Shall We Introduce Ourselves?

With horse manure and so much open ground, you should be able to make that a gorgeous piece of property.
I've been buying my daffodil bulbs as well as species tulips at Costco every fall for the past few years and now have a lovely variety for Spring color. Their prices are terrific and some of the flowers are definitely not run-of-the-mill. Which roses are you getting?

I bought the Climber collection. Dreamweaver, Stairway to heaven and Scent from above. That should help fill in some of the blank open spaces along the fence line. As much as I love trees, I can't believe I have a house that has none. The back 3 acres are wooded but it's not quite the same. Of course, it will be fun to actually be able to plant flowers that do well in full sun.

cindy22534

I hear you! Doesn't seem like sometimes people go to the store and buy and plant perennials that they like and plant them just anywhere - without regard for what the plant wants. I have forsythia planted in the deep shade with tulips and hosta in the bright sun

go figure......

Roxroe,

When I moved in here, there was a hosta garden planted in full sun. I was shocked that they did so well but they are still there as I don't really have any place in the shade to move them. I am going to move them to a somewhat shadier spot this year but if they do any better in the shade, they will take over a garden fairly quickly.

Hi! I'm new to Dave's Garden. I am currently in Rockville, MD, but am finally moving back out to Loudon County, Virginia in July.

I consider myself to be the Black Thumb of Death. I try and try, but I've kill everything I've ever planted, until this year. Last year I put in some blanket rose bushes, some lavender, some hydrangeas and a couple of clematis and THIS YEAR THEY ARE ACTUALLY GROWING BACK!! Whoooooohoooo!

My new house has a couple of challenges, some very shady spots, some eyesores I'd like to cover up, a pond. I'm looking forward to finally having a long term home of my own where I can garden to my heart's content, and maybe actually not KILL everything I touch.

Any and all help, advice, or positive growing vibes will be appreciated very much, and in return, I am a not too bad horse person, so if you need horsey help, I'm your chicky.

Cheers!

Hi, luna_baby. Nice to meetcha. No horses to need advice here, but I'll look forward to seeing your posts. Sounds like a nice piece of property you'll be tending.
Michele

Welcome Luna!!!

Angie here, live in Highland, MD which is western Howard county. I am married 10 years this past Dec 9th to my best bud and prom date (i.e. we have been friends for 20 years egads!) We live in a log home on five acres which is mostly wooded. I got my garden genes from my mom via osmosis and slave labor when I was young. Heck who am I kidding I am still the pack mule when we go out shopping for plants!!! I have wet shade, dry shade, full sun, part sun, water and in between gardens! I have an on going argument with the deer as they are certain that I plant for their personal enjoyment! I love my critters though, all of em and I love being here in the peace and quiet of my home. I am 35 but act all of 22, still play in the mud with bugs and snakes! We have two Rhodesian Ridgebacks (that means big short haired dogs) that are my kids and the loves of my life! Oh and I have a tailless squirrel that I have named Bunny as it looks like a bunny when it hops around lol!

;)

Ah Angie - you'll have to ck out the pet forums "here" http://davesgarden.com/forums/f/pets/all/ And I'd, personally, love to see a photo of "bunny" LOL

I'm pretty excited about my new place...but I AM terrible with plants.

I am so considerably cheered though by my limited success here in this house..(Whoohoo, I grew a lavender plant! Yes, I am a geek! ) that I am really, really excited about my new house.

I am going to make you all crazy, I'm afraid.

Chantell I trying to "capture" Bunny via a digital camera but camera shy is an understatement! Nothing else leaves the feeders but Bunny hops away! Funny that Bunny as it will come and tap on the kitchen window when there is no water in the birdbath on the rail or food in the hanging tray!

Hello to both newcomers - Good to have you here. There is loads of information on this site and the folks all seem nice.

This is only my second year at truly having a garden. In the past thirty or so years, I have dabbled with things on and off. When thinking back over my life, I can see that gardening and love of plants has been consistent for me. So many of my other interests seem to tire themselves out rather quickly.

My husband and my project this year is re-landscaping a very steep front yard. We will end up having a lot of mulch covering, several huge rocks (boulders,) some new trees, some spreading herbs and lot of other flowers and plants.

This is only our second summer here. Most of last summer we were having construction types of things done. Included are a new mechanics garage for my husband, a large screened in porch, a front deck that dh calls an airplane hanger and few odds and ends to the inside of the house.

I am hoping in the future to meet some of the folks from this forum. There is a plant swap being planned for in May. I am hoping to attend that. The nursery visit last week that several people attended sounds like a lot of fun too.

I have been coming to this and a couple of other gardening boards since last winter and haven't tired of what I am learning yet. All is good.

