Let's Talk about Gardens

@gingerw Wow, what a great sight for first thing in the morning!

@gingerw Gorgeous to see

Lovely colors, gingerw. Be careful with those rocks, friend! A neighbor wanted to re-landscape his front corner side area and asked if I could use any of the wonderful river rocks. Immediate yes! and a bazillion trips back and forth later, I'd filled one street bed between my driveway and next to a neighbor's flowerbed with the rocks. The neighbor just wouldn't "tame" the Bermuda grass in his bed which became "my" nightmare so I dug out my bed and filled it with rocks. Then centered a large decorative pot on top of the rocks and change out the plants seasonally. The following fall, I had a stroke and my next door neighbor still thinks my stroke was a result of hauling and then washing all of those tons of rocks! Mine was a summer project too so be careful and stop if you're feeling under the weather. We Need to keep you hale and hearty for the benefit of all! Smiles

@gingerw How's the rock job going? Did you do the brick edging? I've been distracted from the rock pathway by trying to keep up with the watering, and I bought a bunch of plants as my father's day present from my wife. We have been buying our own gifts for a few years. It's so hard for me to make a list of things I want. I feel like I have everything I need and more.

I spotted a few rocks in a planting around the travel trailer, and stole them to use in a new location. We have 2 trailers - the one that's landscaped is parked permanently and hooked up to utilities. When we bought our place, we were looking for a property that had a guest house, but didn't see anything that suited. We wanted a place where we could stay when we made the 3 hour drive to do doctor appointments and shop. We were tired of staying in motels every time we went to the city. So, I found a nice Holiday Rambler and made it our motel room. Before I retired and moved here, I took a 3 month sabbatical, and lived in the trailer. It was kind of like camping.

That took way longer to tell about a few rocks than it should have. I did at least load them into the wheelbarrow and get them over to my growing pile of rocks. One of them was almost too big and heavy for me - I should have used the hand truck. But it was too cool a rock to have it out of sight under a barberry bush.

More about that another day.

Jim

@jimhd Here is my Seger pile [in honor of Bob Seger "Like a Rock"]. Going to town on Saturday and will hunt down cement edging. We'll take the truck and load the back ;))
Like you, we use our travel trailer as a "guest room". We were aiming for a 3 bedroom house when we fell in love with this one, a 2 bedroom. My stepson has stayed in our 19' RPod a few times.
Looking forward to the rock story!
Ginger

@funcountess Here is the general rule of thumb about fertilizing and watering. I moved it from the walking group because it fits better here.

Annuals - often - twice as often as the package label says, but at half the strength. Pots about every two weeks (again half strength) as watering washes a lot of nutrients out of the pots.
Perennials - once a year - maybe twice if they grow 12 months in a warm climate (not all do - some have a dormant period even in south Texas)
Natives - once - about 6 months to one year after planting. Then let nature take its course.
Trees and shrubs - once a year in cold climates, twice a year in zones 8-10. Never while dormant.
Lawns - twice a year at most, Fall in the north, spring and fall in the south, if you drop grass clippings they decompose and help protect the roots and feed the soil. If you bag, add one more time of fertilizer.
That's it! It's all the plants need, any excess washes away into the ground water or surface water - where it is a source of pollution.

And water:
Use irrigation system, soaker hoses, or sprinklers - hand watering may be entertaining for a gardener, but is seldom good enough for plants, other than pots, or for watering in new plantings.
Tip - put a tuna or cat food can in the area you are watering and measure the depth to be sure you are delivering enough water. The time required will vary greatly depending on what type device you are using & area you are covering. To measure what the "soaker" is delivering, bury a can to its rim under the soaker hose so you can see how much is being deposited.
Established plants - One half to one inch per week for most plantings - delivered in one or two doses so it really soaks in and forces the roots deep to seek moisture - makes them more resilient and drought resistant. Reduce watering when it rains, to equal this amount.
New plantings, more until established - that is new grass - new grass daily until after second mowing, then regular schedule.
New trees and shrubs - 1 1/2 inches per week first year. Then shrubs as normal, continue extra water on trees for 2-3 years.
Perennials and natives - as needed (beginning to wilt) - until established, then late nature take over as much as possible.
The exception - fruits and vegetables - depends on plant, but consistency is key - read up on anything you plant, and water according to what it is.

These are the guidelines from the University of Minnesota Extension Service and Texas A&M. We Master Gardeners teach this to thousands of people every year. Doing it right saves money, water & the environment.
Getting off my soapbox now!
Sue

@sueinmn, Excellent information, Sue. It is so helpful having a Master Gardener in our group who can point all of us gardeners in the right direction! Hugs to you for sharing your knowledge with the rest of us who will benefit.

Except for adding in some rocks to make it look really finished, here is my Seger pile. I moved close to a ton of cement retaining wall bricks this morning to line the outside. Very pleased with this! It's in the front lawn, which has taken quite a hit with the pronounced summer. Since the lawn is more weeds than grass, we decided against irrigating it this year, and will tear it up to replant.
Ginger

@gingerw Nice! It doesn't look like it needs more rocks to me, but you of course have a vision of how you want it to look.

You must be one very strong woman to move those bricks. I'm not going to arm-wrestle with you, that's for sure.
JK

@gingerw You have some nice looking rocks there. I'm still working on my own project, hoping to be able to take pictures this week. My backyard looks pretty much like yours. I just can't keep up with the watering enough to keep the lawns green. Replacing it with sod would be wonderful. I did put seed on a section of the front lawn this spring, and it looks better, but I need to work on the weeds that came up at least as well as the grass.

I covet your bricks. Did you use your custom wagon/cart for the job? Are you going to make a border with them? There are lots of ways to arrange them, aren't there. That sounds like a fun job. Congratulations on your new rock garden.

Jim