Here we ARE!!!

Uh...Belinda...did you say **$15.00** for those rocks???? (And where did you say you live??? LOL) I'd love to have rocks like that for several things I want to do in my yard. But the price here would be prohibitive, to say the least. Now, I *do* have lots of "pine straw" to offer. hehehe (pine straw doesn't work real well for an edging...)

Great looking stream you have there. And lots of back breaking work. NICE JOB!!
~julie~

thanks!

equilibrum, my dh calls it niagara falls and my pond, lake michigan.

julie, they charge $9 a ton, i used a ton and half. you have to pick them up by hand.

belinda

Belinda..."Nigagra Falls" & "Lake Michigan" LOL You're my kind of gal!

$9.00 a ton! That's a super price! But all that bending and rehandling would do me in for sure. You gotta LOVE what you're doing to put yourself through that much pain. :-)

~julie~

Howdy everyone! Wow, it has taken me three days to read everything, and so many child brides it's really amazing!! Congratulations to all! I have only been married for 5 years, prob will be forever as I can't afford to go anywhere else!! Kids/grandkids/pets/house/garden are sooo expensive, LOL. Love that stream, I really like the grass at the bend esp. Just checking in here. Have a Spooky, Happy Halloween!!!

Hi, thought I'd jump in here. 42, married to Tom for 4 years, no children. Our cat Zoe is our child. Tom is a firefighter and works as a Paramedic part-time on the side. I work for Goodwill Industries in the Marketing Department (mailroom, printshop, database, behind the scenes gal). My husband and I have lived in our home for 4 years; first home for both of us so really my first opportunity to garden. Limited flower beds and one of the flowers beds also serves to grow a few edibles. All my garden areas get hit hard by the sun in the summer and I'm slowly planting perennials and letting them decide if they like it here LOL. I tend to lurk in the forums more then participate but really enjoy checking in. I'm sure in the future I'll have some questions about maintaining some of what I have grown. This forum should be a great place to do it. Thank you to those of you who got this up and going. Maridell

Hi Maridell - We have been in our first home for five years now, also have limited space, as well as limited resources, so have to make everything pay it's rent. What vegetables do you grow? Are they in raised beds? Curious, because new trend to incorporate veggies into ornamental gardens. Also have found herbs to be useful and pretty in the garden, some perennial too! Which was a nice surprise. Have some shade/some sunny. Also swing-set and swimming pool, I really think we lucked out in how the yard is laid out though, we only have 1/4 acre and everything fits so nicely together. I've been working on front yard, west-facing so hot and dry. High Country Gardens' "August Afternoons" garden plan includes all of the plants I've pared it down to, with the exception of 'East Friesland' sage in place of the lavender (because that's what I already have, LOL). I would probably add liatris spicata (blazing star) in place of the agastache, all the rest are the same. But I need to put in some evergreens, for background. Is it too late to move things around? I know it's supposed to be best to plant shrubs/trees in fall, but I would have to re-arrange the perennials. Thinking of using dwarf inkberry, like the thought of small back berries, does anyone know this plant? I was thinking it's tendency to get leggy might be masked by using the perennials in front of the bushes. And grouping the feather reed grasses and 'Autumn Joy' sedums around an arborvitae, for winter interest. I also have a little bluestem grass that plays nice with the others. It's a real stand-out, and it is a native plant, which makes it special. Nice to meetya, Happy Halloween!

prairiegirlZ5 and Maridell....I hope we'll be seeing more you here in the future! WELCOME!

~julie~

Hello Prairiegirl, You sound like you have a nice place there. Our yard is a little unusual, we are on a cul-de-sac. I like it because front yard is shape of piece of pie, small, easy to keep up. Backyard is fairly wide. On the back side of the house (along the house) I am experimenting with different perennials. Garden in yard is small (really small) but I manage to put a few veggies, herbs in. In spring my cilantro (yummy) comes up and I plant a few seeds such as lettuce, radishes. They are done by the time my annuals start to really get going. It works pretty good to do some early spring growing items to fill in the garden while other things are just waking up. Have lavender, lemon balm, chives, Rhubarb & a strawberry that has only struggled but keeps coming back for another try. Have a space by the house I plant a tomato and cucumber. That has been the extent so far. As far as I know it is still a good time to be moving things around, you should be able to go ahead and do some of that. I've moved perennials in Fall before with no problems.

Maridell...you just gave me a great idea! Next year I'm going to plant some lettuce in amongst those blasted tulips to hide the foliage as it dies and before my marigold get big enough to hide it.