Happy Gardening To All.

Ruby

Another newbie here. Also another squirrel fancier who lives on a mostly-wooded 5-acre property with many squirrels, a long-suffering husband, and one rodent-harrassed cat.

We are 55 miles SE of Washington, DC, smack dab between the Chesapeake Bay and the Patuxent River, and suffer from a bit of Zone 7a-7b identity confusion.

I aconsider myself a hereditary gardener. I inherited my green genes from many generations of PA Dutch and Italian peasant farmers, and my practical experience from my Central PA family that always grows-its-own. Have been at it since I was a toddler and grow primarily veggies and herbs but some shade-loving perennials and annuals too. Love my iris, peonies and my one chronically struggling lilac as well. The husband is a city boy who knew not from whence his veggies came until we moved here. He is several years into his quest for perfect sweet corn.

This year we are planting an 85'x40' vegetable garden, in which I am currently preparing to install some good-sized pepper, tomato and eggplant seedlings. We are also assisting our pre-school granddaughter with her own small garden plot, hoping to repeat her blue-ribbon pumpkin triumph of last year's county fair.

I'm here because I want to see how others in the area handle the roller coaster weather changes and other challenges of gardening in this area.

Annie

Annie,
What a great place it sounds like you have!!! You'll have to post pics of your g-daughter's garden patch...how cute is that!!!
Roller coaster weather? Here? Perish the thought...LOL!!!

Annie I love nothing more then to get up in the am, take a cup of coffee out onto the deck and bask in the early morning sunshine and the peace of my property! Alas, this Maryland weather is killing me, it has been in the 30's in the mornings ack! I am lucky enough to live "in" the woods so the frost hasn't been an issue for me like it has for others. Dh can grumble all he wants to about all the trees (men and their lawns!) but they save me from the frost, the scorching heat in the summer as their is always a shaded spot and the winds (because it really has to be a good one to get down to ground level here!) I am so ready for it to hit and stay in the 50 degree mark overnight so that I can put my houseplants out and can start enjoying my early am ritual! Right now it is a balmy 72 with sunshine filtering through the leaves and a slight breeze (which means the trees up high are swaying lol) and I am in heaven!!! Welcome!!!

The tot plot is actually not doing much just yet so a photo would show only a patch of dirt with maybe a few tiny shoots poking up. We got off to a late start this year. When it gets a bit further along, I'll post a photo.

Sitting on the deck watching the woods makes the troublesome aspects of living in them worthwhile. We maintain squirrel nest boxes and feeding stations around our property since we are involved in wildlife rehabilitation. This year we are overrun with wild baby squirrels who are just out of the nests . Watching their antics is a favorite entertainment. Where there are peanuts and sunflower seeds, there will be birds too. We seem to specialize in woodpeckers here.

While this is a beautiful area and we have a nice piece of property, I could do without the humidity and the critters associated with the swamp. If it crawls, slithers, flys, hops, stings, or bites, we've got it. And probably in our basement, at that.

Angie, we almost moved to Highland many years ago. Found an old house we loved but it was really off the beaten track in those days and we had small kids. We worried about being so far from everything and opted to stay where we were. I'm looking forward to seeing Bunny in the flesh when you get that snapshot. Squirrels are hard to photograph because they move so quickly, even if they do hop like a bunny.

It's going down to 45 here tonight but is predicted to hit 82 on Wednesday. I can't decide whether it's safe to plant my tomatoe and eggplant seedlings yet or wait. I've made my own Wall-o-Water surrounds from zip-lock bags in the past but can't seem to motivate myself to do that this year.

Thanks for your warm welcome. I look forward to following this forum's discussions.

Annie

What a good idea, sciurus, Zip-loc WOW's. Please post a thread on that, maybe in Frugal Living. I'd love to get details. And glad to see you here.

Annie every so often we go to the Second Chance Wildlife Rescue group and get orphan squirrles and bring them here to live! We brought home about 20 a year or so ago, put the nest boxes up in the woods and let them loose. Highland is still "rural" enough for me to not know I am near the anything. Most days you can't hear anything other than the natural sounds. I love this area, love Maryland for all the seasons, but the unstable weather can drive you crazy. When it gets humid I really feel it as the trees all around me seem to just hold the moisture in place! Swap area huh? Cool beans, I don't mind any critters unless they make a meal of me, then it is doomsday for them! I used the wall o water once for my veggies, worked really well, haven't had a veggie garden in a while as the maple trees got big and shaded it lol!

