sd white/non-white midwestern thread topic of the day (garden)

[MeatSauce]

If you want some pro-tips, I would gladly give you some. I am guessing your bro has probably given you some already. The first thing you need to know is that the hibiscus tree should be watered every day once the weather warms up. You should have used a bigger pot. For several years I had hibiscus trees in some large 3 ft tall pots. They are a cool plant, but in the heat of summer they drink lots of water. I run drip irrigation to all of my plants so I don't have to mess with watering anything. I leave for a week, come home and everything still looks awesome.

I'm definitely going to repot the hibiscus, had already used all my large pots when my brother dropped it off.

What did you do with it during the winter? I just plan on moving it next to a window in the garage.

hummingbirds love hibiscus plants 
dobber gave good advice.  they basically require damp soil to flourish. winterize in garage, and be on the lookout for aphids.  ben ji lil bro brought you a nice haul, aside from the petunias. P U

[slobber]

If you want some pro-tips, I would gladly give you some. I am guessing your bro has probably given you some already. The first thing you need to know is that the hibiscus tree should be watered every day once the weather warms up. You should have used a bigger pot. For several years I had hibiscus trees in some large 3 ft tall pots. They are a cool plant, but in the heat of summer they drink lots of water. I run drip irrigation to all of my plants so I don't have to mess with watering anything. I leave for a week, come home and everything still looks awesome.

I'm definitely going to repot the hibiscus, had already used all my large pots when my brother dropped it off.

What did you do with it during the winter? I just plan on moving it next to a window in the garage.

I have overwintered them in the garage a couple of years. Don't leave the garage door open. Even if they drop most of their leaves, they will come back in the spring. It kind of became a pain in the ass, so I just started tossing them in the fall and then bought new ones for $20 in the spring. You can usually find the trees on sale somewhere for about that much. The sd approach was much easier.

[CNS]

Hibiscus pro here guys.  I always use a large pot and had one I kept alive for several years by bringing inside and setting in front of a window.  Kept it watered and fed and it would bloom pretty much yr round.

Also, they do love their water, as Dobbs pointed out, but they are also resilient in that if you do leave for a week and don't have Dobbs kick ass irrigation set up, they will look super shitty.  However, you can just water them well for the next week and they will be right back to looking like nothing bad ever happened to them.

Lately, we have stopped bringing them in during the winter.  A couple years ago, we didn't just bring in the plant, we brought in a bunch of ants that decided during the summer the pot was a cozy place to make a super-planet-earth-destroying-sized-monster-nest that took a strong Schendel effort to get rid of. 

I really like Hibiscus and have been getting Hula Girl Hibiscus the last several times we buy them. 

[Frankenklein]

 So,all your gardens die already or what? 

[ben ji]

So,all your gardens die already or what?

Thanks for asking frank! Actually repotted my hibiscus tree last week.



Planted some more stuf along the fenceline



Planted stuff bordering the house as well!



Then my brother dropped off even more!

[Pete]

Ben Ji is a reincarnation of my dead Grandpa.  Fishing and gardening.  Wow.  HI PAPA! 

[mocat]

that, and letting his siding go too long, and you have a grandpa trifecta!

[CNS]

Ben ji, please have your bro/friend/randorelative/whatevs steel you some grass seed and golf course fertilizer next trip. 

Otherwise, it looks fantastic! 

[ben ji]

Ben ji, please have your bro/friend/randorelative/whatevs steel you some grass seed and golf course fertilizer next trip. 

Otherwise, it looks fantastic! 

Yup, getting a border around the flower beds(Stone of some sort) and fixing the lawn are up next. Will see how the lawn looks in a couple of weeks but I may just till up half the backyard and plant new grass.

[ben ji]

Kinda thinking I might get a rain barrel at some point this summer depending on how high my water bill gets.

Anyone have one?

http://www.amazon.com/Fiskars-5998-Gallon-Barrel-DiverterPro/dp/B003NURRZA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1369314637&sr=8-1&keywords=fiskar+rain+barrel

[raquetcat]

Kinda thinking I might get a rain barrel at some point this summer depending on how high my water bill gets.

Anyone have one?

http://www.amazon.com/Fiskars-5998-Gallon-Barrel-DiverterPro/dp/B003NURRZA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1369314637&sr=8-1&keywords=fiskar+rain+barrel

don't water your grass (not sure if you planned to or not) it will go dormant and come back in the fall, but all those plants you have might take some serious watering (plus I think dogs need water to survive)

[Frankenklein]

So,all your gardens die already or what?

Thanks for asking frank! Actually repotted my hibiscus tree last week.