~julie~

:) Good idea Julie, it should do the job. I was thinking of putting it in between some of my *experimental* perennials along back of house, due to lack of space else where. Love those fresh salads.

Yes, that sounds great! I really would like to try lettuces, we NEED to eat more salads in our house. Your garden sure is cute, I am ever amazed at wonders small spaces can hold. What is that statue under the arbor, pig or pug(dog)? Is your yard fenced? Asked because of wire mesh. (Ours has six-foot cedar fence, nice for privacy, but looks a little bland.) I saw a picture of a trellis that was attached directly to the fence (was it in Garden Gate?) that once filled in with vines, covered a good deal of the fence, thinking of trying that. The former owners had beans growing on strings on the fence, looked very lush, but was sure a lot of beans! Plus they were annual, so of course they didn't return except under leaves we didn't rake, a few here and there in the lawn for first couple of years. Wouldn't it be neat to have more than one variety of vining fruit/veg all along the fence? Was thinking of squash/gourds? Autumn on the brain, LOL. Would look nice with clematis' fuzzy seed heads, what do you think?

We have split-rail fencing all along the south and east side of our property, and my goal is to have at least the east part (that's at the back) full of morning glory vines next year. I didn't think about using wire fencing between the rails, but that would be a good idea!

Prairiegirl, The doggie is a Newfoundland. The local art center did a fundraiser related to the Lewis & Clark expedition, they had a Newfoundland on their journey. They poured these cement doggies in different sizes and had painting workshops. Hubby bought me one as a gift and I painted it here at home. Our yard is not fenced and we have alot of bunnies in the area. The mesh around the garden deters them somewhat and is not too distracting. Like your idea of growing a variety of vining items on your fence, I have not seen that before, but what fun to get multiple uses from the space. If you need more ideas, that might make an interesting thread topic!

I saw the multi-plant (vines) on one of the gardening shows on TV...I think they'd used a rambling rose and clematis. It looked wonderful and sure gave me a lot of ideas. Next season I'm planning on having DH cover the side of the carport with lattice panels then getting a bunch of clematis with different blooming times, combining those with Morning Glories, and maybe even some beans or small squash to cover for the first year. Then there's the option of making new cuttings from my Silver Lace vine.

I'm really loving this forum...so MANY *good* ideas are coming from people who live in the same basic conditions that I do. It's SUPER!!

Thanks everyone!

~julie~

I know we haven't met but hope to meet alot of great folks here..I am a Country Gal through and through..I am 33 yrs old with 2 dogs.I live in a small home that has hardly no yard..I have been lucky to have a couple of flower pots .Durning the summer I love to buy as much as possible from farmer markets and local farmers which I find via the Localharvest.org website.
I am in a long term relationship which the other person will only eat store bought food will not even try and doesn't want me making anything homemade.
Someday I would like to learn how to make alot of stuff homemade.I would like to be able to provide my own meat and eggs/milk but not sure I could kill the animal..As much as I love venision I don't think I could kill a deer although I love to go target shooting.
So to someup what and who I am ..picture a gal in a log cabin/cottage style home surrounded by woods sitting there watching all kinds of wild life grazing on her land and watching the sun rise or set with a woodburning stove to keep me warm on those cold days and night..With a 1948 ford pickup truck parked in the driveway..
Well talk to you all soon.
I am also loking for sites and forums dealing with Micro-Eco Farming...

Sounds lovely Julie88.

Hi Garden4Birds, the discription of your home makes me think of a Terry Redlin painting all warm and cozy. :)

Would you believe it? I tell you guys about the combination vine/plant planting...I go watch P.Allen Smith...and what do you think he's featuring on today's program? LOL Yep!

He was at the Biltmore...and showed some Trumpet vines that were over 100 years old climbing over a pergola. They looked like TREES! Amazing!

He talked about combining the trumpet vine with wisteria and by doing so having blooms all summer long. (you'd better have a mighty heavy structure to have *those* two growing on...especially together!

~julie~

Hey, Kentucky Wisteria is much better mannered and is every bit as attractive as its Asian cousin that gets a little unruly. Check out W. frutescens or W. macrostachys. They are both the same vine but I forgot which is being used right now. I bought one on end of season clearance and hope it makes it to next year.

I'm thinking we better start a "Here We Are II" for all the people stuck with dial up connections.

Anyone want to do the honors and then post a link here so people can move over?

Lauren

I can do that! Here's the link,
http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/554370/
Bernie

Moved to new thread.

This message was edited Oct 30, 2005 11:04 PM