Gardening

Yeah, it's in a weird spot, it's not a next door thing, MAYBE the house behind me but more likely in a city-controlled easement. I'll post some photos when I get done with work, it will make it more clear.

Screw it, then. Take care of it. Declare ownership. Do some ladder and climbing work, and then scream "Get off my lawn!!" any time anyone else gets near it.

Maybe, so here is what I'm working with. Pictures spoilered for size.

The big cherry tree:

The little cherry that only got fruit this year for the first time in 5 years, leaves look identical to big tree.

And here are the cherries on the little tree, as you can see, much smaller than a normal cherry. I haven't been brave enough to try one yet.

Also I know jack shit about pruning cherry trees, just hack away anything that isn't a big branch? Also certain time of year it should be done?

Just get a big black horse to go with it....woo hoo

Do a lot of reading on pruning, and it will go fine. Much of it can be done from in the tree if you can climb at all.

Got a bonsai tree (juniper) because fuck it I always wanted to get into it. Anyone recommend any good reading on taking care of it? Already have a general care book, set of tools, and fertilizer on the way.

Tortured Trees: Brutal Bonsai Bondage Art Series - WebEcoist



I have a wisteria that seems to be marginally surviving despite my neglect.

The plants in my veggie garden (zuccs, cucs, pumpkins, watermelon, cantaloupe, eggplant, peppers) all look wonderful. The problem is that they are not producing fruit. I get blossoms but they mostly whither and drop. I'm thinking I don't have enough bees or whatever to pollinate the flowers and the plant aborts the flower.

It may be a lost cause this year. It's my first garden at this house and I'm learning but for next year, what can I plant nearby that will attract more pollinators like bees?

lurker_sl said:

The plants in my veggie garden (zuccs, cucs, pumpkins, watermelon, cantaloupe, eggplant, peppers) all look wonderful. The problem is that they are not producing fruit. I get blossoms but they mostly whither and drop. I'm thinking I don't have enough bees or whatever to pollinate the flowers and the plant aborts the flower.

It may be a lost cause this year. It's my first garden at this house and I'm learning but for next year, what can I plant nearby that will attract more pollinators like bees?

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Lots of native flowers of a variety of colors. Make large clumps of them and get different variety's so you have multiple varieties flowering at different times of the year.

While not necessarily edible, some of the most enjoyable things you can grow are flowers in my opinion. Here's a few from this year. If you have space to grow stuff, don't let the chance to experience some neat first hand stuff. These are just a few that have just recently bloomed. With the Drunken Bees as a bonus.

Dandain_sl said:

While not necessarily edible, some of the most enjoyable things you can grow are flowers in my opinion. Here's a few from this year. If you have space to grow stuff, don't let the chance to experience some neat first hand stuff. These are just a few that have just recently bloomed. With the Drunken Bees as a bonus.

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There are a few cool flowers that bloom around my yard, but nothing that I planted on purpose, mostly leftover from the previous owner. Coolest things probably are the tulips, we also have a huge hydrangea that always impresses old ladies who are into flowers. /shrug

Really though, I just wanted to say great photos.

opiate82_sl said:

Really though, I just wanted to say great photos.

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Thanks much.

We planted tomatoes, red/green/yellow bell peppers, jalapenos, zucchini, cucumbers, brussel sprouts, watermelon, eggplant, sweet mint, and basil this year. The bell peppers and tomatoes have taken off. The cucumber, watermelon, and squash plants were stunted a bit by a fucking cat that kept shitting and wreaking havoc, but we put a solar powered owl light in our garden and it seems to be doing a good job as a scare owl so those are starting to really grow now too.

Already had one bell pepper harvested we used in fajitas, we have one tomato ready to harvest with literally a couple dozen more growing - tomato plant is already 5 feet tall, and we have a bunch of jalapenos growing with some probably ready for harvest.

I forage sometimes, but not around my own house, curiously. We have friends with a cottage and while I'm on vacation there we do a lot of walking in the woods, and I have been teaching the kids what wild lettuce and such looks like, and they take great pride in making salads from things they find in the woods. Somehow I never got into doing it on my own property. Maybe because I have the garden right there.

My own garden is producing sugar snap and snow peas at an alarming rate. I'm giving most away because we can't keep up. Also have onions near ready, and the rhubarb is outstanding. Should have some early potatoes soon, too, and I'm getting mountains of a variety of peppers. We really like banana peppers. The raspberries are going strong, too. Everything is looking really good this year, but that's because I installed irrigation everywhere. Dry as a fart around here.

So.. uh.. I killed my bonsai tree over the winter. Winter's are fairly terrible in MA. I'm not sure what the best winter care is. It definitely hit below 0 during Feb this year, something like -9F one night.

There's two schools of thought I've read - one is insulating the pot with bags and mulch so that the roots can't freeze. I don't know if this works up here. The other is to bring it in the basement and try to keep it below 40F (arbitrary number I Forgot) so that it still thinks it's winter and doesn't try to bloom/whatever.

Any tips on the bonsai front? It was rather expensive so I'd prefer not to kill another.

mkopec_sl said:

Got a garage? Put it in there, dude. temps will still be cold, but not cold like outside. Plus you can still do a bit of insulation in th garage if you are unsure. My garage is attached to the house so its always like 10F-15F warmer than outside.

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Negative just a basement, and the basement doesn't get that cold obviously.