mid atlantic area?

buddy is quite handsome :-)

LOLOLOL Resin! Buddy is so cute.

Got to love that English Humor. ;}

Very funny, Resin.
Welcome, Greendog
To centralva, yes we have tons of evergreens and our town is named as the azalea capital of nj. We have a bunch of rhodies and some azaleas.
I have so much work to do here the previous owners were definitely not green thumbs.
My front yard faces east and we have a lot of nice trees in front and the sides of our house so we have a lot of nice shade. The backyard is wide open(almost an acre) and during the summer feels 20 degrees hotter than the front, the trees in back are surrounding our property so there's no shade close to the house. Our well is back there too and I know I can't plant any trees close to that line so that presents a problem. Any ideas on getting some shade????

Forget shade put in Solar panels and swimming pool. Embrace sun loving plants ;}
Our house is solar so I have very little in the way of trees close to the back yard. I did put up a summer pavilion just to get a little spot of shade and my one neighbors has trees that just give a little shady spot at the edge of our property. We do have a couple of Apple trees in the lower backyard but that is the area I have fenced for the dog.
Serious how about a couple of Pergolas with climbing plants that would shade a patio or porch. Not enough shade to cool the house but it would shade the windows and doors plus give a spot to sit out of the sun.

Mwahaha :o)

But it's what most people over here would say, as a serious answer, if asked that question . . .

Resin

Hi all,
I also was wondering where New Jersey would fit. I don't see that many posts either here or in the Northeast forum (that's where I have posted previously). I guess here is the officially correct area so I'd like to join in and add my pet photo.
I have a question also. Since we have had such strange weather this year, late winter with many plants now starting to rebloom (hellebores in particular) and other bulbs like crocus and snowdrops blooming, do I remove winter protection mulch and clean up winter damaged leaves now? Some of the ground is still frozen.
This is Pearlie.

Oh, pretty bird!
I haven't had anythin really bloom early. I just now have snowdrops and crocus on schedule, and daffodil foliage. Now that we're seeing 60, I will be out there, gathering dry leaves I never got to in the fall. and trying to keep ahead of the henbit and chickweed. After I iron....

Hi, Pearlie! What a pretty bird. I wouldn't remove the mulch until after the last frost, which despite the warm weather could be at least a month or two away.

Holly, we put in a largish pergola on the unshaded side of the house a few years ago. It's wonderful. I have grapes growing on it.

Grapes, Did I hear Grapes????? What kind? I'm looking to start some Grapes any chance there would be some avaiable at the Spring Swap? Hint,Hint,Hint

Thanks for the compliments on Pearlie, she's pretty but she bites, occasionally, when you least expect it.

hart,
That is not what I want to hear. I want spring, I want to get rid of the mulch. I see the little yellow crocuses popping up. My last frost date is May 10th. How will I last?

Hey sempervirens, did you hear we may get more snow on Monday???????!!!!!!!!!!! Where in nj are you???Just when I was thinking of getting out there this week and cleaning up those gardens a little. DARN!

flowerjen,
No, I didn't hear about the snow forecast. I had such nice weather the last 2 days I've started cutting back the grasses and plants I left for winter interest and to feed the birds. I found a second praying mantis case? if that's what it's called. ID courtesy DG.

Here are the other 2 animal members of the family, Moxie and Willow.

Hi Everyone! I'm a newbie from Severna Park, MD, which isn't far from Sally in Millersville. Sure hope we'renot going to get any snow around here! We have a dog, peke namd Winston, and a few cats, mostly indoor cats, also 2 ferals we've had spayed and have been feeding for about 9 years, proving a winter igloo for them to reside in. Hard to believe all these years of care and they still won't let us give them a pat, oh well, perhaps that's why they are still alive. Nice chatting! Betty

Holly, the grapes don't exactly self sow. LOL I'm not sure about the variety names, got the plants a few years ago from the Miller Nurseries catalog - a couple of pinks and a black, all seeded, if that helps. Some the plants didn't make it and I'm not sure which ones did because, although I have gotten grapes the last two summers, the darned birds have eaten every single one before they get ripe. I need to get some of that bird netting to thwart the rascals.

They do provide very nice shade and the grapes, if I ever get any, will be easy to pick because they hang down from the top of the pergola.

Those birds will do it every time. I lure them into my yard with bird feeders, several different types, bird houses, in all different sizes and bird baths and what do they do the repay me. Eat my Raspberries.
I love grape arbors they are a magical place.

We did get snow and sleet in NJ. Everything is white, again.
Notice the rake in the picture that got caught in the snow. I was pulling out the dead leaves of Siberian Irises and got stopped by the weather.
Hi baylady.
Hart, my neighbor used the bird netting briefly. The birds get caught frequently. Most died.

