EleanorsMine

Vodka and dish soap. I killed the green weeds in the grass with Weed X.
I oughta own stock in the pine mulch company too. I use shredded pine mulch- it absorbs moisture and keeps weeds dead. My soil is alabama red clay, so it holds water like you wouldn't believe.

And I pull up the buggers by the handful. I don't so much have a problem with weeds as the bermuda grass creeping into the beds.

65205

So you get drunk on vodka and then pour dishsoap on the weeds?
Soil here is pretty sorry, it's gumbo-hard as a freaking rock when dry and mucky mucky when wet.
I've found that putting in borders helps with the creeping over stuff. I'm way into natural rock borders. I've stolen rocks from all over Texas!

EleanorsMine

I am not a vodka kinda girl. I like Tequila.

This is the lovely red mud. Before they finished the houses behind me.

You can absolutely work with it- It just takes patience and lotsa topsoil.

You know I am sick when there is not a cloud in the sky and its in the 60s and I chose to stay in and nap.

GottaHaveIt

must be an old picture ? I thought yr home was done ? or is this the sky you had today ? I felt the same all day as well Migrain just to top it all.

EleanorsMine

That picture was from August.And its my crappy backyard where the dirt is too packed to do ANYTHING with. I just threw down grass seeds where the sod ends and said screw it.

65205

Shoulder/neck pain was leading to migraine. 2 Fiorinol and my trip to beach helped a lot. Neighbor swears by salt air for a headache. I hope you're feeling better, migraines can be a b****.

GottaHaveIt

I could go stick my head in the Ocean and take a BIG SWIG awh them little fish need to eat to. Much better thanks son had after school science came hame and blew stuff up baking powder/vinigar he's in grade four.

EleanorsMine

My plants are confused.......With this strange weather they came out of hiding.

I hate when its a sunny day and you go outside expecting warm and get hit with a blast of cold air.

I was all churched up in short sleeves till I went outside today.

And I am fricken freezing, but that could just be the fever talking.

Homemade weed killer
Use a funnel to place the following ingredients in a medium spray bottle approximately the size of a quart, but it doesn't have to be exact:

1 cup of vinegar
1/2 cup of regular dish soap (not dishwasher detergent)
Fill the rest of the bottle up with water.

Shake well before each use. Spray mixture directly on the weed itself; if weed is out in the yard, be careful not to spray the grass! The
vinegar is what kills the weeds, but the dish soap holds the vinegar in place so it stays on the plant instead of running off. This works great on grass or weeds in sidewalk or driveway cracks, too. Best time to spray is in the middle of the day when the sun is beating down on you.
killer

65205

Thanks, April! Sounds cheaper than round up.

I remember those days, Ed- Christofer had a volcano in second grade-it was cool!

Weather really is funny-yesterday I picked bell peppers from the garden, today it was fresh poblanos. Never have my chile peppers been alive in late Jan. At the bird sanctuary today the lantana was in full bloom and some Mexican petunia was blooming along with the Turks Cap. Just not the norm.

EleanorsMine

I am trying very hard not to put anything I will regret in the ground- the annuals are out in the stores. I know they will get killed when it gets cold again.

Its supposed to rain all weekend here- fortunately I have nothing planned.


I came to the realization, even though I love my Bday, I despise January.

65205

I used to buy veggies early, plant them and then had to build windscreens and fuss over them all of the time. With age came wisdom or laziness and now I wait until mid March for most plantings. I try very hard to stay away from garden centers though, I am weak and could easily find myself buying a few of everything. I can't look and not buy,I'm just too compulsive!

EleanorsMine

Last Friday I went to the nursery to buy a texas rose.
I came home with a pear, crabapple, wisteria, texas rose, wild honeysuckle, 3 banana trees, two cannas, and about 25 perrenials(black eyed susans, whirling butterflies, Echinacea etc) And I stuck em in the ground with my 8 new roses bushes I got for my bday.

