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The Unc-tanical Gardens

unclefishstick

unclefishstick

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ICMag Donor
Veteran
and of course,more new cactus,planted a bonkers hedgehog out in the yard and a coryphanta (sp?) one of the local species,both prolific bloomers in season.plus a couple potted specimens.

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a couple of the cactus seedlings,slow growers....

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Biosynthesis

Biosynthesis

Member
Veteran
Lookin' great! The garden seems to like the rich calcium in the water. Does it give you any problems? I Pump directly from a creek which is high in Iron and notice spots on plants after the water evaporates as well. When the water in the creek is up the TDS increases. This runs me into problems when adding nutrients to the water so I rarely if ever do liquid feeds. Just pure soil amended with hard organics. Great picture show by the way wish my camera performed as well.
 
unclefishstick

unclefishstick

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not so far but i cant imagine in the long run its all that good,i know a lot of the plants love the extra calcium and im not likely to get blossom end rot on the maters...this fall or winter when i get around to reworking the beds i will just grab the handy rodale book and the local soil guides and figure out what i need to do...
 
unclefishstick

unclefishstick

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the flower garden is coming along aside from being massively overplanted that is,just as i expected theres been some that thrive and some that curled up and died when the heat came,have another series of 100+ degree days coming and the bed is on the south side so it gets absolutely cooked...going through almost 100 gallons of water keeping everything alive between the landscaping and veggies....all toted by hand 2 gallons at a time in a watering can as i still have no outside hose bibs that work...and all aerated at least overnight in 55 gallon barrels so theres the 20 trips from the tub to fill them from 5 gallon buckets....everything is heavily mulched with either composted bark mulch or rock,just installed a desert willow,an aleppo pine and a pomegranate tree,all fairly small aside from the willow,a bunch more native grasses and ground covers and wildflowers...still need a bunch of stuff to stabilize the slope on the mound the trees are planted in....it never ends....

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unclefishstick

unclefishstick

Fancy Janitor
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Veteran
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unclefishstick

unclefishstick

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lots of butterflies around everyday for sure,only seen one hummer in the greenhouse but more will come as the desert willow starts to bloom and make some shade,but theres lots of stuff out there for the hummingbirds.
 
wildgrow

wildgrow

, The Ghost of
Veteran
Purple love grass? I really like that silver colored sedum(?).

Pretty amazing how some plants don't care where they live; Ive got a few of those flowers way up here at 43*. Youre at a pretty decent elevation aren't you, not being too far from the CDT?

Real purty, Unc.
 
unclefishstick

unclefishstick

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captain planet said:
Looking good Unc!
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been some die off with the heat...not too much though

Biosynthesis said:
Is that an Echinacea flower?
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yes
wildgrow said:
Purple love grass? I really like that silver colored sedum(?).

Pretty amazing how some plants don't care where they live; Ive got a few of those flowers way up here at 43*. Youre at a pretty decent elevation aren't you, not being too far from the CDT?

Real purty, Unc.
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i think you're talking about the lambs ear,its every bit as soft and fuzzy as it looks,should put up a big purple flower spike...yup,around 4000 feet here....
 
unclefishstick

unclefishstick

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in spite of many attempts in the past,until this year i have never been able to successfully make compost here...welll i guess thats not strictly true since in the past i have just gathered a pile,dug a hole and buried it,it takes a few years,but it does break down...
this year with the aid of the neighbors tossing their grass clippings into my yard i have been slowly gathering a decent sized pile plus i got a barrel compost maker about 6 weeks ago...

initially i started with a wheelbarrow load of fresh grass clippings that i layered in with an equal amount of dry material from the pile and added a couple of handfuls of chicken poop,some alfalfa meal and some kelp meal.wet all that down and have been turning it every couple of days and making sure it stays moist.
along the way i have been tossing in coffee grounds,kitchen scraps,all the flower heads from deadheading the flower garden,about 20 gallons of rootballs,and fresh grass clippings when ever i get more,so at this point i have added 3 wheelbarrow loads of grass clipping plus about 2 more of dry material and i have been sprinkling in fish meal,kelp meal,alfalfa meal and chicken poo on occasion and getting in and chopping it up with a shovel....i think its starting to look like compost...