If you pull the bird netting taut instead of just draping it, the birds won't get tangled. I suppose the other thing I could do is bag up every bunch of grapes until they get a chance to ripen.

It's not very warm today, but the sunshine is bright and is melting off a lot of the snow from the other day. The forecast is calling for a high of 72 next Saturday. Won't that be nice?

it's funny- birds never seem to bother my raspberries, but they decimate my blueberries given half a chance. I switched to fabric-store netting on them.

I can relate to having a lot of work to do.When we moved here two years ago it was a temperate jungle.Somebody long ago actually had a nice landscaping design for the yard.Unfortunately it was allowed to grow wild for years.
I understand your problem well.Is the area protected from heavy wind?How tall does your tree need to be?Shallow rooted trees are prone to wind ice and snow damage.If you have a wind break then you could try something from the juniper family.[hollywood -irish might be a good place to start hollywood tops out at around 15 ft
irish at 25 ]
If the tree doesnt need to be that tall you could try dogwood.It works well in acidic soil and has rather shallow roots.Its also good as an undercanopy tree.Works well for shade on ground floor rooms/single story houses.

Our backyard is totally wide open.The trees surround the property I have 2 pear trees on the right side and the rest are huge pines. Since we have almost an acre there is no shade even touching the house. We have a 2 story and the deck gets so hot you could roast a chicken without using a grill. I think the best bet is taking the deck off and putting in a patio so I can do an arbor or even just a canopy. I did plant a dogwood last year but I went out to check it when we had those few warm days and it didn't make it.

I believe you have a good idea there.Shallow rooted trees for two story shading is rather difficult to achieve.Im surprised that your dogwood didnt make it.Was it native dogwood or a hybrid?The reason I ask, is that hybrids, oddly enough ,arent as tough as regular
dogwoods.It may not be totally gone.Dogwoods need soil temps to get at least into the fifties to return from dormancy.You may want to wait to dig it up.
The reason I knew so much about the junipers is that I was confronted with the same problem.I needed a shallow rooted tree or bush due to a water line.Unfortunately I also needed it to naturally top
at a 10 to 15 foot height due to power lines.These were the only trees that fit the bill.I ended up nixing them no wind break.

I really don't know if it was a hybrid or not. I did the scratch test and there was no green at all. So I actually cut it down to about 3 inches the wood was totally brown.

A lot of people are losing dogwoods to anthracnose and that disease is killing any Cornus florida trees, hybrid or not. You might want to try a kousa. The anthracnose isn't a problem with them.

' Morning everyone! My, the American gold finches certainly look beautiful in snow! Poor little things!
So much for cutting the grass this weekend- I had put the Fall fertilizer down & it worked! I have some areas of grass almost 3 inches long! Some of these areas are my Star of Bethelem invading the lawn.
I'm not sure if my email was posted earlier in the week (it was renewal time so I may not have been subscribed at posting time) but I have a 4-5 yr old Variegated Weigelia & one of my 4th of July climbing roses (planted in same area of yard.) They look dead!!!! No new growth at all! Can't do too much about it now because of the cold snap. Did fertilize the rose, along with my other roses ( which are doing beautifully.) Any suggestions? I'm baffled. Both are (or were) well established. The weigelia was just beginning to have some height & fullness. It did have some dead branches on it late last summer which i pruned. Help! In the meantime, my pink daffodils are beginning to grow & bloom-absolutely beautiful-definitely will add to them this coming Fall. Have a wonderful Easter/Passover. This is also the week to get the hummingbird feeders ready!

warwick- weigela- Not sure but I don't think mine has budded out yet either, maybe there's hope

We have about four inches of snow on the ground here, but that's a GOOD thing really. Snow is a great insulater.

My daylilies have frozen but they will make a recovery. I am just hoping that I didn't lose bloom on my SDB iris seedlings for the year.

Warwick, Sally, I just read on another thread where someone in Virginia just mentioned that their Weigela is just budding out and that they did it almost overnight.

Can we join the party? Fritzie & I are from S. Central PA, zone 6b. Fritzie is a rat terrier & I am a plantaholic.

Hi Buttoneer, Fritzie is adorable, I hear there are a lot of us DG'ers at the Betty Ford Gardeners Clinic, I think a lot of the participants of the Co-ops will be checking in as soon as they get all their Co-op plants in the ground. Well maybe not quite right away because they will need to see that they are well watered, and then there is the weeding, and mulching and we really don't want to leave the little baby plants alone. Maybe I need to check out those 12 steps again........ Maybe I will stay in denial

Aw, Fritzie is so cute. Love those ears. It's so good to put a face to a name, Buttoneer. And, yes, I think you found plantaholics central here. LOL

Here's the link to Fritzie's forum. http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/693955/

Welcome, Buttoneer!

Thank you.