Quote :

"^^^yeah, but the difference is the other two chemicals keep you from having to spray it in concentrations high enough to kill centipede. Label for Southern Ag Lawn Weed Killer with Trimec says it's good to go on centipede as long as you get the rate correct."

Ah yes, I recall the "For Southern Lawns" variant to some of these 2-4d products now.

I've always heard its basically just half strength...you might be better off buying full strength and just diluting it!

4/6/2017 11:29:21 AM

Quote :

"hah, yeah i've thought about trying to get some black snakes. "

I've never seen a king snake around my house.

I want to import a family of them. If I were to find one, I'd make them a little bed and tuck them into it every night right beside my house. I have a 3 year old and two dogs....all of these copperheads hanging out in my front/back/side yard terrifies me

All snakes seem like a really bad idea until you have a huge copperhead problem. Then you realize a bunch of king snakes would be a godsend

[Edited on April 6, 2017 at 11:32 AM. Reason : ]

4/6/2017 11:31:30 AM

We have a hawk couple around our property, I think that's what keeps the snake population under control there (for the most part.) We have almost an acre, wooded on 3 sides and backs up to deeper woods with a pond, which is prime for copperheads. Here's hoping your creepy crawly epidemic gets under control!

4/6/2017 1:17:09 PM

Quote :

"We have a hawk couple around our property, I think that's what keeps the snake population under control there (for the most part.) We have almost an acre, wooded on 3 sides and backs up to deeper woods with a pond, which is prime for copperheads. Here's hoping your creepy crawly epidemic gets under control!"

My street literally goes between two large lakes, so yeah, I suppose that's why we have such a huge copperhead problem.

I dont mind cohabitating with snakes as long as they stay outside, but I draw the line with the pit viper family

4/6/2017 4:29:28 PM

double post

[Edited on April 6, 2017 at 4:32 PM. Reason : ]

4/6/2017 4:31:50 PM

Quote :

"Terra cotta pots aren't going to be practical"

I should have clarified a little more in my post, but we got the huge ass pots, buried them in the ground so you couldn't see them, and then planted the shrubs in them. It worked OK, but may not be worth the effort. I did this for my mom when I was in high school. It would really only work for new plants though I guess.

She ended up burying some rat poison throughout her bushes too. It killed a fair amount of squirrels, one fell from a tree onto our deck while we were eating dinner outside. It was more than a little creepy. I guess it killed some of the voles too.

Quote :

"All snakes seem like a really bad idea until you have a huge copperhead problem. Then you realize a bunch of king snakes would be a godsend"

moth balls keep snakes away, you could spread them at the edge of your property to deter them from wandering into your yard. Hopefully it would be far enough away that you wouldn't notice the smell either.

EDIT - I got the moth balls tip from an episode of dirty jobs. I did some reading, and the internet says to make sure your dogs don't eat the mothballs. People are all over on how to keep snakes out of your yard. The one that seemed the most logical was the tip that said keep the mice out of your yard and the snakes will leave. I have been clearing out all the dead wood in the woods behind my house after coming across many copperheads and dealing with mice last year. Hopefully it helps.

[Edited on April 6, 2017 at 11:36 PM. Reason : ]

4/6/2017 11:20:36 PM

^ We live in a very wooded neighborhood, and my neighbor has a huge pile of yard brush behind his detached garage.

Nearly positive that's why we have the problem we do. I'm sure they'd be around without that, but its definitely a huge breeding ground for them. Pisses me off.

4/7/2017 10:00:53 AM

RE: voles and moles

Coolest and most effective that I've seen is to blast them by exploding oxy/acetylene or propane. Flow just a little bit of gas into the tunnel, ignite and boom. There are manufactured products (http://www.rodentblaster.com/) but they're relatively expensive and I think you could easily do a DIY and with some experimentation find the appropriate stoichiometric ratio.

I've also seen some people mention pumping their car exhaust into the tunnels and have reported success.

4/7/2017 10:06:00 AM

Quote :

"Coolest and most effective that I've seen is to blast them by exploding oxy/acetylene or propane. Flow just a little bit of gas into the tunnel, ignite and boom."

I do not see a single scenario where that could go wrong

4/7/2017 10:14:01 AM

It's that time of year where my grass looks awesome but grows too fast. I mowed Saturday, Tuesday, and it's about time to mow again.

4/7/2017 12:47:58 PM

lower your mower setting

4/7/2017 2:13:53 PM

Quote :

"You can plant the shrubs in terra cotta pots,"

I wouldn't recommend this unless you're talking about annuals or maybe some smaller perenials. That's not gonna be good for long term health of larger shrubs.

4/8/2017 6:41:08 PM

So I'm having to pretty much start over with my plants.

We got whiteflies, and treated them with a self-mixed neem oil insecticide soap. BUT, it should be sprayed in the cool morning before the sun or in the evening after sunset, and only once a week.

I did it three days straight, and now all of the awesome peppers I've been growing from seeds for months, as well as six unique types of peppers and tomatoes died.

Thankfully the soil is still good and nutrient rich, and Home Depot had a BOGO sale on a bunch of stuff. And I bought ladybugs.

