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yea! i'm a homowner! how do i make a garden?

Hello, all. I am pleased to announce that we have finally settled into our newly purchased home. It is sooooo awesome! way nicer than i ever hoped for considering our budget and having a kiddo to support and all.

:boogie:

yea!!!!! i love house.

okay, it dawned on me that i own the land the house is on, too. i have no idea how to garden or even take care of a lawn. question is, can i put my cp's directly into the ground if i replace the soil surrounding the plants with an appropriate medium?

yes, i know i'm not as knowledgeableso please have patience. i never had to do yardwork of any kind. ever. and oddly enough vfts are one of the few things that i don't kill.
 
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Hi T! Welcome back! Unfortunately, CP's can't go directly into the ground. Too many nutrients to kill them. You can, how ever create a bog garden, with lots of bags of sphagnumm peat. Tou would have to regulate things, moisture-wise, since you have that hot and dry climate. An easier approach to the outside is to have like a whiskey barrel filled with peat and sand and have it on your porch, shielded from the worst of the blazing Texas sun. Here's an example:
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Now where are the updated family and car pics!
 
I think it can be done. You'd just have to be careful to prevent nutrients contaminates from seeping in. I would put some kind of barrier between your plants and the soil. You can dig a hole, line it with plastic, then fill the hole with peat. I would think that would be the cheapest and easiest way. Of course yo can decide to spend some money and buy a pond liner.

Depending on how much rain you get, you'll have to consider if flooding will be a problem.

Hey do you have a spare room in your new house? I'm thinking of moving to TX.
 
ozzy, that's exactly what i was thinking. just didn't know if that would be a good idea or not.


houses in texas are cheap. i've got a couple of extra rooms. i am not rich- just a normal working person so i am super dooper stoked about my house, and being from Japan it is large by my standards. back yard is small but i dread yard work so that's fine by me.

i will post pics of the casa later.
 
I know this is not directly tied to growing CP’s, but…

What are you looking to get out of your yard and garden? Are you looking to plant a regular garden(s) too? Are you planning on planting trees, etc. What kind of uses and functions to you foresee yourself using your yard for now or in the future (so as you can plan your gardens)? You know, entertainment, family use [birthday parties? child play areas?], social, food [veggies?] , relaxation?


Ok that was way more detailed than anything you were asking, or prehaps care. I got carried away... hehe...
...
...

Anyways. Yard work is not really that scary. Yard work is directly proportional to what you have in your yard, and how much maintenance they require… for example, if you have a, lets say a hedge. It may need minimal work or it may need constant lifetime pruning and watering. If there is just a row of dense shrubs grown o natural, you may only need a renewal pruning every 5 years… if at all. On the other hand, if an previous owner decided that they MUST HAVE this certain plant, but it grew 200 feet tall, and she kept it short by monthly or yearly pruning, and suddenly that pruning stopped… you get the idea. Very few people actually do the yard maintenance that books and literature on the subject would have you believe is necessary- and can you tell? If the answer is a ‘no’ then I wouldn’t worry too much.

Many people also do way too much yard work than they actually need to. If your vision of "yard work" is your neighbor across the street kneeling in his lawn and using scissors to cut the stay strands of grass his mower missed near the shrub, that’s not yard work - that’s just crazy.
 
ive got a good sized yard as my house sits on a lot and a half.........only going to have lawn in the small front yard........the backyard will be gardens gravel and mulch.......fruit trees, fruit bushes and a veggie garden taking up 60% of the space.....the rest will be a patio with some sort of fire pit, gravel and some flower gardens.........few evergreens like my weeping spruce and the like. if you want a more or less care free yard, stay away from a lawn, plant gardens with plants halfway native to your area and remember mulch is your friend.....it keeps the amount of watering and weeding down
 
once i am able to care about landscaping, i was thinking of doing one of those low water, no maintainance lawns. right now, i've got nothing. not a single tree or shrub or even a coveing over my small patch of concrete where the grill sits. right now, the goal is to do a small herb garden, keep my cp's alive and just keep the lawn at least half way maintained.

