free, but I like the 3d shadow analysis map for the trees. wish they had it for land. I had to go take pics every hr on the hr a week ago to figure out where to place my plants in the least amount of tree shadows.
take the #'s for what it's worth - free, but I like the 3d shadow analysis map for the trees. wish they had it for land. I had to go take pics every hr on the hr a week ago to figure out where to place my plants in the least amount of tree shadows.
Taco Loco
Tired and Lazy, married to ‘The Laundry Fairy’
If your going that route, use ACQ treated 2” thick boards, you will want to line the interior with this fabric, and only this fabric ...
4 ft. x 100 ft. Matrix Grid Landscape Fabric
Vigoro 4 ft. x 100 ft. Matrix Grid Landscape Fabric-VPNM410085 - The Home Depot
At my old house, most of my garden beds were no wider than 3 feet, I would till and level the soil, then roll out a weed barrier, fold excess to the interior and attach it with 1x2 wooden strips to hold the weed barrier down, cut holes for plants, plant,(recommend adding drip irrigation, really easy to install and work with) then top it off with mulch. With the weed fabric and drip irrigation in place on a hose Bibb timer, the only maintenance will be attending to the vegetable plants.
So after your beds are built in filled in,
I should probably deliver your Darwin’s grip that I ordered and also for the cost of few Praise Jesus Coldbeers, I will help you with the right pieces for you to buy for drip irrigation based on the type plants you want to grow.
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Silverback
Lima Gulf Bravo Foxtrot Juliet Bravo
Thats the same fabric I got already. He bought 100' of it and only used like 25 feet or so on his.
You know I was thinking about taking a road trip one weekend and just swinging down that way. But didn't know if you were in the mood for company.
You know I was thinking about taking a road trip one weekend and just swinging down that way. But didn't know if you were in the mood for company.
Taco Loco
Tired and Lazy, married to ‘The Laundry Fairy’
The Laundry Fairy is going to start caring for her Aunt(she started chemo less than 2 weeks ago, the next couple of weeks are supposed to be rough weeks of chemotherapy per Dr.) Let’s see how this week goes with her Aunt and maybe next wknd might work? I have a feeling she will stay at her over the wknds with her Aunt anyways.
Taco Loco
Tired and Lazy, married to ‘The Laundry Fairy’
Yes/No, water percolates through the sand faster than any other type of soil, the cost of water is a bit pricey here, I should have put that 17k well in 2yrs ago, but I think I will run the sprinklers every 4days for 25min, I bet we will be under water restrictions by the end of the month. I don’t care about the trees outside the main yard as much, and no way I’m about to keep up with those trees. We plan on moving after boys are off to college, not sure if I will break even on the cost of a well if I got one now.
AlienXtx
Nignog
Speaking of dead trees. I was up at my dads house the other day and he was talking about a few of his dying off and some of our neighbors too. If you stand where his are dying and face towards where the neighbors are, its in a direct line running East. And past the neighbors place are more dead trees all in a straight line about 50 yrds wide all the way to the creek about a mile away. Thought that was strange. I didn't look West from his place because his house was blocking the view.
Oswego
n00b
dang and thats in a mulch bed so it should be better hydrated than the rest. sorry to hear that man.
sounds crazy but I wonder how much cardboard and mulch it would take to make beds around all the trees "dripline" w/o disturbing their roots.
I was watching this guy mulch his blueberry plants last week and was amazed at the tech....thinking you could possibly do similar and run circles around the trees and distribute a ton of mulch very quickly with a row mulcher. I know many of our local landscape guys have free woodchips they will drop off.
sounds crazy but I wonder how much cardboard and mulch it would take to make beds around all the trees "dripline" w/o disturbing their roots.
I was watching this guy mulch his blueberry plants last week and was amazed at the tech....thinking you could possibly do similar and run circles around the trees and distribute a ton of mulch very quickly with a row mulcher. I know many of our local landscape guys have free woodchips they will drop off.
Taco Loco
Tired and Lazy, married to ‘The Laundry Fairy’
fresh wood chips are too hot/decaying process to use for small shrubs/trees
Oswego
n00b
I'm starting to think thats a conspiracy by big farm ag. Ive got no clue what I'm doing but I keep seeing great results by people who use them in local organic farms 20 miles from me. I'm always skeptical as you know by now. People keep blasting them and what they are doing - but their results speak for themselves to the uneducated like myself.
This guys house is putting out more organic food than some small pro growers and everything is mulched with wood chips (whole tree shredded and aged). Everything from his trees to his fruits. Whole dang yard.
This guys house is putting out more organic food than some small pro growers and everything is mulched with wood chips (whole tree shredded and aged). Everything from his trees to his fruits. Whole dang yard.