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Author Topic:   Could I get some advice from the green thumbs out there?
Isis
Knowflake

Posts: 945
From: CA
Registered: Jan 2004

posted April 16, 2004 03:34 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Isis     Edit/Delete Message
I'm going to be moving in the next few weeks, and being that I've always been an apt. dweller (since I moved out of folks place years ago) w/ little knowledge of landscaping/outdoor plants, I was wondering if one of our resident green thumbs can help me out please?

I need to plant trees that will grow very quickly and serve as sound barriers. Their roots need to go deep, and they need to grow as tall as fast as is possible. Can anyone make some suggestions?

Thank you very much

PS: The climate is mild moist winters, hot dry summers. I'm not sure of my "zone", but I'm in Northern California if that helps.
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“The good things which belong to prosperity are to be wished, but the good things that belong to adversity are to be admired.” Seneca

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gloomy sag
Knowflake

Posts: 355
From: USA
Registered: Nov 2003

posted April 16, 2004 04:01 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for gloomy sag     Edit/Delete Message
I thought of bamboo right away, but I'm no expert. Here is a neat site http://www.growinglifestyle.com/h245/garden/shrub/

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Nephthys
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Posts: 1469
From: California
Registered: Oct 2001

posted April 16, 2004 11:27 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Nephthys     Edit/Delete Message
Isis,

Where are you guys moving to?

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Randall
Webmaster

Posts: 19073
From: Columbus, GA USA
Registered: Nov 2000

posted April 17, 2004 09:13 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Randall     Edit/Delete Message
You're buying or renting a house?

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"Never mentally imagine for another that which you would not want to experience for yourself, since the mental image you send out inevitably comes back to you." Rebecca Clark

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Isis
Knowflake

Posts: 945
From: CA
Registered: Jan 2004

posted April 17, 2004 12:21 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Isis     Edit/Delete Message
Nephthys: Tracy

Randall: Buying

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“The good things which belong to prosperity are to be wished, but the good things that belong to adversity are to be admired.” Seneca

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juniperb
Knowflake

Posts: 5417
From: www.Heaven.Home
Registered: Mar 2002

posted April 17, 2004 01:00 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for juniperb     Edit/Delete Message
If you consider bamboo, make sure you check the species as some is very invasive and difficult to cull.

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If having a soul means being able to feel love and loyalty and gratitude, then animals are better off than a lot of humans. ~James Herriot

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Nephthys
Moderator

Posts: 1469
From: California
Registered: Oct 2001

posted April 18, 2004 06:14 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Nephthys     Edit/Delete Message
Isis,

Sounds like you're not too happy about that?

That's where my car is from. I bought it in 2000 and it came from Tracy. I had to pay $50 to have someone deliver it to my front door! (the car wasn't $50, just the delivery charge).

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Isis
Knowflake

Posts: 945
From: CA
Registered: Jan 2004

posted April 19, 2004 01:49 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Isis     Edit/Delete Message
Nah, I'm not terribly excited about the location, but I was adamant about having property, and unless we want to buy a condo, with our price range we were pretty much relegated to out that direction. But it's a start, and a heck of a lot better than paying rent. C'est la vie...

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“The good things which belong to prosperity are to be wished, but the good things that belong to adversity are to be admired.” Seneca

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skywych
Knowflake

Posts: 64
From: The beautiful farm land of N. MO
Registered: Apr 2004

posted April 25, 2004 04:17 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for skywych     Edit/Delete Message
N. Cal has a climate close to the midwest. I would plant hybrid willows or poplars. They will grow an average of 3-6 feet a year and are easy to care for. They do better with neglect than over care. They make a nice privacy fence and the critters like nesting in them, so you would get a fab show of birds.

If you wanted something showier with flowers, I'd use red buds, they have a purple flower in the spring. Beautiful. Or a dogwood, but they need a little shade when they are young. Flowering plums of any kind would be good. They come in colors from pale pink to deep cherry red, plus they get a fruit on them that attracts wildlife.

If this is a home you plan on staying in for several years, I would truley suggest you plan a small orchard of dwarf fruit trees. You get pretty flowers, they feed you, they make a nice privacy fence and what falls on the ground will feed the four legged types.

best of luck on your move, skywych

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Empower me to be a BOLD person, rather than a timid soul just waiting.

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skywych
Knowflake

Posts: 64
From: The beautiful farm land of N. MO
Registered: Apr 2004

posted April 25, 2004 04:22 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for skywych     Edit/Delete Message
Owps,

Forgot to add, bamboo is very invasive. Which means that it will take over your yard within a couple of years, if you want bamboo plant it in a concrete tub in the ground. Trying to clean out bamboo is very difficult, and it will cut you if you accidentally fall on a stump of one.

skywych, an actual certificate carrying master gardner

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gloomy sag
Knowflake

Posts: 355
From: USA
Registered: Nov 2003

posted April 25, 2004 05:24 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for gloomy sag     Edit/Delete Message
Hi Skywatch, nice to see you around! Thank you so much for the 411 on the bamboo which I have been planning to plant myself.

