Calling all thumbs - green, semi-green, black... Lets help each other!

Let's share the wealth, what do you think? Post your best tips, biggest successes and biggest failures so we can all benefit?

My first tip:

Know your landscape... Find out which direction each side of your house faces. Consider that plants that like full sun will probably do best on the southern side of your house. Because of the angle of the sun and because you don't have your house shadow to deal with. Then choose plants that fit the area! If you put a full sun plant in full shade... disaster, obviously. Many full sun plants will still grow well in part shade but the flowers may not be as plentiful and the plant might get leggy and gangly.

Biggest success:

Daylilies! There are SO MANY different shapes and colors, there has to be something you can find that you like. I had them in sandy soil in Long Beach, hastily dug them up and crowded them into pots and neglected the pots for a year while we moved, and finally put them in great soil here and the foliage so far looks better than ever! Plus, they multiply each year and you can divide them and spread the wealth around.

Biggest failure:

Impatiens. I KNOW I know everyone loves them! I got a few pots of New Guinea impatiens, the really big ones with the glossy leaves, and all of them got fuzzy mold on them and died. The little ones? They also perished for me. Who knows, it could have been the soil or environment, or I just neglected them. I don't buy annuals as much as I used to anyway, so it's not a huge loss for me.


By the way, I have magazines and books full of great tips so if you're all into this thread, I'll keep posting them.

Re: Calling all thumbs - green, semi-green, black... Lets help each other!

please post what you know ---- I just started to garden and am totally winging it. I do not know where to even begin --- between the overgrown vines, the ivy and the bushes that are 2x their normal size, I am afraid I am going to kill something good as I pull out the bad, so I am looking for ANY tips on what to plant in this zone and how and how to deforest my backyard.

Message edited 5/29/2009 7:35:51 PM.

Re: Calling all thumbs - green, semi-green, black... Lets help each other!

Were your impatiens in a sunny area? They do well in my semi shady garden, but not at the entrance to my co-op , where they get too much sun & not enough water. Double impatiens & new guinea impatiens didn't work for us.

My biggest failures were oxalis ( i forget what kind) & crocuses. I now longer do anything low crowing b/c my co-op's landscapers destroy them.

Biggest success--annual--impatiens
Perennials--splitting hostas--tso easy to do & we were so excited we didn't kill them!

daylillies, hybrid oriental lillies, hostas & a bleeding heart were there when I moved in & grow like crazy.

My other perennials are too new to count as a failure or success.

Re: Calling all thumbs - green, semi-green, black... Lets help each other!

Can you explain how to split a Hosta? ... I have 3 I'd like to split and replant. Do I take the whole plant out or split it while in ground?

Re: Calling all thumbs - green, semi-green, black... Lets help each other!

Good morning! This is our first serious year with gardening, prior to this we lived in a condo, where 1/2 flat of impatients were all you needed to do .

Today we are going to Cheap Sams to find some foundation plantings. The front door is East-facing, and we want slow growing, low maintenance type of plants for that area. The previous owners had a mish-mosh of everything, so we ripped everything out, and are starting new. We also have to figure out something for the Southern-facing foundation, again, I have no clue!

So far my 144 impatients are doing really well. Also, where I seeded in the yard where the koi pond used to be, has come in beautifully. I think I timed that well and with the holiday was home for almost a full week, so I was out there multiple times during the day watering.

Re: Calling all thumbs - green, semi-green, black... Lets help each other!

Re: Calling all thumbs - green, semi-green, black... Lets help each other!

my tips:

soil preparation... boring, hard work, expensive... and the most important part of gardening. don't just dig a hole and shove a plant in the ground!!!

planting a tree or a shrub? loop a soaker hose around it 2-3X and water daily for 30 min.... for some plants 2X a day.

impatiens aren't only for the shade... neither are hosta. both grow sucessfully in full sun! they just can't handle dehydration too well, so you have to water very regularly. Mulch is your friend in the battle against dehydration.

water lawns in the early AM.... not afternoon, and not at night.

in the afternoon, the light is focused through the water beads like a lens and it burns the grass and plants... and the water evaporates too quickly. in the evening, the roots stay wet too long, and it promotes mold growth.

and my personal preference... avoid high maintenance plants.... roses, daisies, old fashioned petunias... anything that needs to be deadheaded... or shrubs that constantly need trimming... way too much work, and makes gardening more of a chore than fun.

Re: Calling all thumbs - green, semi-green, black... Lets help each other!

When planting a veggie garden, make sure you follow the directions for the plant.

