Gardening, landscaping and yard work

[ajblakejr]

Working in the yard is becoming my passion.
My containers are my babies and when I was out of town, I paid the neighbor's daughter to tend to my children.
This year, I dumped three good AMES hose reels for 2 Yard Butler reels inside my PZ (powerzone).

Our yard is a work in progress and I don't think it will ever be finished.
Keeping this in mind, I have four rooms / patios and two display areas. Two designated walkways.
I now have a plant hospital and a potting bench.

Sunday is water soluble feeding day for plants and Mike's Hard Strawberry Lemonade for AJ.

What is it about yard work that causes a love hate relationship with our yards?

 

[Catatonic]

• Gardening, landscaping and yard work ... and don't forget snakes!
  
  ​and ticks this year.

 

[ajblakejr]

• Gardening, landscaping and yard work ... and don't forget snakes!
  
  ​and ticks this year.

No snakes here. On occasion a large snapping turtle will venture from the creek and wander into my yard.
I have one chippy, one bunny, a pack of squerriels, two oriole couples, two bad male cardinals that go at each other, a baby hawk, a blue jay clown ...

 

[serenity now]

Working in the yard is becoming my passion.
My containers are my babies and when I was out of town, I paid the neighbor's daughter to tend to my children.
This year, I dumped three good AMES hose reels for 2 Yard Butler reels inside my PZ (powerzone).

Our yard is a work in progress and I don't think it will ever be finished.
Keeping this in mind, I have four rooms / patios and two display areas. Two designated walkways.
I now have a plant hospital and a potting bench.

Sunday is water soluble feeding day for plants and Mike's Hard Strawberry Lemonade for AJ.

What is it about yard work that causes a love hate relationship with our yards?

dirt therapy on the front end / tremendous aesthetic payoff on the backside / enjoy that lemonade

 

[BSWALKS]

I love it, just not enough time to do all the things I want to do. Next big project, I want to rebuild back deck, with built in planters & seating. Stairs to a new brick paver patio & MAYBE, an outdoor kitchen

 

[moreluck]

I saw Yard Crashers yesterday and they did a compass in pavers and the stones were on netting....like the tiles in a kitchen backsplash. They made it look easy.

 

[Brownslave688]

I saw Yard Crashers yesterday and they did a compass in pavers and the stones were on netting....like the tiles in a kitchen backsplash. They made it look easy.

It really is pretty easy. I did landscaping the whole time I was a part timer. It's really all about visualizing a pattern. Most paver patterns just repeat every 8 blocks or so.

 

[cachsux]

That's the wife's hobbies. I'd have green painted asphalt if I had my druthers.

 

[oldngray]

A guy yard is a field of grass that you can zip over on a riding mower while drinking a beer. Then wives get the bushes and flower gardens planted so you spend more time trimming and weeding than mowing.

 

[brownmonster]

A guy yard is a field of grass that you can zip over on a riding mower while drinking a beer. Then wives get the bushes and flower gardens planted so you spend more time trimming and weeding than mowing.

I like my yard and my wife neatly trimmed.

 

[soberups]

It is a proven fact that all time spent in your garden does not count towards your total lifespan.

 

[soberups]

This year I threw together some 3'x3' planter boxes out of used cedar fence boards I had lying around, and my wife and I spent about $100 on bags of fresh potting soil and some plants. We planted bell peppers, 3 different kinds of cucumbers, some snap peas, and basil. We have already learned a few things; cucumbers will overwhelm anything they share a box with, 3 plants was too many, and 1 pea plant wasnt enough. Oh well, its fun and we have a bumper crop of cukes already. We also do 6 tomato plants every year in pots, and they are doing very well this year. I set up a soaker hose with a snap coupling on it so watering consists of unreeling a hose, snapping it to the soaker, and turning the water on for an hour or two. A shot of Miracle Gro every couple of weeks, and the work is done.

