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August 2009 Blog Posts (112)

Autumn

Getting our yard and garden ready for the Fall Season. Hate to see all the flowers fading but hopefully
another year will bring even better. Have greens in the garden and some onions so look forward to harvesting
them. Love this time of year and it is cooling down some now, just hope we don't go from Summer to Winter.
The squirrels are running around, seeing a lot of red birds so guess they are getting ready too.

Added by Carolyn on August 31, 2009 at 9:36am — 1 Comment

We're making progress!

I went to the library today and nearly broke my back carrying home all of the gardening books I could. =) I got Mel's book and video as a must have! I watched the video first thing when I got back home and set to work on finding my wood for the boxes. I've decided to do 4x4 and I might end up with three of them (one for veggies, fruit and herbs...maybe nuts too). In the book Mel downplays canning and preserving, but that's my goal so Imma have to get another book for that.

I was… Continue

Added by Violet (Zone 10) on August 30, 2009 at 5:10pm — 2 Comments

Under construction...will post soon!

In the garden

Added by Susie on August 30, 2009 at 1:07pm — No Comments

Just beginning

Okay, I'm a total newbie to gardening so I'll be devouring all the info in these groups and on the boards.

My first order of business is to try to figure out what exactly to plant in my square foot garden and how to keep pests (rabbits, cats, dogs, aside from insects) out. I need to learn about rotation of crops and stuff like that.

I'm going to try to use a 4x4 grid with mostly veggies. I've already got some references on where I can buy seeds. I'm hoping to boost my… Continue

Added by Violet (Zone 10) on August 30, 2009 at 9:55am — 2 Comments

Fall Fever

I feel it in my bones. Fall is approaching. And around here in TX, we are all waiting for a relief in the weather. It has been the most horrid drought this year and much of our land has been devistated. Our yards are like dust bowls. Those who manage to keep their yards green were paying exhorbant bills and spending lots of time outdoors watering. You could only hand water your yard.

Here I was just trying to keep things alive with watering once a day and using collected water from… Continue

Added by Patricia Valdez on August 30, 2009 at 8:47am — No Comments

Black Spot... Oh No!!!!

OK, no here's MY problem!!!! I have, let's see.... 1,2,3,4...5.... about 10 rose bushes growing in various areas around my house/back & front yards...

I was watering the other day and noticed.... oh boy.... the dreaded 'black spot' fungus on my rose bushes, and a white powdery 'ick' on my Magnolia... Actually, there's one out of three Magnolias that also has this orange bumpy 'stuff' on the leaves as well as the white powder.

Now, I ran inside and Google'd the… Continue

Added by liz joseph on August 29, 2009 at 8:04pm — 4 Comments

Japanese Maple: Help For a Friend...

Hi everybody!

My friend, Gary, is over and we were talking plants. He has a Japanese Maple that's fairly small... He says it's not doing so well... The leaves are already falling off and it just looks 'sickly'... I know that's not a great description, but when he told me about it, and that he's not sure what's wrong or what to do about it... I couldn't wait to tell him about my friends on www.gardenersindex.com. I told him that I could post this question and have an answer for him… Continue

Added by liz joseph on August 29, 2009 at 7:53pm — No Comments

A little gardening friend was visiting my flowers

I was tending my flower beds when I spied some movement on a batch of Black Eyed Susan blooms. A small praying mantis was looking for lunch among the flowers! It saw me at the same time and really gave me the stare down. It was a brave little insect that held it's ground and didn't move away from someone much larger that itself.

The praying mantis was introduced in the southeastern US in the late 1800's for pest control. They are… Continue

Added by Sue Anderson on August 29, 2009 at 1:51pm — No Comments

Lots of changes...

I'm having my coffee and visiting everyone's beautiful garden's! It's going to be cool here for the next several days and I'm going to take advantage of the weather to do some projects I've been putting off. The problem is... they are indoor projects. I'm painting the kitchen and bathroom. Time to spruce up the inside and prepare for all the indoor time coming up.

I'm off work next week and taking a "staycation" to work on the yard, house, maybe a few books and definitely a few naps… Continue

Added by Audra Mabrey - Z5/IN on August 29, 2009 at 7:06am — No Comments

What a girl wants...