I planted my cucumber seeds as recommended, but not far enough away from the other veggies in the garden and the vines were everywhere - make sure to give them at least 3 feet of growing space away from other plants!!!

Re: Calling all thumbs - green, semi-green, black... Lets help each other!

- Hostas are your best friend in a shade garden.

- Coral Bells are almost just as good as Hostas when it comes to "almost hard to kill".

- know your sun exposure. How much sun you get and for how long in each spot of your garden.

- Follow the instructions of your plants care, sun exposure.

- If you start veggies from seeds. Start them MUCH sooner indoor than indicated on the packets.

- Don't mow your lawn on the lowest setting. It will save your lawn.

- Try planting some varigated Liriopes. They are great for borders, fillers in planting beds. There are very resilient too.

- Geranium are a natural bug repellent. Plant them in planters on your patio/deck.

- Get a good quality garden hose (like heavy duty or commercial grade). It will save you from frustration.

- Get garden tool with graphite or composite material handle. They last longer and are lighter than wood handles. They also limit "impact" on your hands/forearms when digging, raking, etc...

- Wear gloves. Use "rubberized" glove when handling dirt so you don't ruin your nice leather/fabric gloves.

Re: Calling all thumbs - green, semi-green, black... Lets help each other!

Re: Calling all thumbs - green, semi-green, black... Lets help each other!

Great tips ladies!

Regarding lawns, I completely agree with everything that has been said. In addition:

- Don't drown your lawn and waste water. You need 1 to 1.5 inches of water per every 7 days. That's it!! Long, deep, infrequent soakings are best. Watering more is not kinder to the lawn, it's actually detrimental to it. Here's how to find out if you need to water:

Low tech: Get a water gauge or even just a tuna can and put it somewhere out in the open on your lawn. Just remember where it is so you don't mow over it. Like my husband did. Three times.

High tech: Go to the National Weather Service site, choose Current Data, Last 7 Days, and choose New York. The map will show you the color for the rain, match it with the color bar on the right, and you're done. If you want to go back to it, click the button that says Update URL for Bookmarking and then throw it in your favorites.

- Mow at the highest setting or 3 inches. High grass is more powerful than many weeds and will give you a healthier lawn.

- Mulch your clippings. It's free compost! The lawn can use the blades as food.

- Sharpen your mower blades 2x a season. Dull blades rip the tips of the grass. Grass blades then produce peroxide which drips down the blade of grass and kills it.

- Don't fertilize between November 1st and April 1st.

- Dandelions denote a lack of potassium in soil. Make sure you dig out 4 to 5 inches of the root to get them gone for good and use a small amount of fertilizer that's normal for nitrogen and phosphorus but high in potassium. (10-10-30)

Re: Calling all thumbs - green, semi-green, black... Lets help each other!

This is a GREAT thread Greenfreak! I think you should rename it to "Offical Gardening Thread". And whatever else you might want in the title.

Let's see what can I add. Well if you take a look at my old pics in my albums, you will see how far we have come with our house. It's been a long 2 years, but we are getting there. Lot's of patiences and time, but it's worth it. We have done a lot of the work ourselves which has saved us a lot of money.

The front of our house is facing South/West, so it's in Sun for most of the day, except early morning. Here are pics of our landscape. Most of our front yard. Some are pics of plants I like with some names.
link The plants in the front love the sun and are easy to maintain. Just keep them watered a couple of times a week if it hasn't rained. Very low maintenance. Just some pruning to keep them in shape/smaller. I bought different color green evergreen type of plants that are there year round. The Daylilies & Hosta's are the only plants that aren't there year round.

Here is the beginning of our backyard project. Mostly sun for the hot part of the day. A major work in progress at this point. link We have a long way to go. All three of our ornamental grasses (the large ones) front the front beds, will be moved to the back yard. You can pretty much move these and split them whenever you want. They are really hardy and hard to kill. We just moved one over the weekend.


And these are Hosta's that were split off from our neighbor's. They look great this year.


We are still trying to grow grass in the center of our backyard after taking down the pool and decking. It's been a long road, but we keep trying. We re-seeded this weekend and put peat moss down. We also used Miracle Grow, so grow little grass, grow! I'm still deciding what other plants will go in that back area. I want some different colors, but too many decisions. Will post pics as we progress with the yard.

And here are some pics that I took two years ago and the Hick's Flower and Garden Show. Some names of plants with the pics. link

Any questions, let me know.

Message edited 6/1/2009 3:37:54 PM.