This message was edited May 2, 2006 12:42 PM

Ah to just hear the sounds of nature...that would be so nice!! Then again...with my crew it's good to be within 5 min. of my local Walmart store. Hard to satisfy everyone! Baby squirrels have got to be the cutest things!!! When I go to DC I'm always trying to get pics of those out there with that beautiful black/red coloring - very handsome boys they are!!!

Hi to all. I'm another refugee from GW. I remember Brent & Suja from last spring's MAG swap. E&E'smom, I probably met you too, but sorry I've forgotten your other name. Nice to meet all the rest of you.

Will I see any of you on Saturday?
Laurel

Annie,

Welcome! This is a friendly place! AND--You will learn a lot!

I can't even imagine 5 acres of land!!! I would be in a 24 hr. compulsive mode to make a garden out of it all. :o) My WHOLE property is 65'x100'. I am in an older development.

My houseplants and cuttings and X-Mas cactuses, and Hoyas, and everything else went outside a couple of weeks ago. It's like "cold turkey". Live--or die! What helps is that I have a large covered patio with a very high roof and 4 skylights in it. I have 2-3 tables under it and I keep a lot of my plants there to sort of acclimatize them--depending on their light preferrences. Some get a bit of AM sun--some get the late PM sun. No big difference this time of year! Thgat is also my work area where I prepare and plant all my potted stuff.

I also have 2 mature maples in the back yard, and I hang all my HB's under them. The only 2 HB's that went out in the sun, immediatly, were a variagated Hoya and my Ric-Rac Cactus (HUGE!) If they don't like it--I don't want to know.....I do this every year, and they all seem to adjust and thrive.

Veggies is a different story................I don't really grow any, save some Basil and a couple of tomatoes. Not worth it. I can drive 5 minutes up the road and buy fresh veggies at a Roadside Stand I have patronized for years. They sell annuals and perennials as well. I spent way too much $$$ there!

NOW! I have NEVER in my life seen a baby squirrel, even though I have them here also. Got a picture of one???
Same as most people have NEVER seen a baby Pidgeon (in the city). What do they do? Feed the babies until they are full-sized and then let then go??? I often wonder how 3-5 baby birds, almost adult size, fit in their nests????? I have a Bird-Condo in my old spruce and in every hole in the Quanzan Cherry trees that line our street. The big branches are all hollow. Old age!

I live in NE Baltimore County near White Marsh Mall. Been here almost 37 years and have seen ALL and ANY kinds of weather any times of the year. It IS crazy!!!! You just live and learn.

Happy gardening! Gita

Gita you know my mom sort ot lol! You sent her some plants recently, her name is Shirley and she is in Laurel, MD! She talks about you a lot lol, how nice you are and how helpful you have been! Very cool to "meet" you!

As for turning 5 acres into gardens, ha! While the idea sounds wonderfully romantic when it is woods with deer heards the reality is another story. I started reading a book by Robert Gilmore called The Woodland Garden after getting part way into it I decided this guy doesn't view gardening in the "woodland" the same way I do! His suggestion was to cut down everything that was less then six inches in diameter, to clean up all fallen limbs and trees and cut down any and all dead or dying trees. He says anything you can see out of a window should be cleaned up! I have windows and views of the woods from just about every side of my house, egads! I would never do that to my woods, first off all those snags (trees that are dead but standing) offer homes to cavity nesters and food for woodpeckers which we have tons of! Second all that is on the ground is home to a mass of critters from wood frogs, to beetles to snakes, chipmunks and once again a food source. I have some old pine logs down near my pond and watching the pileated woodpecker go to town on them is so awesome! As for planting in a woodland garden, well if you don't have deer it isn't an issue at all, for me though the azealeas that were the foundation hardly ever bloom here. They are browsed into stubs in the winter time despite trying any number of things to stop it from happening and hosta rofl, they are usually the first to be eaten when those tender little tufts of green first appear! Right now I am using Liquid Fence and it seems to be working, I also used some systemic tablets when some hosta that I planted and while they were tasted they weren't eaten! I have seen pictures of beautiful winding paths through blooming azealeas with the mist hanging in the air and the moss on the rocks (we don't have big rocks either lol) and it reminds me of a place fairies would be. I however must be happy with my leaf littered floor and fallen trees and wildlife as the idea of cleaning the woods, well is too much cleaning!!!

When I started gardening up here on the mountain, there was nothing but woods on our side of the road for acres and acres. As I cleaned up bits and pieces (never wholesale cleaning, for the reasons you said Idy) I created brushpiles for the critters. When they started building more houses up here and cut a driveway near ours for the neighbor's housewith a very large lawn, I was certain there'd be some tension over the brushpiles I'd created in the woods just over on his side of the property line. But, thank goodness, he doesn't mind the unsightliness either in the interests of the critters. He doesn't even mind the deer. After 3 years of finding no adequate deer deterrents, DH DID put up 800+ feet of 6' fence to keep them out of my gardens. But I left 4 acres of woods for them, so they'll just have to be content with that!

