A neeed for caution..
Konrad___far_north
12 years ago
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Konrad___far_north
12 years agolast modified: 9 years agoRelated Discussions
Reel Mower for Chicago?
Comments (11)Ron It sounds like you and I have the same tastes. The UK has an excellent climate for growing fine fescues and colonial bent. Those grasses can be closely mowed to around .05" Mowing them short creates the putting or bowling green appearance. Having a reel mower helps but you will not find reel mowers in the US like the ones in the UK and the ones in the US are too expensive IMO. Forget about trying to import one as it's cost prohibitive and nobody will want to ship it. You can grow these grasses but during the somewhat short period of time in between unbearably cold and unbearably hot, you can mow these types of grasses short. I grow similar grasses, creeping red fescue and creeping bent and use a manual reel mower and a Snapper 19" rotary which is the only rotary mower makerketed in the US that will cut to a half an inch. It can be adjusted quickly for mowing the other grasses I have taller. You can get an optional bag kit which I have. Good equipment to start out with considering your close-mowing season may be short. I've tried a TruCut gas powered mower for a couple of weeks and was happy with it but I couldn't justify buying one for my small yard. Compared to every other residential yard out there it looks enough like a putting green to me and everyone else so who cares. Grass less than .75" doesn't stripe all that noticeably and to do it you need a lot of weight and the universal rollers you can attach to mowers suck - don't waste your money. The snapper does some degree of striping on it's own. Subtle stripes that last about a week if there's no rain. Maintain the grass higher in the summer then that's when you have stripes. In my back yard I grow tall fescue and KBG. I don't recommend cutting either one of those short. KBG can tolerate close mowing but it is not dense enough and grows way too quickly so it doesn't really lend itself to that close mowing. Using a reel mower on tall fescue or KBG and mownig high is not going to accomplish what you want. 'Twill look nice but it's not going to be a bowling green....See MoreWhat are your old fashioned tips?
Comments (101)Just a note "Dio Tenaceous" earth is actually "diatomaceous earth" (aka "DE"), as it is made of diatoms. :) When you use it either for garden or pet, there are some cautions to take. First, always use "food grade" DE. Pool-grade DE is too sharp and can be harmful; it is not meant to be ingested or used on pets or plants where humans or pets could ingest (or lick). Fresh-water food-grade is best, but most organic gardening places and many online shops sell food-grade DE. Second, as with ALL dusts, please do not use so much that you can really see it or breathe it, and always make sure either to not breathe it and use eye protection if there is a wind (and cover your pets' eyes), or use a dust mask, etc. One way of distributing it is by using a pizza cheese sprinkler. Planting tomatoes: When you plant them, pick the leggier plants. Pick off the lower branches of your transplants, and plant the tomato at an angle / Various: Look up "companion planting" there are many plants that grow well together. If you plant companion plants at the base of taller plants, you will have to do less weeding, and you will water more efficiently. One example is planting greens between onions, or basil at the feet of tomatoes. Strawberries. Plant radish patches near your strawberry patches. The radishes will draw the lygus bugs away from your strawberry blooms. You can them vacuum them off of the radishes or use your organic chemicals there without hurting your delicate berries....See MoreSpeaking Of Bees & Pesticides
Comments (62)Jeri, figured as much. Since you have had experience with that awful stuff, what do you do? So far I cleared an area for hosta lining my steps the hard way, digging and pulling, tearing out as many runners as possible, then covered with 6 layers of newspaper and mulched w/decaying leaves. Bought me some time. In the flower bed that has the worst of it (new and tilled, stirs up seeds, see why people are doing lasagna planting), I used up two containers of Grass B Gon (Ortho - fluzifop act ingred), stuff isn't that expensive but with all I have yet, would get to be pretty high. Put newspapers all around the border only and finally got finished mulching it, probably could have done it as soon as I had sprayed but wanted to be sure. It works great though! It does take awhile, like up to 2 weeks. Whatever impact GBG has on the environment, I don't think should be too awful, compared to the other nasty stuff we've been discussing. I just read the thread about netting for JB's. May just try that next year. Oh, I'm going to lose one of those Reine des Violettes, will see if I can get credit, and will see if I can get the other one through the winter, got in ground, chlorotic symptoms disappeared for now, picked off more BS leaves, looks pretty good but vulnerable still, mulched well and will winter protect that baby. I got it in a good spot, sunny but part shade, blooms are dark, will love that one if it matures and thrives....See MoreHow Do I know When Roots Have Developed?
Comments (14)Bunny6, your compost sounds like a good bet, assuming the texture is suitable. Sativa, I've often used bagged composted steer manure as a component in rooting media, though never for roses. I used to routinely root hydrangeas and gardenias in 25% manure in Miracle-Gro potting mix plus some extra perlite. Rot was never a problem. I never tried the mix with roses, though, because the dominant voices in this forum around the time I was starting out were pushing play sand or turkey grit (with or without a little peat) and cautioning against using anything too rich. You don't hear much about sand anymore, but if you watch this forum long enough you'll see just about every rooting medium imaginable being promoted as the best. The soil-less potting mix George Mander uses (or at least used to use) is Sun Gro's Sunshine Mix #4, which is formulated for fast drainage and high air capacity. This is the product the company recommends to professionals for rooting cuttings, but unfortunately, they don't distribute in this region and no one else around here markets anything equivalent. I tried just about every brand of "regular" peat moss based potting mix I could find and none of them yielded much better than mediocre results. Maybe it's because the water supply is exceptionally soft in this area, causing peat moss to soak up more water than it ordinarily would, but I didn't seem to be able to add enough sand or perlite to eliminate a high risk of rot. Forest byproduct based potting mixes like Miracle-Gro work better in my hands, even for roses, though not as well as coir or composted pine bark fines. In the end I settled on a "standard" rooting medium based as much on economy as efficacy. Pine bark is a local product and dirt cheap....See MoreUser
12 years agolast modified: 9 years agoKonrad___far_north
12 years agolast modified: 9 years agoUser
12 years agolast modified: 9 years agoKonrad___far_north
12 years agolast modified: 9 years agoKonrad___far_north
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12 years agolast modified: 9 years agoKonrad___far_north
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