Learning to garden requires patience.

4/8/2017 7:58:15 PM

Too lazy to look at the history but if anyone has recommendations for a good place in raleigh to get topsoil and seedlings would be appreciated.

4/12/2017 1:24:14 PM

whatever local garden center is closest to you for either, or the farmers market for the latter

4/12/2017 5:20:23 PM

^^ the neem oil stuff I bought said to apply every 7-14 days. If they come back for your next batch of plants, maybe try backing down on the frequency.

[Edited on April 15, 2017 at 7:15 AM. Reason : .]

4/15/2017 7:15:14 AM

Yeah. Lesson learned.

We also put ladybugs down, and planted marigolds.

4/15/2017 7:19:40 AM

How do you entice the ladybugs to stick around?

4/15/2017 1:41:51 PM

Put themin fridge for an hour to put them to sleep.

Then thaw them for 30 mins at dusk and water the garden.

Put them out, and they'll slowly wake up and need water and food.

4/16/2017 7:29:56 AM

Anybody have any experience using beneficial nematodes and/or diatomaceous earth for pest control in your garden? How did they do?

4/16/2017 8:50:00 AM

No experience. John Kohler from Growing Your Greens suggests buying non-pool grade DE.

I imagine it would be either sprinkling it on surface or mixing it in.

4/16/2017 8:45:57 PM

Quote :

"lower your mower setting"

Sorry, just seeing this. I've thought about it but it's pretty thick. Even cutting it at 3.5" (My highest setting) I have to come back with the leaf blower and blow the clippings. I've also thought about getting a bagger but I don't have a good spot to dump my clippings. At my next house (We are building), I'll have some natural areas where I can start a compost pile.

4/17/2017 10:50:32 AM

In the process of building a small landscape border / retaining wall. Before I get too far, I need to decide if I want to (eventually) install some lighting. Have solar landscape lights been improved in recent years, or are they still mostly crap? Every one I've owned in the past probably didn't make it to one year before having an issue. I hate to have to add a low voltage system (+ 120V to it), but I can.

5/1/2017 7:34:34 AM

I think there are some nicer units out there now, but probably not much cheaper than just running the 120v out there, assuming you can do it yourself.

5/1/2017 10:22:02 AM

i bought a few solar floods last year, and 2 of them are still working out of 4. I'll say the working ones have much more powerful light than the ones I bought about 5 years ago which were hot garbage.

Now, I was lazy and didn't bring them inside for the winter, and the two that don't work have cracked glass, so presumably water got inside of it and froze.

5/2/2017 2:36:21 PM

Guess I'll run some wires then

Wife would also like a lamp post somewhere. So I guess I'll be running two lines now (12v & 120v), and since one is 120v, I think I'll stick them in a conduit run since they'll be in a landscape bed.

5/3/2017 8:25:24 AM

consider adding a receptacle box or two if it makes sense. they're cheap and outdoor outlets are convenient.

5/3/2017 7:15:46 PM

I ripped out the old overgrown boxwoods directly in front of my house. Any ideas for replacements?

I don't mind spending a little coin since it's a one time thing, but I don't want to get crazy. Also I get plenty of sun there, if that matters. Thinking azaleas, but not set on it.

5/3/2017 10:52:33 PM

Do you still have some type of evergreen there? I'm still a fan of small evergreen trees in the front (like emerald arborvitae).

[Edited on May 4, 2017 at 7:24 AM. Reason : ;]

5/4/2017 7:24:09 AM

^^azaleas like some shade, so they may not be the best option depending on how much sun you have. assuming you want something outside of the traditional japanese holly or boxwood foundation plant...i'd look at loropetalums or distylium for something different/unique. there's tons of varieties of loropetalums, so it'd be important to be aware of which ones your looking for. loropetalums have a burgundy foliage with pink fringe flowers in spring. they are evergeen, but may drop some older leaves in the winter (nothing major). Ruby Loropetalum works for a taller foundation...maybe 5' in maturity. Daruma Loropetalum is a lower growing one...maybe 3' in maturity. there are newer, patented varieties but i've heard mixed reviews on some...like Purple Pixie and Crimson Fire tend to defoliate worse than most in the winter.

as for distylium, it's a newer introduction and is used a lot as a replacement for foundation plantings...evergreen and has small flowers in the winter. again, there's several different varieties....Blue Cascade, Vintage Jade, Coppertone tend to be the most popular/prevalent.

depending on how much bed space you have, i like to mix in drift roses in front of a foundation planting...they're a low growing, low maintenance rose (like Knockouts, but only about 1.5' in maturity with 2-3' spread). they'll lose their leaves in the winter but they bloom like crazy from early spring till winter.

i agree with ^, i like an evergreen as a corner plant. emerald arborvitae, blue point juniper, something along those lines. i also like ornamental grasses as a focal point in a landscape...i know a lotta people have negative opinions on those (mostly pampas grass) but some of the more compact varieties (miscanthus 'adagio' pennisetum 'karley rose') are really pretty and are nothing like the pampas grass shit. but that's all personal preference and depends on how in depth you wanna get with your landscaping.