Give me the "warm and fuzzies" to hear folks are still concerned about the wildlife!! The looks I get when driving and trying to avoid turtles, birds, and rodents....oh well...can't please everyone!

Have you ever tried stopping along the Interstate to intersept a box turtle? Even that doesn't stop traffic. Luckily I-66 out this way is only busy at rush hour; but I still see too many turtles that didn't make it.

Interstate eh? Nope not there...but definatley any place else. Poor babies I just fee so bad for them...all they can do is tuck head & tail and hope for the best.

I break for turtles and every other critter, heck I even do all I can to keep from hitting the wooly bears in the fall! Last summer I was coming down the road and saw a small turtle in the middle. I didn't want him to get hit so I pulled off the road and went and got him. He was the strangest looking turtle, so small and looked sort of like a pond turtle except that where he was there was no water anywhere around. I brought him home and gave him to the neighbors as they have a pond. Well they called a few days later and said that they had found out what kind of turtle it was, turned out it was a baby snapper lol! He was so sweet never tried to bite me or anything lol! I have to have my critters, I love all of them even if they do eat my plants and drive me crazy!

It's so good to encounter folks who respect wildlife and nature, even if the wildlife does eat their plants. I posted to another forum here where they were discussing how to get rid of squirrels, i.e. trap, shoot, etc. I reminded them that it is against the law to harm wildlife of any kind in most states, and then I took off. I'm sure the squirrel haters will be after me big time. Fortunately, I'm at that age where I can't remember everything (actually, can't remember anything would be more accurate) and I can't even remember which forum I posted to. Just as well.

Angie, I know Chris Montouri at Second Chance. When our rehab vet was incapcitated, I ran my badly injured animals all the way over there so they could see her vet. She's a great rehabber and her organization is probably the premier wildlife rehab facility in the DC/MD area. The wildlife rehab community in MD is fairly tight knit. There aren't too many of us and we usually interact with everyone at one time or another. I'm actually semi-retired but I maintain my state license and do a lot of referrals and education. I still get pressed into service when there are a lot of orphans to raise. Raising squirrels is a lot like raising kids except your "children" can climb the curtains. Squirrels are adorable when they are babies and will happily bite your face off as teenagers and adults. Here's a baby squirrel for those who have never seen one. This little guy is about 5 weeks old and was found walking down the street looking for his mom who was hit by a car.

As to woodland gardening, we haven't attempted too much of that. We have about one acre cleared with the rest heavily wooded. We have an old stream with very steep banks and some swampy areas in the lower section of the property. I'd like to introduce some native wildflowers in areas where they'd naturally grow but haven't had the resources or the time to do so. Until last year, I worked full time. When we first moved in here, 10 years ago, the bottom land near the swamp was covered with jack-in-the-pulpit. My husband, Mr. Black Thumb, mowed them all down without saying anything to me. Last year was the first time I saw a jack-in-the-pulpit since that happened.

We have a lot of pawpaw trees, sweet gums, swamp oak, holly, beech, black walnut, hickory, and of course, loblolly pines. I don't know the age of the woods but the trees are mostly in the 50-foot-plus range. The undergrowth is formidible with Virginia creeper, sweetbriar, honeysuckle and wild black raspberries. There's also awesome poison ivy with vines as big around as your forearm hanging from some of the older trees.

For those who are interested, there will be a native plant sale at Battle Creek Cypress Swamp Nature Center near Prince Frederick on Saturday, May 6, 2006. It runs 9 AM to 1 PM. They always have an excellent selection of Maryland wildflowers and wetland/woodland plants. If anyone is interested, I'll be happy to give you driving directions.

The turtle-in-the-road reminded me of the time I stopped near Chesapeake Beach to move a huge snapping turtle from the middle of the road. It was so heavy that it took two of us to lift it--very carefully. I think it would have done some damage to any car that hit it.

It's time to get back to the garden. I'm very slow planting this year. I worked outside all yesterday afternoon and only succeeded in planting two small sections. We tilled up some previously unplanted areas this year. The soil in them is sandy and there are so many pebbles that it's like planting in a gravel pit. The neighbors tell me that this was a gravel pit before the houses were built in the 80s.

Hope you all have a great day.

Annie

Turtles are the only things I smile about having eaten my plants. Their eating them lets me know they're still around. And they're not so rude as to take one bite from multiple fruits, like some greedy groundhogs, squirrels, and deer!

