mitchent86 asked:


I just bought a new home last year with no landscaping, so all spring that is all I have been doing. Unfortunatly, because we had to put up new trees and new beds I just planted my bulbs about two weeks ago (mid may) and some have yet to arrive (a set of cally lilys I will plant when they arive the first week of june). The bulbs of I planted are Dahlia, Iris and Gladiolus. I have already mulched about two inches over the dirt, will that impede their first growth? This is my first home and I am new to gardening, so any other advice not pertaining to the question would be helpful as well. Thanks!

MOISES

Meeps asked:


I prefer not to use animal-based fertilizers, which means making my own. I bought the first four of these items to do that, but when I calculated amounts for a 5-6-5 fertilizer, they were very different from a recipe I found online (http://www.motherearthnews.com/Organic-Gardening/2006-06-01/A-Better-Way-to-Fertilize-Your-Garden-Homemade-Organic-Fertilizer.aspx?page=3). Also, I don’t know how much compost to use in soil and by how much to reduce other fertilizers in it when I do, if at all.

Our home is landscaped with small trees, bushes, hostas, ferns and flowers. I may plant bulbs this fall and I would like to grow some vegetables in homemade self-watering containers next spring using the earthbox method (dry fertilizer mounded under a waterproof cover) and grow wheatgrass and dirt sprouts indoors (sunflower, buckwheat and pea).

For container soil I have coconut “peat”, some of which I mixed with regular peat and perlite. I prefer these materials because Vermiculite is hard to find, expensive and energy intensive to produce (I’d prefer not to use perlite either for the same reasons, but thought it neccessary) and I’m concerned about the depletion of peat from peat bog habitats, but thought the mix needed some amount of it. I welcome your suggestions for affordable, ecological, effective potting mixes, especially for self-watering containers.

CECILY

babydancingnlovinit asked:


My husband and I just moved into a new home and the previous owners landscaped the front of the yard, now it is spring and I don’t know if things need to be cut back etc. I am new to gardening so I have no clue what I need to do. There are some green stems starting to come up (maybe tulips?) that I think should be okay and will just grow in. But there are also a few of what look like bushes, but they are not woody and you can see that they had flowered last summer and they are obviously dead now but I don’t know what they are. Any suggestions of what they might be would be greatly appreciated, also any advice on what if anything I need to do to them would be great. I am just totally clueless about gardening, so any advice on what to do in the spring to landscaping would be great.

JEANETTE

monicafaithartist asked:


I moved into a home that already had plenty of landscaping done, and one thing was a small hill alongside the top of the driveway planted entirely in daffodils…… diagonal rows of daffodils. I like them and would like to keep them. Every other row blooms at one time (pre-spring), then every other row blooms at another time (later in the year), so that half the daffodils at a time are in bloom. There are a few bare spots and such that I’d like to tidy up, only I can’t do anything without knowing what to buy that will match and bloom with the others, at the right time. I haven’t been able to nail down what’s what. They look to be trumpet daffodils and they are solid yellow. Half of them are in bloom now; they bloomed halfway through February. The other half, best I can remember, bloom at the end of the summer. The blooms tend to last several weeks and they are very hardy flowers, nice size. I’m in central Carolina, Zone 7b. I do have photos if someone thinks they could identify them this way. Can anybody help me nail down what to purchase to add to what’s there?!?!

DIXIE

Landyn’s Momma <3 asked:


We bought our first home last July and the landscaping is awful. This spring we want to dig up all the old crap around the house (dead bushes, old limestone…) and put down new topsoil and plant some flowers and trees/bushes. We will be putting down river rock over top and want to put up some nice edging as well. We have easter lillies coming up right now and we would like to save them and re plant them. What else will look nice and bloom well in Ohio weather? Flower suggestions for the front of house with lots of sunlight? Tree/bush suggestions? (I want something that is dark purple in color )

KYNA

Stephanie P asked:


I am considering purchasing a home that was foreclosed on 3-4 months ago- the home had extraordinary landscaping including 3 mature birch trees and 2 huge japanese maples (all in-ground). They now appear to be dead. Is it possible to revive these trees? Much thanks!

SAGE

Landyn’s Momma <3 asked:


We just bought our first home last July and are clueless how to landscape around the house. Right now all that’s around the house are ugly bushes that are dead. This spring we are digging up the bushes and we have bought landscaping stone (the multicolored gravel) to go around the house. Does anyone have any good ideas or suggestions on what to plant? I want colorful flowers that will come up every year and some trees that are mauve in color. I haven’t a clue what to get! Help!

DECEMBER

Manju331 asked:


Upper Level - 1 master with small 3/4 bath; 2 guest bdrms; 1 full bath
Mid Level - front room and kitchen
Lower Level - office; 3/4 bath; and family room with fireplace.