we ran out of money so i don't even own a lawnmower or weedeater. i'll just have to pay someone until we get back on our feet some more and when it becomes more of a priority. once we buy a lawn mower and stuff like that, i think it won't be that bad. texas is H-O-T in the summer so even 5 minutes out there is brutal- i think that's the main reason i think it will suck. i like the size of my yard because it seems to fit our current needs, budget, and lifestyle. it's small enough to work on ourselves but big enough to actually call a yard.

here are some pics of new (new to me) house:
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okay, here's the most relevant photo- yard. i had to laugh because our yard is the only one on the block that looks like a white Christmas from all the little daisies littering it. :oops:
Picture270.jpg


here's my favorite room, featuring my best craigslist find. (minus the child- i grew that myself) i got the table, all accessories, pub and chairs for a great deal from an individual.
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The Cape Myrtles in your neighbors yard look like their doing well. Plant some of those.

What does it say on the driveway? Nawf Sloe?
 
Good thing you're doing a better job with the child then you did with Butthead.

Nice house. You should have plenty of sunlight for your cp's.
 
  • #10
Nice place


Pfft everyone has Cape Myrtles down south... plant something that isnt so common! Its like the crabapple of the north... very nice, but entirely unremarkable/

Humm, a herb garden.
Well first i would recommend, before you commit to putting anything in the ground that you aren’t going to entirely replace the soil for (like cp's) is to have a some soil tests done. Very inexpensive if done at the right place, soil composition and PH is very important so you know what you are working with, so you can choose plants accordingly. One of my parents neighbors went out and bought a $200 red oak once they moved in. Problem is they only grow on acid soils… and ours is alkaline. The tree has since died. They could have avoided that loss of money and time by simply getting a soil test. Its probably one of the most important things you need to know about your yard- if its acid or alkaline, clay or sand. It will save a lot of headaches later.
 
  • #11
If you put a barrier in between the soil and the peat that you'll be growing the cp's in, then you shouldn't really have to worry about it that much.
 
  • #13
I believe it says "nawf side", which when translated to English it means north side.:jester:

yes. it came with it's very own... uh... art? and there someone kicked the gate to my fence in and there is a graveyard of beer bottles in the corner of my yard. some kids were using it to party apparently while it was vacant. :censor: i can't really complain though because it's like foreclosure city. got this beauty for $20,000 less than it's worth, and it's in near immaculate condition.


Thanks for all the advice, guys. i knew i came to the right place. Ozzy, i can't believe you remember poor Butthead. Jesus is doing well. The relatively new red dragon is not faring so well. Hopefully in spring they will all kick it into gear. i looked at the Home Depot today and they didn't have squat. i was looking for an itty bitty pond liner or something so i can make a mini bog. but then, what about drainage?
 
  • #14
Nice house! Great backyard, too. I can't wait to get a yard of my own, for the exact reason you are inquiring about.

xvart.
 
  • #15
There are a few threads on people making bog gardens. It's outlined in Peter D'Amato's "Savage Garden".

Either build a raised "tub" or dig a hole in the ground say 18 inches to 3 feet deep. Line/level the hole with gravel and/or sand, line hole with plastic sheeting or a pond liner. Fill with peat/sand mixture. A few drainage holes on the side a few inches below the surface to prevent flooding.

Congrats.
 
  • #16
  • #17
You can look at the thread where I built my bog, I show how I did the drainage system in it.

http://www.terraforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=109348


I think we all should bow our heads and remember Butthead. May he rest in peace.

wow, dude! if you lived close by you would soooo get kidnapped. i got all half motivated and went to the home depot, then realized that this is not exactly the best time of the year to build a garden. i bookmarked your little how-to and i'm gonna try again come spring time.

thanks for all the help and compliments, guys.
 
  • #18
wow, dude! if you lived close by you would soooo get kidnapped.
Cool would you keep me tied up in your basement with daily beatings? :love:
 
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