KathieB's Garden Blog, Georgia edition :)

[KathieB]

1 hour ago, havanaholly said:

Has anyone figured out why that particular patch of ground is so toxic?  Your bottle tree looks great there, and will be a nice spot of color when winter dries everything up & turns things brown.  You have pigeons, we have deer.

I'm not sure the ground is really poisoned-toxic. It looks to be an area where the builders dumped excess rocks and concrete, and combined with the rock hard clay. Digging is excruciatingly difficult. I even had a hard time finding a place to anchor the bottle tree - kept hitting rocks. It's no wonder nothing wants to grow there. 

29 minutes ago, Sable said:

Kathie, my father would put rubber snakes on his dock to scare away seagulls and I think pelicans. I wonder if this would work for pigeons.

I wonder! Will have to find a rubber snake and try it.  When the screened porch is completed I can sit out there without being obvious to the pigeons and rabbits. I maybe can figure out who's doing the damage. 

19 minutes ago, Gayle said:

If memory serves me right, marigolds are planted around vegetable gardens to keep rabbits out.   

We have 4 hummingbird feeders and one little bird seems to think all of them are his.

I have an electrical cord on a shelf on the front of the house to keep small birds from building a nest.  Works like a charm.

Neither the marigolds nor the rabbits seem to have gotten that memo! My dad used to scatter mothballs to keep the rabbits out. I can't recall how effective it was. Not 100% certain it is the rabbit causing the problem. 

Hummingbirds are terribly territorial. When I lived in California I saw a single hummingbird defend an entire humongous live oak tree. We had a feeder on our porch. We'd sit out there Sunday morning to read the newspaper and have to duck the little buzzers as they swooped around our heads. I was sure that one day one of us would be speared with a hummingbird beak, but it never happened.

Hmmm ... will find a piece of cord to try while I look for a snake.  

[havanaholly]

I put out hummingbird feeders and all the ants for yards around emptied them in a matter of a couple of weeks.  I think next time I'll make little piles of Amdro around the feeders' bases.

[sparklepuppies]

We have one possessive hummingbird, that chases at least 2 others away. A couple weekend ago I bought another feeder hoping maybe they could spread out... But I'm not sure that's working!

We empty and wash our feeders once a week. The directions say twice a week, but... We do once... We also have ants crawling on them. One feeder we had once had a little "moat" to drown the ants before they could get to the nectar, but the water would evaporate too quickly to help much!

[sparklepuppies]

So i just went and read your post... I'm always doing things backwards! That is the feeder we used to have. We were never good at keeping the water pool filled up. Thank.you for the great tip about the Lysol spray! I will definitely try that! I make 1 1/4 cup of sugar water per feeder each week. So mine don't eat as much as yours does!!

A tip we learned years ago for Bermuda... As you know, it spreads by runners. Before the grass is cut, or if you have any that grow up on a sidewalk, grab some of these long runners, and plant 2-3 together in random areas in your bare spots. They will take hold and start spreading and fill those spots in nicely.  Our neighbor told our 22 year old selves that tip many many years ago when we had just bought our first house, and it worked great!

[sparklepuppies]

(I'm talkative tonight!)

Do your pigeons come in pairs? We had been calling been calling the ugly birds that walk around on the porch pigeons, but daddy came over one day and called them doves. I was like, "really??" So I looked them up, and of course daddy was right, they are actually mourning doves. Mourning doves and pigeons belong to the same family, but their feather patterns are a little different. We have 3 sets that visit, and they are always in a pair.

My feeders are on my back deck, which is on the second story. So no plants to trample. I also feed squirrels.  I have plates of squirrel food and a feeder that holds dried cobs of corn on the deck. Doesn't completely keep them out of the bird feeder, but it helps. And the doves hop around and eat out of the plates too. 

[KathieB]

8 hours ago, havanaholly said:

I put out hummingbird feeders and all the ants for yards around emptied them in a matter of a couple of weeks.  I think next time I'll make little piles of Amdro around the feeders' bases.

What is Amdro? Try spraying the area with Lysol disinfectant. It may work with your ants, too.

7 hours ago, sparklepuppies said:

So i just went and read your post... I'm always doing things backwards! That is the feeder we used to have. We were never good at keeping the water pool filled up. Thank.you for the great tip about the Lysol spray! I will definitely try that! I make 1 1/4 cup of sugar water per feeder each week. So mine don't eat as much as yours does!!

A tip we learned years ago for Bermuda... As you know, it spreads by runners. Before the grass is cut, or if you have any that grow up on a sidewalk, grab some of these long runners, and plant 2-3 together in random areas in your bare spots. They will take hold and start spreading and fill those spots in nicely.  Our neighbor told our 22 year old selves that tip many many years ago when we had just bought our first house, and it worked great!

Those runners aim for the flower beds. The step-on edger that I reclaimed from my friend does a good job of cutting them off before they can put down roots if I keep at it. I'll keep that tip in mind when the fescue is finally killed off. Too soon and the spray will kill the Bermuda as well.

7 hours ago, sparklepuppies said:

(I'm talkative tonight!)

Do your pigeons come in pairs? We had been calling been calling the ugly birds that walk around on the porch pigeons, but daddy came over one day and called them doves. I was like, "really??" So I looked them up, and of course daddy was right, they are actually mourning doves. Mourning doves and pigeons belong to the same family, but their feather patterns are a little different. We have 3 sets that visit, and they are always in a pair.

My feeders are on my back deck, which is on the second story. So no plants to trample. I also feed squirrels.  I have plates of squirrel food and a feeder that holds dried cobs of corn on the deck. Doesn't completely keep them out of the bird feeder, but it helps. And the doves hop around and eat out of the plates too. 

