It's become clear to me through posts and PMs that there are some gardeners here just waiting for the chance to discuss gardening!
So, I was thinking... how do you use gardening, or how does it affect you if you need a break, need some respite, need to relax, need inspiration....how do you use it as a therapy tool in caregiving?
What are your activities: Do you go out and pull weeds, read a magazine, design new beds? Look through garden catalogues? Go to garden stores?
And what interests have you added to your gardening? Visit estate or garden displays? Do you go to garden shows?
Does anyone design and plant Knot Gardens? Raised bed planters? Assistive gardens? Pollinator gardens (and have you thought of ways to help the bees and butterflies?)
Are your gardens primarily for pleasure or food, or a mix of both? Do you grow plants for medicinal purposes? Which ones, how do you harvest and process them? Any suggestions?
Do you grow plants that can be used in crafts, such as grapevines for wreaths and lavender for lavender wands? Do you make herbal products such as creams, lotions, chapstick?
What else can you share about gardening and the means in which it nurtures your soul?
Cut down darn volunteer tree growing at the corner of the garage - no idea what kind of tree it is, but the leaves are kind of spiky at the edges. It's not a boxelder, which seems to be what all the other volunteer trees are. I cut all the small limbs off and will have to take a saw to the trunk and treat it to kill it. There's another one at the other end of the garage, but that one is serving a purpose right now - it's providing shade from the hot sun for a nest of robins who decided the ladder hanging on the back of the shed was a good place for a nest. So that tree gets a reprieve - for now.
I've been going outside whenever the dog does, and doing a little work here and there. Finished cutting the rest of the volunteer boxelders out of the immense lilac (at least 50 years old - the lilac, not the boxelders). Boiling up more water to treat the other end of the flowerbed, so that will be an ongoing effort tonight too.
Came back inside feeling productive and happy with what I've gotten done so far. It's SO easy for me to get my face in the computer and stay there all day - next thing I know, it's 10pm and I've done nothing but work on the computer all day. I like being able to take a break and go outside - feels so good! :-)
edit (maybe I should change my avatar to a DEAD squirrel)
Oh, I guess you're thinking of rodent traps for the squirrels? Duh....
Do you have a big scary dog that could chase them away?
The flower bed got absolutely no attention today - this was a "face in the computer working all day" kind of day.
Perhaps a few butterflies will come and visit by stopping on my hand for a moment, or the local cats or even rabbits would come by and make it a perfect summer day.
We are already 2 weeks into the triple digits, not seeing any pollinators, hopefully I can get a few garden items. Great time to work on building compost piles.
Seriously, that was such a bonding issue for us, so nice to get together on a cold winte day with each of us kids helping and Mom and Dad guiding us. I miss those days.
Triple digits - yuck...hard on people, animals, and probably pollinators. Maybe the pollinators are hiding somewhere cool. Do you have bird baths or a water source for them?
I've designed a pollinator garden in the shape of a butterfly. Hopefully I can get it dug up and planted before fall.
We use to make homemade ice cream all the time as a kid. Cranking away. nothing like it. good times
I'm guessing there will be an explosive need for psychological intervention when today's youngsters grow up...unless by that time people aren't communicating at all except by battery operated devices.
I envision an evening meal...instead of "please pass the potatoes", some will text whoever is closest to the potatoes and ask electronically for some potatoes.
I often wonder if a few hundred years from now humans will have lost their capacity to speak.
And while climate change is occurring (even though some deny it), we're relying more on batteries that need to be charged and disposed of, as well as e-devices that create e-waste.
What drives me crazy is when I see all the parents with young kids staring at their phones instead of watching or interacting with their kids. I've seen parents on the phone while pushing a little one on the swing, "supervising" the kids on the climbers at the park, pushing the stroller down the street, eating at McD's ...
Yes I have water out for the birds and bees, I think they are hibernating while it is so hot. I see humming birds early in the am, so hopefully I am just missing them. I do dislike wasting water, so if I don't see fruits setting soon I will be looking forward to my fall garden and just laze by the pool.
