From a Houston garden to the table

Archive for the ‘Gardening’ Category

Every so often, it is not a bad idea, to see if your lawn sprinklers are working as intended. A quick inspection can save you money, and help your plants.

I think that most lawn sprinkler systems that I have inspected where originally installed by the builder. I find few homes where the homeowner may have installed a sprinkler system. Installation is a fairly simple task, and a well maintained, thought out system may be better at watering than you can with a hose. I prefer watering with a hose though. My wife did not understand how relaxing it can be until she decided to water the plants once. However,  I feel that most homeowners do not want that form of meditation, and a sprinkler system may help them maintain their gardens.
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Gardening is not always about instant gratification. Work done last fall and spring has benefits in late summer.

The storm hit. Power was out. Trees were felled. My family was at the mall, buying school clothes and supplies. I saw the clouds rolling in quickly, and the brief torrential rain, but it did not seem to bad. Coming closer to home, I realized how bad the storm had been. My neighborhood looked like a hurricane had hit. Still, I had surprisingly little damage. Most of my time cleaning up was spent picking up debris that had come to my yard from the neighbors.
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The staff at my local nursery were happy to see me. The parking lot was nearly empty, and the plant choices were not as extensive. Who wants to garden in these hot temperatures?

I have started seeds in various beds, and I am obtaining mixed results. I only chose plants which should have done well, but the bunching onions have succumbed to the heat. Cucumbers and winter squash are growing, as are different bean varieties and broccoli. I am also transplanting, a bit. The plants are already under stress, so I do not really want to stress them more, yet plants which are overgrowing their bounds are my targets. So far so good. The problem that I face is restlessness. In my head, I know that it takes time for the garden to develop, but I see the potential for a spot, and I want to work on it know. This leads me to the garden center.
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We have a host of museums in Houston with modern art, and a trip to the de Menil collection inspired me to create a piece for the garden.

My wife thought that we were going to the Center for Contemporary Craft, which is a favorite, but I thought going to see the chapels and museums associated with the de Menil Collection would be nice. Walking in that neighborhood is fun. The sun is shaded by the trees, and I do like to see the gardens. I wanted to have a picnic in the park, but we went to visit a friend  for a late afternoon meal. If you are interested in a calm, modern garden design, take a moment to pay attention to the garden spaces around the Byzantine and Rothko chapels. Great places to sit and meditate. I also like the ground sculpture piece in front of the de Menil. This was all good; however, I was inspired by a sculpture that I had already seen inside the building (I also like how the buildings are made).
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A tree house made from scraps can be an exiting place for children of all ages

I have fond memories of climbing trees when I was younger, but I did not have a tree house. When my son was younger, we started a tree house in a maple behind my shed. It was made from various scrap pieces. The floor was a pallet; one wall was a door. My son mainly used this as a staging area to go and sit on the roof of the shed with his friends. Not a bad place to hang out. I remember spending a good deal of time on the roof of my parent’s garage.
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Container planting can be great for the home or porch, but they do need a bit more care.

I wanted to share this photo. What a container for those plants. I wonder if they take care of it, or if it has gone wild. My father took this picture while he and my mother were visiting relatives in Uruguay. I do not think my neighbors would care for this, if I did it in my yard. I am more into containers this year. Container gardening can be a wonderful way to enhance a space, but they do need your attention more often than a garden bed.
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As we all know, bees provide an essential service in our gardens, so why not make an inviting space for them.

A little over a year ago, the utility company came through my neighborhood to prune trees away from the power lines. This is a great service for hurricane season. I was not too happy with the result in my yard though. My maple was butchered in front of my eyes, with the worker stating “I guess you are going to have to get rid of that tree”. None of its branches came near the line, and other trees right along the line did not suffer the same fate, so I am not sure as to the reason for their thoroughness in removing all the branches from my maple. The tree seemed like it was coming back, but it obviously did not survive the winter. Now, I did see it as a threat. Dead tree falling.
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Heat and humidity can be dangerous for the gardener, so early mornings or late evenings may be your best bet.

I am not fond of the heat. Our weather has caused me to retreat a bit from garden work. However, I have been waking up at three in the morning on most days, so by six, I am ready to do something besides reading. I do not use power or gas powered tools, which means that I do not make much noise. I cut my grass with a push mower at six one morning. Since I did not wake up Sleeping Beauty (the nickname for one of my neighbors), I have continued to go out this early.
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I have heard that compost bins which can be turned are said to produce compost faster.

I create layered compost piles behind bushes. I add layers of new material, then once a year harvest my compost for the beds. Recently I saw one of these plastic compost bins that is a round tube which can be spun around. The turning action is said to produce compost faster. I was thinking of buying it, but it was nearly $200, and I wondered if I really needed it. I would like to have some compost faster though.
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A good fence can be expensive; even for a short section. However, you can make an older fence look better.

I have been replacing the fence sections in my backyard over the last year. Even with sharing the costs with the neighbors, this can be an expense. One small section of fence with a gate was standing fine, but it did not look too good, so we did not have it replaced to save money for other projects. To replace this section would also effect a neighbor’s gate, and he did not want to replace his gate. With some money set aside for improving the look of my fence, I wanted to find a way to make my old fence look new. Read the rest of this entry »