Anyone into gardening here?

[Joe Bass]

Keep an eye on that mint, it will take over. I may have to get one of these, the rabbits are using my garden as a pantry. I hate fencing, but I may finally do it. They don't touch the mint or cilantro though

Was just coming to ask for options other than fencing.
Pops planted 12 tomato plants
Lost 4 so far
Lost 1 zucchini and 2 cucumber plants

Tempted to just catch it and bbq it up.

May have to install a camera on a wooden

I have that ultra sonic sound thing from Home Depot that's supposed to keep critters away.
Doesn't seem to be working.
Funny thing is, when my oldest is in the backyard they always complain about the high pitched noise they hear.

Sent from my Pixel 7 using Tapatalk

 

[jc100]

Hey do you have any updated photos. I've been curious about your cactus to see if it would survive as I want to explore this option.

I’ll take a few in a bit. Basically when I originally bought it the thing had 3-4 paddles on a main body “stub”. I planted it in cactus soil outside in a sunny spot and put gravel on top of the soil and it grew well over the first summer. After the winter I went to look and all the paddles had fallen off and looked very dead. I thought the plant was dead but the “stub” sprouted a new paddle in the Spring pretty quickly. Very impressed. I’m assuming with each successive winter the thing will get stronger.

Have to say, for a cactus it grows pretty quickly.

 

[oioioi]

Was just coming to ask for options other than fencing.
Pops planted 12 tomato plants
Lost 4 so far
Lost 1 zucchini and 2 cucumber plants

Tempted to just catch it and bbq it up.

May have to install a camera on a wooden

I have that ultra sonic sound thing from Home Depot that's supposed to keep critters away.
Doesn't seem to be working.
Funny thing is, when my oldest is in the backyard they always complain about the high pitched noise they hear.

Sent from my Pixel 7 using Tapatalk

My neighbor across the street had one of those last year. I could hear it on my driveway.

This year my next door neighbor installed one in the backyard. Purchased from Temu. Volume could be adjusted. I had to ask him to turn it off as it was very difficult to sleep at night and very annoying during the day. Even at low volume it was intolerable.
Funny things is that he wears a hearing aid and could not hear it himself.
Nice neighbor, he removed it.

 

[GreyGhost]

I have that ultra sonic sound thing from Home Depot that's supposed to keep critters away.
Doesn't seem to be working.
Funny thing is, when my oldest is in the backyard they always complain about the high pitched noise they hear.

Any legitimate test I have seen of those showed zero effect. They just waste a little power and a bunch of money up front. I used to be able to hear them. I haven't been around one in a while to know if I still can.

 

[Relax]

Any recommendations for a tree farm that can deliver and plant a mature (20' tall) tree with root ball for a reasonable price in place of a dying mature pine? In 2014, I was quoted $3000 by Hall Tree Farms to remove my existing 25+ ft tall diseased Austrian pine and replace it with a similar sized Spruce. Seemed a little pricey to me, but I guess that's the cost of instant privacy.

 

[GreyGhost]

Any recommendations for a tree farm that can deliver and plant a mature (20' tall) tree with root ball for a reasonable price in place of a dying mature pine? In 2014, I was quoted $3000 by Hall Tree Farms to remove my existing 25+ ft tall diseased Austrian pine and replace it with a similar sized Spruce. Seemed a little pricey to me, but I guess that's the cost of instant privacy.


View attachment 68432

I was thinking that price was really good (although it is 10 years old). Didn't @nobbie48 just pay close to that for a 10' tree?

 

[sburns]

I’ll take a few in a bit. Basically when I originally bought it the thing had 3-4 paddles on a main body “stub”. I planted it in cactus soil outside in a sunny spot and put gravel on top of the soil and it grew well over the first summer. After the winter I went to look and all the paddles had fallen off and looked very dead. I thought the plant was dead but the “stub” sprouted a new paddle in the Spring pretty quickly. Very impressed. I’m assuming with each successive winter the thing will get stronger.

