Your Garden Will Never Be The Same

Sunday, May 17, 2009

Soiled Tend'n-Sees

I have washed the last dregs of red Carolina soil from my shoes and my truck too. I do get to recall it's gooey consistency and resistance to Spray-N-Wash. I will say one thing for that soil ... even Mean Green shrinks from that dirt. Every time I pull out my yarden shoes and remember they were once white and not light salmon. At least when my toe pokes out the side this summer I'll be able to trade them in for a crisp white pair again. Of course this set will get stained brown instead of orange.

Ah, there is just nothing quite like rich Great Lakes soil. Now that it has warmed up enough to actually stay outside I am tempted to lay down and kiss the ground. I will be able to dig a hole anywhere I feel the need to and not need to rent an concrete buster.

Deep brown and perfectly balanced, beautiful dirt the likes of which the Sunny South is not blessed with. It really is too bad. If you could move this soil to that mild winter region anyone could build The Garden of Eden. Which reminds me. I hope to never see another Nellie Stevens Holly again as long as I live! Don't feel as if I will have nothing to abhor way up here in the Great White North.

Every region has its monocroping tendencies. In Michigan there are so many Yews and Junipers it is absurd. Seven billion different kinds of shrubs to choose from and everyone plants the same dam thing! I never did design a single landscape that used a Juniper. In my opinion, it would be a blessing if an incurable disease swooped in and wiped them from the face of the Earth.

Adios Carolinians, it was nice to never wear more than a fall jacket in the winter. I did get a hoot out of the snow being so well trained as to rarely stick to the road. There will be none of that here where it howls and drifts like a thing gone berserk. That's okay though. It only lasts for four months. Then the sun comes back and the soil unthaws and I get to remain filthy for a good many months.

So if you're wondering if I am missing in action because I was abducted by writing for a living ... I might be concocting words for money. Or I might be cooking up a new article for my new gardening magazine. If I'm not at my computer, you'll find me out back very happy with my soiled tend'n-sees.

A blank canvas! There is far too much grass out there ...

Oh yes, If you aren't reading Beautiful News at LostInTheFlowers you're missing out on a lot of great information. New to the market plants and garden tips too.

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Abducted Again

Unlike some of my friends -
Esther Montgomery to be exact (just in case you were curious),
I was not transported to such exotic nether regions.

I wasn't allowed to leave the city, let alone the planet.
My transportation was more of being sucked into the abyss.
As opposed to being swept up and away as was Esther.
The good news is that I was allowed to keep my own skin.
There is no way that anyone would walk right past,
and not be aware that I was there.

Esther had free roam of her destination.
Myself was chained in place.
Lashed to the keyboard and ordered to type,
about all manner of things but plants or soil.

This has gone on for months.
Well maybe I don't have to tell you that,
it was pretty apparent that I had suddenly gone missing.
That is until the other day when I revolted.
Since then I have been doing whatever I pleased.
Which included returning to my own persona -
and deliberately writing about plants until I turned green.

The result is rather dashing, just ask Lucy -
she knows my new plot is thickening.
It is rather lovely that freshly turned cybersoil.
Some really fab new things have sprouted.
Enough that my plant cave can be unveiled.

Perhaps YOU could use a little BEAUTIFUL NEWS today.
Well any day for that matter. When the site fills in,
there will be so many wonderful things to view.
Go ahead and brighten your life too with a trip to Beautiful News.

Sunday, January 11, 2009

Deerly Unloved ...

Image Courtesy of Ricale - Creative Commons Share Alike 2.0



It’s not that surprising you are plagued with deer eating your bushes.

Consider which you would choose to dine on; filet mignon or an overcooked hunk of stew meat? In the wild, no one is fertilizing and watering the plant life on a daily basis. Lush, juicy growth is widely available in springtime in most naturalized areas. Come summer or fall, all that remains have survived the heat without much water. It has to be rather stringy and tasteless. Like stew meat fried at high temperatures without any moisture.


Put your self in the deer’s shoes … er, hooves.

Just beyond a deer’s wooded home your yard shimmers greenly like an oasis basking in the sun. The grass is juicy and sweet. The shrubs are lush and succulent in that rain forest type eco-system controlled by your irrigation system. You have lovingly fed everything the ultimate fertilizer to the push out a bounty of new growth. To the deer you have created smorgasbord of delicacies. Why eat tough old tasteless plants when this heavenly smelling island of feasting lies a few yards away?


The last thing you intended was to fatten up the venison.

With 1-acre of maintained landscape and garden strewn property, you can support between 18-24 deer for a year. The big juicy leaves of hostas and hydrangeas are letting off a scent that just cannot be ignored. Filet mignon is green and it is growing all over your yard. Perhaps the temptation would not exist if we watered and fertilized natural areas too. No one would ever go to the expense.


Without a fence over 8-feet tall, you cannot deer proof your yard.

In rural areas, a 12-foot fence is required to never ever suffer any deer damage whatsoever. A fence half this height is usually priced over almost everyone’s budget. Besides, who want to feel like they live inside a cage? A lot of subdivisions won’t let you erect a fence that would actually keep deer out. The only choices left to the majority are applying deer repellents or only installing deer resistant plants.


You can stop a lot of deer browse damage to your landscaping.

It requires applying a long lasting liquid deer repellent on a regular basis. A lot of people have the idea that you only need protect certain plants. Yes, deer are more prone to eat certain plants over others. Those will be the ones they will chomp to the ground first. The truth is that deer when hungry will eat anything that isn’t poisonous to them. Effective deer repellent programs are those that are used on every plant in your yard, regardless if they deer have chewed on them or not.


It just isn’t possible to enjoy deer and plants in your yard together.

You wouldn’t let goats, cows or horses roam freely about the lawns. Common sense tells you that any ruminant (plant eater) is going to mess up your veggie patch, shrub plantings and perennial garden. Just because deer are beautiful is no reason to toss that common sense out the window. They are best admired at the zoo and wild, open spaces. You want the deer to find no reason to pass through your yard. If possible, you are best off if they never catch a tantalizing whiff on the evening breeze.


There’s a lot to learn about deer repellents.

Not all brands of deer deterrent are effective. Some are not as long lasting as stated. The more pests a repellent claims to send packing, the less likely it is to work. Deer repellents are not cheap and must be applied repeatedly over the growing season. You will be able to stop most deer browse damage with the most effective products when applied appropriately. There's a new deer deterrent directory online that can save you a lot of time searching the web for information. OutOutDeer.com is the most comprehensive information to hit the Internet. One spot for on every brand of commercial deer repellents currently available.