Planted some more stuf along the fenceline



Planted stuff bordering the house as well!



Then my brother dropped off even more!

Looks good,been munchin on fresh asparagus,spinach and radishes while gearing up for the Memorial Weekend Flathead slaughter

[Frankenklein]

Kinda thinking I might get a rain barrel at some point this summer depending on how high my water bill gets.

Anyone have one?

http://www.amazon.com/Fiskars-5998-Gallon-Barrel-DiverterPro/dp/B003NURRZA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1369314637&sr=8-1&keywords=fiskar+rain+barrel

Better check out the local rainwater harvesting regulations
   http://www.ncsl.org/issues-research/env-res/rainwater-harvesting.aspx

[ben ji]

Guize, I have a flower problem...Like my brother will just drop stuff off and I'm running out of places to plant everything. In the past couple of weeks I planted some perrenials and annuals along a non street side of my house and put some in the corner of my back yard.

My brother has about 10 flats of this type flower that he wanted to shape as a powercat and plant in my front lawn....I nixed that Idea. 



Currently working on making/buying some window flower boxes, hope to have them planted and mounted over the weekend.

[slobber]

Guize, I have a flower problem...Like my brother will just drop stuff off and I'm running out of places to plant everything. In the past couple of weeks I planted some perrenials and annuals along a non street side of my house and put some in the corner of my back yard.

My brother has about 10 flats of this type flower that he wanted to shape as a powercat and plant in my front lawn....I nixed that Idea. 



Currently working on making/buying some window flower boxes, hope to have them planted and mounted over the weekend.

Should have gone with the powercat with green grass in the voids. I would have been super jealy.

[Frankenklein]

Guize, I have a flower problem...Like my brother will just drop stuff off and I'm running out of places to plant everything. In the past couple of weeks I planted some perrenials and annuals along a non street side of my house and put some in the corner of my back yard.

My brother has about 10 flats of this type flower that he wanted to shape as a powercat and plant in my front lawn....I nixed that Idea. 



Currently working on making/buying some window flower boxes, hope to have them planted and mounted over the weekend.

Most the greenhouses are pretty much out of spring flower stuff so you can kick the flower problem but if he starts bringing over  shrubs and stuff you might need to seek help

[ben ji]

So about a week ago I saw 2 mice running around in my garden and VOWED I would eliminate this pest problem before they reached inside my house.

I saw 1 mouse run into a hole right underneath some panzy's and decided to wreck havoc on his life by flooding the crap out of his little home. Stuck a hose down there and cranked the water to full blast for about 10 minutes, really showed him who is boss.

I also bought a 4pack of mousetraps and have been DOING WORK on my mouse population. Originally I was putting cheese on the trap because thats what cartoons have taught me to do, unfortunatley mice are really good at getting cheese off without triggering the trap so I switched to peanut butter. Have crushed the spines of THREE different mice after switching to Peanut butter.

I even ended up in hand to hand combat with 1 mouse chasing it around my shed with a shovel but the focker got away...Cant wait till his lil smart ass gets hungry and decides to have some peanut butter with a nice side of COLD STEEL.

[ben ji]

Side note-

While searching for evidence of mice I found a decent sized garter snake in a brush pile behind my shed. Decided to let him live so he can help me out.

[Tobias]

[CNS]

I could rid all of KC of mice with one chunk of milkyway bar and one mouse trap in one weekend. 

Seriously.  They can't resist it.  You can kill all day on one chunk and shake the mice off and just put the trap back without switching out the chunk.

[CNS]

Maybe that should be in the studd boss thing thread?

[sys]

what species of mouse, ben ji?


if they are outside, not in your house, why do you want to kill them?

[ben ji]

I could rid all of KC of mice with one chunk of milkyway bar and one mouse trap in one weekend. 

Seriously.  They can't resist it.  You can kill all day on one chunk and shake the mice off and just put the trap back without switching out the chunk.

Definitely going to try this out as the peanut butter gets stolen about half the time.

[ben ji]

what species of mouse, ben ji?


if they are outside, not in your house, why do you want to kill them?

Just your generic field mouse. Looked like this




I bought my gpa's house and it had mice living in the basement when he was all old and stuff, want to kill them all before they try and recolonize the basement.

[CNS]

I could rid all of KC of mice with one chunk of milkyway bar and one mouse trap in one weekend. 

Seriously.  They can't resist it.  You can kill all day on one chunk and shake the mice off and just put the trap back without switching out the chunk.

Definitely going to try this out as the peanut butter gets stolen about half the time.

Caramel!!!