Show off your Garden/Garden BS Thread

So I searched all over TW and did not find a show off your Garden Thread or Garden BS thread.

As a new home owner and avid Botanist I wanted a place where i can bullshit with the guys who know so much about trucks and hopefully get some gardening tips on how to create the perfect zen garden.

I will start with a few questions of my own.

1) I am planting my Queen Palms and Arbeola Shrubs (I think that is their name) and I am about to dig my holes and mix the plants into the ground with some Red Gorilla Hair Shredded Mulch - Question One: will the mulch suffice for growth and transplant or will i also need to mix a potting soil/fertilizer in with the mulch? Any tips on what soil to use if any?

2) I am planning on running black bamboo all around the perimiter of my yard to create a nice strong/thick/tall wall of privacy. I dig the zen/bonzai garden theme so I will be incorporation lots of asian plants/pieces like Bonzai Trees, a Koi pond, a garden bridge etc. - Question two: how do you control the direction in which Bamboo grows? how do you get the bamboo to grow outward and spread like wild fire?

As for now that is all I have to ask - I will scan and post my blue print for my dream garden and I will take some photos of my yard for y'all.

HAPPY GARDENING.

​

 

I have a question for you guys/gals out there. We are having an issue with our stupid fat cat crapping in our flower beds. Now when the lady gets out there digging around in the flower bed and gets that crappy goo all over her shoes and gloves she is not happy. When she's not happy, nobody is happy...including the dog.

We have tried Cayenne Pepper, Pet away products, spraying fatty with the water hose and I've even thrown his own poo at him using a shovel.
The only other thing I can think of doing is putting a .22 round in his fat head. Now I would rather not do that because I'd feel bad for a day or two if I did.

So do you guys have any suggestions on how to keep his fat muffin ass out of the flower beds?

Thank you TW for your support in this crappy matter!

P.S. He crapped the garden last year and I'm sure he will do it again this year....fat bastard!

 

My bamboo collections are starting to shoot

 

We are thinking about doing a major landscaping project this year ......... so Can't wait to see some pictures.

 

We've had such a mild winter, I'm hoping for some major upsizing.

 

Get rid of the cat. Problem solved. Cats are evil sinister creatures anyways ...that's just my opinion though...I hate cats.

I would seriously re-think your bamboo idea. Most people try to get rid of that stuff.



Here's the front.
Evergreens : Holly and azaleas (moving the azaleas to the back soon, still trying to decide what to put in their place.) There is also an azalea at the corner of the garage that blooms white in spring. The others in front bloom pink.
Perrenials: Hosta.
Annuals: Begonias (red and white), colleus (green & purple). Purple fountain grass (It's an annual here in GA)

**in front of the begonias was sweet potato vine. I won't be planting that again this year. It's a good looking plant but grows way too rapidly for that small area. What you see there is after pruning twice a week and started with 3 tiny little plants in June (I think I took this pic in August.)

Around the mailbox is liriope and begonias.

Backyard.
Shrubs: Azaleas (2 varieties), firepower nandina (nice lime green color in summer, red in winter), Heavenly bamboo nandina. Knockout rose bushes (adding more this year)
Trees: Two crape myrtles, two River Birches
Flowering Perrenials: Day lillies (orange bloom), easter lillies (white bloom)
Ornamental grasses: Purple fountain grass (Annual), Northwind switch grass (perrenial).

Then I have hosta lining both sides of my house (they love the shade between the houses)

 

Very nice, that would look nice around my house.

 

Bamboo comes in thousands of species, but there are two distinct types, runners which run, and clumpers which clump.

Clumpers need tropical enviroments to flourish, so unless you live in the tropics, or at least around the gulf coast, they're probably not a good option.

You'll probably be looking for "Phyllostachys nigra". The Phyllostachys are runners. You can somewhat control the direction of the rhizome by installing rhizome barrier (plastic sheets) which can divert the rhizome in a different direction. IMO, tha'ts a waste of money, time and effort. Bamboo is one of the fastest growing plants, but does not grow so fast that any reasonable person cannot control it by kicking over any unwanted shoots. If you kill the shoot, it won't grow any further from that shoot. If it grows to 6 feet and you cut it at 4 feet up, it will never grow taller in that culm than 4 feet. Controlling it is easy. If you want it to spread, leave it alone and give it a few years to establish itself.

If you want a screen, fast, you'll want larger more expensive specimens, and it will fill in faster. If you have a few years to spend, you can plant smaller, cheaper specimens and they will do the same job over time.