Have to say, for a cactus it grows pretty quickly.

Thanks, this is good, I suck at taking care of plants and looking for something simple to plant

 

[matthew]

Is that pressure treated? Are you supposed to grow food in a pressure treated box? Do you have liners?

Isn't wood treated with copper now instead of arsenic? Anything in the PT process would need to leach into the soil, then get uptaken by the plant.

The stuff our food is currently sprayed with is many many times worse than growing in a PT wood bed.

 

[nobbie48]

I was thinking that price was really good (although it is 10 years old). Didn't @nobbie48 just pay close to that for a 10' tree?

It was $2100 taxes in for a 80 mm Marmo maple. The height is about 12 feet.

See post 1410

Height is one thing but the root ball is another. You can lean over a tall tree for delivery but the root ball has weight and width issues.

The next size up for us would have meant heavier equipment and exponential pricing. Access is the key.

My neighbour paid seven or eight grand to take down a diseased ash. His uncle paid less than that to take down ten trees on his farm.

FWIW. We used Van Dongen’s in Milton. They also supplied a pair of spruce a number of years ago and a crab apple a bit later. The crab apple looks like a good crop this year but since I don’t spray it there’s a lot of culling come jelly time.

 

[Dirty Frank]

I’ll take a few in a bit. Basically when I originally bought it the thing had 3-4 paddles on a main body “stub”. I planted it in cactus soil outside in a sunny spot and put gravel on top of the soil and it grew well over the first summer. After the winter I went to look and all the paddles had fallen off and looked very dead. I thought the plant was dead but the “stub” sprouted a new paddle in the Spring pretty quickly. Very impressed. I’m assuming with each successive winter the thing will get stronger.

Have to say, for a cactus it grows pretty quickly.

Hate to state the obvious but pick a well protected location if you want to see it make it through the winter.

 

[nobbie48]

Rehabilitating a lawn. Weeds of every description. Bans on herbicides make care tedious. Nematodes seem to keep the grubs under control. Reports on safe herbicides aren't positive.

About $2 a square foot for a company to re sod the front yard, roto-till, rake out weeds, add topsoil and lay sod. Alternate seems to be to get a degree in weedology and kiss goodbye to the summer. Then do it again in a few years.

Comments?

 

[GreyGhost]

Rehabilitating a lawn. Weeds of every description. Bans on herbicides make care tedious. Nematodes seem to keep the grubs under control. Reports on safe herbicides aren't positive.

About $2 a square foot for a company to re sod the front yard, roto-till, rake out weeds, add topsoil and lay sod. Alternate seems to be to get a degree in weedology and kiss goodbye to the summer. Then do it again in a few years.

Comments?

You can buy herbicides from usa or other provinces. I needed a crab grass intervention as I was losing the battle. It was mostly successful. A neighbour went nuclear with a full strip and resod. His looks better but cost several orders of magnitude more.

99% of my weed control is me with a weed fork to lift them from the roots. Depending on how diligent I am feeling I can get a five gallon bucket every few days. There does not seem to be substantial long term improvement.

Modern astroturf seems like a great solution for many city lots (especially front yards) but nannies at city hall want to bang the green drum but prohibit most solutions that don't require weekly maintenance.

 

[jc100]

Rehabilitating a lawn. Weeds of every description. Bans on herbicides make care tedious. Nematodes seem to keep the grubs under control. Reports on safe herbicides aren't positive.

About $2 a square foot for a company to re sod the front yard, roto-till, rake out weeds, add topsoil and lay sod. Alternate seems to be to get a degree in weedology and kiss goodbye to the summer. Then do it again in a few years.

Comments?

We’ve gradually been removing lawn from the front yard and turning it into flower beds. You can mulch flower beds! Bonus is that it looks pretty good too! Back yard is a bit different as the dogs play there. If you look after the grass it can keep the weeds down. Started using corn gluten and a fertilizer on the lawn this year to keep weed seeds from germinating. We will see how well it works after a few seasons.

