***Official gardening, landscape and yardwork thread***

[lewdog]

We had a 2014 gardening thread and another planting trees thread. Figured it would be better just to have a general thread to share knowledge about all things yards.

I've learned stuff about growing things here in the desert from people all around the country. Post pictures and share your knowledge!

[lewdog]

Originally Posted by BigRedChief

Are those from the Florida saplings?

No, they are the same size as when you sent them! Plumeria only grow 1-2' per year, and towards the lower end of that here in the desert.

[BigRedChief]

Originally Posted by lewdog

No, they are the same size as when you sent them! Plumeria only grow 1-2' per year, and towards the lower end of that here in the desert.

All the plumeria are growing so fast this year. I have one of those saplings I cut fell out of the trash on to the ground. No irrigation there. And life is finding a way.

[DJ's left nut]

Mother of ****.

Pea Gravel is heavy as hell and does not spread very far. I was worried about putting more than about 1,500 lbs in the bed of the truck - that's ONE damn bobcat scoop. Covered maybe 90 sq feet of area in the stupid kids play area. I'm gonna need about 3 times that to cover the half of the damn thing I'm re-doing.

And god almighty is knocking that shit out of the truck and spreading it a chore in 90 degree heat. And the good news is that the back of my house faces south so good ol' southern sun in the summer beating down...

Gross. At least it's not terribly expensive; $80/scoop wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. But it's gonna take two more of those damn bed-loads to get this done. Not even a little excited about it. And in the event we ever decide to take that play area out - well **** it, I'll just sell the house. I ain't shoveling this crap into to the back of a pickup...

[lewdog]

Originally Posted by BigRedChief

All the plumeria are growing so fast this year. I have one of those saplings I cut fell out of the trash on to the ground. No irrigation there. And life is finding a way.

Those are so awesome looking!

The cuttings you sent me are just starting to leaf out. About 50% of them are still alive which is about right. I have plunged them in pots in a raised bed under shade cloth to attempt getting them through summer.

Thanks again!

[Buehler445]

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

Mother of ****.

Pea Gravel is heavy as hell and does not spread very far. I was worried about putting more than about 1,500 lbs in the bed of the truck - that's ONE damn bobcat scoop. Covered maybe 90 sq feet of area in the stupid kids play area. I'm gonna need about 3 times that to cover the half of the damn thing I'm re-doing.

And god almighty is knocking that shit out of the truck and spreading it a chore in 90 degree heat. And the good news is that the back of my house faces south so good ol' southern sun in the summer beating down...

Gross. At least it's not terribly expensive; $80/scoop wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. But it's gonna take two more of those damn bed-loads to get this done. Not even a little excited about it. And in the event we ever decide to take that play area out - well **** it, I'll just sell the house. I ain't shoveling this crap into to the back of a pickup...

Go rent a dump trailer. It's worth the money.

[KCUnited]

Originally Posted by KCUnited

My aloe needs to calm TF down before they catch an indecent exposure charge

They're super excited for spring

I've learned that these are actually octopus agave

They bloom around the 5 year mark, provide nutrients to bees and hummingbirds, then die

This pic is like a month old. I'd say they're around 15' or taller now

Taking the sawzall to them this morning before they come down on their own

[Hammock Parties]

Watch your mowers. I've seen two posts on Nextdoor just this week about people having their mowers stolen out of their yards within minutes of leaving them.

[J Diddy]

Originally Posted by KCUnited

I've learned that these are actually octopus agave

They bloom around the 5 year mark, provide nutrients to bees and hummingbirds, then die

This pic is like a month old. I'd say they're around 15' or taller now

Taking the sawzall to them this morning before they come down on their own

You might have a business opportunity here. “Cool your cooch with soothing aloe.”

[Dartgod]

Originally Posted by Buehler445

I'd probably try to test the pH of the soil. I don't know what the acidity tolerance of tomatoes are, but I'm sure it's googleable.

If your pH is low, lime. If you have clay under there, organic matter is your friend. Id get into the clay as much as you're tough enough to do and mix in some 50/50 manure and something like sawdust and cedar chips. And then do your topsoil/manure whatever mix for your bed. Organic matter is your friend in clay.

