Thanks Clay, Timex, abrandt and strummer for the advice!
Yeah, I think we need a layer of something solid under the mulch. That makes a lot of sense, be it fabric or cardboard or whatever. I’m going to try that.
Thanks, that’s hopeful and it makes all kinds of sense. I think I at least have a few new strategies here, and a reason to think that in future years it won’t be quite as Sisyphean as it is right now.
I like the coffee bags because they are biodegradable but still last a year or two. Plus, the roasters usually just give them away. I recommend against any fabric that contains plastic because it’s a chore to remove. Here’s a photo of some coffee bean bags I just picked up (flip flop for size reference):
Coolness ! And good luck with the expo Nightgaunt …. I got my first Bonsai and am trying to keep it going for a year a day at a time (Juniper mound).
Those look like they’d work great but I’m not really aware of anywhere around here I could get them. The cautionary note on plastic is well taken. Honestly, cardboard might be easiest in my case, we just moved so we’re not short of boxes.
Cardboard is, in general, quite easy to use for this purpose. Also, I would think that burlap would let things grow through it, but I admit I’ve never tried Clay’s approach.
I just have experience with my worm bin, where I often use a burlap sack to cover the top, under the lid, and sometimes seeds in garbage will sprout up and grow through the burlap, so that makes me think that weeds would do the same thing in a garden?
Good luck! Junipers have been pretty finicky for me, which surprised me because they’re such common subjects. I killed a couple good ones. I think a lot of it was the soil I was using that led to overwatering, so watch out for that. Another was bad winter management.
Also, I don’t know if you’ve done any wiring, but I just learned from my juniper cascade that sometimes if you wire and manipulate a juniper branch too much it can harm or kill that branch. At least, that’s my best explanation right now for why a half of my tree is healthy, half has started yellowing, and a few of the latter branches just dried up and broke off entirely!
If you run into any questions, definitely post here and @nKoan can share his expertise and I can take vaguely informed guesses! :)
I actually don’t do much with junipers myself. Just a few small ones. Happy to share any info I’ve got. Junipers can be finicky on when to work on them. IIRC spring is bad for styling with heavy bends because the branches will die easily due to high water movement during that time. Otherwise they are pretty strong and forgiving.
They certainly can. I usually put down 2-3 layers of them with mulch (or whatever) on top. They’re a good mulch alternative around new trees, too.
Should I be getting some new mulch while I’m at it? They didn’t really give us any spare. Some of the shrubs are already in danger of their lower parts being “submerged” though, so I don’t really want to get the level higher…
Mulch really is only a temporary stopgap. Seeds from weeds likely are present in the soil under it, so replacing the mulch might only provide a few weeks without weeds. The reality is that there are going to be weeds, regardless of what you do. Maybe just fill a spray bottle with vinegar and hit them when you see them sprouting or pull them out.
Also, if you really want a weed to stop growing anywhere, the best possible course of action is to attempt to cultivate the weeds, and intentionally get them to grow in that location. Then they will all die.
That sounds like my grass.
Exactly. You want grass to grow on your lawn? Try to kill the grass
This is the truth. Trying to propagate more of my alpine strawberries in their designated pot? Nope, can’t get them to sprout at all. Volunteer in the fucking gravel between patio stones? No problem!
Grass in the yard is struggling mightily in the heat despite sprinklers and having access to spring fertilizer. Lawn grass that self seeded out in the fucking sandy waste(home to hyper invasive spotted knapweed that is literally trying to poison all other plants to death) behind our lot? Doing awesome, just happy as can be out there.
Yea though I walk through the shadow of the valley of death …,
It’s something weird, I suspect the hawk is sick or injured. Other hawks have been dropping by, and even another rabbit was on the scene!
What kind of hawk is that?
I think a smallish redtail, I’ve seen others around the area.
Was out checking on the garden and found an adult Squash Vine Borer buzzing around my summer squash. Gah! I’ve followed the various online tips(plus the one from my mother) about wrapping the stems to try to prevent them, but I unwrapped the stems and found eggs on 4 of the 5 plants. Manually removed what I could find but clearly more action is needed. Tomorrow I’ll go on a quest to see if I can find a BT(Bacillus thuringiensis) solution to start injections. Was really depressing to lose all of our plants last year so I’m going all out to stop the murder caterpillars this year.