Fortunately those do well and you are sposed to plant them in January.


And its fricken cold outside. I walked the dog and if I had ***** they woulda frozen off before I got back inside.

And against my better judgement- while I am not feeling well I cranked the thermostat back up to 72. I will pay for that later!

65205

Don't know if I should pull up these 10 month old chiles and start to ammend the soil for March plantings, or leave the little critters in the ground and see just how long they will live. John's sister said she had some live 3 years. My luck is they will poop out in late May and it will be too hot to plant!

EleanorsMine

I have Kale.
I think its just for looks though?
My Daffodills are going up like crazy.
I hope my Lantana comes back, and my Hydrangea finally perks up. Those friggers are finicky.
My new garden is also interesting looking. Brian dug a trench around it, and it worked great to retain the mulch.
I am going to plant more trees- likely Japanese maples and bradford pears. I planted teeny little crepe myrtles last summer, and Confederate and Carolina Jasmine.

Today aside from having dizzy medicine head actually turned out okay weatherwise. I didn't get out to enjoy it because I am nursing the ole head cold.

65205

I don't know about all varieties of kale, but I've seen it on trays as garnish and I've heard of it being eaten. Stick to your mom's collards, I'd hate for you to get sick!Last spring I planted a reddish lantana just in front of my red tip photinias. They didn't grow much, but are alive.I'm hoping they will cover the "legginess" of the lower red tips. I love crepe myrtles and have some like trees and some that weep. They come up from seed and transplant well. We put Confederate jasmine in a couple of beds between the drive and porch where nothing would grow. It filled in nicely but is hard to keep off of the house! You can't go wrong planting trees. We have about 21 now. Neighbor thinks I'm crazy- I told him I look forward to the day I'm deciding which one to cut down first! Actually, John cut down the 2 hybrid poplars. They leafed out really late and lost their leaves early. They looked dead half the year! Hope your cold is better soon.

EleanorsMine

My kale is for border decor. Wouldn't eat it.

I am going to have a full time job with the Wisteria. It grows like a foot a day.

The Jasmine I got to cover my entry way. One trailing up each column now.

[attachmentid=43775]
I planted Josephs Coat Roses, bouganvilla and Clematis to cover the garage wall- it pokes out from the house and is boring. I also planted Crepe Myrtle in front of each column. [attachmentid=43776]

I had boxwoods that came with the house, but I ripped out all but 3 of em. Hate em.

And I am growing a Chinese Lantern in my house. Its 12 feet tall and blooms every day. I got it as a bare root.

65205

Not familiar with Chinese Lantern or Josephs Coat rose, will have to keep an eye out. Had Bouganvilla, but all 3 died. I think John may have murdered them! He hates anything with thorns or stickers! The pics you have been posting all look great-I wouldn't want anyone to see our yard for another 6 weeks or so! Lady who oversees a bird sanctuary down here has given me permission to take some cuttings from a Giant Turk's Cap. I think I'll try my luck with it this spring. What I bought last year was not the Turk's Cap I had intended. It grew and bloomed, but it was not what I thought it would be. Can't wait for Spring! Noticed gas prices changed to plants-sorry, my house is all electric! Bill did go way up though!

Kluski

Speaking of weird weather. The other day it snowed. While it was snowing, there was Thunder and Lightning. How weird is that?!?!

EleanorsMine

I saw a snow-der storm last March At my Mother IN Laws. Serious snow. Yuck. Eleanor hated it. So did I.

Brian said it was 9 degrees in PA this morning. Skroooooooo that. This is why I moved my yankee south.

Flowering Maple(chinese lantern)

Josephs Coat Rose

I think my bouganvilla may be dead too. :scratch: Don't know jack about em.

65205

That Chinese Lantern is cool-don't think I've ever seen one. Now I understand the roses' name-like the coat-different colors, but again, I don't think I've seen one. Post pics when everything is at it's best-would love to see it all. Of course they might just kick our tails off of here and to some nature site!