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?
Becky- you said it got rid of moles? wonder if it would also work on gophers, they are similar
One of the realtors with whom I spoke concurred, adding that the rats used the freeway to move into the area when there was a flood a few years back. Apparently freeways are like super highways for them, especially when they're flooded out.
I'd like to find a "rat away" device just in case they are there. I'm getting paranoid about just opening the garage door and the side door and watch the ground whenever I open the doors to go in or out.
I was thinking how stunning it would be to have solar lights outlining beds.
Has anyone done anything like this? If so, what are your thoughts? Is there enough sun in your particular zone to keep the lights on in the evening through the night? Are the lights affected by storms, or even heavy rain or strong winds?
Only saw o n e brown mouse outdoors.
I could never kiss the cat after that.....
Even though they are pests, it seems as though they have good taste and like chocolate. So I gave them some, as well as a farewell.
Going out now to buy a shotgun, lol.
Oh, wait....a neighbor gave us the biggest mouse traps I had ever seen when she moved.
Not my favorite form of euthanasia, I would cry if anything got trapped (mouse, baby bunny, baby possum, baby squirrel)....my garden is doomed.
May have to resort to the flashing lights, make them all want to move.
I was feeding the premium food for birds, with nuts, seeds, and fruit. We have lots left.
Can mouse climb the block wall to eat?
Next thing I know, crows are flying over pooping on my car; grey squirrels are fighting and chased away Ratatouile; birds are nesting and pooping on my back porch stairs; too many birds come and are chased away by the grey squirrels. The last straw came when a mouse was on my front porch at dusk, eating the bird food. That is all over now.
No choice for me, because I want a clean porch. This is so hard, because it was mostly fun. The hummingbirds did not take to the new feeder.
I have seen the skink once, and my bouganvilla survived another winter, starting over at about 8" tall in a planter.
But to each their own.
We could change the name of this thread to suit your particular style of gardening:
"Gardening via the internet", ha ha ha.
How do you do that?
Scraping bird poo off a porch is still gardening, right? What happens outside stays outside. It is very therapeutic.
Thanks for your thread Garden Artist.
Saw the rope holding the bird feeder into a thin, hanging by a thread, ready to fall any minute trap.
(Luckylu knows I would not do that)!
Wondering what size bird will knock it down: Sparrow, Blue Jay, Crow, Peregrine falcon, or "Big Bird" from Sesame Street.....
Or, will it take a squirrel?
Nature is beautiful, but don't romanticize it!
Survival of the fittest is part of the save the earth campaign.
I felt relief to have acidentally run over the head of a huge grasshopper-that was probably someone's guru or something. Then, it was gone, likely eaten by a bird predator.
Cynical much? Sorry, not sorry.
Good thing I was there to watch it.....
I’m getting a kick out of the construction going on around our neighborhood. They leave lumber laying around, large stacks, lumber leaning against the framing of the house, ladders left leaning against the house. In California, it would all be gone before daylight. Not to mention the lure to children to climb the ladder.
I do regret selling some useful products in a yard sale. The small amount we received was just not worth losing the use of those products.
I have decided, to make room, keep sheds/garage organized, get rid of junk only, not good working things, almost new, such as:
[List of regrets below:]
Battery charger/starter
Automobile buffer/car shine
RV 26' and 50' electrical hook-up cords
Hedge trimmer
RV 12 v. deep cycling battery
Huge house fan on a pedestal
(2) beautiful love seats that I could use today
etc.
That's not all.
When at the local equipment rental, I saw a product used to prevent mudslides.
It was a 25' long bail of tightly wound hay, about the diameter of a lunch plate.
It could be staked into the ground to hold in place.
You could use that, add dirt on top, and voila', a better, stronger berm.
You could also place some sand bags, dig them down a bit into the dirt, with several inches above the ground, use as a base for your berm, add the planting mix or topsoil onto that. Big berm!