Follow
Share
Read More
Find Care & Housing
Yes, the babies are cute, after I got over the fright I was worried I had squished one, but they all seemed to be able to run just fine!
That momma cottontail made a habit of having her babies in our yard for a while. After I fenced her out of the garden she made her (invisible nest) in the middle of the lawn, twice giving me heart attack moment when I was cutting the grass.
(1)
Report

Sorry, the comments on Japanese maples should have include CWillie's comments and experiences as well.

One of the local communities rented a goat to munch away on the weeds; it was an experiment in alternative (and safe) methods to control overgrowth. I don't recall how well it worked out but do remember that another community tried and it was so successful - the goats were happy, so much so that they began to expand their feeding area and start trimming ornamental shrubbery and plants that didn't need trimming.
(0)
Report

Ash, your life does sound idyllic - so peaceful and away from the "madding crowd."

Given your skill in natural living, I was thinking of a way that could protect the delicate Japanese maples, albeit a long (very long) term project. Gather pine cones, sprout and plant the seeds and grow your own crop of evergreens to place around your borders, or the ones that need a windbreak the most.

This year I'm going to try to exponentially expand my few conifers by taking cuttings. I've rooted yews before; this year I'll try junipers and arborvitae, as well as sprout some of the several bags of cones I've collected over the years.

Something else I'm going to try is a modified Bonsai experiment with conifers. I don't want the small Bonsai trees, but if I plant them in containers, commercial or self made (I have in mind wattle containers), they can still grow, but likely not to the same height as a free-growing tree. I collected seeds from a beautiful burgundy maple with deep forest green overleaf and plan to sprout them.

Your comment on egg shells reminded me that I read somewhere, probably on my favorite gardening forum, that one species of birds (blue jay, I think) need calcium from egg shells. It had something to do with their bone structure, I think. I'll try to find the reference.


Willie, my local rabbits must be having families but I've never seen them. Still, I enjoy the occasional adult visitor. I would love to find a nest of bunnies!

I did see 3 baby raccoons exploring my roof, occasionally hiding out in the chimney. They were sooo cute, until I went downstairs into the basement one time and heard them chattering in the chimney cleanout. Shortly thereafter I had the chimney capped, something I should have done earlier.
(0)
Report

Years ago I hauled a lot of straw home from the farm in my little honda civic hatchback (my first car) to use for mulch. One day I was walking through the garden and tripped over a hidden depression and baby bunnies ran in every direction!
(0)
Report

I've been saving my coffee grounds and egg shells (grind them in the blender), mix together and add to the soil before planting. Just an experiment but the veggies are growing really well. I'm using some old straw for mulch as the plants get bigger and we'll see how that works out. Never stop learning..
(1)
Report

primarily , im a stone mason and i there aint much that pisses me off as bad as cat crap in my mason sand pile . i just dig it out of the finished wall and get over it . its SO much better than a greasy eyed , needy -- assed dog . i hate yapping dogs so much that by default , i like cats .,. thats pretty messed up ..
(0)
Report

What a life Ashlynne. It sounds beautiful. Baby chicks and all. Captain I wish I had gone to wal treas :) I paid 3.98 for my tomato plants and not at the seedling level. Just a small city backyard. I love the feel of the earth its very soothing to the nerves even digging in the cat and dog pee ridden tree garden on the street. Seems to be taking a while to see the blooms on the impatients. I bought my mother some bell like flower think its the canterbury bells any way it has died I forgot to water it before I went away for few days. It was a beautiful plant. So its nice reading about the different settings of gardens and how the expanses of land are managed and kept up. Its really enlightening and interesting also refreshing.
(0)
Report

5 of my tiny tomato seedlings didnt make it . so i needed 5 storebought tomato plants . the farm store wanted 3 . 68 cents each .; so i ended up at the wal treason . i bought 5 tomato plants at 1 . 50 ea . i aint happy about that but if i keep an eye on them , they will pay off ..
i want to brew up 10 or so gallon of catsup . ive done it before and the results were great ..
(0)
Report

Japanese maples are beautiful but with the open fields, high winds and snowy winters I have to plant tough stuff.. Planted 4 red flame spirea in the backyard a couple of weeks ago, got too busy and we've had little rain. Looks like they may be toast but I've drenched them tonight and I'll do it again in the morning.

