Who else is getting the "gotta dig" bug?

I'm wondering who els is getting the itch. I just finished potting on some lily scales that I got to grow bulbs oncl. They came from when I cleaned out and redug the lily bed and were in the bottom of the pot I had the bulbs stored in. I haven't the faintest idea of what they are because the guy that I had mulch and edge the beds went and pulled out all my markers. G-d knows where I'm going to put them all there's at least 50 babies! I have 24 pots with several bulbs in each out in the garage already that I ran out of time planting them that will go in the ground in the spring. I have gobs more coming in the spring from the last bulb sale. This means a corner of the yard is going to be ripped out.

With all that said I'm just absolutely itching to get something started. I'm so desperate I've been cleaning both of my plant stands. I guess I'll start ordering cocopots and lights. Maybe I'll order some plants. After all I am digging out a new bed. I've just got to do something!

Who else is itching to get going?.

I just repotted a couple things, took cutting to pot from a begonia...love to play in dirt.

Add me to the list! I dug holes before the freezing weather started so I could transplant some shrubs and, as I almost always do, I'm rethinking where I want them to go so I want to dig another hole. I'm starting to feel like a character in Louis Sachar's book "Holes", except that I don't mind digging holes.

I need to re-pot just about every indoor plant I have, and I have 2 pots waiting, so I should get started on that. On the other hand, the ground's not too hard after the initial crust, and digging does warm one up, and it's a relatively "balmy" day...hmmm...

My first few forays to the garden will be mostly digging WEEDS. Stupid henbit et al.

My garden could be called "henbit hill!"

I've been planting bulbs whenever the ground is not frozen. But honestly, I've been a little grateful to these cold days when I can't plant, because I'm finally addressing the paperwork on which I am very behind (filing away bills, medical stuff, etc.).

Even 10 days from now, the nights won't be consistently above freezing. Sheesh.

Just potted up some baby AVs.

Winter-Sowed parsley, columbine, foxglove, and lupine.

You are my hero!

donner--
My 2 bunches of parsley are still "alive" outside--as it IS, kind of, a perennial.
Frozen and limp--but alive.

I am hoping it will re-grow in the spring. I will keep an eagle-eye on it so it
won't be allowed to bolt.

This year--I will go back to planting my basil and parsley in pots...kept by my Patio.
Not that I minded--but the amount of Black Swallowtail Cats. that I allowed to decimate
ALL my parsley and Dill was not too exciting. However--I DID NOT kill any!!!

I have to get back to making Pesto. Last year--I just let my basil go,,,,I DID collect
a lot of seed, though.
I also DO hope to have plenty of fresh Dill. I should scatter seeds NOW...

I will be getting rid of all my strawberry plants...only had them for 2 years--but it is
not worth the 3x3 space they take up. I only got a hand-full of berries,,,,the bugs ate the rest.

Will post this on the Plant Swap "haves"....I will dig them up as soon as feasible and
pot them up. Hope to get the WHOLE plant per pot--runners and all.

I think they were either "Everbear" or "Sequoia" fro m HD.
G.

Gita, I have a pot of parsley that is sitting on the south side of the house by the kitchen vent. That's probably the warmest spot in the garden. Not sure if it will survive the winter though. Last year was the first time I ever grew parsley.

I WSed columbines and foxgloves because they both self-seed. So I thought they would perform fine if WSed. I remember that SSG WSed lupines and parsley last year. Not sure if they grew well for her, but thought I would give it a try :o). I grew lupines several years back. They didn't do well in our hot summer, and disappeared after a couple of years. I will give them a bit more shade this time to see if they do better.

Donner, my wintersown lupines did very well. They don't bloom until the second year, though. I had so many seedlings that I had to give them away. I understand that they're short-lived perennials but I'm hoping that they've self-seeded.

I had a ton of parsley seedlings the first year but only a few came up last year. I was using older seeds so that probably made a difference.

I think I had nearly 100% germination with wintersown foxgloves.

I can't wait to really do some digging. New pond project for next spring just waiting for the ground to thaw and become dry enough to dig in.

SSG, thank you for the info.

Yeah. Lupines are short-lived perennials. They live slightly longer up north where summers are cooler. Of the previous batch I planted all bloomed the 2nd year, but only a couple of them lived to see the 3rd year.

