Landscaping/Gardening Thread.

[redforever]

Beets should be evenly moist. Not enough water and they become dry and woody, sort of stringy inside. They also prefer a loose rich soil. Beets are also what I call cool weather plants. They like a sunny location but not a real hot location. They can take a couple of degrees of frost as well. I prefer the varieties that are cylindra...in other words they grow like a carrot. I also grow golden beets but they are prone to getting a bit of scab.

http://www.johnnyseeds.com/vegetable...seed-2565.html

Best way to figure out if any plant needs water is to dig down a bit with your fingers. Beets should be evenly moist down to 2 or 3 inches, depending on their size and when you planted them.

I have found that once cucumbers get powdery mildew, there is not much you can do except stop watering for awhile. Don't water cucumbers in the evening, especially in Calgary where our evenings cool off. Evening watering plus cool evenings spell mildew for cucumbers.

Cucumbers are a hot weather plant. Plant them in your hottest and sunniest spot and where water does not pool. I only water mine in the morning. When cucumbers start to produce, they will need more water as the fruit can tend to dry out with insufficient watering.

[wooohooo]

Went to Canadian tire last night and they had some crazy sale on their veggies. Worth checking out if you want to get some plants.

They had the smaller tomato plants for .50 and 1 gallon kale for .20. Cheaper to just buy some greens and harvest than to buy it at the grocery market.

[Fuzz]

Did you see strawberries? I need cheap strawberry plants!

[me_dennis]

I'm looking for some advice. We are looking to install some artificial grass, and to save a bit of money, I am removing the sod and setting the base myself.

I'm looking for someone to remove sod and about 4-6" of top soil, plus haul away. The problem is, I have a 3ft wide gate going to the back yard. Does anyone know of a contractor that can remove the sod/dirt easily?

Any recommendations are greatly appreciated.

[Fuzz]

Can you take a section of fence out?



Honest question, how are you going to save money if you are paying different contractors to do the work? You say "remove the sod and setting the base yourself" but are asking for someone to remove the sod, so you are not doing it yourself? And you will have to pay for baserock delivery as well, right? So what are you doing yourself? Just spreading the rock and compacting?

[FLAMESRULE]

Originally Posted by redforever

Beets should be evenly moist. Not enough water and they become dry and woody, sort of stringy inside. They also prefer a loose rich soil. Beets are also what I call cool weather plants. They like a sunny location but not a real hot location. They can take a couple of degrees of frost as well. I prefer the varieties that are cylindra...in other words they grow like a carrot. I also grow golden beets but they are prone to getting a bit of scab.

http://www.johnnyseeds.com/vegetable...seed-2565.html

Best way to figure out if any plant needs water is to dig down a bit with your fingers. Beets should be evenly moist down to 2 or 3 inches, depending on their size and when you planted them.

I have found that once cucumbers get powdery mildew, there is not much you can do except stop watering for awhile. Don't water cucumbers in the evening, especially in Calgary where our evenings cool off. Evening watering plus cool evenings spell mildew for cucumbers.

Cucumbers are a hot weather plant. Plant them in your hottest and sunniest spot and where water does not pool. I only water mine in the morning. When cucumbers start to produce, they will need more water as the fruit can tend to dry out with insufficient watering.

Any tips on how to stop what looks like blossom end rot on squash/zucchinis?? We've got a boat load of flowers right now and a few have started to turn into small spaghetti squashes (thumb size). But a couple of them look like they've stalled and have started to rot. We had this happen last year as well, but the plants look way healthier this year. Not sure if its a watering/soil issue or what.

[Finger Cookin]

Any tips or hints on bleeding hearts? Mine don't seem to be doing too well.

[Ducay]

Originally Posted by FLAMESRULE

Any tips on how to stop what looks like blossom end rot on squash/zucchinis?? We've got a boat load of flowers right now and a few have started to turn into small spaghetti squashes (thumb size). But a couple of them look like they've stalled and have started to rot. We had this happen last year as well, but the plants look way healthier this year. Not sure if its a watering/soil issue or what.

That's what happens when the fruit isn't fertilized by sperm (pollen). When my zucchinis are going gangbusters, I'll usually go out each morning (when blossoms are open) and pick off a male flower and use that to manually pollinate all the day's females. If I leave it to mother nature I get about 60% dying like you said.


Now what I need to know, has anyone found a good garden hose that lasts? Feel like I'm buying new ones every year. I have high water pressure, but don't generally leave them pressurized - but between that and keeping them coiled up on reels, no matter what I do I'm replacing annually.