Today I moved the chickens from the garage brooder to their coop. At 3 weeks old they've gotten huge. Having spent time talking to them from day 1 they're quite tame. Still more veg to seed, lawns to over seed, potatoes to be hillled with straw, deck needs a fresh coat of stain and, and, and ...

It's really hot in the daytime right now so up early, get into stuff, then nap during the worst of the heat. Carry on when it's cooler, feed us all and sit on the deck until after dark. Watch the 11 p.m. news then zzzz. It's like that in the country - your daily routine changes with the seasons.
(2)
Report

Me too, Cwillie. Putting off the raised garden as just a dream that may never come true. As we try to upgrade our landscaping to fit managements approval because in the drought the lawn has died. Already spent $200 for landscaping in the last two weeks, and our yard is one of the top 10-20 yards in the hood.

Discouraging, and I have been nervous about it.

Fighting on, carrying on, and praying.
(0)
Report

I had to replace the Japanese maple. I was going to be cheap and just put in a shrub instead, but I decided to try again and ended up having to pay half again as much for a tree 3' smaller than the old one.
Gardening used to be what poor/thrifty people did to cut down on their grocery bills, now it is trendy and everything costs too much. It is hard for me to justify spending hundreds of dollars on annual plants and mulch when I am trying to pinch pennies elsewhere. I wanted to buy lumber and good soil to build a raised garden bed, but I'm gonna put that off for another year.
(1)
Report

Cwillie, How is your Japanese Maple today? Have you fed it?
(0)
Report

i stopped by my oldest friends house just 3 days ago . once he realized my boots carried a residual amount of mud film , he disinvited me to hang out on the back porch .. are you s#itting me ? his house is full of flea bit , shedding , filthy dogs ..
25 yrs of friendship ? im really done with charlie .
i wont lick peanut butter off his crank .. thats the only distinguishing disadvantage i can see ..
course i aint right in the head , so ( shrug ) .
who knows ? or cares ..
i had enough dogs when my renter was here . her sole purpose in life was to manipulate humans for the purpose of protecting her nasty dogs .
it didnt work ...
(1)
Report

i KNOW im gonna get senile at an early age . ive drank enough hard booze to float a battleship filled with beer ( which i also drank ) .
im old thinking before my time , maybe 20 yrs of foresight ..
simplify things before you get spacey and young dolts are trying to tell you how misguided you are ..
GTF off of my lawn ..
if all you have is a revolver and an attitude , you should be able to skate till at least 2022 .
(0)
Report

ash ,
i know i sound like a broken record but ive had many aquaintances find out the slow way -- shoot those worthless , needy assed dogs . theyre NOT cute , theyre NOT funny , theyre , pointless .
i actually like cats moreso but i aint gonna run out and aquire very many of those either .
dogs just dont amuse me .. theyre like -- " im fn stupid , please kill me " .
im like " BLAM !! " ..
not a problem ...
(0)
Report

Ash, my aunt used to threaten to get some sheep when the lawn got too much for her, all you need is a fence. Oh, and you had better get a llama or a donkey too to watch for coyotes lol !
(0)
Report

This is a big place to keep up and you can only do so much or it just becomes drudgery. This year I'm not weed whacking between all the (150) trees around the perimeter and for now ignoring the side flower bed which is over grown. I mow everywhere with a lawn tractor which takes about 3 hours.

I do weed whack the backyard and have planted many colourful shrubs so there's a lovely view from the deck. Between that, veggie beds, greenhouse, 2 dogs, 4 cats and 25 chickens that's all I can manage. I have some muscle that comes a few hours each week to do what's too heavy for me. Frantic time of year, so much more to be seeded/planted so indoors has gone to h*ll. The dust and do hair isn't going anywhere :)
(0)
Report

Tacy, soil temperature is important as well. Do some quick research on minimum soil temperature for your zone in Michigan, get a soil thermometer and check the temp.
(1)
Report

Part of Spring is yard and shed cleanup, so we hired someone. 2 1/2 hours= $50
(0)
Report

Glad, Wondering if they can ship husbands, if one can safely crate them in a doghouse. Lol?