 

[Sunday Rider]

Rehabilitating a lawn. Weeds of every description. Bans on herbicides make care tedious. Nematodes seem to keep the grubs under control. Reports on safe herbicides aren't positive.

About $2 a square foot for a company to re sod the front yard, roto-till, rake out weeds, add topsoil and lay sod. Alternate seems to be to get a degree in weedology and kiss goodbye to the summer. Then do it again in a few years.

Comments?

Our front yard looks good through manual labour and being ahead of the dandelions . The back yard is getting more and more weeds. What I do is take a section each summer and take out those weeds and it makes a difference. It seems each season brings on a new dominant weed. I think the wild flower planting idea is a good one. I overseed the lawn each spring and that helps a lot. It is cheaper than fertilizer, which I haven't used in 2 years, but may try that corn husk weed and feed next spring (saving the grass seeding until a few weeks later). My neighbours use the Weedman services and have to admit their lawn looks a bit better, but not by much.

 

[GreyGhost]

Our front yard looks good through manual labour and being ahead of the dandelions . The back yard is getting more and more weeds. What I do is take a section each summer and take out those weeds and it makes a difference. It seems each season brings on a new dominant weed. I think the wild flower planting idea is a good one. I overseed the lawn each spring and that helps a lot. It is cheaper than fertilizer, which I haven't used in 2 years, but may try that corn husk weed and feed next spring (saving the grass seeding until a few weeks later). My neighbours use the Weedman services and have to admit their lawn looks a bit better, but not by much.

Some of the neighbours use a service. They look just a tiny bit above average. The best lawns are 55+ yo guys that spend half their life on the lawn and it shows. One was the lawn that was stripped and started again. The other is a lawyer that will have earbuds in on a work call while trimming borders with scissors. You just want to lay down on the lawyers lawn. He does a great job.

 

[matthew]

I spread clover on my lawn. I don't know if it does anything for out competing weeds, but it stays nice and green all summer

 

[GreyGhost]

I spread clover on my lawn. I don't know if it does anything for out competing weeds, but it stays nice and green all summer

I have some clover and moss in various areas. I don't mind them and don't try to hurt them. My weed removal focuses on dandelions, thistles, crab grass and some other tall weeds. If it's short and doesn't try to kill all the grass, it can stay.

 

[jdmsteR]

Rehabilitating a lawn. Weeds of every description. Bans on herbicides make care tedious. Nematodes seem to keep the grubs under control. Reports on safe herbicides aren't positive.

About $2 a square foot for a company to re sod the front yard, roto-till, rake out weeds, add topsoil and lay sod. Alternate seems to be to get a degree in weedology and kiss goodbye to the summer. Then do it again in a few years.

Comments?

I'm dealing with broadleaf weeds overtaking boulevards and creeping into the backyard
Specifically buckhorn plantain (relentless)
Have been pulling them up where possible but there are simply too many now
24D herbicide/Killex/Par3 can be sourced locally and I think I am going to go this route come late summer/early fall. Have seen it go for $50-70 a litre

 

[Sunday Rider]

I'm dealing with broadleaf weeds overtaking boulevards and creeping into the backyard
Specifically buckhorn plantain (relentless)
Have been pulling them up where possible but there are simply too many now
24D herbicide/Killex/Par3 can be sourced locally and I think I am going to go this route come late summer/early fall. Have seen it go for $50-70 a litre

What do you do after the application of the herbicide? Wait until spring and sow grass seed?

 

[nobbie48]

I'm dealing with broadleaf weeds overtaking boulevards and creeping into the backyard
Specifically buckhorn plantain (relentless)
Have been pulling them up where possible but there are simply too many now
24D herbicide/Killex/Par3 can be sourced locally and I think I am going to go this route come late summer/early fall. Have seen it go for $50-70 a litre

I know someone that bought some from Manitoba. I'm tempted but think the realty is less lawn and more flower bed.

The back yard is less critical. You don't have to mow mulch and it deters weeds.