Garden thread

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Here it is, my minature Irvine garden oasis. Planters and furniture compliments of the masters of design for tight spaces: IKEA. If any one else is interested in creating a small balcony garden, I recommend picking up items from IKEA near the end of summer on super clearance. I got 5 teak planters, 3 ceramic planters, 1 hanging pot, 2 teak chairs, 4 flower boxes and few accessories for all under $250 a few summers ago. And presto, here it is:

<img src="http://i39.tinypic.com/2jebr44.jpg" alt="" />







<img src="http://i39.tinypic.com/25gbfqv.jpg" alt="" />
 
[quote author="stepping_up" date=1244282524][quote author="fadetogrey" date=1244280665]Love your gravel path and lavender plants.</blockquote>


If you ever want bags of stones, you can ask HD to make you a palate of the broken bags. You get the whole palate for the price of one bag and if the guy helping you is cool, broken bags just have a tiny tear. I wanted more rustic gravel, but ended up with these pea pebbles and have been getting them really cheap at HD.</blockquote>


That's an excellent tip; thank you! There is a shady part of my garden where I was thinking of laying gravel. I like the pea pebble type.
 
When I get a job, first thing to do will be to get some furniture for my backyard, and plant the plants that I love- I am tired of those huge bird of paradise..

Mcdonna, love your planters.. will try time that summer sale. Stepping_up- all I want to do is grab a book and sit down on that chair with a mug of coffee:-))

A question about the wood furniture in backyards: Do you have to cover them when it rains?
 
[quote author="Cubic Zirconia" date=1244505084]

A question about the wood furniture in backyards: Do you have to cover them when it rains?</blockquote>


I treat my wood once a year with marine oil. I don't cover anything when it rains. The planters get wet the most either from rain or my watering. I've had the wood planters and chairs for over 2 years and the wood still looks great.
 
[quote author="Cubic Zirconia" date=1244505084]When I get a job, first thing to do will be to get some furniture for my backyard, and plant the plants that I love- I am tired of those huge bird of paradise..</blockquote>


When you do take out the bird of paradise, be sure to dig as deep as you possibly can and dig up as much of the roots as possible. They are stubborn bastards that could grow back. You might even want to rent a back hoe to take them out. If you just dig them up you should use root killer, but that has some negative consequences as well. You will see what I mean when you dig them and how dense and mangled the roots will be, but the good thing is they are soft roots and not tree like hard.
 
Stepping Up,



I know the rear garage to the right of you that is painted a terra cotta color. I love your yard.



McDonna,



You corner deck with the parapet wall building at the background with the trellis adjacent to your deck is a give away of your exact unit. I like your drought tolerant plants.
 
<a href="http://www.earthbox.com">Earthbox...</a>

What do you guys think?



I have this little garden patch in the backyard that the previous owners left behind. I want to replace them with the earthboxes.



Yay or nay?
 
[quote author="bkshopr" date=1244530921]Stepping Up,



I know the rear garage to the right of you that is painted a terra cotta color. I love your yard.



McDonna,



You corner deck with the parapet wall building at the background with the trellis adjacent to your deck is a give away of your exact unit. I like your drought tolerant plants.</blockquote>


You stalk me, I'll stalk you back. Your home tour gave away your exact location too. :)
 
[quote author="Mcdonna1980" date=1244534389][quote author="bkshopr" date=1244530921]Stepping Up,



I know the rear garage to the right of you that is painted a terra cotta color. I love your yard.



McDonna,



You corner deck with the parapet wall building at the background with the trellis adjacent to your deck is a give away of your exact unit. I like your drought tolerant plants.</blockquote>


You stalk me, I'll stalk you back. Your home tour gave away your exact location too. :)</blockquote>


OK! I will not disclose where you live. I will also not expose your work location with the view of Downtown LA. Only a few handful location of commercial on a hill west facing with a precise view corridor seeing the downtown silhouette. Your secret locations are safe with me.
 
Serious Weapon,



I have 2 Earth boxes for my tomatoes, as the sunniest part of my lot is the back patio, and so far they are really good. They are a little pricey, and a friend found a similar product for about half the price by googling "self watering garden containers." The Earth Boxes are supposed to last several seasons, and I'm not sure the knock-offs are as sturdy, but it might be worth a search.
 
[quote author="bkshopr" date=1244530921]Stepping Up,



I know the rear garage to the right of you that is painted a terra cotta color. I love your yard.



McDonna,



You corner deck with the parapet wall building at the background with the trellis adjacent to your deck is a give away of your exact unit. I like your drought tolerant plants.</blockquote>




Ha BK, we caught you! It's actually a shed and it's red. Although at one point we were concerned that people were actually living in it, but that turned out to be false. McD's succulents are gorgeous!
 
[quote author="bkshopr" date=1244535884]



OK! I will not disclose where you live. I will also not expose your work location with the view of Downtown LA. Only a few handful location of commercial on a hill west facing with a precise view corridor seeing the downtown silhouette. Your secret locations are safe with me.</blockquote>


And do not post the naked pics of me I'm sure you managed to dig up for my file. I'm sure you wouldn't....or your saving those for my campaign.
 
[quote author="centralcoastobserver" date=1244537313]Serious Weapon,



I have 2 Earth boxes for my tomatoes, as the sunniest part of my lot is the back patio, and so far they are really good. They are a little pricey, and a friend found a similar product for about half the price by googling "self watering garden containers." The Earth Boxes are supposed to last several seasons, and I'm not sure the knock-offs are as sturdy, but it might be worth a search.</blockquote>


I'll give it a try. How did the tomato's taste? Did they grow sweet?