Stacey, Good for you! You have wanted to get rid of that tree-I am noticing from last year. You have been patient too! Doing all this in addition to the helping Fil is quite an accomplishment.
(2)
Report

Waaa, my Monkey Puzzle Tree is now gone! The garden guy came and dug it up, and hauled it away. He found someone to sell it to, but I was uncomfortable asking him how much, as he was taking it off our hands for free. I think he can get a pretty penny, for such a nicely shaped and large tree! There was a very big root system that needed to be dug, and he left quite a hole, that now needs to be filled, which is no problem, really. It turns out it was actually 17 feet tall! I couldn't believe it! Those things grow like crazy! I sure hope it takes well in somebody else's yard! Amazing to see him all covered head to toe in rain gear and thick gloves, as those tree's are so thorny! It would have cut him up something fierce, had he not been well armored! But it seems he really knows what he's doing, and we like this guy, and will have him back to do the odd job that is too much for my husband to tackle. I received two gift cards for Mother's day, from my kids, to the local garden store, and plan to buy all of my annual bedding plants with in the coming week, I'm so excited! Hubby has been working so hard, weeding out all of the many gardens, so I'll be setting plants in all the places for him to plant, lol! That's my job, I set them, he plants them, as my knees are Shite! And no good for gardening anymore. Then we (he) will bark all the gardens, and it will be done for the year, except for the occasional weeds popping up here are there. I Love it, when it's all done! Beautiful! Trying to figure out a color pattern though, reds and yellows, or purples and pinks? I try to mix it up, year to year. Our yard is very established now, after 20 years in this house, so that is my only dilemma. Not that difficult! Lol! Our wall of lilacs have all but bloomed out, my they were fragrant! We have 20 or so rhododendrons in the yard, all blooming one after the other, so pretty for about 2 weeks each, then its waiting for the flower heads to dry up enough to pull off, now that's an all day job! Sticky too! I have to say, hubby's really been working hard these past few weeks, trimming up all of the hedges! Looking really nice! Proud of him!
(1)
Report

Stacey, That is the one with thorns that make it hard to trim? So glad that is getting settled. It will make your home easier to sell if you need to downsize-or give you room for a deck for extra guests-when you entertain your daughter's new IN-LAWS!
(1)
Report

Ok, now I have to go look up "monkey puzzle tree". Sounds intriguing.
(0)
Report

We are having a man come out to dig up and take away our Monkey Puzzle Tree, which I grew from a six inch starter, bought from the grocery store, and has now grown to 14 feet high, in about 15 years. Its growing so fast now, and into the surrounding bushes and fence. Wow, I never thought it would get so big! But at least he knows that he can sell it to someone who has a huge yard, where it can hopefully flourish. My baby, so Sad to see it grow, but we just don't have the room in our yard anywhere to put it. 😕
(0)
Report

Captain, sometimes you can be just the Sweetest man ever! I'm so glad you had that time with your Mom and Aunt Edna! You deserve to have a relaxing life, for all you did!
(0)
Report

my peach trees have decided to get it on this year . i have peaches the size of quarters already . its nice . i no sooner planted the trees 8 yrs ago , than i went to my moms house . its really nice to be back home .
i dont regret a moment that i spent with mom but im not dishonest enough to claim it was a picnic either . it was hard and it was worth it . it makes me feel like i deserve this low stress and peaceful life im enjoying now .
my mom didnt drive was near blind , and lived in the country . she had to have a domestic partner and im glad i was available .
just a word of encouragement to the many here who are sacrificing to help an elder .
(3)
Report

USPS ships bees, too. But my mailman likes to toss stuff around in his truck. I don't think it would go well for the bees. Or him.
(2)
Report

Glad yes they do and they often arrive dead or dying. We get ours from a farm/feed store. You order what you want six weeks ahead (25 day olds in my case). They arrive at the feed store by truck from the hatchery an hour away so you can collect them. Haven't lost one. They're bright, sassy, eating me out of house and home and growing like weeds.
(2)
Report

Speaking of baby chicks I was shocked to learn yesterday that the US Postal Service ships live animals! Mentioned specifically were baby chicks and pigeons!
(1)
Report

The weather seems crazy all over. Potatoes planted 4 weeks ago just coming up. Beans, peas, carrots and onions seeded last week. Tomatoes started in the greenhouse. Four red flame spirea planted in the backyard and zebra grass out front. Gifted variegated ground cover waiting to be planted as well. Still have to seed beets, kale, spinach and sunflowers. Baby chicks growing like mad and starting to feather. They'll outgrow the garage brooder and go into the coop with a heat lamp in a week or two.
(1)
Report

Start a Discussion
Subscribe to
Our Newsletter