April and finally Springtime?

Will, make sure you have American Wisteria, not Chinese Wisteria. Otherwise your whole yard will be overtaken.

Thanks Pepper, I'm pretty sure it is Chinese Wisteria, (Wisteria sinensis). But, it's free and my friend here loves the lavender flowers. This one elderly man they knew came here and did some yardwork and cut to the ground a mature flowering Wisteria that her and her Mom loved. It only takes about 7 years (sarcasm) for a Wisteria plant to flower from seed! Mind you, this is the same guy that built a composter that had no opening to get in there and turn the stuff over. I'm thinking that kind of work wasn't his thing! Being gone to work while "landscapers" are here hasn't worked out much for my friend here. I could go on, she had tree trimmers here that trimmed off too much, and I think they dropped a big branch on her chainlink fence and bent it a little, (that was about 3 years ago tho, they're prolly out of business I hope).
But, the Wisteria is gonna be between (in a strip of dirt, up the chainlink fence) the driveway here and the driveway nextdoor, no yard around. I get the seeds from the former Stephensons restaurant at 40 hwy. and Lee's Summit Rd. in Independence, MO. They had this outdoor seating there that had (has) this beautiful old Arbor with old Wisteria growing all along it. The seeds from there are sprouting now, plus I have some from last year that are leafing out. Here are some seeds from there sprouting this Spring -
Will

Crit, laughing! I used to have the hair dresser to save me hair. It doesn't take long to get a bagful! I used it around my roses, in the compost pile, etc. I'm lucky that the critters don't bother my garden or flowers much.

PS. I throw all my hair in my compost bucket. Theres a little bit of me all over the place :o)

Will, Congrats on the car! At least you had some help, but I'm smiling over the image. I never thought of the car having no power steering. It's a job done once, and now it's done! It gives you more room to walk around the yard.

I guess I would be boxing it up for her and get it out of sight. I would rather not have to be told by the ordinance enforcers :o)

Just think of what you could do with access to the back and sides of the shed. It's the perfect place for Hollyhocks! Better paint the back with a water proof paint or you will be cutting and replacing the bottom part.

I'm jealous of your attached garage.

Awww Pepper, I have been looking at the Forsythias blooming around here. Either I'm seeing them late or the blooms are just spotty because of the hot and cold. I had considered a mini bush. Now I don't think I will. Bad Daddy!

Will, it sounds like your friend was trying to save money on help. Sadly, you get what you pay for. Especially if they happen to come to the door offering to do it cheap. We had a truck-load come by a couple years in a row. I told them no both times .

Wow, I'm impresssed you got the Wisteria to sprout! Pretty cool!

It's going to be a windy nasty day here :o(

I need to measure in the garden for landscaping blocks. It has a slight slope and I want to just make a sort of raised bed. The ''raised'' is already there. I only need to buy and get the stones in, and level a bit on what will be a ''lower'' level. It will fence in the rhubarb patch.

This is last years photo. The rhubarb closest is gone. I had seven plants and that was too many. I kept four. Now I wish I had them in a row, but rhubarb gets big fast and it's too late now! That will be my Fall job. I also need to get the Balloon Flowers and the tulips moved from the garden edges. Then the rhubarb can be replanted.

Will, hate to tell your friend but I think the city will add to the list besides the car....my little sister has an empty lot next to her house and who ever owns it never took care of it and the city kept mailing my little sister notices that they were gonna do this and that! She would have to take off work and go up there and prove over and over she didn't own the lot....finally her and her husband got so peeved about the whole thing they now take care of the lot, and park their boat and trailer on it....rofl. I hear if you do that so long being a squatter the property is hers.....but when the city was giving them a problem about the lot the city would look over her privacy fence! (they have a pool so they had to have a high fence). So like I said they just take care of the lot.

I had wisteria crush a porch one time, be very careful about what it grows on....wasn't so bad tho I got a much bigger porch..rofl.

I think the 'squatters rights' is 7 years. We had a neighbor one time put up a privacy fence, and set it in 1' from the property line, so neighbors on either side couldn't tie into it. (they were weird people!) The city told me in 7 years that 1' would revert to the people on either side of them. LOL I thought that was a just deserve.

Yup, the hair thing really does work. When I got my hair cut (it was to my waist), I donated 10" to Locks of Love and told my hairdresser I wanted the rest of the clippings. She said 'oh, you are going to put it in your garden?'. My DH about fell out of his chair. He thought I made it up. Of course with that much hair, I also had a big ball of hair I had been saving from my brush. He won't admit it still, thinks I am silly.

Hehe... I'm gonna tease my friend here later when she gets home. I'm gonna tell her, "you know in 5 years I'm going to own you're house, it's a squatter's law".
I've already told her, "you have to give me 30 days notice if you want to throw me out"!

I can get plenty of my own hair, I cut it and I do a better job than Fantastic Sams or most haircutting places, they usually mess up my hair.
We don't really have a problem with deer, although, they are in the neighborhood, I've seen them too. But, this is a residential area and they usually stay in the woods around here. I'll remember that deer deterrent tho because I'd love to be in a more rural area someday and I love to deter some hooved rats!