I'm not fussed about fancy kink-free or anything, just something that will last.

[ken0042]

Lee Valley's "Lifetime Hose."
http://www.leevalley.com/en/garden/p...t=2,2280,33160

When I sold my last house the buyer tried to make it part of the sale.

[redforever]

Originally Posted by FLAMESRULE

Any tips on how to stop what looks like blossom end rot on squash/zucchinis?? We've got a boat load of flowers right now and a few have started to turn into small spaghetti squashes (thumb size). But a couple of them look like they've stalled and have started to rot. We had this happen last year as well, but the plants look way healthier this year. Not sure if its a watering/soil issue or what.

Hmmnn, never had that problem myself. Are you getting powdery mildew as well? If so, perhaps the plant does not like its location.

Any squash plant is also a hot weather plant so again, plant in a hot and sunny location. Not much else I can offer except to say that I would remove any that seem to be turning mushy. Make a clean cut with a knife or scissors.

[FLAMESRULE]

Originally Posted by redforever

Hmmnn, never had that problem myself. Are you getting powdery mildew as well? If so, perhaps the plant does not like its location.

Any squash plant is also a hot weather plant so again, plant in a hot and sunny location. Not much else I can offer except to say that I would remove any that seem to be turning mushy. Make a clean cut with a knife or scissors.

We've had the mildew powder before, but I started watering from the ground and it seems to have helped alot. We've always got tonnes of bees/wasps/bugs around, but I'd say we lose at least 1/2 - 3/4 to the brown off. It makes sense, so I'm gonna go sperm everything tonight

[redforever]

Originally Posted by Finger Cookin

Any tips or hints on bleeding hearts? Mine don't seem to be doing too well.

Bleeding hearts are a cool weather plant preferring shade with some sun but not hot south sun or hot direct sun. They are also an old heritage type plant and should last decades...under very cold conditions as well...one of the easiest perennials to grow.

I love to plant bleeding hearts in tree wells. They cover up the trunk part of the tree (which is not attractive) and at the same time, the tree provides the type of shade and diffused sun that bleeding hearts love. I will specify now though that I am talking deciduous trees, not evergreens...so trees like mountain ash, ornamental flowering trees and the like.

The tree well should be wide enough to accommodate the bleeding heart plant as it will get quite large in such an environment, at least mine does, so at least 2 to 3 feet around the tree with nice rich loose soil.

I actually prefer to build a whole flower bed with a tree and bushes as anchors but you could plant under a tree on its own if the location and sun is right.

Otherwise bleeding hearts make nice companions with hostas, Solomon Seal, Jacob's Ladder, Lady's Mantle, any shade loving plant. If you have a 90 degree corner for a garden plot, plant the bleeding heart in the corner as it will get quite large and bushy. Artfully arrange other plants in the rest of the bed and the group of them should support one another.

I find bleeding hearts can get a bit floppy so I support them with fencing. I buy rolls of green garden fencing...I think they come in 12 foot rolls and are about 12" high? Something like this, I used to get mine from Sunnyside, have not checked if other garden centers carry this.

http://www.wirefence.org/wirefence/d...der-fence.html

Then I cut off a portion that will make a circular hoop about 18" diameter, wire it together, and put it around the plant. Put the hoop around the plant in the spring and the leaves will grow through the hoop and you won't even see it. It will be very hard to put the hoop around the plant in the middle of summer. I remove the hoop in fall when cleaning out the flower beds and replace it in spring when new plants emerge. You should of course use smaller hoops when plants are younger or with smaller flowers.

Actually, I prefer making hoop supports like that to use with peonies, sage (the flower - not the herb), speedwell and the like. I find the support is better than peony hoops that you can buy.

Here are some pictures from my country garden showing what I mean by tree wells and companion planting. Keep in mind that some people are minimalist gardeners...I am not))

The next 3 pictures show companion plants suitable for full sun. This is the front portion of the flower bed and it gets full east, south, and southeast sun all day long.







The next picture shows companion plants suitable for shade or part sun. This is the back of the flower bed which gets a bit of south sun and quite a bit of west sun but later in the day and not for too long.



False Lamium treewell – growing with some some sun and some shade. By the way, bees are crazy for False Lamium. When the plants are in bloom, there is literally an audible hummnnn you can hear when working in the garden. Also, False Lamium stays confined unlike the other Lamium that spreads like wild fire if you do not contain and control it.