 

[soberups]

I dont mind working on a vegetable garden, but when it comes to lawn mowing and landscaping we pay a service to come do it. Springtimes here in the Pacific NW are wet, and during April and May you literally have to mow twice a week to keep up. Otherwise, you are faced with soaking wet, knee-high grass that will bog down even the most powerful mower. I think we pay about $75 a month to have a guy with a high-powered dual bag riding mower come take care of it. He also edges and fertilizes. We dont water our lawn in the summer though; we just let it go dormant and it comes back just fine in October when the rains come back again.

 

[pretender]

dirt therapy on the front end / tremendous aesthetic payoff on the backside / enjoy that lemonade

That pretty much sums it up. The best part of retirement is being able to spend several hours a day in my yard.

 

[Brownslave688]

This year I threw together some 3'x3' planter boxes out of used cedar fence boards I had lying around, and my wife and I spent about $100 on bags of fresh potting soil and some plants. We planted bell peppers, 3 different kinds of cucumbers, some snap peas, and basil. We have already learned a few things; cucumbers will overwhelm anything they share a box with, 3 plants was too many, and 1 pea plant wasnt enough. Oh well, its fun and we have a bumper crop of cukes already. We also do 6 tomato plants every year in pots, and they are doing very well this year. I set up a soaker hose with a snap coupling on it so watering consists of unreeling a hose, snapping it to the soaker, and turning the water on for an hour or two. A shot of Miracle Gro every couple of weeks, and the work is done.

I set up a trellis with cattle fence stakes and some twine for the cucumbers to grow up. It makes them easier to pick. Keeps them from taking over and keeps the cucumbers a nice uniform shape for the most part.

 

[oldngray]

That pretty much sums it up. The best part of retirement is being able to spend several hours a day in my yard.

Its awesome to finally have enough time to really take care of my yard instead of just doing the bare minimum.

 

[texan]

It is a proven fact that all time spent in your garden does not count towards your total lifespan.

To those that believe, or to those that doubt, is it not something to ponder that the opening scene
of the record of man is in a garden?

Genesis 2:15 "garden of Eden to cultivate and care for it".

 

[gman042]

Landscaping.....4 years ago we did a really nice pondless rock water feature in our backyard. I really liked the way it turned out for my first attempt.
Wife was convince that it had a leak as we were adding water to it all the time. I told her it was evaporation. She said tear it apart and find the leak. Tore it apart and found no leak....or even an indication there was a leak.
Well....here it is 4 years later and finally got it all back together. Some things I like over the first version. The one thing I don't like....it leaks.

 

[BSWALKS]

Landscaping.....4 years ago we did a really nice pondless rock water feature in our backyard. I really liked the way it turned out for my first attempt.
Wife was convince that it had a leak as we were adding water to it all the time. I told her it was evaporation. She said tear it apart and find the leak. Tore it apart and found no leak....or even an indication there was a leak.
Well....here it is 4 years later and finally got it all back together. Some things I like over the first version. The one thing I don't like....it leaks.

Got any pix?
Did you buy a kit or buy the parts individually?
How much water are you losing?

 

[quamba 638]

Working in the yard is becoming my passion.
My containers are my babies and when I was out of town, I paid the neighbor's daughter to tend to my children.
This year, I dumped three good AMES hose reels for 2 Yard Butler reels inside my PZ (powerzone).

Our yard is a work in progress and I don't think it will ever be finished.
Keeping this in mind, I have four rooms / patios and two display areas. Two designated walkways.
I now have a plant hospital and a potting bench.

Sunday is water soluble feeding day for plants and Mike's Hard Strawberry Lemonade for AJ.

What is it about yard work that causes a love hate relationship with our yards?

I just bought a Ames "never leak" hose reel, it lasted two uses until the connector cracked. I guess they're mailing me a replacement for free though.
The "love/hate" thing is this: it's relaxing and enjoyable but never ending.
I have a few composters too, ones a two chamber bin I made last year and the other is a barrel. The barrel is for sure in the power zone. Haha