Boy, that was some tornado devastation down South, poor people. I can't imagine what life must become when something like that happens.

I can't believe the lows still! They are forecasting 37° F Monday nite on the peacock channel KSHB!

Here is that Wisteria planting that I'm planning. I asked my friend before I started on it, she is all into it too. Now, I just have all this decorative rock to dig out and decide what to do with. I don't know if I should wash and rinse it all and find a use for it maybe someday or throw it away. They apparently (the previous owners) didn't think that thru when they put it down, it is just a mess now and I can't get it all out.

Oh, the help on pushing the car was an aide here, we know her, she is an employee of my friend's. I asked her, she didn't break her shoe, it just got all muddy.
Yeah, it's prolly not enuff cleanup for the city. I plan on doing much more, but I'm more of a long term cleaner, I'm not big on the city deadlines.
Thanks billyp, I am lucky that the Wisteria seeds sprouts so easily.

Thanks, glad that car went in the garage okay, it was a tight squeeze. I have plans on painting that shed and sprucing up around it. I really don't want to replace the wafer board sides. The back that you see in the photos isn't as bad as the sides, they are deteriorated bad around the bottom. That shed was done pretty right actually. They took the time to build little concrete walls for the shed to sit on even. I think it's just so old and made of inexpensive materials that it is in bad need of attention now. The previous owners did that I'm sure, I bet that shed goes back 30 years or more.


This message was edited Apr 28, 2011 6:48 PM

34°/67°
Sunny to partly cloudy. High 67F. Winds SSE at 10 to 20 mph.

Happ, I hope your sister DOES get squatter's rights. It would serve the owner right.

Oh yeah, I'd like to be in the pool ans see someone look over the fence! That would make me sooo mad!

Crit, here we have to put it a foot from the propertry line so you can mow behind it. I'm not sure I'd like someone tying into my fence.

ROTFL over DH's reaction. MY DH didn't know what I wanted it for either!!

Will, laughing!! Let's hope she doesn't jokingly give you notice!

Give the deer time. They are right in the neighborhood on Long Island.

Those lows are more for our area. They must be right about the cool Spring. That's not good. It can be cool all thru June. I'll have to Google the Farmer's Almanac and see what they say.

The decorative rock might be used around your pond somehow. It doesn't look like it has any color or ''decoration.'' You'll have to wash some and see.

It's always a shame to lose a shed. You might need to replace some of it just to save the rest.

We might see 70* today and since it didn't rain, I'm going to try and hoe the weeds, turn the wet dirt, rake it and plant radish, etc. and more spinach. It's time to get going on these things!

Will, I tried digging and washing pea gravel one time and lava rock, I swear the stuff mulitplied.....it was a chore. Will, you will have to look on the internet about the shed houses...rofl, they are minature houses some built on trailers to be towed behind your car if you go on vacation or move. Save for a shed and if you get thrown out find an empty vacated lot and move in, I know of several lots people don't take care of, obviously the owner never comes by and the city would be thrilled...rofl. The rose is doing good it hasn't wilted or anything.

Crit I will tell my sister. Funny thing my sister doesn't want the property cause she doesn't want to pay taxes, insurance, and all that stuff. Yeah the city guy scared my nephew when he went peering over the fence....my nephew is 25 but not excepting someone looking over. Does hair work for rabbits? My sister has a terrible time with rabbits, her veggie garden is outside the privacy fence.

I saw people planting annuals yesterday, but I think it is still too early myselft...

This message was edited Apr 29, 2011 1:28 PM

The human hair works on any type of wild critter. It is the human smell that keeps them away. That has been my experience

ta taaaaaaa! I have both concrete raised beds completed, had enough blocks left to do a smaller one and have one block left over...rofl. So one thing off the list 545 left to do, got the pond cleaned, yuck! So one more thing off the list 544 left to do.....oops, there is a leak in the pond the water is going down, dang add 1 thing back to the list, 545 geezh!

Well better go mow, it is clouding up, but I thought when I looked at the forecast it didn't say anything about rain.....

Transplanted a few plants, split some for the sale, several hostas, and several daylilies. Still have more I need to do.

Crit, I got my cannas out and as soon as I find a box I will get them mailed to you.

Thats quite alot of things to do there, happ! Hehe, it multiplies eh?! My friend here wants me to wash it so maybe we can use it someday, oh joy!
Yeah, maybe in the pond somehow. It's pretty neat rock. I think it is a colored rock, it might even be rounded like some kind of River Rock perhaps.
I took a photo of it if somebody knows wants to take a shot at what it might be. I'll have about 200 - 300 lbs. of it, maybe more. I'm thinking it would be really neat in the waterpond that I plan. That 5 gallon bucket of it in the photo is one of 4 buckets so far, though the other buckets are smaller a little, they're cat litter jugs.

Thanks happ, looking forward to that Rose, glad to hear it's doing good.