[Edited on May 4, 2017 at 12:53 PM. Reason : f]

5/4/2017 12:48:45 PM

people getting crazy $ distylium here lately

5/6/2017 5:10:05 PM

Yeah distylium is a newer introduction and it's been really popular so far.

5/7/2017 9:29:15 AM

^^ wow thanks for all the info. I've got two beds to fill. 25'x7' and 20'x6'. The larger bed is 5' up to the windows, the smaller one is 4'. Both beds get about 4-5 hours of afternoon/evening sun, but are shaded until then. Soil is currently primarily clay as you'd imagine, but I can till in some good soil if needed. I think I'd need to put up some edging to keep the good soil in if I wanted to go that route.

Any specific recommendations with that in mind?

I figure that's not too sunny for azaleas right? If I did the Loropetalum, I could use a taller variety in the larger bed and a smaller one in the smaller bed. So maybe those or the distylium in the back and drift roses in the front? Do I have room for that?

5/8/2017 11:52:54 AM

for edging i used this stuff from lowe's recently in my yard. and i am pleased with it. it's more expensive than plastic edging, but i like the look of it a lot better.

https://www.lowes.com/pd/COL-MET-8-ft-Green-Powder-Coat-Landscape-Edging-Section/3044562

yeah that shade/sun should work for azaleas just fine. they're more expensive, but the encore azaleas bloom significantly more than traditional azaleas.

with a 6-7' wide bed, i think you would have enough room for something taller in back and then a smaller, low growing accent plant (like the drift roses or even just perennial type stuff) in front.

as far as prepping the beds, i think you'd be fine just mixing in a little top soil when digging the holes. i don't think it's necessary to go to too much trouble in that regard unless there's just terrible drainage issues or something along those lines.

5/8/2017 12:50:25 PM

Thanks. I actually bought some of that stuff in brown from HD for one of my beds...haven't decided yet. There's nothing there now, so part of me wants to leave it like that for lower maintenance but the other part of me wants to edge it because it will look better.

5/8/2017 1:35:48 PM

yeah the col-met stuff worked really well for me but it was on a bed i was extending so it was pretty necessary to keep the grass from growing into it. if it's an existing bed i think if you mulch/pine straw it enough and build it up you'll probably be ok.

5/8/2017 3:46:30 PM

anybody here compost?

anybody get coffee grounds/hops from local places for their compost?

5/8/2017 6:03:53 PM

Yeah last year I got grounds from my nearest coffee shop. As much as I wanted!

5/8/2017 9:52:13 PM

I'm in the process of building a dry stack retaining / landscape wall. I guess I didn't fully think about the process, but I'm wondering the best way to backfill and waterproof behind the wall. I did already pick up some roofing felt, and my only thought is that I backfill right behind the wall with gravel and use the felt to separate that from soil backfill on the other side of the felt. So it'd be wall - gravel - felt - soil. Does that sound right?

5/9/2017 7:42:32 AM

I typically don't use the felt, just gravel above corrugated pipe running along the base of the wall that drains out past the wall at the wall's low point.

5/9/2017 8:58:09 AM

Quote :

"Quote : "lower your mower setting" Sorry, just seeing this. I've thought about it but it's pretty thick. Even cutting it at 3.5" (My highest setting) I have to come back with the leaf blower and blow the clippings. I've also thought about getting a bagger but I don't have a good spot to dump my clippings. At my next house (We are building), I'll have some natural areas where I can start a compost pile."

I'm having this same issue. Just started bagging. Lowering your blade isn't going to help, as you don't want to cut off more than a 1/3 of the blade height in a single mow. Once the hot weather gets here, growth will slow

5/10/2017 12:51:26 PM

I cut more than 1/3 of the blade height all the time. What am I screwing up?

5/10/2017 3:41:51 PM

from Scotts:
Set your mower at the highest preferred setting for your grass type, cutting only the top 1/3 of the grass blades at any one time. Why? Because properly mowed grass can grow and support more roots and develop a deeper root system to find water and nutrients in the soil. Cutting too aggressively, or scalping the lawn, forces grass plants to re-grow their blades, not deepen roots, and also makes your lawn more prone to weeds.

5/10/2017 4:23:04 PM

thx

nice status btw

5/10/2017 5:58:18 PM

Finally got my front lawn looking good . Hoping the hot and humid weather this summer doesn't fuck it up too bad



[Edited on June 1, 2017 at 10:42 AM. Reason : l]

6/1/2017 10:41:13 AM

beautiful!

6/1/2017 12:59:51 PM

lawn is looking good!

6/1/2017 1:56:24 PM

Thanks! It's all Kentucky Bluegrass which is normally not recommended down here, but its doing better than any Fescue I've ever seen.

6/1/2017 2:54:18 PM

You seeded with bluegrass?

6/3/2017 6:17:25 PM

just finished doing the stone work for 4 trees in my backyard

you can tell I started on the middle one 1st, then the far one, then the close one, and then the 4th one (lone in pic)

now I just need to add some weed fabric and mulch to all of them





[Edited on June 4, 2017 at 2:19 PM. Reason : smaller? trying]

6/4/2017 2:16:20 PM