Girls Coffeeshop Talk

[redshirt1957]

Got home from the lake, where we spent Mothers Day Weekend, and it seems most of the landscaping is finished.

Front yard island, which I built a few years ago, to get rid of grass.

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Hosta garden the wife planted two years ago. Right side of house when facing.



Pond from the right side of the house.



Left side of house from the street side.





I like to plant Horse Tail (a true pre-historic plant) and drawf bambo together.



Picture of the hill, which I hate. I bought the wrong lot, but trying to make due with my bad decision way back when.



My favourite bog plant. I have no idea what it is, but I call it a spider plant.





Thanks for looking.

[Lisa]

Lovely pictures, Joe. Whew - lots of upkeep - do you and M. do it all yourselves? I love her hosta garden - I recognized a couple of varieties from my own yard but she's found some really wonderful varieties - the huge leaves are very striking.

[away36]

Wow, Joe! Those pictures are absolutely breathtaking! Thank you SO much for posting them!!

I had Al dig up ALL our hostas. I'm tired of losing the battle with the slugs. I've tried every recommended strategy, to no avail so we gave them all away. I kept a few that I will put in a planter so they are off the ground.

[away36]

Happy Happy Joy Joy!!! My Clematis is still alive!! There is finally new growth. It's about 3 weeks later than it usually is so I had pretty much decided it had died. I'm soooo happy!!

[redshirt1957]

Originally Posted by Lisa

Lovely pictures, Joe. Whew - lots of upkeep - do you and M. do it all yourselves? I love her hosta garden - I recognized a couple of varieties from my own yard but she's found some really wonderful varieties - the huge leaves are very striking.

Not that much upkeep when the plants mature. I never weed the front island as you cannot see the weeds, other than some big milkweek thing; and then I yank it up. I have a serivce the mows once a week, trims, and does some weed control in the less mature islands. I then mow two other times, and never bag. I like to mow every other day when we have enough rain/water.

I took some other pictures of the hosta garden you could not see. I placed the spray head on the ground for reference. The wife likes things big. Wonder why she married me? Must of been the time she was having trouble converting inches to metrics.

Hey, I call May, the month from hell as I have; Mothers Day, Wife's Birthday, and Anniversary all in one month.

[away36]

Originally Posted by redshirt1957

Hey, I call May, the month from hell as I have; Mothers Day, Wife's Birthday, and Anniversary all in one month.

Look at the bright side. You only get in trouble for forgetting special dates ONCE A YEAR!

[Lion]

Joe, love the pictures of your yard and your borders are beautiful!!!
I really like the way you have landscaped your yard with the use of different textures through the foliage and the many colors used as well.....

You can buy a product called Preen for weeds in the borders but buy the one without fertilizer. Then do your own fertilizing with Miracle-Gro for the flowering plants and Miracid for the evergreens. This fertilizer is formulated for foliar feeding so you can use a hose attachment sprayer(Miracle-Gro now has a special hose attachment sprayer made specifically for their products) and just spray the beds like you are watering. Follow the directions on the fertilizer so you do not put too much on and burn the foliage. You can also fertilize the lawn with Miracle-Gro.
Also for weed control in the flower beds make certain your mulch is 4"-6" deep. This will also keep the moisture in the soil for the plants longer.

[Lion]

Lisa, the larger leaved Hostas generally need partial sun to full shade. So if you have an area of deep shade(like near your evergreen Magnolia) you can grow these varieties. Same thing is true of the bluish colored Hostas, they need mainly shade!!!

[Lion]

Originally Posted by away36

Wow, Joe! Those pictures are absolutely breathtaking! Thank you SO much for posting them!!

I had Al dig up ALL our hostas. I'm tired of losing the battle with the slugs. I've tried every recommended strategy, to no avail so we gave them all away. I kept a few that I will put in a planter so they are off the ground.

Hi Nancy, for your Hostas with the slug problem have you tried setting out shallow dishes of beer(now I know Joe, Al and the other guys will think this is sacrilegious)for them. The slugs are attracted by the beer(so are human men)fall in and drown!!!

Also if you leave the Hostas in pots they will not over winter too well. In your climate the root systems will freeze killing the plants. What you might do for the winter is heavily insulate the potted Hostas and they probably will then be okay.....

I'm also glad your Clematis made it, I figured it was just late but you never know with winter what will live and what will die!!!

[Carolina]

Ooh, I love those hostas. I'm planning to put a bunch in a shady corner of the front yard.

Sheesh - Joe, I'm having trouble keeping up with all your houses!

[Carolina]

OK, girls - summer is almost here. What color are your toes?

I just painted mine a deep crimson.

