A lot of animals do eat bulbs. I have a problem with squirrels - either they eat them or just relocate them. That was driving me nuts, because I KNEW where I'd put them. so why were they coming up other places? And why were things coming up I hadn't even planted?

The squirrels had swiped 'em from the neighbors!





You can keep the thieving down a bit by planting a piece of chicken wire over the bulbs if you want. It's hard for them to dog through that. Just make sure the holes are big enough for the leaves to grow though.

Give them a little Bulb Booster food, and dig em up if they stop blooming well, spread them out. Put them where they get a few hours of sun a day.

This is one of the best tips I got from the local nursery.

Instead of planting directly into you large decorative planter, try this. Plant your flowers or whatevers in one of the 1 gallon (or what size fits) ugly plastic planters you get plants from the nursery.

Slip that into your decorative planter.

Then when you want to change your flowers, you can just pull that plastic thing out plants and all.

Your nice planter is easier to clean. And if you have to move it, you can take out the heavy dirt and plants and move that, then move the heavy planter.

I don't know if that'll be enough sun for a rhododendron... Cheryl, what do you think?

I have crimson barberry that do well in rough soil (and after just yanking that shrub, the soil may be weird) with only am sun and very little lovin'. Down side is, they have TEEF, lol. They have nasty thorns, so that's a drag. But they have gorgeous color all year and tiny red berries.

Too pokey for bunnies to eat, but really pretty to look at and *they say* finches will nest in them if they get tall enough (over 4 feet). They grow slow - mine are still under 3-4 foot and they're 8 years old.

A picture of the front of the house. Also, should I cut off the left section of the Arborvitae tree? It really does look lopsided.

The big bush in the front is a serviceberry shrub. DH hates it, but it gets white flowers in the spring, then red berries that the birds love. The Robins make a hilarious display of yanking them off the branches.

It leafs out for the summer, then turns bright orange in the fall, and it has smooth graceful wood branches. I know this isn't evident from the distance. Behind that in the corner next to the porch is my poor, abused Burning Bush that the bunnies munched on in the winter.

So, there would be a rather shady spot behind the serviceberry that would only get a few hours, then next to the Arborvitae, a sunnier spot.

The reason I wouldn't want them to be TOO tall is because I don't want the windows to be blocked.

Idea: Would it be practical to try to move the Serviceberry to the backyard? I might have more options in that case.

I have blue rug junipers growing in front of and on both sides of the serviceberry. They provide a home for my toads when I have the birdbath set up on that cement base.

My flower garden is way to the right out of the picture range.

Attached Thumbnails

 

That sounds good Brain! I'll put that on my possibility list!

Saskatoon Serviceberry or one of the Serviceberrys. They are in bloom right now. They flower first and then leaves form.

Update from my gardens... It's been about 60 out. So I cleaned out two more flower beds. Everything is coming up. Which is unusual - they normally come one thing at a time, but I guess since it stayed cold so long, they didn't get a chance.

I've never had a year like this though, to rake back the leaves and stuff and see ALL the plants at once... very cool!

The crocus are still blooming and the daffs are just starting to open. You can see the tip-tops of hyacinth buds inside the leaves, and the tulips leaves are about 6-8 inches high.

All the perennials - except the really late ones, the hibiscus and passionflower which come in June - are coming up, even the bleeding hearts and clematis. Now to figure out what's what.

Okay ladies, currently there is mulch all around my house and around my shed where of course my plants are. I hate it because it sticks in my dog's fur and of course he brings it into the house so I have pieces of bark EVERYWHERE! I have decided to instead replace it all with stone/pebbles. Now of course considering my health I need this project to be as simple as possible. What do I need to do to the ground before I lay the stone? I'll rake up and remove the mulch first of course, but do I have to go through laying down that weed fabric or whatever it is? I guess I just need to know what the process is?
Thanks!
Jess

Putting down weed fabric under rock totally depends on the type of rock. If the rock is heavy, I do recommend it because the rocks will eventually erode into the soil. However, if the rock is light, there is no need for the weed fabric. It is a waste of money. Weeds grow on top of it as they grow in any type of organic material that will collect on top of the weed fabric.

Other negatives for weed fabric are the cost; you cannot move plants or add plants without cutting more holes; once you cut a hole in it, now you've created a place for weeds to grow; and you have to factor in the irrigation system - is it going to be on top or under the weed fabric?

My suggestion is no weed fabric. It's a pain in the butt. Put down enough rock to adequately cover the area, at least 2" deep and you should be good to go.

We rarely use it unless the rock is very heavy and such as the big permabark type rock and most homeowners don't like it anyway.

I just finished reading the post about weed mats under mulch, and agree that it's an expensive way to go.

The house we're in now already had that thick plastic under the mulch when we moved in, but it looks unsightly where it's exposed in places. I wouldn't use it again given the choice .

My cousin is doing something similar at her house. She's thinking of using the thick plastic underneath the mulch, but we were discussing the option of using layers of newspaper instead. That wouldn't cost anything as she'd just be recycling newspapers, but is it effective in keeping down weeds under mulch?

Over to you ladies......what are your thoughts on the newspaper option.

Thank you in advance.