That's the thing I miss about NJ, the tomato's tasted like fruit unlike the bland veggies that I get at Pavillion's produce section.
 
[quote author="Serious Weapon" date=1244543095][quote author="centralcoastobserver" date=1244537313]Serious Weapon,



I have 2 Earth boxes for my tomatoes, as the sunniest part of my lot is the back patio, and so far they are really good. They are a little pricey, and a friend found a similar product for about half the price by googling "self watering garden containers." The Earth Boxes are supposed to last several seasons, and I'm not sure the knock-offs are as sturdy, but it might be worth a search.</blockquote>


I'll give it a try. How did the tomato's taste? Did they grow sweet?

That's the thing I miss about NJ, the tomato's tasted like fruit unlike the bland veggies that I get at Pavillion's produce section.</blockquote>


I do recall reading about these on a tomato thread last year and from what people said, they did work great. However, they did seem pricey to me. I thought this Dirt du jour was interesting today



I have changed my mind about growing tomatoes in the garden. Not only do they tank most years for me, I believe that the bulk of us have more bad years than good. Come on, admit it.



But not so with gardeners who grow them in pots. These are people who get reliable crops year after year. And the ultimate pot going around the blogosphere is the EarthTainer - a contraption that is half pot - half hydroponic system that even Gary Isben up there at TomatoFest is excited about.



You cant buy it. Youve got to make it and its ugly. Devised by Ray Newstead, a Silicon Valley exec and tomato freak, the EarthTainer saves you water, nutrients and most important, heirloom heartache.



PDF and/or how-to videos here.
 
I never even liked tomatoes until I grew some for my partner.... and figured out fresh tomatoes taste nothing like the ones in the grocery store. I'm not an expert and I don't go to any particular effort to find unique tomatoes, I just buy healthy looking plants that say they are full sized tomatoes. My biggest problem before using the Earthbox was "blossom end rot" where the base of the tomato would never ripen and just get mushy. I found out it was mostly a result of inconsistent watering, so I looked for a self watering system. (more reliable than teen age children!) The system is sort of a cross between hydroponics and container gardening as there's a good sized water tank covered by a grate, so I'm sure the roots drop right down into the water. The plants stay nice and green, and they've set a lot of tomatoes!



I've got a "green thumb" I guess, but I've not had any particular trouble with tomatoes. I also grow great roses, and some people seem to think those are tough. They seem like weeds to me.... I can't keep delphiniums alive, but I blame the snails for that. I don't like to use poison bait, and snails seem to really, really like delphiniums.
 
I went to the Starbucks in my local grocery store this morning and they had two 7-10 lb bags of free used coffee grounds. I did not know that Starbucks gave their used grounds away, so I was very excited. Even more exciting was that there are directions on the bag. The directions say:



(1) If you want to add the grounds directly to your garden: Apply this "green" material as a side dressing to nitrogen-loving plants, including most perennials and allium plants (the Starbucks website below says to apply to acid loving plants like blueberries, hydrangeas, and azaleas). Balance the nutrition of your soil with "brown" materials such as leaves or dried grass; or



(2) If you want to add the grounds to your compost: Combine with "brown" materials in your compost pile. Use grounds within 2 to 3 weeks of brewing to capture most nutritional value.



<a href="http://www.starbucks.com/aboutus/compost.asp">This Starbucks website</a> provides additional information.



This made my morning because we just planted 5 hydranga plants in our yard about a month ago, and we have azaleas, too.
 
Thanks for the tip on coffee grounds for the acid loving plants... I took my home grounds and put them in the blueberries.



So last year I planted some blue hydranegias and was so excited when I saw all the new blossoms on them this year as I was envisioning the cut flowers in a vase when I wanted them. The blossoms came out pink, so I thought "well, maybe they turn blue as the blooms really come out." No, full of flowers, pink flowers and I hate them pink, both in the yard and in a vase.



I was then questioning if I was just insane and bought pink ones, but I KNOW I would not have bought pink and specifically remember picking out the blue ones and planting them expecting to have blue every year forward. I told my MIL and she says that in the spring you need to apply some kind of special vitamin specifically to make them blue.



Anyway, just thought I'd share that heads up in case any of you are baffled by the pink. As is common with gardening, I'm chalking this up to "well, there's always next year to get it right."
 
[quote author="Cubic Zirconia" date=1244505084]When I get a job, first thing to do will be to get some furniture for my backyard, and plant the plants that I love- I am tired of those huge bird of paradise..

Mcdonna, love your planters.. will try time that summer sale. Stepping_up- all I want to do is grab a book and sit down on that chair with a mug of coffee:-))

A question about the wood furniture in backyards: Do you have to cover them when it rains?</blockquote>


I just spent the afternoon in that chair reading Transition.... something I've been wanting to do for a while now. Thanks!
 
We are irrigating the tomatos 8 hours a day, every day, right now using the subsurface drip system. Tuesday we'll go to 10 hours if we haven't got there yet.



We got blossom end rot on a few early on because we were like 12 hours late <em>one time</em> on the water. You are going to have some blossom end rot no matter what. Our nutritional and amendments are made easier as we have a agronomist on retainer who helps us with the irrigation, fertiziler, and other amendments.
 
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