Ooooh a pond project! How I long to have a pond in our yard! I think ponds are awesome. I want to have one big enough to be worth it though like 8x8x2' or so.

I'm itching to get digging as well. I had the day off yesterday and the wife was at work. It felt odd not doing anything in the yard if I was home all by myself. I considered looking around in the garden but most of our yard is snow covered :(

This one will be about 8 X 6 and will be part of an existing water feature. I will be digging in an area known to have some serious rocks so I won't know if it is doable until I get digging.

Oh my, that's right, you're not far from me. Chances are you'll have football sized shale pieces in there. Can't you rent a mini bobcat or something? If we ever do one, that's what I'm going to do. I know how much work it is to dig a proper whole for a tree. It doesn't help that our land was part of a farm and isn't far away from where the barn used to be. Once I dug a rock out of the ground that was approx 90 lbs or so and about 1 cubic foot in size. I used it as a block in a very tiny garden...it's my trophy...LOL

We have a lot of red stone here and yes I could rent something but I thought I would give the digging a try first. Maybe I will cave in fast you never know. There is a ridge that runs right through where I will be digging can't hardly put a shovel in the ground around here without hitting some thing.
I also have the bug to pot up a few plants as well but am trying hard not to. I need more house plants like a hole in my head right now.

I have a pre-formed pond (about 7' x 4' x 2') and a "free-formed" cascading stream leading into it. For what it's worth and in the hopes that I'm not telling you something you already know, if I did it over again, I would definitely go with a "free-formed" pond lined with (rubber?) pond liner instead of a pre-formed tub because: you can easily create shallower shelves for plants that don't want to be 2' under and "escape staircases" to allow critters (e.g. chipmunks) to climb out (mucking out drowned chipmunk from pond isn't fun); if you hit a big rock or tree root, you can work around it; your pond can be any shape you want; you won't have unattractive plastic pool parts to cover up; it'll be easier to maintain the shape you want; and it's cheaper.

It is hard to keep my pre-formed pond both level and at ground level. Most recent example: I had to muck it out this Fall, so I emptied it. This happened to be after a heavy rain, and there was so much ground water 2' under that it started to float like a boat! In order to make it look nice, and get it level with the rubber stream, I am going to have to re-dig the hole and re-install it this Spring.

There IS something I gotta dig--but i am NOT looking forward to it....
It is my raised bed, which, by now, is full of those fine, feeder roots from my
big Silver Maple.
They were there the year after this 3' x 16' bed was built. (2010). What a horrible let-down!

So--I sharpened my straight shovel and proceeded to dig it deeply and systematically
in a fine grid fashion...severing the small roots along the way.

Never got to it last year at all--so now, this spring, I GOTTA DIG it again--and I know
it will be horrendous....By now the small roots will have become bigger roots and they
will be everywhere....and I will have to yank them out as i go by hand.
I am too old to be doing this kind of work! Don't want to either....

This bed was meant to be my vegetable bed. So much for that!

Yes! I GOTTA DIG!!!! Don't WANNA DIG!....but WILL DIG!!....

Gita

Gita, LOL After doing a bit of yardening at Josh's house I found out all about those roots. Boy they sure are a pain in the shovel. LOL

Oh man Gita, I hate to be that guy but you can permanently solve that by giving the tree over to the axe :) They are one of the few trees I have zero respect for. Our neighbors have one just outside of our property line with approx 3' diameter trunk. It's been poorly maintained (likely due to it being on a rental property and the owners don't care) and needs shaped up big time. Over the last few years, I've had tree trimmers periodically trim out limbs, some large (1'), so that our yard at least gets sun.

I'll second that. I made the hard decision to have 2 huge silver maples cut down a few months ago, but I don't regret it at all. They had co-dominant leaders, like SMs often do, and were literally rotten to the core...disasters waiting to happen. The roots from one had clogged our sewer line the previous year; what a God-awful mess that was.

Oh my that sounds terrible. We planted a hedge row last year not far from the SM I've referenced. We used a hydraulic auger and it was a nightmare because we'd have to stop every hole for the first 15 plants to dig out 2-3" roots. I did take a sinister satisfaction in it though >:)

I moved last year and still have potted plants to get in the ground. On the rare day the ground isn't frozen solid and I have a break from work, I go outside to dig. Everything has been frozen solid lately.