Black bamboo is not as aggressive a runner as other phyllostachys bamboos are, and seems to be slower to grow overall. I have a couple 3-4 gallon sized Phylostachys nigra specimens I aquired from Lewis Bamboo in 2009, I am hoping they put up shoots this spring, they didn't in 2010, or 2011.

Check out
http://www.bambooweb.info/bb/
and
http://www.lewisbamboo.com

 

Wow! Amazing Gardens!

I have ditched the bamboo idea as I have learned that it lowers property value. I have since returned my Shrubs as they were attracting nasty bugs and i could tell they will soon be a big problem.

I am down to 5 Queen palms, 3 Phoenix Robelini, 1 Japanese (urakagami) Dwarf Maple, 1 Dwarf Peach Tree, 3 Dwarf Citrus (Navel, Tangerine, Orange), and a Plum and Nectarine Tree.

I am going to be running black wood chips on the walking areas and have been using red gorilla hair shredded redwood mulch. I will take some photos this weekend

 

That's certainly debatable. The same is said about swimming pools. But hey, it's your space. Happy gardening.

 

Acdronin called me up with an offer of some free fortnight lillies and some other genus i cannot identify.... Needless to say the backbreaking task of trenching out my lillies bed was worth it. I was also able to plant two of my Queen Palms this weekend! I work so much it is hard to get time do this stuff so I was happy as can be! 3 more Queens to plant, 3 phoenix robelinis, and my fruit trees/dwarf maples.

 

Maybe mothballs I have heard they work for squierrels sometimes.

 

Updated first post with current backyard setup.

 

shoot that fucker. Ive popped two cats with my pellet gun this year that were messing around in my garden.
I didnt kill them, just a good smack in the back legs and they have not came back.

for my garden this year we are growing green and yellow squash, carrots, radish, jalopenos, beefsteak tomatos, and spinach.

I will not be adding any pictures since it looks like shit this year
Ive got an old beat up shed that I need to paint and add doors to


Also for anyone wanting to help keep mosquitos at bay try planting lots of merigolds and citronella plants

 

X1000
dont do it!! 100% of my pro gardener friends hate bamboo. but if you have to have it..they bury the plants in the ground with pots. dont let it spread, or you will be posting up a "how do i get rid of stupid black bamboo?" thread.

 

Here's a tip to get that "perfect edge" between the mulch beds and the grass FOR FREE. My neighbors ask me all the time what I use to keep the grass from growing in the beds and how much dirt I added to "raise" my beds. My answer is...a shovel...and I didn't add any dirt. I have bermuda grass which "spreads" If it isnt edged every week during the growing season you'll have grass growing in your mulch beds. Zoysia, St Augustine, and Centipede also grow this way.

Quit wasting your time and money with all that crappy landscape edging that cracks, bends, rusts, and eventually pulls up out of the ground.

Mark where you want your edges (if you're extending beds). Dig a trench about 4-5" deep and about 6" wide. I find it's easiet to take the shovel and just run down the whole line (grass side), then turn around, move back 6" from your first line (bed side) and do the other line with the shovel tilted back towards the bed at a slight angle. I find this more efficient than alternating back and forth. Then come back and dig up the dirt (either dump it into the bed or get rid of it elsewhere. Then take your shovel and knock the corner off of the trench on the bed side. Essentially it will look like the picture attached. It also makes your mulch beds appear "raised" higher than your lawn when in fact, they aren't.

By digging the trench you are creating and air barrier so the roots of the grass would have to grow out into the air to reach the mulch bed. Which they won't do

Once you're done, you can re-mulch and it will keep the grass out of the mulch and the mulch out of the grass for the most part. Just edge it with your string trimmer or edger every week or every other week depending on what type of grass you have. If you don't know how to edge with a string trimmer, just turn it up on its side with the string 90 degrees to the ground.

 

Y U no post pic of baby Japanese, Shemicals?

 

they are in the picture with all of the pots lol.

i think im going to plant them out front.

 

Keep in mind that they get to be about 15 feet tall, and can go pretty wide. Makes a nice tree to put a bench under.

How about one in front, one in back?

 

sweetness. i love horticulture. was in charge of a few greenhouses back in high school and took an excellent horticulture class last semester in college. sub'd!

... though i wont have much to contribute but limited knowledge. don't have much of a landscape or options at my rented house haha.