I have doves and pigeons. I like the doves. They are so gentle and do come in pairs. I don't think they're ugly at all. The pigeons all have unique color patterns -- some iridescent, some spotted, some just plug ugly. The doves only forage on the ground below the feeders; they won't attempt to perch to eat out of the hanging feeder. The pigeons will cling to perches on the feeder as well as eat off the ground, which is why I had to get the caged feeder, which unfortunately also blocked out the cardinals. The pigeons would empty the feeder in an hour. Sometimes a lone pigeon will appear, but usually they arrive in gangs. I've had upwards of a dozen converging at the same time. Haven't spotted any squirrels yet, but this subdivision is woefully short on trees. There are trees surrounding it and a few in the front yards where the contractor put them in, but not many in our back yards, the part that we homeowners maintain. 

[havanaholly]

1 hour ago, KathieB said:

What is Amdro?...

https://www.amdro.com/all-products/ant-block-home-perimeter-ant-bait-granules

Basically it's grits with an ant-specific insecticide; the workers tote it into their nests and feed it to their queen, too, and the nest is usually gone in a few days.

[sparklepuppies]

We're going to have to do the same thing for some pesky fescue in our front yard. Wait for the Bermuda to go dormant and then spray it. We've been saying for years we need to, so maybe this will finally be the year! Be sure to post when you do yours, so that can be my motivation!

We finally found some crabgrass killer that works and doesn't mess with the Bermuda, so that has helped.

[KathieB]

2 hours ago, havanaholly said:

https://www.amdro.com/all-products/ant-block-home-perimeter-ant-bait-granules

Basically it's grits with an ant-specific insecticide; the workers tote it into their nests and feed it to their queen, too, and the nest is usually gone in a few days.

I'm not crazy about chemical warfare -- I'll stick to the Lysol spray. It takes out large anthills with a couple of doses.

[havanaholly]

Lysol is also a chemical:

Examples of active ingredients used in Lysolproducts: Ethanol/SD Alcohol, 40 1–3%; fluid that acts as sanitizer. Isopropyl alcohol, 1–2%; partly responsible for Lysol's strong odor; acts as sanitizing agent and removes odor. p-Chloro-o-benzylphenol, 5–6%; antiseptic.

[KathieB]

1 hour ago, havanaholly said:

Lysol is also a chemical:

The entire world and everything in it is made up of chemicals. To each his own.  

[KathieB]

New post -- tune in to read about the Destroyer of Armies -- me!  

[havanaholly]

We used to get tent caterpillars in Havana.  They'd munch through the new shoots on a few limbs, apparently die and that would be it for a couple of years, until a new bunch showed.  They only seemed to go for the oak tree.  Yours look like a totally different critter.

[KathieB]

New battalions of caterpillars showed up the next day (Sunday). I had to squirt a few more interlopers yesterday and today, but the main invasion seems to be stemmed.

New blog entry as the screened porch project gets under way: A Construction Emergency? 

[havanaholly]

When we redid the downstairs bathroom in our house in Havana the plumbing contractor kept having to work "emergencies" in & around our job; what he promised would take ten days took nearly three months.

[KathieB]

Spent two hours weeding this morning. Lots more to do after our recent rains, but I can see the difference, which is encouraging. Will be back out tomorrow to continue, maybe even this evening. Definitely time to edge the flowerbed again. Am pulling the creeping grass as I weed. Will edge when weeding is finished (she says optimistically). 

The purple balloon flowers are blooming again, nearly as vigorously as they did in the spring, bless their hearts. If I'd know they had a second act, I'd have deadheaded them sooner.

[KathieB]

New post - There's an iris blooming -- in September!

[KathieB]

Six inches of rain last night ... yukk! New blog entry

[Sable]

Kathy, referencing the porch, if it hasn’t been painted, paint covers all sins, just like with dollhouses. 

[sparklepuppies]

Rain? Really?! 6"??  We got ZERO rain at my house!! It hasn't rained in days. And my trumpet plant "Mama Drama" is telling me all about it everytime I walk up the porch steps!

(and for random people that don't know, Kathie and I live maybe 50 miles apart.)

[KathieB]

2 hours ago, Sable said:

Kathy, referencing the porch, if it hasn’t been painted, paint covers all sins, just like with dollhouses. 

I think the paint (and about 30 pounds of caulk) are what is holding it together. The underlying construction is not well done. I've forbidden the boss to come back on my property. His wife says they will send someone to "inspect" next week. I think i'll contact the company that put a new roof on my house and see if they can re-roof the addition and seal the skylight.  

[Sable]

Oh what a disappointment! I’m so sorry to hear this. 

[KathieB]

9 hours ago, Sable said:

Oh what a disappointment! I’m so sorry to hear this. 

Thanks. I'm beginning to think that the photos of decks and other stuff on the company's Facebook page, the quality of which sold me on hiring him, are photos of somebody else's work. I'm kicking myself for not contacting prior clients for recommendations. It's humbling to realize that I'm just another old fart who got hoodwinked by a con artist and not the woman of the world I thought I was. *sigh*

[havanaholly]

See if there are any contractors in your neighborhood.  Our nextdoor neighbor is a contractor who worked with power plants, but he knows all the local guys.  He recommended the gentleman who built our workshop and back porch, and both buildings cost about 20% of the price the advertised porch guy quoted us.

[Sable]

Kathie, should you ever hire another contractor, have them call me. I know all the right questions to ask for licensing, insurance, permitting, draw payments and contracts after working in construction for over 25 years. I’ve been involved with the building of over 10k homes and numerous commercial projects such as Walmarts.