We recently had a new roof and siding put on and plan on landscaping the front for “curb-appeal” in the spring. In the meanwhile, we were hoping to get some ideas on how to spruce up the house DIY style.

Initial thoughts are:
1) Replacing vinyl flooring in all bathrooms with ceramic tile.
2) Refinishing kitchen cabinetry (their all wood)
3) Putting in laminate wood flooring in kitchen.
4) Replacing appliances (they’re all probably 10 years old) if there’s money left.

Any advice or other suggestions.

IRISA

gatetrek4 asked:


I am deaf, but wear a cochlear implant that lets me hear pretty well. But in social situations it is almost impossible. He (my husband) always puts me in those situations knowing I cannot hear and says things like “what’s wrong with you can’t you understand a simple question.” I am now having such trouble with the implant that I cannot hear at all and they have found a growth behind it . It is serious and I am dizzy and in a lot of pain most of the time. He refuses to drive me anywhere and tells me he is tired and to f-off. If I even voice an opinion about him leaving egg in the kitchen floor,he yells at me to stop nagging and to thank him for taking in the garbage. I cannot have a conversation with him about any grievence because he never ever lets me finish a sentence. My daugther just had a baby and they live with us and he complains that it is to expensive and calls the baby the little bastard. My daughter works and contributes every paycheck, always. My daughter suffered a brain tumor five years ago and he says stuff like she needs another one to teach her a lesson. I have to beg for grocery money (my name is on none of the accounts) and when he does give me money and I spend it on exactly what he tells me to, then I am a spend thrift that spends too much money.I have not had a hair cut in three years, still wearing a winter coat from 4 years ago and wear my daugher old shoes and jeans.I need a lot of dental work, I am losing my two front teeth and he will not pay the co pay to fix them. That is just me being selfish and vain. I am only allowed enough gas money to take my son to school and back and to the grocery store and to pick my husband up at work . He is a professor at a major college. I cannot have an opinion and am repremanded for having one that differs from his. But, you see, I am stuck. For one I am deaf even with the implant it is hard in public to communicate really well. I am 44. with three kids ages 22 20 15 I do have some college and am a very good writer. But I have not worked outside the home since my first child was born in 1986 with my first husband. All three kids are from my first marrage. I get along well with my ex. I have no friends, I am not allowed. And if my sister in law or brother comes to visit, my husband acts like the nicest person in the world. He has shoved me several times and even tried to push me out of a moving car. If I have an emotion, any emotion he yells for me to calm down or accusses me of being on drugs, and to shut up. Sometimes, like lately with the concern about my implant I cry. He just tells me I am a witch and to shut up. He says so what is it you want from me. And all I ask for is a hug. He says go hug yourself. This is just the tip of the iceburg. There is no way to explain the way he thinks. If he loses his keys, glasses anything (and he does it often) he always says someone in the house has taken them to hide them from him. No way. And then he goes wild and runs and screams through the house. I have tried to talk to his family (who by the way are all normal and very nice) but they live in different states and they do not believe it. So, I have tape recorded a lot of it. What can I do if anything. I am completely dependent on him financially. My parents are 81 And live in Vegas. They send me money sometimes but they don’t know the entire extent of what goes on. They have experienced some of it when they visited here a couple of years ago and are very afraid for me. My mom says she would go get on my knees and beg for welfare before she would take it. But I am deaf and very unsure of myself. Do I have any legal recourse (he is also a lawyer and knows most of the attorney’s around here). I just need some advice and would love to tell more of some of the things he has done. If I did, most of you all would not believe that a normal human being could even think the way he does. He always assumes my son is having sex with his girlfriend on the couch when we are three feet away, we are and they are all doing drugs. Nothing could be further from the truth. He says my 15 year old son needs to get a full time job to help support the family (my husband makes about 140,000 a year) then he says he needs to take more time to study and make straight A’s. My son just received 2A’s 1B and 1C. The C was in spanish and he is just having trouble with it. My husband says he is lazy and needs to study harder. But he also needs a full time job. He does work part time with his father landscaping in the summer and spring and snow removal in the winter. He pulls his weight here and is very respectful. There is no winning with my husband. But I fear I am stuck. Any advice would be appreciated. I just hope he don’t hack into this as he has done with my e-mail. Any help, please feel free. And if you think I’m crazy just say so. Maybe he is right and I am just nothing but a dumb, deaf, witch.

LEVERETT

Sue asked:


I’d really like to look into having someone landscape our yard in the winter because I will have more time off and can be home to keep the dogs away from the workers. I live in alb, NM and it can get pretty cold, thus the ground can be pretty hard. Is this realistic or should we wait til spring?

NATALIE