let's talk dirt...

Yes! Lets!...



Brilliant album!

decides2dream wrote:

i've seen this product in one of my gardening catlaogues. dunno if it works, but it's meant to be a humane/environmentally sound way of keeping kitties out of your garden. it looks to be some little hard plastic mat with short little spikes on it, not sharp really......but supposedly it annoys cats to walk on so you are meant to put them around areas you want cats to stay out of and it acts as a deterrent. i'll see if i can find it online and come back and link.


well that was easy
hereya go:

http://www.gardeners.com/Safe-Cat-Deter ... lt,cp.html
scatmats

I tried those several years ago. They didn't work for me. Although in all fairness I had such problem with a pack of feral cats that my neighbors used to feed, NOTHING was going to work for me. The only thing that finally worked was when the neighbors moved and the cats had to fend for themselves. The cats moved on as well. Now there are only about 3 of them left.

I spent the whole weekend working in my garden. I planted perennials and did lots of weeding in my flower beds. But the most important thing was I finally planted my blackberries! I've been trying to do it for a month. Every weekend I've either had commitments or it's been raining. Last Sunday my husband was able to borrow my neighbor's little tiller and till up the bed for me. Another neighbor brought me some compost on Saturday for the bed. I think everybody is looking forward to some blackberry cobbler!

Yesterday I finally got my plants in the ground. I've had 6 plants sitting in pots for ages. I tried to get a variety of the types that do well in North Texas so I planted 3 Brazos, 1 Shawnee, 1 Choctaw, and 1 Damfino (the tag fell off). I was really anxious to get them planted because it's supposed to rain all week. It started raining this morning so I'm happy.

I've grown blackberries before and they don't take a lot of effort. I just hope my dogs leave them alone while the plants are still kind of small. When the bed was first tilled my dog Penny thought the dirt was great place to lie around in. Even after they were planted she still seemed to think it was her spot. Blackberries are pretty tough plants but dogs and gardens usually don't mix.

When it comes to stealing the blackberries I agree the biggest problem is usually birds. I remember from my past experience that I had to get out to pick berries first thing in the morning. I'm not worried about my dogs eating the berries, just trampling the canes while the plants are still kind of small.

For now the bed is outlined with rocks. I keep telling them NO! when they walk on it but apparently all that nicely tilled dirt is just so cool and comfy! I'm trying to think like a dog but I just don't get the appeal! Last night they were very tired from "helping" me all day in the garden. For years I've said that Shetland Sheepdogs are the biggest garden pests but they rarely cause me any problems. Or maybe I've just gotten used to gardening with dogs.

dawng wrote:

whoprincess - I'm so surprised to hear of anyone planting blackberries! On purpose! They are a weed around here - my kids always come home with purple fingers when they go out on bike rides. They are a pain in the neck to keep out because of the lovely job the birds do in spreading their seeds!

My sister lived in Washington years ago and she told me the same thing about blackberries. But the difference between there and Texas is that it rains where you live!

Actually, my experience with blackberries is that once you get them started they DO grow like weeds. But since it's hot and dry in this part of the country they need supplemental watering to get established. Eventually they will grow so thickly they send up shoots everywhere but even if I couldn't pull them up, they would get mowed over if they come up in the lawn.

I wanted to grow them because my husband likes eating blackberry cobbler and blackberry pie. I used to make blackberry jelly too.

Those beds look so neat and nice!

i kill every living plant known to mankind.

kudos to you gardeners!!! must be great!

libragirl wrote:

ah, what a let down..I thought this was about talking shit.

So did I.

decides2dream wrote:

waiting...........

What are you going to plant?