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skywych
Knowflake

Posts: 64
From: The beautiful farm land of N. MO
Registered: Apr 2004

posted April 25, 2004 07:20 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for skywych     Edit/Delete Message
Hi and thank you.

By the way I love the name gloomy sag. There are times I could be the wailing wuwu. Bamboo is a beautiful plant and it is so exotic looking. I wish I could plant some outside here where I live. But it would freeze it's little roots off in the winter. What color bamboo were you going to plant? I say some with stripes of a golden brown and dark green that was wonderful. I think it was brought in from Thailand or somewhere like that. It cost a fortune for a start, but once started you'd have a forest.

All things green are my passion. I've worked in greenhouses, floral shops, do herbs and am just planting some gourds to make more birdhouses for next summer.

I do hope that I did deter you from planting bamboo. Just use some type of barrier for it. It does add a lot of value to a home.

green, green, green, skywych

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skywych
Knowflake

Posts: 64
From: The beautiful farm land of N. MO
Registered: Apr 2004

posted April 25, 2004 07:24 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for skywych     Edit/Delete Message
Oh good grief,

Is Merc in retro? I meant didn't stop you from plant. I am so sorry about that. I thought I typed it correctly, then read and dang, did it wrong. Sorry

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Eleanore
Knowflake

Posts: 555
From: North Carolina
Registered: Aug 2003

posted April 25, 2004 08:14 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Eleanore     Edit/Delete Message
Wow, skywych, that is some really good advice! Might I ask for your opinion on native vs. foreign species of plants?

Oh, btw, there is a little "edit" icon at the top of each post that you can click on to edit your post ... you can only edit your own posts, of course, and I think the moderators can also edit something. I hope I don't sound rude pointing it out, but I find it a handy little tool for when I notice I make a mistake like the one you just noticed on your post (it happens more often than I'd like to me, so maybe that's why I love that little option so much ).

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"You must be the change you wish to see in the world." - Ghandi

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gloomy sag
Knowflake

Posts: 355
From: USA
Registered: Nov 2003

posted April 25, 2004 09:04 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for gloomy sag     Edit/Delete Message
well, skywatch, I was just thinking of planting bamboo in the yard because I've had some of that spring shaped one and it grew beautifully. But I haven't decided yet (Libra moon here also )

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Isis
Knowflake

Posts: 945
From: CA
Registered: Jan 2004

posted April 28, 2004 02:34 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Isis     Edit/Delete Message
I was thinking of planting bamboo, I love its look, thanks for the heads up, I've heard it's invasive, but didn't realize it's like a weed.

As for fruit trees, we'll hopefully be moving out of there w/in 3-5 years at the latest, so while I can't wait to live somewhere w/ fruit trees (I'm going w/ Plum, Lemon and possibly Orange), I'll wait till we get somewhere we're likely to stay.

Thanks for the suggestions on trees, my plan for them is for more of a sound barrier than a privacy fence...this house backs onto a highway

I'm hoping home values hold and the interest rates don't go up too fast...

For the most part I'm going w/ tall &/or thick foliage for sound barriers, and flowering bushes, lots of gardenia, we're going to train a passionfruit vine up a patio trellis thingy (don't know the name, it's basically four posts w/ a trellis on top), roses, also I LOVE tropical foliage, esp. ferns.

Thanks for all the suggestions

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“The good things which belong to prosperity are to be wished, but the good things that belong to adversity are to be admired.” Seneca

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skywych
Knowflake

Posts: 64
From: The beautiful farm land of N. MO
Registered: Apr 2004

posted April 28, 2004 07:06 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for skywych     Edit/Delete Message
I usually will choose a native plant over an exotic. I'm one of those really lazy gardeners. God/dess love us. I like exotics in the house but for outside, I'd go native.

As for adding value to a home, you would be surprised how much a full grown oak or ginko tree would bring to a property.

There are plenty of native US trees that can't be grown any where else. A tulip tree is one of them, or it was 20 years ago. The college I trained at had foreign students and they would amaze at how beautiful of a tree it is. And it wasn't available in their countries. A Mimosa tree aka silk tree is a very exotic looking tree. It has pink, fuzzy flowers on it and a very delicate looking trunk. Similar to bamboo, but not invasive. And to buy one that is only 2 or 3 foot high is about $20.00 now. A full grown one or several as a grove, would not only be beautiful, smell good, but add mucho dollars in value.

For fast foliage and flowers you could consider nanking cherry bushes. Seven to eight foot tall when mature, cherries that are edible and fast growing as a hedge.

I love bamboo, especially made into fountains, but it's cold here in MO. Oh well, I'll buy it by the foot and make my own fountains.