I have been wintersowing seeds. I had to bring a container of potting mix inside to thaw so that I could fill more containers. I discarded a bunch of saved soda bottles when I moved. Now I wish that I saved them. At the time, I was getting lots of grief about moving the plants. At least I got my plants and my large paving stones moved. The movers kept "forgetting" to put them in the truck, but they made it.

I already have a couple of fussy seeds in baggies of moist vermiculite starting in the furnace room. I better get my shelves set up before they germinate. I am still unpacking and have some things to move in and out of the garage including my shelf and lights. It has been so cold and slippery that I have been procrastinating spending time shuffling boxes in the unheated garage.

I have a question for those of you who start seeds indoors. What do you start first? I think I will start with peppers, petunias and violas. They are slow starters for me. I tried both wintersowing and indoor sowing both parsley and cilantro. I didn't get any germination either way. Does anyone have any pointers?

sequoya and Muddy--

I have 2 maples--they are about 46 years old--
We moved into a new house in a development--and everyone wanted shade asap.
Didn't know a lot back then--so 2 maples were planted.
The bigger one is a Silver Maple--the smaller one is a smaller, daintier one.
Not sure what kind it is--but the leaves turn yellow and drop off very quickly.
The limbs are close to horizontal in growth, vs the vase-shaped ones of the SM.
However--it's roots are just as nasty.

I would never cut them down--that is NOT going to fix the root problems--
as they are already everywhere....
I also do not want to cut them down for the shade they provide in our hot summers.
I can turn the corner to the back yard and it is 10 degrees cooler....

Both trees are healthy and strong. They are in my back yard.
Yes--dead branches and twigs fall down all the time--that is just nature's pruning.

I agree that some "shaping " would be good--but that runs into a lot of money.
I HAVE thought of that a lot....just shortening the limbs a bit--NOT topping!!!

It IS scary in very high winds to see the big one's branches swaying around--
I keep thinking--one of these days--it may fall....It is quite tall. So far--so good.

#1 and #2--the smaller maple from 2 different angles
3--The big maple taken from my back-yard neighbor's side
4--The Big maple and the bed i call the "YUK" bed--as it is SOOO close to the tree
that I cannot even dig in it--yet it is always full of something blooming.
I respect any plant that can thrive in this bed...

Gita, your trees look healthy to me; they don't show the signs of rot that mine did. They don't have huge surface roots, either. Could you just add soil to create a raised bed for your vegetables?

Muddy--

Every inch of fresh soil is like candy to the roots. I added 14" in my raised bed--
with a double layer of commercial weed block on the bottom.
Made NO difference.....next year--they were getting established all through.

Oh, yes--I have surface roots all over the back lawn. You can't see them
because of the grass-but I go walking and I trip over them constantly.
It really hurts! Mowing the lawn is like riding over rocks--all bumpy.
Fat roots--like my wrists....

There is NO hope for any kind of decent garden in my back yard.
How I wish I could just dig a hole anywhere and plant something....
It gets to be an exhausting battle--and i am getting too old to deal with it.
G.

Could build something like this in that area? http://www.gardeners.com/8-Elevated-Cedar-Raised-Bed/8586748,default,pd.html?start=7&cgid=RaisedBeds_Dept.

Oooh Muddy, those are gorgeous!!!! Just think, Gita, of how much easier it would be for your back to garden in those things!!! < =D And only $250 for a 2' x 8'!!! ... OK, I'm starting to sound like a commercial, I'll shush up. But.. but... they're so nice!!! =)

I keep thinking about all the digging I'd love to be doing outside.. then I remember a few things:

1: it's frozen HARD
2: even if I could dig, I don't have anything yet to put in the holes! ;)
3: I have homework to do. =(

So depressing. ;)

Gita, your yard looks really beautiful even with the SM. I really like the shed you have back there. SM's must have been all the rage back in the 70s. That is when our development was built and they are all over the place...those and Pin Oaks, which are in decline due to our soil.