Just look at that whittle face...heck, I even think baby possums are cute!!

But that little guy doesn't look greedy, just devilish! Cute, sciurus.

DH and I used to volunteer for the Wildlife Rescue League hotline when we lived in NoVA. I was shocked at how cute the baby possums are.

Considering that I've had rats as pets I guess I think anything's cute. LOL

I am slowly teaching my dh to love the wildlife, slowly! We have had issues with the pileated woodpeckers and occasionally a downy woodpecker or two going after the carpenter bee larva. The trouble with them going after it is that we live in a log home and so the bees bore, the woodpeckers drill and we end up with a hole the size of a mans fist! Dh's father wanted to shoot the woodpeckers, I told him I would report him if he did! We had the house cob gritted last year (its a cleaning process that is far more friendly then chemical stripping/cleaning) and while we have carpenter bees they aren't nearly as bad! So dh this year has enjoyed watching the woodpeckers on the logs in the woods rather than the house. Now if I could just get him over his fear of snakes lol, he squeals like a school girl and runs at the site of a snake, no matter what size!

Annie I saw your post about the squirrels, don't remember which forum either lol. The amount of hostility from some people towards wildlife just amazes me. I can't imagine killing anything (unless it is eating me) I mean I try to let wasps and other critters out of the house rather then squish them. The land just keeps going away with all the building and I don't know where people think the wildlife is going to go. I welcome them all here, I love to watch the birds and bugs, I can sit forever when I catch an orb weaver making a new web! I sometimes think that the people that are hurting the animals should suffer the same fate they bestowed upon what they hurt! People might think twice then!

This was my garage buddy! This friendly critter had been in my garage for YEARS, he would come out whenever I was working on the deck to sun himself. Well I loved having him around as he kept the mice out of the cars and the birdseed and he ate the big old spiders that we have in there as well. I was out potting up stuff and my friend here was sunning, well dh made me catch and release my friend. He had a fit when he saw the snake just sitting there! You would have thought it was a cobra getting ready to eat the dogs! I sure do miss my pal!

I wish I'd known, Idy. He would've been welcomed by all here except the ones I'd like him to take of! We've had terrible trouble with mice and rats this year: Pulling the insulation off the garage ceiling, eating snowblower belts, living in the car's fan housing and stinking up the car, building a major nest underneath the folded down 3rd seat that was pulled up for the first time in months on Friday. It was a nightmare for a while. Never knew when I'd open up the rain barrel to find them drowned in there. Yuck! Our neighbor knows to always call when he sees a snake - he's scared to death of them. We'll gladly give them a home over here, helping Mother Nature keep the rodents in check.

Aren't mice something else! We have had them make nest in the truck and the car's fan housing! They even went so far as to chew up the felt stuff on the inside hood of the truck! Oh and the mess they make in the car, they used to get into the Honda we had and make nest under the front seat. You go to get in the car and there is all this nesting material, ugh! I never killed them though, we tried those ultrasonic things that are supposed to repel mice. They worked for a while but then stopped working, my snake now he was very good at keeping the mice at bay! Mark my words, when those mice get into dh's new Infiniti, he will be begging me to find that snake lol!

Hey Ya'll, I just found this forum and am so glad to see folks from the mid-atlantic.
I am a Norfolk,Va. native who lives here again after moving many , many times as my DH moved around for the telephone Co.
We have been home for 20 years now, own a ranch house on the river in an area close to downtown Norfolk.
Just had a bulkead put in so all the flowerbeds had to be moved and we are basically starting over. As we are in our 70's now we are starting slow but have made good progress so far. Most of the grass is now covered in backyard with pinechip and pinetag mulch with paths of grass. That will change as I can work more to help DH.
I had back and hand surgery so am kinda limited right now.DH and I have been married 52 years as of June and have 3 children, 9 grandkids {counting all the acquired ones} and 4 Greatgrandkids.
All are quite a joy and I just wished some lived close by.
My DH and I love Iris, lilies, herbs, Heuchera,Hosta and evergreens in particular but have lots of plants. He just finished building raised beds for the vegies, enclosed with a screen fabric so we can have the vegies instead of the birds and skwirls.
I have rambled enuff.
Thanks for being here and I hope to learn a lot.

marbe

Big welcome to you froggy!!!

Ah the perils of the mice...only type we've had are the pet ones...LOL But then again I think we're in the city compared to ya'll!

Oh Chantell, you must just be a much better housekeeper than I am. I've had them in the city, too.

froggygma, cute name. Glad to see you here.

It's just me and FOUR teenagers...I would never call myself a "better" housekeeper then anyone...LOL