Oh, she says she would never throw me out! But, she does get a big smile of me telling her those things, like, "I'll have you know you have to give me 30 days notice if you want to throw me out", thats what I tell her pretty regularly when she gets mad. She thinks thats funny, but I know the law from all the Judge shows I watch! She smiled big on me yesterday telling her I'm going to own her house in 5 years from squatting!

Now, the forecast has changed already for this area - http://www.weather.com/weather/5-day/Independence+MO+64054, altho, it could change again.
Channel 9 news (ABC) says a low of 36° F Sunday nite.
Will

Here is my likely dead section of plants. Those are my friend's rose plants up there on the right by the bricks. She took one look at them a couple days ago and she says, "yep, they're dead", but I'm gonna give them a while longer to make sure, because that stinks, and they were mail-order, like all the dead grasses were. I dug up the rec't to those 2 expired Blueberry bushes up there.
I also found the rec't for 2 Butterfly Bushes that I think might be expired.
Thats some manual labor there happ, doing all those blocks, they'd make some nice raised beds when you're done tho. In this photo they are mostly dead plants in it, but for example those Hens and Chicks aren't dead.

*edit* Nevermind, the Hens and Chicks didn't make the photo! : )

This message was edited Apr 29, 2011 7:49 PM

Here is one side of that shed, it's pretty well rotted. -

Will, see if the branches snap. If they snap instead of bending they are dead. If there is green under the bark, still alive.

Thanks Pepper, I'll try that tomorrow.

Happ, I hate washing rock too :o)

I love the shed/house idea!! How neat to squat till moved, and then find another lot to beautify!

Better your nephew peeked at in the pool than you!

My Grandma put flour on her tulip leaves. I tried it and it works. It's not very attractive tho.

So cool on the raised beds!! Oh boy, cleaning the pond. I'll bet you are glad that's done! I've seen people standing in their's throwing the green stuff in buckets.

My, but that's quite a list of To Do's!

Will, I think it is river rock. Pea gravel is all small. I would definately use it! It might be easier to put it where you want it and hose off the top. Let the rain filter down to what you can't see. A leaf blower would clean the debris out of it.

She sounds like a sweetie :o)

Yeah, don't give up on anything, but I'll bet the roses are gone. Do a bit of top pruning on them, water and wait. The butterfly bush takes forever to show up, so there's hope for it too.

Yayyy for receipts. I guess we all learned a lessson. Water in Winter.

Will, tell her the shed is worth saving. One sheet of plywood might do the sides. Get treated wood.

We had a chance of rain today, so I worked in the gardens all day yesterday. I planted all the early things, radish, turnip, kohlrobi, beet and the rest of the spinach. Then I watered all the rows.

I worked in the other garden after that. I had measured the rhubarb patch and left the string. I leveled out the sloped area and raked the dirt to the low spots. Some I added to the rhubarb bed. Next goal is to get the flowers out of the garden for once and for all!!

We are going to Pizza Ranch to eat my free medium Birthday pizza before we go to Menards. I have a coupon signed by the owners. Wasn't that a nice small town thing to do?

Another view :o)

I saw two huge earthworms!

THANK YOU pepper!!! I'm so excited!!!

Use some marine plywood on the shed to deter the rotting. It's a little more expensive, but they use it on platform type boats.

I've heard about those shed/houses. Thats what I want to do really, I'd love to live in a shed! I don't know if I could get away with it in city-limits though. I'd make one of those 55 gallon drum septic-tanks and get a $120 cast iron stove for Winter.

My friend a sweetie? She really is, I tell her that all the time too.
Thanks, I hope it is river rock too. I too like the idea of putting it where it's gonna go, I'm thinking the bottom of the waterpond.

Thanks, I'll suggest treated or marine plywood to her to rejuvenate the shed's walls.

I tried snapping a branch like Pepper suggested, a Rose snapped like it's dead.

How about all these limestone rocks I got today on the way back from mowing?

Nice work on the beds, they are coming along nicely billyp, good work.
Those look like Night Crawlers!
Pizza Ranch just sounds fun!

*edit* The photo that I meant to attach to this post is below, sorry. : )

This message was edited Apr 30, 2011 10:50 PM

Here is the bluffs where the rocks came from. I just get the fallen ones, I'd never pull any out of the bluff.

Can anybody guess without cursing, (however hard it might be..lol) what this is?! Aren't the cats here just precious?!
I'm sure the Ficus is thrilled!

Here is my few limestone rocks that I got today.

Will, thanks! I'm lucky to be able to get garden in when most of those South of me are drowning.

Wow! No lack of rocks there! What a beautiful wall they make!

I can't curse, I'm too busy laughing! Yep, cats are the best!

Yeah, I like those rocks!

The landscape blocks are in place with DH doing most of it. I also planted Glads and 100 onion sets. The garden is done for a while.

billy your beds look wonderful

as for the other picture ................... ewwwwwwwwwwww, gross!!!!!!!!! Another reason I am not a cat person.

New May thread!!

http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1177366/