I'd also plant some sort of brassica in the fall when you're done. If you can get roots to penetrate it, you'll gain a shitload of water infiltration in wet spells.

God ****ing clay.

I never did get around to testing the pH and clay is not a concern in this area. I ended up mixing into the existing soil; 6 bags of bison manure, 2 bags of compost and 3 bags of potting soil I already had. I bought a small tiller so I got it all mixed in real good.

The bed is 4' x 12' and I put in a Big Boy, a Better Boy, a husky cherry and a grape tomato plant. Plus 4 different peppers; Anaheim, hot banana, serrano and some variety of jalapeno.

Sonofabitch if these aren't the best tomato plants I've ever had. They are all getting big and bushy. Not many 'maters yet on the vines, but there will be. And then that hot banana pepper is going crazy. There are already 4 big peppers on there with more starting.

[KCUnited]

Had to go Lorena Bobbitt on them but can hopefully get a couple new ones to grow

[lewdog]

BRC, we have our first desert flower from the Florida cuttings! I have the cuttings plunged in a raised bed under 50% shade cloth. They are loving the heat under there and growing leaves finally! I have about 8 that made it and are fully rooting now. I also put one by my son's window as an experiment, straight in the ground, and it's rooting!

Awesome white on these tips!

[DJ's left nut]

I guess this is yardwork...

Tractor story time!!!!

So there's a lake at the farm with a large drain with a steel 'cage' covering it by the dam. A couple logs had gotten lodged in there and needed to be pulled out. So I hop on the tractor, grab some log chains and go on down there to drag them out.

I'm...okay on a tractor. I know what to do but don't always execute it perfectly. I drive out there on the side of the dam at a bit of angle but nothing I'm worried about. Slap the chain on the bucket, get in the lake and wrap the chain around the log. I start backing it out and suddenly I'm on two wheels as the thing is approaching its breakover point. My butthole is now in full pucker and the worst case scenario story I had in my head went from "The time DJLN drove a tractor into the lake" to "When DJLN got squished like a grape..."

Backstory - some years ago we had a bridge we'd built come off its pylons and end up jammed up against the low water crossing. We hooked it to a skid-steer and a tractor and carried it back into place. I was 'riding' the bridge and giving directions to the front and rear to get us there. At one point my buddy in the tractor just comes forward on the front two wheels and lands on the bucket. He'd reversed to hard and the weight of the bridge (made from old hedge) on the bucket just tipped the ****er. His dad (in that sort of terrified fury) absolutely rips BOTH of us (dafuq did I do?) and tells him "If you never learn another thing here, you will learn right this very minute that if hell breaks lose on that tractor, drop the bucket. Full stop. Worry about anything else later, slam the lever and drop the bucket..."

Fast forward to the dam and let me tell you how handy THAT lesson ended up being. I grab the lever and hammer it down, bucket drops and the tractor comes slamming back to earth. I mean any hesitation at all and I'd have had a real problem. Any baseline skill and it would've have happened to begin with (I had the bucket too high trying to 'lift' the log over the shoreline). When my heart rate gets back to semi-normal, I kept that damn bucket maybe 6 inches off the ground while I drag that log the rest of the way out.

Sawed it up, threw it in the bucket, tried to tip the ****er AGAIN (too much log in the bucket; still at an angle and I'm evidently quite stupid; didn't account for the angle of the dam changing as I reverse out). And then AGAIN as I tried to turn it around and get off that ****ing damn. So in the end, I essentially kept it an inch off the ground and backed all the way off the damn, through the gate and back up the hill until I could turn it around on the road.

Then a massive storm absolutely broke lose and I'm having vertical lightning around me as I drop the logs off at the brush pile, but the hell if I'm gonna let rain beat me after all that mess getting the logs loaded.

I maybe shouldn't have been doing that sort of thing with nobody else around but dammit it needed to get done.

[Buehler445]

DJLN got a lesson in physics.

Glad you’re safe bud.

If you’re going to be doing any lifting as long as it’s not in a tight space, throw a 3 point mower or something on the 3 point. A little weight on the back, especially if it’s got some leverage will help bring the center of gravity down some when you’re using the bucket.