As for gardening, my lambs ears have hugely multiplied, hydrangeas are blooming beautifully, and portulacas are especially pretty this year.
I love lambs ears; they're so soft and cuddly. And hydrangeas....along with peonies and irises, they're queens of the garden. I plan to redo part of my front yard and fill it with hydrangeas. Only concern is how they'll handle direct Westerly winds in the winter.
How big do mulberries get? I have a couple of trees/ bushes I think it is mulberry anyway. Both are absolutely loaded with fruit just starting to get red. But they are so tiny, maybe a bit longer than a quarter of an inch. I cannot imagine picking these tiny berries to use for anything. But the birds are sure enjoying them! 🍇🐦
The raccoons and birds love them and liberally decorate paved areas when mulberries are in season.
Dad liked them, so I baked mulberry pies for him. Cutting the stems off is a real nuisance though; they don't pull out easily.
Are your berries "lumpy" like blackberries? Slightly oblong shaped? I'm wondering if a berry less than 1/4" is something other than a mulberry. They're on a tree, not a bramble bush, right?
Unfortunately, they are very aggressive growers, and with propagation by hungry critters, I find them sprouting all over the yard. They're invasive, and hard to get rid of. I finally found a good way to kill them by letting morning glories grow up the bark, or stripping the bark all the way down to just below the soil, and doing this just before winter so the bare trunk is exposed to freezing weather.
I'm wondering if your bushes are raspberries? Mine usually fruit around July or mid July, weather depending. Raspberries grow from canes, and on the new growth. Mulberries in my yard grow on trees, but I can't remember if they're on new or old growth.
We used raw eggs in the ice cream we churned as a kid.
I see everyone has been garden bathing :)
Mulberries, on the other hand, are aggressive and vigorous growers (at least the trees are).
What do you think your fruiting bush/tree is?
I'm wondering if any of our friends here in Michigan, W. Michigan and other areas are seeing ticks in their areas, especially in their gardens?
I'm going to have to make a set of white gardening suits so I can spot ticks more easily if this trend continues. The bloody things creep me out. I envision myself going out in the garden all covered up, like an astronaut. I've read of folks who's found them in very personal areas. Sounds like they migrate to the warm and protected body parts.
Stores already have hazmat suits, or at least construction suits in many sizes. Stores like Lowes, Home Depot, or maybe equipment rental stores.
Doesn't certain colors attract ticks?
Whatever have you done with that "gilley suit" of yours?
I've read that they need to be on a human for 24 hours before the toxic diseases they carry are transmitted. But they can be hiding, such as in hair, or cavity recesses. I've read that some backpackers have found them there. (How many people search their navels after a walk?)
I wanted white pants as I've read that they're worn in some highly infested tick areas; white cloths are also used to drag areas to collect and destroy ticks. They stand out against white.
I'm trying to work out a good protective arrangement that's not too heavy and hot or cumbersome for gardening.
I haven't yet read that certain colors attract them; I've read that warmth, i.e., as in a living body (animal or human) are attractions, as they're vampires and are looking for blood sources.
My ghillie suit? I actually forgot about it. You have a good memory! I think since it appears to create an animal like appearance, I might end up collecting all the ticks in the area! Interesting suggestion though.
Hazmat suits could work, but they can be bulky. I suggested white b/c it shows the ticks more easily. Some people tape the base of the legs and sleeves tightly so ticks can't get in. But there's still the face and hair. I guess I'll have to wear a shower cap taped down to keep them out of my hair.
DEET is recommended for open skin and Permethrin for clothing, but I detest the idea of those chemicals on my skin or clothes.
Glad, try to pull off one of the stems of the berries; they're greenish, about 1/4 inch long and hard to remove. Raspberries kind of roll off, very easily. Makes them good for sustenance as you're working through a raspberry patch on a hot day.
Purplish splotches on pavement are an indication that something is enjoying mulberries and randomly "fertilizing" whatever is underneath their flight path.
The birds, and raccoons, love the berries and are like Johnny Apple Seed in their propagation efforts.