Mature Trees at my New Home

 After 10 years of living on a tiny, tree-less lot, I love having so much space and especially so many huge trees!

My elm tree in the early morning.

 

The sun shining through a huge willow tree.

The poor pine tree next to my driveway is strangely trimmed because of the power lines.

My crab apple trees after I pruned some obviously dead branches.

My New Backyard is a Blank Canvas

In March I moved to my new home on a large lot. I'm so excited to have all this space to work with!

The first thing I did was get a load of mulch delivered to cover all the bare dirt.



Because I now also have a carport blocking the way into the back yard, all 5 cubic yards of mulch were dumped into my driveway.

It took me 30 wheelbarrow loads to get most it moved to the back and side yards. Now I've got to get it all spread out properly.

New Home, Large Lot!

 

After almost 10 years living in a 500 sq. ft. home, I've moved and now have more room than I know what to do with.

My new lot has 3 large yards: front, side and back. I'm going to be in gardening heaven. The back yard even has mature crab apple trees!

The side yard has the carport at one end and storage sheds at the other.

Home-Made Hydroponics Rooting System for Plant Cuttings

Coast Hydro (on Facebook) made this awesome “aeroponics” rooting system for plant cuttings. An aquarium pump and air stones aerate the water so the cuttings root in a fraction of the time, and with a higher success rate.

I decided to make a miniature version of my own using a small aquarium pump, airline tubing, and a small air stone. I purchased these online, but similar items can be found at pet stores and at Walmart.

I melted holes in the top of a cheap food storage container to insert the air line and the cuttings. I used painters tape to hold everything in place. You can also cut up a sponge to put around the stems as Coast Hydro did in their larger version.

I filled the container to the top with plain tap water, plugged in the pump, and voila!

Easy Self-Watering Planters from Plastic Bottles

 I am so completely sold on the benefits of self-watering (also known as sub-irrigated) planters!

Here are some parsley plants I grew from seed. The ones planted in the sub-irrigated planters are much larger, have much larger leaves, and much thicker stems than the seedlings growing in the standard cup planters.

I make my own sub-irrigated planters from 2- or 3-liter soft drink bottles. Here is how you can make your own as well:

Using a drill or soldering iron, make 2 or 3 holes around the neck of the bottle to aid in water absorption.

To prevent over-watering from rain or sprinklers (in case these will be outside), make 1 or 2 holes around the top curve of the bottle so that excess water can drain into the water reservoir, if necessary.

Cut off the bottom third of the bottle.
This will become the water reservoir.

Cut a circle of polypropylene fabric such as that from a reusable shopping bag. (My bag was from Wal-Mart and cost $0.50.) This fabric won't rot and will allow the water to wick up into the soil.

 

Fasten the fabric securely to the neck of the bottle using a zip tie or something similar. This will hold the potting mix in the bottle, and prevent the plant’s roots from growing down into the water.

Pack soil-less potting mix or peat moss firmly down into the tip of the bottle. Plain dirt or potting soil will not allow the water to wick up to the plants’ roots, so soil-less potting mix or peat moss is best.


Fill the bottle the rest of the way with potting mix and moisten thoroughly. (Stir the potting mix to make sure it is completely moistened.) There should be some water that drips down into the water reservoir.

Make a well in the center of the potting mix and insert your plant. Top with more potting mix, if desired.


If you wish, dump the water out of the water reservoir and fill with fresh water. (I do this because I don’t like the black water that drips from the potting mix.)

 

Keep an eye on the water level in the reservoir and add more when it runs low. Try not to let it ever run dry.


Never add water to the top of the planter, add it directly into the reservoir. The soil and plant’s roots will absorb all the water they need right from the reservoir.

To make it easier to move several of these planters, I put them in laundry baskets from The Dollar Store.

Tulips and Daffodils Planted in New Bed

I got part of the driveway and street border flower gardens finished a few days ago.

I planted pink daffodils near the steps, then yellow daffodils and purple tulips together along the driveway, and then more pink daffodils around the corner by the street. I’ll be adding pansies and snapdragons, which I’ve grown from seed, over the top of the bulbs so they will look nice over the winter until the bulbs bloom in spring.

Still have a lot of work to do, but it is nice to have the bulbs planted and everything mulched.

Plant Cuttings in Potting Mix & in Water

A friend on the Folia Garden Journal Site sent me some wonderful plant cuttings today! I wish I had some perlite and/or peat to root these in, plus some rooting hormone. I'm sure I'd have better success.

I was able to get 12 cuttings from the Wooly Morning Glory/Hawaiian Woodrose. I put 6 in water and 6 in potting mix to root. It is supposed to be very easy to root.

I got 10 cuttings from the Lemon Balm. I had some Park Starts seed starters left over from snapdragons that didn't germinate so I got the brilliant idea to put some lemon balm cuttings in those. I think they'll do really well.

I was able to get 5 cuttings from the Pineapple Sage. I put 2 in the Park Starts and 3 in water. This is also supposed to be an easy plant to root. I hope so because I've been wanting this one badly!

Made a new little garden

A couple of weeks ago I hurt my knees pretty badly building my butterfly garden. I'm not able to finish it, so it currently sits covered in thick newspaper and mulch. I've been struggling to find places for my new plants that I had ordered online weeks ago that were intended for the butterfly garden.

I've got 5 or 6 plants coming in any day now, so I built a new little 3'x3' garden to hold them. I cleared the weeds, then I turned the soil and mixed in 2 bags (3 cubic ft) of mushroom compost.
The bed will be surrounded by a walkway. This photo was taken from the porch, so the flowers here will give me a nice view.



It was a lot easier on my knees to use my new long-handle shovel instead of getting down on my hands and knees and using my hands and trowel as I usually do. I see all these little roots so I’m dying to kneel down and sift through and remove them all, but I just can’t do it--my knees are still too sore, though they are improving.

Free roses: Joseph's Coat Cuttings

Took a short walk down the street and saw some gorgeous roses at several of my neighbors' homes. I asked one neighbor if I could get cuttings from his roses.

The roses were growing waist deep in weeds and desperately needed dead-heading—so sad. I put half the cuttings into a cup and half into a milk jug greenhouse in potting soil.

Home-Made Net Cups for Starting Seeds

Larry Hall, inventor of the Rain Gutter Grow System, discovered that seeds started in perforated cups, such as the net cups used in hydroponics, grow amazingly faster and larger than seeds planted in standard cups or trays.

While net cups are not expensive, free is better so I came up with my own version: Peachy Net Cups.

I made these from diced peaches cups, though they are available with several different varieties of fruit. The holes were made by heating a Phillips screwdriver on my gas stove burner and then melting the holes all round the cup. You can make slits rather than holes if you prefer, though that would probably be easier using a soldering iron rather than having to keep reheating the screwdriver constantly.

I can fit several of these cups onto a Styrofoam tray such as those from packaged meat from the grocery store. (I clean the trays first by thoroughly washing in very hot water and anti-bacterial dish soap.) These cups, filled with seed starting mix or potting soil, fit conveniently on the trays and slide easily beneath my PVC grow light.

Before planting seeds, thoroughly wet the potting mix either by carefully watering from the top or by pouring a couple of inches of water into the tray and letting the cups sit in the water until it is absorbed. Repeat until the potting mix is damp but not water-logged. Now just plant your seeds following the directions on the packet. Keep the potting soil damp until your seeds sprout.