I bought a small house with pretty traditional landscaping with the added plus of established fruit trees. The back is tiered, with access to the upper tier only by scaling a 5 ft retaining wall. On the upper tier are grapevines. In the main yard are cherry trees, an apple tree and strawberries. In the front yard is a peach tree and a lemon tree in a container.

My goal over the next 5-7 years is to make the following improvements - get color in the front yard throughout the year.… Continue

Added by Sandy Pfeiffer on August 28, 2009 at 10:16pm — No Comments

GOLDEN RULES FOR LIVING!!

1. If you open it, close it.

2. If you turn it on , turn it off.

3. If you unlock it, lock it up.

4. If you break it, admit it.

5. If you can't fix it, call in someone who can.

6. If you borrow it, return it.

7. If you value it, take care of it.

8. If you move it, put it back.

9. If you make a mess, clean it up.

10. If it belongs to someone else, get permission to use it.

11. If you don't know how to operate it, leave it alone.

12. IF IT'S… Continue

Added by JANE BELL Z4/5 IA on August 28, 2009 at 1:50pm — 1 Comment

Why I Love to Be in the Garden!

I may never have learned to love to garden if not for the influence of my grandparents. They spent all their waking hours outside, only going indoors for meals. My grandfather was a plasterer/cement mason by trade and had always worked in construction. He built their home in addition to others for his family members. He was also an avid rockhound and created jewelry from his finds in the desert. My grandmother was a homemaker all her life and a darn good one too. Together they were an inspiring… Continue

Added by Sue Anderson on August 28, 2009 at 9:25am — 4 Comments

Alright RAIN!!!

It has been months since we have seen a downpour here in San Antonio, TX. Many trees have died along our highways and yards. It is really been the longest drought ever or so it seems. Over 50 days of 3 digit weather. But Praise God he has sent us rain.

I have a rain barrel and it is full. I am so excited. The plants and animals are all too. Everyone is happy this morning; bird, bees and scampering squirrels. It is a refreshing smell in this dry area.

Hopefully we will get… Continue

Added by Patricia Valdez on August 28, 2009 at 9:21am — 1 Comment

Ok, Not Gardening But I Had to Share My New Granddaughter!

I am a new grandmother and had to share a coupe of photos! Her name is Ashlin Victoria, she weighed 5lb 7oz born Aug 10th. Not sure if I'm ready to be called gramma yet??? Oh, alright....call me granny, guess I've earned… Continue

Added by Dana Anderson on August 27, 2009 at 11:30pm — 1 Comment

From My Garden To Yours

garden blog

Added by Susie on August 27, 2009 at 10:09pm — No Comments

An Introduction

My name is Lana and I live in the Inland Empire (eastern Washington state). I never planned to be a gardener. It sort of happened upon me, because I watch birds. I started watching birds in 2006. Birds like trees and shrubs, so I've gone from 10 to more than 110 in the last few years. And it never seems to end. :) Now, I want to create bird specific gardens. I have almost an acre, so there's lots of room to play with that. Next spring, I plan on planting a bird seed garden complete with millet,… Continue

Added by Lana MacKay on August 27, 2009 at 9:30pm — 3 Comments

Shutterfly photobooks

Click here to view this photo book larger

I just completed an 8x8 hardcover photobook of my garden photos using Shutterfly.com. I like their quality and it is easy to use. I have used other on-line photo websites to make photobooks and the quality was not as good. There are many options for layouts, backgrounds & edges and… Continue

Added by Gail Freiherr Zn 7 TN on August 27, 2009 at 8:14pm — 1 Comment

Been unseasonally cooler

This time of the year schools are usually getting out early because of the heat. It's been pretty decent around here lately. It's very early fall-like. Appreciate not having the stifling heat that is typical for late August. My allergies haven't really kicked up that badly either. We inherited a new cat who has been hanging around alot this summer. After careful monitoring of the situation, we finally decided to take him under our wing. About $500 in equipment and vet fees later, our beautiful… Continue

Added by Sandy Day on August 27, 2009 at 8:04pm — No Comments

Grapevine

8 a.m. Gotta go take advantage of cooler weather. Must go work in the garden. Almost finished harvesting the grapes. It makes me sad to see the grapevine coming to an end. Many plants didn't survive this horrid heat but I'm ready to move on to fall gardening. YEAH!!!

Added by Patricia Valdez on August 27, 2009 at 8:06am — No Comments