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unclefishstick

unclefishstick

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the main bed and the back breezeway,almost done with the re-roofing project with clear panels,the mint and herb and honeysuckle planter and the potting bench in the background..

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M

Mr.Fastcast

Member
Hey unc, Where I live we have a place in the hood called a common area.Anyway,it has a lot of grass a landscaping co. comes and mows.So I was gonna ask them to give it to me,to do the same as you.

I could never come up with enough material to start the pile with.Bermuda in the summer and winter rye in the cooler months.The only thing is I need to get some carbon in their,so that poses a challenge also.

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unclefishstick

unclefishstick

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i think,but am not sure that the dry material,even if it was grass,still counts as a carbon source..not sure though,i do have some firewood scraps around i could toss in the bbq andtry and make some charcoal out of it but it seems like the compost maker is turning out something now...it smells nice and earthy,never any foul smells like rot,and i put a bunch of shrimp shells in there too so guess its working....it has reduced in size quite a bit...
 
M

Mr.Fastcast

Member
This is one of the sites I use for reference;T U C S O N O R G A N I C G A R D E N E R S

Anything that was once a plant can be composted.
The key
to successful composting is a mix of 4 parts carbon material
to 1 part nitrogen material.
This can vary up to a 50/50 mix.
DO NOT use more than 50% green materials.
Carbon‑Rich

(Brown and dry)
Straw
Pine needles
Small branches
Dryer lint
Dry grass clippings
Dried plant materials
(trimmings, leaves, vines)
Sawdust
Shredded newspaper
Nitrogen‑Rich

(Green and moist)
Wet grass trimmings
Fresh plant clippings
Vegetable and fruit wastes
Barnyard manures and beddings
Alfalfa pellets
Tea bags
Coffee grounds and filters
Hair, fur, feathers
Do NOT compost these things!


Meats, grease, fats and oils


Dairy products, especially cheese


Dog and cat feces


Diseased or invasive plants or roots of Bermuda grass


Oleander, eucalyptus and tamarisk (salt cedar). These
contain toxins that inhibit plant growth and should be
used sparingly.


Herbicides and pesticides are neutralized during the
composting process. However, compost should be well
aged.
 
unclefishstick

unclefishstick

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uh-oh,plenty of bermuda grass rhizomes in the pile,doesnt take much to get them to grow again...im doing my best to choke out the bermuda grass in the yard,so far the only thing heat tolerant enough and as aggressive has been the bulbine but i have some native stuff like germanders and four o-clocks that spread pretty quickly...no way to get rid of the bermuda once it get established....
 
unclefishstick

unclefishstick

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Veteran
picked this beauty up this weekend,the cactus growers bought it down to the farmers market just for me,but then again i have been buying lots of stuff from them,got a nice selection of native desert plants and a few naturalized exotics,had some die off during the june heat but the monsoon is starting,had a good rain for the first time in months,even overnight many of the native plants really responded and look super happy today...

its a inter-genetic hybrid,i think its a tricocereus,not sure about that,need to remember to ask...planted with a group of hedgehog cactus including a ruby spine,arizona rainbow,bonker's,and a strawberry hedgehog.

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unclefishstick

unclefishstick

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ICMag Donor
Veteran
Jericho Mile said:
Super nice dude...super (word of the day)
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too bad there is smell-o-vision,that one flower fills the area with scent,very perfume-y ...
day 2 of the blossom,today its folding back up,maybe i got lucky and it pollinated and set seed...one of my rebutias made a ton of seeds...ok,by ton i mean 1/10 of a gram,but thats still thousands of seeds,have some sprouting already...

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and a saguaro cactus i still need to repot...gotta borrow some welders gloves the spines are super vicious..

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