whatdidyousay: I've seen some ppl shread paper and put it around the plants to keep the weeds down.I'm afraid of the ink seeping into the plants.

Rose: Regarding the worms yuk my husband can do that but yes your right.

Foxy Lady: Heres a question. I was told to add ashes from your fire place to plant soil and soil around your bushes so I got some from my mum. Anyone heard of doing this before and if so how does it help?
I have a bad bug prob with earwigs and slugs so hopefully it will keep em at bay?

Rose: My husband has done this i'm not sure why tho.Any plants that need acidic soil i put coffee grounds around them,it did wonders for my blueberry bush.

Rose: Wood ash and barbeque ash are high in nitrogen and are good fertilisers.

bumble: thanks bumpy!!

Foxy not heard of coffee grind either. I am sooo new to the gardening experience but Im loving learning about it all!

bumble: Ohhhhhhh so thats why my husband waters my houseplants with the water from my fish tank.

We hit in the high 40's today what a beautiful day.Trees got buds as do my Lilacs and there's grass peeking thru the snow.Yippie!!!!!!

Foxy Lady: we hit a high of 56 today with a slight breeze the trees here are starting to bud i love it

spicieangel: 56 oh i wish

We hit 86 here today. Oh, how I miss the smell of lilacs!

NOT a floosie: 86 oh wow i'm jealous,but thats ok i got Lilacs

Did you know that if you put sugar around your tomatoes it makes them sweet?
Epson salts put aroung your veggies makes the plants produce more.
My info comes from the master of Gardening my Granparents.

Foxy Lady: thats new to me.I wonder how they kept deer out of their garden? do they live near alot of wildlife?

Spring Fever!
The jonquils, forsythias, and Bradford pear trees are blooming! The robins are back and the buds are just beginning to open on the dogwoods....
Summer is just around the corner for us!

bwildman: Because we live in a city,the only deer we see is at the zoo.Now where there are farms they see deer because of the feed for the cows,etc. .We can drive up north and see the deer but ya don't wanna be driving at night because they cause alot of accidents.I'll have to post where abouts the deer are in my area.Alot of ppl think when we say were from NY they think NYC but were not.There are so many towns,citys,farms,and the suburbs.

CindyInTN: We still have snow on it's way,not a robin in sight.Everything is budding but were only in March and it'll be late April before i see any flowers like my Lilacs.Were still in the low 20's at night and just getting into the 40's.
March is crazy where i live can be 50 one day and 20 with snow the next.

Anyone ever grown/planted Hydrangeas?

Foxy Lady: we have hit 60 today with rain all day long I even heard thunder this morning lol

Rose: As the name suggests they love water and will even grow semi-submerged. Need to be cut back and tidy'd up after flowering, acid soil gives blue flower heads and alkaline gives red flowers or visa versa. lol

Foxy Lady: salt and sugar attracts deer....not a good thing for a garden....if you live near these animals.

oh great..we got more snow...wahhhh.
gues these are the only flowers around here for awhile:
http://www.themoens.com/Photos/Events/snowSculpture/y2004/flowerguy.jpg

bwildman: I heard beer in the garden attracts slugs.(Post edited)

bwildman: Thats what i tried to explain we don't live in an area where the deer are roaming.It's kinda hard to explain.We do know that farmers put out large blocks of salt for the cows,and yes that does draw the deer.
The amout of sugar and Epson salt is very little.

nobleheart: Love them!! Thank you

spicieangel: We have 3 inches of snow coming in tonite.:(

nobleheart: Oh wow now thats some talent.

Has anyone heard of or tried growing tomatoes in water and adding nutrients?
I saw this on a Home and Garden Show.

I've had gardens all my life (flower and veggies) and never had a problem with deer. I guess they enjoy the deer block and corn i give them. But they have raided my birdfeeders! They like the sunflower seeds.....

CindyInTN: Where abouts are you suburbs,farmland.We don't have a problem where i live,not in my city anyways.Many farmers feed the deer and post the land so know one can hunt.

Foxy Lady: I'll send you a PM. Don't need everyone and their friends knowing where i live! Most land around here is posted too.

CindyInTN: I didn't mean to post where you live per se.What i mean is we don't have a deer problem i'm in the city,our farm lands and small rural areas do.I have a rabbit that loves my garden but we don't mind sharing

bwildman:
We used to have deer come up and eat our roses and pansies. We put bars of cheap soap out (like Ivory or Cashmere Bouquet) and the deer quit coming! It really works!! They left the veggies alone too.

Dolittle: Boy i wish a bar of soap would prevent the cockatoos from eating my passionfruit and bananas and grapes...anyone want to buy a cockatoo LOLOL :(...There really is nothing you can do....even a scarecrow wont frighten them :(...(unless I get out there) hahahaha...I got in first lOLOL

So much for Spring we got about 3 inches of snow last night.Only flowers were seeing is in the stores for Easter.

Hey Bernice, I got 2 Mollocan Cocatoos! I put Oak branches (4 foot ones) in the males cage for him to chew on. One thing I've wondered is what type of plants I could grow that I could give them to eat etc.

Its going to hit 80 here in Dallas, they say. But by Saturday the high will be in the 50's.

Eriisa: We feed our birds on wild bird seed that we buy, but cockatoos JUST ADORE sunflower seeds...they are extremely easy to grow :)

oh yeah, that reminds me. I've always wanted to plant some sunflowers.

Next question, this one could be a tough one for you all. My house faces north. There are several oak trees in the yard, so it is very shady. However, there is intense sunlight in the late afternoon that hits past the trees. I want to put out some plants around the front of the house, but if I go with shady plants, the afternoon sun will totally fry them, and the rest of the day, they wouldn't get enough light for a sunny plant. Any suggestions? I had thought of something like azaleas, but I'm not sure if that will work.

Dang Texas weather! LOLOL

BerniceC: In the UK a few years ago there used to be a wild bird food on the market called 'Swoop'. It was made up of all kinds of seeds.
Occassionally some would inevitably spill onto the garden - and some of them would actually grow.
Certain seeds had to be removed from boxes after a while when certain (shall we say 'exotic'?) plants started sprouting in the gardens of sweet little old ladies.
Well, hey, man! Groovy!

Eriisa: Have you thought about potted plants that you could move when the sun is out?
I'm not sure what else you could do,maybe somebody else has a better idea.

Foxy Lady: dont feel bad,we got more snow last night.like we need it.ANY plant can be grown without soil.as longs as it gets the right nutrients,water & sun.much research has been one on this.I even have a freind here:
http://www.plant.uoguelph.ca/index.html
they have managed to put small plants,small fish ,nurients in a sealed glass container & create a self sustaining eco-system.

bumble: hahaha it is a wonder they didn't dry the prickly lil "heads" and use them for dried floral arrangements LOLOLOL

nobleheart: Thanks for the article.
Were going into the high 40's and hitting 50 so here's hoping we can get rid of the snow.It's still too early to do anything as far as working the garden.We can get a frost as late as May so we do know planting until Memorial week-end.

can we put "frost" &"snow" on the banned words list?

nobleheart: ROFL :)

nobleheart: LOL not really for those two words have to do with gardening.I would love to be planting my garden right about now.

well at least by Mothers Day! haha

ScarletRose: LOL thats about right.I went to the store today and you should see the flowers.Oh i wanted to buy up a storm,all the pretty colors mixed with the scents was breath taking.

wahhhhhhh...I want flowers

gee..maybe if this nasty cold doesnt get off my chest.I might get some.