Best of luck, skywych

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Randall
Webmaster

Posts: 19073
From: Columbus, GA USA
Registered: Nov 2000

posted August 02, 2004 08:27 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Randall     Edit/Delete Message
*bump*

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"Never mentally imagine for another that which you would not want to experience for yourself, since the mental image you send out inevitably comes back to you." Rebecca Clark

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juniperb
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Posts: 5417
From: www.Heaven.Home
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posted August 02, 2004 11:58 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for juniperb     Edit/Delete Message
I sure wish skywych would fly in soon

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If having a soul means being able to feel love and loyalty and gratitude, then animals are better off than a lot of humans. ~James Herriot

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Randall
Webmaster

Posts: 19073
From: Columbus, GA USA
Registered: Nov 2000

posted August 03, 2004 01:14 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Randall     Edit/Delete Message
She's around in the other Forums.

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"Never mentally imagine for another that which you would not want to experience for yourself, since the mental image you send out inevitably comes back to you." Rebecca Clark

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Isis
Knowflake

Posts: 945
From: CA
Registered: Jan 2004

posted August 11, 2004 02:44 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Isis     Edit/Delete Message
Well, hubby and I spent the last two weeks gardening, and I've discovered that while I love gardening, I do not like digging holes for trees nor rototilling...

We planted several robonia locust (sp?) trees and a chinese tallow, both of which will apparently do well in the summer heat and year-around wind. We also planted several blue dawn morning glories, and omg they are so beautiful...I was going to go w/ passionfruit vines from cuttings from my mom's vines, but realized how long that was going to take. But then I came across the morning glories while they were in full bloom at the local nursery...and I fell in love

I also grabbed a couple of my favorite roses, sterling silver, planted a luna hibiscus, bouganveilla (sp?), jasmine, gardenia, day lillies lovingly transplanted from my mom's yard (yellow and pink), mexican sage (that's what my mom said it is anyway, has nice tiny purple flowers) also transplated, english lavender (I think that's what it is, may be another kind of lavender), society garlic (with beautiful little star shaped purple flowers) and silver dragon something or other (with these teensy little silver/white flowers, so delicate) - I ended up grabbing stuff kind of on intuition and apparently didn't do so badly according to the local nursery owner and my mom, the ultimate green thumb. Maybe I've inherited it from her, I sure hope so, she's like you Juni, lots of land, planted beautifully. I've do think I've been watching too much HGTV lately though

A friend of mine joked that I needed to have kids, with the way I was treating my garden. Maybe she's onto something

I used to be the kind of girl that couldn't keep a pothos alive - and I've discovered now that life has calmed down a bit and I finally have a yard, that I have a natural affinity for it, or at the very least, I just like it a whole heck of a lot

One question though - does anyone have any insight into the complete and total annihilation, with prejudice, of crabgrass? It's been the bane of my existence the past several weeks. It was brought to my attn that everything in the back yard that LOOKS like grass is actually crab grass - it had engulfed a rose bush which was totally stunted compared to the unengulfed bush next to it. I tore up my hands weeding it, and the rose has just taken off - happy little rose bush Anywho, are we going to have to just remove the top layer in the back yard and re-sod it? Hubby is trying to 'starve' out the crabgrass by seeding it with other grasses, but from what I've heard it just doesn't work that way. Any insight from our resident garden gurus?

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Randall
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From: Columbus, GA USA
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posted August 16, 2004 04:13 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Randall     Edit/Delete Message

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"Never mentally imagine for another that which you would not want to experience for yourself, since the mental image you send out inevitably comes back to you." Rebecca Clark

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LibraSparkle
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Posts: 2525
From: Vancouver USA
Registered: May 2004

posted August 18, 2004 03:21 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for LibraSparkle     Edit/Delete Message
From what I know about crabgrass, it's best to kill it off when the temp. outside is not too hot.

I found this on the net:

Crabgrass generally appears in lawns in late May, so earlier in the spring is the time for applying herbicides. You'll want to use pre-emergent herbicides, specifically. May 1 is a good time for application of a pre-emergent herbicide to combat crabgrass.

Hope that helps

BTW, I second the notion for bamboo trees. Bamboo grows almost anywhere, grows quickly, and gets really tall. I know a couple people up here (in Washington) who use bamboo around their backyard fences to add to their privacy.

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Randall
Webmaster

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From: Columbus, GA USA
Registered: Nov 2000

posted August 19, 2004 09:01 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Randall     Edit/Delete Message
Good advice.

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"Never mentally imagine for another that which you would not want to experience for yourself, since the mental image you send out inevitably comes back to you." Rebecca Clark

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Isis
Knowflake

Posts: 945
From: CA
Registered: Jan 2004

posted August 19, 2004 12:15 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Isis     Edit/Delete Message
Thanks!

I think I'll let hubby play with it in his stubborn Taurus way until next spring, when it will become evident that trying to starve it out won't work. Then we'll get a sod cutter, pull it all out and lay new non-crabgrass infested sod. One problem is that both neighbors on either side have it, and it creeps under the fence into our yard, which I suppose means vigilance in spraying it with weed killer to keep it from coming over. We also put down planter beds along the fence, laid down weed barrier and dumped bark nuggets, so hopefully that will help too.

Thanks again LS!

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“The good things which belong to prosperity are to be wished, but the good things that belong to adversity are to be admired.” Seneca

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