Speedie, what sort of homework are you bummed about doing?

sequoya--

That shed is my Ex-husbands creation---one of a kind..
He always has been very creative an amazing when it comes to building anything.
A chalet shed.... ..8'x12' on a concrete pad. :o)
Not too practical inside--as there are only 4' of upright sides to put shelves on.
The rest of the walls are the slopes of the roof. Many thingd hang from there-though.
Including 6 webbed lawn chairs.

Muddy--
That WAS the idea of building my raised bed.....did not pan out as I had hoped....
ANYTHING sitting on the ground, anywhere, will have roots in it in one year!!!!

This is all there is of my back yard. See the raised bed"
Love my patio--i LIVE there during the summer. rain or shine--I can work out there.

The one in the catalog has a wooden "floor", and I think the dirt is only about a foot deep. It's deceptive because the box is so high. It's essentially like an elevated wooden sandbox with spaces for water to seep through.

You could build one that's maybe a foot high, make a plywood floor, put a layer of rocks on top of that, then another add a second plywood floor so that the drainage is good. Or, maybe it would work to make just one plywood floor, cover it with some rocks and then put landscape fabric on top of the rocks (french drain-like).

Maybe even SM roots wouldn't be able to penetrate wood, at least not until the wood rots which could take a while.

This message was edited Jan 30, 2014 11:24 AM

Perhaps I need to ask if regular earthworms tend to move in and out of a compost bin???

That is my concern--compost needs worms to process the scraps.
If the bin is not close to the ground, how will they move in and out?
Do they???
Drainage would not be all that hard to achieve....G.

I don't think worms are essential to compost, though they are a pleasing sight. But I really don't know. My yard isn't very wormy but the soil isn't very good. I do always rescue earthworms I see that are in a pickle.

I agree Sequoia, Gita has a really beautiful yard (even if she does say that 'that is all there is of it'.) ;) The whole area, including the patio, are such great, peaceful havens!
Oh, and the homework I currently have is math. I'm still in the early stages of "going back to school", and, since I also work, I'm only taking 1 class at a time. Currently it's intermediate algebra with intro to Calculus. Yes, I'm a late bloomer, I admit it. =)

LOL Happy, I like to rescue worms too! =) And I try to 'transplant' them when I can. heeheeheee "Here ya go little guy, there's more for you to eat over here... and my soil would appreciate your company!" < =D

Speedie--I did the same thing after my raised bed was built.
Every worm I unearthed--I would carry it over to the bed and give it a home..
There was plenty of "GOOD" stuff mixed in there for them to feel at home.

I could do the same with mu compost bin--when I have one...

Happy--I think worms are VERY important in breaking down veggie wastes.
That is where worm-castings come from. it is their "poop"....
G.

Oh man...homework is something of the not so distant past for me and I hope I can get through the rest of my life never having to do it again. Since I've gotten out of college, I've been pretty dead set on not going back to school.

Anytime I dig in the soil and find an earthworm on my shovel I try to save it. That is unless I'm digging wholesale with the spade, then I don't take the time. I even rescue bees if they need it. Last year there was a giant carpenter bee stuck underneath our sliding screen door. Don't ask me how he got under there but I had to take the door partially off to save him. He was a little stunned afterward but I think he made it alright. In fact, this past fall when I was wacking down my neighbors perennials, I unknowingly hit a praying mantis and cut off a chunk of his rear end. I didn't realize it until I went to pull a stake out and he was on it. I was heartbroken and didn't want him to suffer so I politely ended his life but I felt pretty bad about it.

I know it's pretty unmanly of me but I hate killing things. Unless of course they're a spider in the house or something :)

We have several of these around our house to catch and release bugs -- http://www.amazon.com/Katcha-Bug-Spider-Catcher/dp/B00EYBB08W -- we didn't pay very much for them -- we got them from PETA -- the price on Amazon is nutty. Now PETA has a different model: http://www.petacatalog.com/products/Humane_Bug_Catcher-584-3.html

Gita: I know worms are fabulous and worm castings are the best. But you can still make compost without worms. See, for example, http://homeguides.sfgate.com/compost-outdoors-worms-78293.html One year we had snake eggs in our compost -- that was a little unsettling.

A tupperware container works well to catch bugs - knock 'em in with the top, cover it up quickly and dump them outside.

Microorganisms help break down organic matter, which is one reason why making pureed kitchen waste apparently is a good idea - they can break it down faster - so worms should be nice-to-haves.