False Lamium at back of Mountain Ash and Bleeding Heart in front



False Lamium treewell growing in a sunnier location



At my Calgary home, I have Bigfoot Cranesbill (perennial geranium) growing around most of my trees. With one, I have a Bleeding Heart at the back and Big Foot Cranesbill in the front.



And here I have Big Foot Cranesbill and Iris fom my grandfather's garden planted around a Gladiator tree.

[wooohooo]

Originally Posted by Fuzz

Did you see strawberries? I need cheap strawberry plants!

I did not, but I also want some cheap strawberry plants. I might go after work tonight and see if they have any left. I'll let you know

[wooohooo]

Originally Posted by FLAMESRULE

We've had the mildew powder before, but I started watering from the ground and it seems to have helped alot. We've always got tonnes of bees/wasps/bugs around, but I'd say we lose at least 1/2 - 3/4 to the brown off. It makes sense, so I'm gonna go sperm everything tonight

I had some powdery mildew on some of my zucchini's and I tried this recipe and it seemed to work pretty well.

https://migardener.com/prevent-kill-...w-baking-soda/

Step 1: Mix 3#tablespoons baking soda with 1 gallon of water.This is the baking soda we use: Arm and Hammer Pure Baking Soda.#

Step 2: Mix in#1 tablespoon vegetable oil,#or cooking oil of your choice. This helps the spray to stick to the leaves.#

Step 3: Mix in 2 drops of dish soap to help emulsify (mix) everything. I recommend using a gentle dish soap since many have harmful chemicals and are not good for soil life. I get the Planet Ultra Brand and it works just a good to be honest. I used to use palmolive but switched last year once I saw all the harsh chemicals in it.#

Step 4: Spray on tops and bottoms of leaves till dripping


Another method is mixing about a 50-50 or 40/60 of a milk/water solution but you need to do it in the sun as it has to do something with the sun activating some proteins in the milk that will kill off the mildew.

[calgarygeologist]

I have a problem with one of my trees. Along my fence I have a cherry tree, plum tree and two Caraganas. Last year my cherry and plum trees were infested with aphids and I had to spray the trees. This year the cherry tree is fine but the plum tree is infested again with aphids. The tree is a haven for lady bugs and caterpillars. I'm planning on spraying the tree tonight. Does anyone know why this tree is attracting aphids?

[shotinthebacklund]

Originally Posted by FLAMESRULE

We've had the mildew powder before, but I started watering from the ground and it seems to have helped alot. We've always got tonnes of bees/wasps/bugs around, but I'd say we lose at least 1/2 - 3/4 to the brown off. It makes sense, so I'm gonna go sperm everything tonight

Typically the flowers are only truly viable in the morning. Squash plants have a short pollination window. Evening may still work but likely not to the same effectiveness.

[wooohooo]

I'm having issues with the flowering not occurring at the same time for my zucchini's. Like my females will flower and then the males will flower a week later.

[Ducay]

Originally Posted by wooohooo

I'm having issues with the flowering not occurring at the same time for my zucchini's. Like my females will flower and then the males will flower a week later.

I find that is a common problem when I end up with Zucchinis from the same parents (ie the seed batch is the same). Genetics and planting are identical, thus, while they are still young plants they end up on identical schedules and producing the same male/female bits at the same time. I find buying two sets of seedlings from different places helps, but the years I start with all my plants from one pack - I end up with them producing everything identical to start and no viable fruit as a result.

[Ducay]

Originally Posted by calgarygeologist

I have a problem with one of my trees. Along my fence I have a cherry tree, plum tree and two Caraganas. Last year my cherry and plum trees were infested with aphids and I had to spray the trees. This year the cherry tree is fine but the plum tree is infested again with aphids. The tree is a haven for lady bugs and caterpillars. I'm planning on spraying the tree tonight. Does anyone know why this tree is attracting aphids?

If the tree is attracting lady birds (aphid eaters) then I would just try spraying the base with some kind of ant poison or insecticide. They're aphids' bodyguards and if there are lots of predators (ladybugs and caterpillars) then they're usually pretty weak without the ants there as defense. (Ants defend aphids as the aphids make delicious honeydew poop the ants love). If you've got plenty of lady birds/bugs then spraying the whole tree with any sort of insecticide will kill everyone.

[Wormius]

Are those trees that are dropping the cottony seeds on a non-annual cycle? They seem particularly bad this year. My backyard is covered in white fluff from a neighbouring tree. Haven’t noticed this before this year.