Landscaping/Gardening Thread.

[redforever]

Originally Posted by Shazam

RU does nothing to creeping bellflower.

The only solution to CB:

Dig up the soil.
Burn soil.
Put new soil in.

And if your neighbours have it, then you're SOL.

CB is endemic in the "inner city".

Not the watered down crap you buy in the stores. The stuff farmers buy does the trick, no problem at all.

[Ducay]

Originally Posted by Shazam

You sure it was creeping bellflower? Because first off you'd be painting for days because that #### spreads like mad, and second there are no herbicides that kill it 100%.

100% sure it was; and no, I certainly did not paint it on, I blasted the hell out of it went nucular on the whole area. Only way to stop it.

Was moreso if he had it growing into his grass and didn't want to go that far.

[PepsiFree]

Originally Posted by Ducay

100% sure it was; and no, I certainly did not paint it on, I blasted the hell out of it went nucular on the whole area. Only way to stop it.

Was moreso if he had it growing into his grass and didn't want to go that far.

What concentration of Roundup did you use?

I saw they have a “poison ivy” version which is just double strength, but I could also just mix my own stronger batch with the concentrate.

[Shazam]

Interesting. Try RU concentrate full strength.

[Fuzz]

Originally Posted by Shazam

You sure it was creeping bellflower? Because first off you'd be painting for days because that #### spreads like mad, and second there are no herbicides that kill it 100%.

I took out a patch over 2 years with about 5 treatments of my "kill all the things" spray. It's Wilson brand, will have to look at the bottle tomorrow. It's not impossible to kill. Oh Wilson Total Wipeout.

[Flames0910]

Inner city resident with creeping bellflower here. I did some googling last year and found some guy in Edmonton who claimed to have a solution. Messaged him and he mailed me a bottle of his “trial” stuff on the condition that I let him know how it worked. Painted a bunch on the leaves as instructed (it was two products to paint on half the leaves each) and by god it worked brilliantly. No more bellflowers.

No idea what it was and I’m sure it was toxic as #### but PM me and I’ll send you contact deets otherwise you’ll be fighting a never ending battle. Even if you dig the whole patch up it’s likely to come back.

Between the bellflowers and the lilies of the valley (had to take apart a whole rock bed to dig out those tubers) this year I’m winning the war on infectious plants.

[DoubleK]

Originally Posted by J pold

I actually don't have a strong preference. They were just what I've had in the past.

Is there another tree you'd recommend? I really don't know much about this stuff.

My main goal is for privacy along my fence line.

Brandon Elm or Green Ash would both do well and are an alternative to Aspen.

[Shazam]

Originally Posted by DoubleK

Brandon Elm or Green Ash would both do well and are an alternative to Aspen.

Disagree. I don't like ash trees because they are the last to leaf out and the first to drop leaves.

Elms require special care - there are only certain times of the year you're allowed to prune them to minimize the chances of Dutch Elm Disease taking hold. Calgary is one of the last bastions in NA where DED is not endemic.

Depending on the sightlines, willow trees may be your best bet for privacy, as they have a wide dense canopy. They're just not tall, but that may not matter.

[DoubleK]

So you prefer to plant non-native species like columnar Aspen?!

SMH.

[CroFlames]

I have a mountain ash tree in my front, but its a baby so I don't know how I'll like it. The pictures in the magazine look nice.

It's only about 7-8 ft tall.

[Ashartus]

Originally Posted by CroFlames

I have a mountain ash tree in my front, but its a baby so I don't know how I'll like it. The pictures in the magazine look nice.

It's only about 7-8 ft tall.

Mountain ash are beautiful trees, but they aren't very fast growing. They can take up a fair amount of space once they get big though.

[bizaro86]

Originally Posted by Ashartus

Mountain ash are beautiful trees, but they aren't very fast growing. They can take up a fair amount of space once they get big though.

Plus you get the benefit of a billion little red berries that drop everywhere and stain everything they touch.

[Dentoman]

Don't get the hate for Swedish Aspens. Have 9 nine of them and no issues. Tall, grow fast and great screening. Just make sure you space them out properly and that you are buying Swedish Aspens not Tall Columnar Aspens.

