I don't get along at all with my next door neighbors - I've tried my best over the years, even gave her an instant garden one year along with some hardy gingers and confederate rose. Anyway, they have this small tree on the side of her house of which attracted squirrels and blocked what little sun that side of my house got and totally blocked the sun from the new greenhouse .. I've been wanting the branches that block the sun cut down .. I knew if I asked it would never happen so the other day when I was out back talking to a friend, I knew she was listening on the other side of the fence .. so I said to my friend .. "I hope they don't cut down those branches that provide shade to the new greenhouse .. otherwise everything in there would cook!". Well this morning her husband got out his chainsaw and cut back the tree! That's how nasty she is. HIP HIP HOOOOORAAAAAAYYYYY!!!!
Reverse psychology at work!
...very clever... :-)
Lol .. I'm still grinning from ear to ear!
Neat trick. And you got a treat...lol
How mean! Glad you know how to deal with them. I'm also having issues with too much shade around my GH. There's a river Oak on one side and Magnolia on the other. I hate to have to do it, but I think I'm going to have someone cut down the Magnolia. Plan to plant cold hardy citrus, which will never tower over my GH, in that spot.
Crazy!
We've had horrible neighbors before. The house next to us is a rental and for a couple of years, the renters were awful. Luckily, they got themselves evicted, we didn't have to do anything.
Donna, we have a friend who is going to cut down their old, huge magnolia. gorgeous tree, just too much for the location.
Barb
There is nothing more beautiful than an old Magnolia. BUT, their constantly falling leaves are a huge chore to clean up and because they hold water like little bowls, mosquitoes breed in them. Hope this helps. :-)
Ardesia,
That is one of trhe reasons my friends are gtetting rid of their magnolia.
When I realized how horrible the last bad neighbor was, I erected what I call my IPPNDS (Icky-Poo-Poo Neighbor Defense System).
Definitely helped!
The first picture is when I first put it up, the second is last month when my volunteer black-eyed susan vine covered it.
Barb
LOVE your frou frou flamingo.
You did a great job with that vine, do you have an evergreen one to take its place now?
I hate to have the magnolia cut, Barb, but I really need the sun. It isn't a massive tree yet, but it is about 20' tall. I planted 4 other magnolias, plus several little gem magnolias, on my property 5-6 yrs ago. They're really taking off now, so there will be plenty of magnolias on this property for yrs to come. It truly is a mess, though, when they shed their leaves. And if it was a massive specimen, I don't think I could bear to have it cut down.
Hope your dog is well now, ardesia. I've noticed, too, that temps continue to drop in my location until at least a 1/2 hr after sunrise. I was surprised to learn that in Jan '85 temps dipped to 4f on HHI! I'm amazed those first tall date palms installed at Sun City survived that extreme cold. When I'm down your way, everything looks so tropical, it's hard to believe I'm still in SC. It's more like a slice of Fl with a SC pedigree and charm.-)
I'm still loving your pink flamingo, too, Barb. Every yard needs a little whimsy. Hope Sugahbama is doing well.-)
I went on the Charleston Hort Society tour on Kiawah a few weeks ago and saw several very healthy Australian tree ferns. I have not seen any in my area and have already lost two myself. I'll probably continue to try them though. :-)
They WILL grow in the traditionaly warmer areas around Charleston (Downtown, Folly, Seabrook and a few places on Edisto), but it's that microclimate thing again...there are so many microclimate thingies in this part of the country that I've given up trying to figure them out. If a plant is questionable for my area, I try one. If it croaks, I usually try it again. If it croaks again, I usually give up. But sometimes, if I REALLY, REALLY wanted to grow the thing (like Australian Tree Ferns), I'd run soil tests on the area I want to grow it. If there were no identifiable soil/water problems, I'd usually pack it in, but not always. (I'm kind of stubborn). Glad to finally meet the elusive "Ardesia", though! Finally!
Right back at you. :-)
Microclimates are difficult. I have areas that stay quite warm but the soil stays so damp and cool during the winter when most plants want better drainage. I think the ferns do well in areas with a more sandy soil.
Ardesia,
The new neighbors are fine, so I'm just going to grow the black eyed susans up it for now.
My husband bought me a 6' chainsaw flamonigo about 15 years ago, so the smaller ones(6 of them) were "flocking" around that one.
I would LOVE to grow Australian tree ferns. I bought one several years ago from the Biltmores' Garden store. I killed it. ;( But, as any good gardener knows, you try three times!
StonoRiver , I like how you do it. People don't realize the importance of soil. At work, I'm really trying to emphasize soil testing right now.
Barb
It seems like we are learning more and more every day about the importance of soil microbes. The new buzz word is certainly is mycorrhizae. I push for soil tests too at our plant clinic booths but frankly, the test results from our universities are not as complete as they could be. I keep saying I will invest in a good test from Waters Labs but I have procrastinated about it. A local farmer I really trust because he sincerely believes in building his soil rather than just throwing chemical fertilizers on it willy nilly, has encouraged me to try Waters. This guy is not organic, just conscientious about what he puts on the land.
I use the ProMix-BX potting mix which has the mycorrhizae in it .. I usually blend it 50/50 with plain old topsoil. Plants seem really happy with it and I always get awesome roots.
I just looked up Waters. I'd love to get a nematode test done. I'm pretty sure we have them in our tomato garden.