[Lisa]

Originally Posted by Carolina

OK, girls - summer is almost here. What color are your toes?

I just painted mine a deep crimson.

Had dark red, like yours - then bright fuschia. Now in need of a redo. Shall we post pictures? I'll wait until mine are looking a little better!

[Carolina]

OK, will do tomorrow. I've been admiring the fuschia on a friend's toes... I may have to get a bottle of that.

[redshirt1957]

Wife ain't got time to paint the nails, she is busy trimming the bush. All that yard work is tough on the nails.

[Carolina]

Originally Posted by redshirt1957

Wife ain't got time to paint the nails, she is busy trimming the bush. All that yard work is tough on the nails.

Pfftt. Give her a gift certificate for a pedicure!

[Lion]

Originally Posted by Carolina

Pfftt. Give her a gift certificate for a pedicure!

Caroline, you tell him. It's time for you and Lisa to set him straight!!! LOL!!!

[Lisa]

Leo, thank you for the hosta advice. I have a newfound love of them, now that I have so much shade in the flowerbed. Shade gardening is a whole new adventure!

[Carolina]

Originally Posted by Lisa

Leo, thank you for the hosta advice. I have a newfound love of them, now that I have so much shade in the flowerbed. Shade gardening is a whole new adventure!

x2!

[Lion]

Originally Posted by Lisa

Leo, thank you for the hosta advice. I have a newfound love of them, now that I have so much shade in the flowerbed. Shade gardening is a whole new adventure!

You are welcome, I have the exact opposite situation. We had a tree which gave us deep shade and I planted a shade garden which included native wild flowers. Well the tree came out 3 years ago and that whole garden has to be converted to a full sun border. I've lost most of the natives and its been hard to keep the weeds down. This year this border(bed) is a priority so we can clean it up and have it look nice again!!!

[Lion]

Originally Posted by Carolina

x2!

Caroline, your welcome I love gardening and growing plants with flowers being a bonus!!!
Now get busy and paint your toe nails.....

[Carolina]

Lisa, did you really get on the internet in 1987? I didn't know it even existed back then!

[Lisa]

No, not internet. Just a PC. It was little more than a word processor, but I thought it was wayyy cool! I can't remember when we first got internet access. A few years later, most definitely.

[redshirt1957]

Originally Posted by Lisa

Leo, thank you for the hosta advice. I have a newfound love of them, now that I have so much shade in the flowerbed. Shade gardening is a whole new adventure!

Been doing that for years.

[Lisa]

Originally Posted by redshirt1957

Been doing that for years.

I give up. I've tried and tried to construe something naughty from your comment but can't come up with a thing! Maybe all you mean is that you're an experienced shade gardener. Is that possible to accept a comment from Joe at face value, with no in-u-end-o at all?

[Lion]

Originally Posted by Lisa

I give up. I've tried and tried to construe something naughty from your comment but can't come up with a thing! Maybe all you mean is that you're an experienced shade gardener. Is that possible to accept a comment from Joe at face value, with no in-u-end-o at all?

Probably depends on whether he is in front of you or behind you!!!

[unclesallie]

well, Lisa, I suppose, I guess, I surmise, that if you really stretch it...well, gardening in the 'shade' might have a sexual connotation, as in 'gardening' to mean well, working in and around, 'shade' meaning, dark areas of the body not usually exposed to light, meaning the privates, the genitals, the whatevers....I think Joe is getting desperate for new ways to express his sexuality, since he's about used every example, metaphor, simile, etc.

Here's to Joe: he never, ever gives up!

[East Bay Rider]

I think Joe was teliing that he's very experienced working in the dark and damp.

[Lisa]

Originally Posted by East Bay Rider

I think Joe was teliing that he's very experienced working in the dark and damp.

You mean like spelunking. I get it.

Hey, Joe - stick to pickin' on Caroline - she always gets your meaning!

[Lisa]

Originally Posted by unclesallie

well, Lisa, I suppose, I guess, I surmise, that if you really stretch it...well, gardening in the 'shade' might have a sexual connotation, as in 'gardening' to mean well, working in and around, 'shade' meaning, dark areas of the body not usually exposed to light, meaning the privates, the genitals, the whatevers....I think Joe is getting desperate for new ways to express his sexuality, since he's about used every example, metaphor, simile, etc.

Here's to Joe: he never, ever gives up!

Geez, I just get lost in the subtlety of Joe's sophisticated humor.... but am reminded of this: Last week I had to discuss with the plumbers the male and female ends of the gas line hookup, and how to connect them to get proper gas flow. I was actually a little embarrassed! What a dork!

[abigsecret]

I'm way late to the party, but I wanted to wish all the beautiful moms on TRF a happy mothers day!!
You ladies rock!