[81MC]

Originally Posted by CroFlames

I have a mountain ash tree in my front, but its a baby so I don't know how I'll like it. The pictures in the magazine look nice.

It's only about 7-8 ft tall.

Mountain Ash are awesome. Birds love the berries in late winter, and you get this touch of colour in December which loosen so beautiful covered in snow and frost. Birds actually get a bit drunk off the fermenting berries around early spring, so that’s funny until they keep flying into your windows

Watch for fire blight...it took out ours that had been there for at least 70 years, really sad we had to take it down.

Also have quite a cool mythological presence, saving Thor’s life, warding off evil, and growing from the blood of an eagle that returned Hebes chalice of youth. Dope.

[mrkajz44]

Two thumbs up for our Mountain Ash out front. We get a good number of birds, rabbits eating the berries and have never had an issue with the berries staining (though we spend more time in the back than the front). It lost a limb many years ago after we bought it but before moving in (one Sept where we got a dump of snow) so we were worried we might lose the tree, but it's still going strong.

We're trying to grow columnar blue spruce in the backyard for some privacy, but wow are they slow growing. Probably should have researched that one a bit more...

[BlackArcher101]

Ok, I take back everything about the columnar aspen's. I came home to find 2 of them at a 45deg angle (at the base) with roots exposed, a more mature one flexing the whole ground around it and starting to lean, and 2 more leaning against a fence. Thankfully had some ratchet straps and stakes handy. But man, that didn't happen before in the last 10 years.

My concern now... is what do I do to stabilize them again? Do I just try to orient them vertically as much as possible and let the ground dry out and see what happens? Or has the soil around the roots expanded so much that it's lost it's compaction and now they will be at risk, requiring me to do something further?

[calgarygeologist]

Originally Posted by BlackArcher101

Ok, I take back everything about the columnar aspen's. I came home to find 2 of them at a 45deg angle (at the base) with roots exposed, a more mature one flexing the whole ground around it and starting to lean, and 2 more leaning against a fence. Thankfully had some ratchet straps and stakes handy. But man, that didn't happen before in the last 10 years.

My concern now... is what do I do to stabilize them again? Do I just try to orient them vertically as much as possible and let the ground dry out and see what happens? Or has the soil around the roots expanded so much that it's lost it's compaction and now they will be at risk, requiring me to do something further?

You're not alone. I have two Sutherland Caraganas and they both toppled over this evening because of the wet soil and strong wind. My neighbor is an arborist and says that apparently for my trees it should be safe to dig them up and replant them as the roots likely aren't broken. I'm not sure if that would be the same for your trees though.

[chedder]

I have a hawthorn tree in my backyard that was moving around like crazy. Just went out in the rain with a stake and some wire to shore it up so it isn't horizontal in the morning. My grass is pretty soft around the tree.

[Ashartus]

Originally Posted by BlackArcher101

Ok, I take back everything about the columnar aspen's. I came home to find 2 of them at a 45deg angle (at the base) with roots exposed, a more mature one flexing the whole ground around it and starting to lean, and 2 more leaning against a fence. Thankfully had some ratchet straps and stakes handy. But man, that didn't happen before in the last 10 years.

That's been one of the worries in the back of my head about my neighbour's aspens. About 60' tall and shake like crazy, if they go down they're doing a lot of damage and I'm downwind most of the time. Though I guess the bright side of suckers popping up all over my yard is that the roots are pretty widely spread.

[DoubleK]

Originally Posted by BlackArcher101

Ok, I take back everything about the columnar aspen's. I came home to find 2 of them at a 45deg angle (at the base) with roots exposed, a more mature one flexing the whole ground around it and starting to lean, and 2 more leaning against a fence. Thankfully had some ratchet straps and stakes handy. But man, that didn't happen before in the last 10 years.

My concern now... is what do I do to stabilize them again? Do I just try to orient them vertically as much as possible and let the ground dry out and see what happens? Or has the soil around the roots expanded so much that it's lost it's compaction and now they will be at risk, requiring me to do something further?

Ratchet straps and stakes will help them so long as the roots are intact.

Did you plant the trees? Do you know if the root bag was removed before they were planted?

After 10 years a tree should be windfirm, unless it was planted improperly.