The Backyard: Gardeners, Assemble!

Ok, like I said, Midwest bias. Good dirt should be nearly black and clumpy.

Lilacs make a nice hedge.

edited 31st Aug '12 8:01:59 PM by Madrugada

We were thinking cherry trees actually.

Anyhow, my mother's agave plant suddenly decided to flower. It has not done this since she purchased it several years ago. That stalk is over seven feet long, for the record.

Be prepared for passersby to attempt picking fruit without asking.

They already just walk through my yard and throw their trash around. I'll take unauthorized fruit-picking if the hedge keeps them off my property.

It won't. They'll push through it to pick the fruit they can't reach from the outside. If you want a barrier that will keep people out for sure, you want wait-a-bit. Pity it's a predominantly desert plant.

edited 31st Aug '12 9:21:40 PM by Madrugada

Ooo. Maybe I should go with Devil's club instead. It grows around here.

EDIT: Awww...nevermind, it's all hard to grow and stuff. I could just go with blackberries, but I'd rather not have to fight them for control of my yard 12 months out of the year.

edited 31st Aug '12 9:38:12 PM by drunkscriblerian

Barberry and holly both make nice prickly hedges that keep people out. I don't know if you could make a hedge out of hardy orange, but that would be prickly too. Or if you have sun, go for some of the old-fashioned roses, pick several tough and thorny ones for a variety. Not all are thorny; I'm thinking rugosas, good for rose hips too. If you know someone who has some, I think they root easily too, and grow quickly.

I haven't gardened in a couple years. Went and hacked down the overgrowth around some hazels I planted years ago, they've gotten big and if the squirrels get all the nuts our raptors and coyotes are going to be well fed. Next project is to go find the apple trees.

@Maddy: The hedge is mostly for privacy, though I'm thinking about getting in over my head and attempting to planch it for security. I looked, it can be done with cherry.

Ok, what's "Planching a hedge"? Google is being no help at all.

I may have misspelled. ^^;

I'm talking about this.

edited 1st Sep '12 12:01:17 AM by DrunkGirlfriend

Oooooooh. Neat. A Belgian fence◊ would be spiff.

Yup. I'm thinking of doing something similar.

Dooooooooooooo Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeet!

Heh. Fine for me to talk. I won't be the one out there with pruning shears and twisties doing the work. I haven't even weeded my iris bed this year. But I will, once it stops raining sometime tomorrow.

edited 1st Sep '12 9:24:05 AM by Madrugada

Or, y'know, I could go work on it in the drizzle. The slow, constant rain Isaac's cloud shadow has brought us since sometime last night is exactly what we've desperately needed. I just cleared all the big weeds out of a stretch of iris bed about 25 feet long and 2 feet wide in just under 15 minutes. They're sliding out of the ground like they're greased. The milkweed is the only thing that's resisting. I've got about 35 feet to go. I'll finish it up after lunch.

edited 1st Sep '12 10:32:55 AM by Madrugada

Tearing up the yard, day two.

We got most of the sod removed and my parking strip cleared/leveled. I have a sunburn and a sore back...not to mention a yard that now resembles a moonscape. There's still sod to remove, but my dad left the tractor, the keys and a full tank of diesel. >:)

I also have two truckloads of sod that I must find a home for. My dad knows a guy who might be willing to haul it away.

Next... we rake out the remaining roots and turf, level it with the tractor and kill any weeds that appear until the rainy season. Then its seed time.

So you're switching to something besides Saint Augustine?

We didn't have Saint Augustine to begin with. Our old lawn was an eclectic mix of various wild grasses, hawkweed, dandelion, ribwort, and moss.

edited 1st Sep '12 8:51:42 PM by DrunkGirlfriend

Basically, it wasn't a lawn; it was a field that city ordinances forced me to keep trimmed.

They only sold Rye and Bermuda grass when I worked at the Depot, planning to use one of those? I heard Rye was especially rugged.

Why aim for a lawn? Grass is neither useful nor pretty. It's like the shag carpet of the plant world.

It's easy to take care of for the time being. I plan on putting in a chicken coop and a subsistence garden...but that requires that I build a fence to keep the bastards out, and that in turn requires money I don't have.

Once the fence goes in, Castle Geekhaven becomes self-serving.

If you're planning on chickens, consider clover ([[1, 2, 3). Upsides: It's incredibly hardy. It resists invasive plants quite well. It's self-limiting in height — you'll rarely have to mow. It gets purty flowers. Downside: you'll have bees hanging around.

edited 1st Sep '12 9:38:06 PM by Madrugada

Dig a trench slightly too wide to jump over in a single bound. Plant thorny vines/bushes on the inside edge of the trench. Cover the top with a strip of grass. Would-be thieves trip into it, cannot climb into your garden without shredding fingers.

You know, that might be more expensive and probably illegal, but it would certainly be more satisfying.

Yes, that's illegal. Doesn't mean I don't suddenly want to do it, but I probably shouldn't.

You should not make such suggestions to me when I've got a tractor parked on my property.