Gardening for Beginners

Patio plants

jhnbaker41 — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 19:07:51 GMT

My wife wants to put green plants on our patio that has virtually no sun. We had put ferns that were beautiful on the patio but they died we feel because of lack of sun. She has several medium sized pots next to the door and is looking for plants that will survive little or no sun. What do you suggest? Thanks!

Asparagus and Rhubarb

Plays in dirt — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 01:18:52 GMT

I'd like to harvest asparagus and rhubarb next spring. Can I get sets for these someplace and plant them now (August/Sept)? I know that each takes a few years before harvesting but are one or two year old plants available now for zone 5?

Thanks to anyone who can help me.

MCKR

Vines

apilot — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 19:09:40 GMT

Looking for a vine that I can plant in the ground that will scale up 10 ft and extend and grow through the pergola that is over our garage door. Looking for one that has a red bloom. We live in zone 7 and the winters sometimes reach 20-30 degrees F for a few days. Thanks.

Planting bulbs

Plays in dirt — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 18:08:11 GMT

I have a 4' x 4' area that I would like to use to plant bulbs. Can I plant fall bulbs and spring bulbs together at the same time and then follow in the summer with some annuals, without digging up each seasons bulbs before I put in the next and the annuals?

I would like to have this section of my garden have a succession of bloom from spring through fall.

I'm thinking of fall crocus, small early spring bloomers, and some annuals from seed or transplant.

I need suggestions

majormayborn — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 19:38:32 GMT

Hello My name Is (code name) JC. I have been thinking about starting a garden for veggies and fruits in a 7 to 8 zone. So my question is what are a few good plants, for me the beginner, to start growing; and any other tips are more than welcome I love advice.

Sincerely

An apprentice gardener JC

Optimizing Pollination?

lallilayne — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 20:07:01 GMT

I recently bought a Honey Crisp apple tree to add to a small orchard, not realizing it was self sterile. So now I'm getting a Dolgo Crabapple to pollinate it. Here's my question: How far apart is too far apart for pollination purposes, and how close is too close for when they are mature? I want to make sure to optimize pollination without crowding. Thank you!

fruit tree pollination

tom phillips — Sun, 29 Mar 2009 16:37:29 GMT

this is not so much a message but a question. to pollinate say a cherry tree,is it only another cherry tree that will pollinate or will other types of fruit trees pollinate the tree? do they only need to get pollin or does it have to be pollin from another cheery tree?

Hawthorn

Ted Pro — Sat, 04 Apr 2009 17:22:08 GMT

Crusader or cockspur, or washington, or downing?? Crusader, Why can't I find what I want? Why do the tell me they are the all same? Yet, I read thier charactistics are different. Where can I find a multistem, (2) stem CRUSADER HAWTHORN ?

planting honeycrisp apple tree

Mary Madden-Pniewski — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 21:45:37 GMT

I am about to buy a honeycrisp apple tree. I was researching on the net and found that I should have another species of tree in the area to pollinate it. How close does it need to be? Can I plant one tree in the front yard and one in the back? My yards are kind of small.

Cyclamen

mshrabak — Sat, 28 Mar 2009 21:42:01 GMT

Hi,

I was given a potted Cyclamen back in January. It bloomed beautiful pink flowers for a long while. Over the last month I noticed that there was less and less blooms but lots of buds. Lately, there would be one lonely bloom at a time. Then, one day, to my surprised, as I was cutting away the yellow leaves, I noticed a bud that had opened with a “mouth” full of seeds!

Is it possible that all the other buds could be filled with seeds?? I found on the internet that cyclamen seeds come in coiled seed pods. But I didn’t see any coils. And these “buds” don’t stand up straight link the stems that would flower, they kind of hang of the edge.

If all of these buds are filled with seeds – that A LOT of seeds. I’m excited, but don’t know what to do - kind of like a nervous mother. J

Do I wait until the stems shrivel up before I harvest the pods?

Thanks,

Maria

Perrenials for walk way w/rocks

seabeefam — Sun, 22 Mar 2009 00:20:25 GMT

Does anybody know what would be a good perrenial for a walk way w/ rocks. Live in south, zone 9. Thanks!!

bignner gardening tips

denial kujur — Wed, 24 Dec 2008 13:22:29 GMT

hi here is Denny for u for the giving idea to bigness of gardening if u want to make your garden uniqe with all of the diffrent flowers and diffrent vegtebaels beautiful very useful plants please visit here

Orange pollen

Robert Clymer — Sat, 20 Dec 2008 16:36:53 GMT

I saw on TV, an over seas pear tree farmer that had to pollenate his own trees for the reason that the bee population had declained so badly. I have the same problem with my one and only orange tangerine tree. So my question is where do I get orange pollen so I may pollenate my own Orange tree. I would like more oranges than one or two. I was told for each blossom I could get an orange. I do get a lot of blossoms but only a couple of oranges. I hope someone may help.

Thank you

Bob Clymer

newbie question

babu — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 09:48:15 GMT

Blah bla

help with trees

tldga3 — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 18:33:37 GMT

Can anyone refer me to a good book on what to do with acorns, hickory nuts and walnuts from the woods? I am mainly interested in planting seeds and tree transplants from the woods to my empty lot.

In a hot place

tryintogrow — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 21:08:12 GMT

Hello all. I dig this site and it has tons of things to choose from. Problem is, I can't figure out exactly what will grow in my zone without dying. Phoenix to be exact. A couple questions, and I'm hoping someone may know the answers

I noticed this acristocrat flowering pear tree is zone 9 (which I am) but I've read some other forums that say we're a really bad zone 9. Don't know what it means but hey whatever.

Second is a Red Crape Myrtle.

Thanks for any help guys.

Hawthorne Crusader

kgard — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 10:59:32 GMT

We need a tree in a very sunny location next to our driveway. (This spot is between our driveway and a neighbor's driveway). I have done a little research on the Hawthorne Crusader but do have some questions.

I read that the Hawthorne Crusader is sensitive to fall planting (hard time the first winter). Is that true?

When would be a good time to plant?

Is it thornless?

Does it have an odor?

Disease problems?

Any information would be appreciated.

ground cover

janmchilders — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 00:44:44 GMT

I live in Alabama and my soil is rocky and dry. I would like to plant some sort of ground cover but I don't know which one. Does any one have any suggestions?

stargazer lily

anthonyb21 — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 04:19:29 GMT

Hello everyone.

My Daughter loves Stargazer Lilies, but with her living in PA she does not have much of a summer. So my question is if I repot them into a big flower pot what are the chances of them living indoors? She has a kitten and a five year old son, is there anything that she must be careful of (danger to the cat or her son) What kind of light do they need?

My thoughts were a medium to large pot on wheels or one that will sit on a try to catch the over flow of water. I would place one of those matts on the bottom and then fill it up with soil. What about feeding and watering them? Now I know there are some of you out there laughing you heads off at this post but I am just starting out with this whole flower and gardening hobby. My father died two years ago,he was the green thum but I want to try for him.

Thank you all for reading this post, hope you it brings a smile to you.

Tony

Waves of color!!!

astrolt — Mon, 05 May 2008 00:46:34 GMT

My new home has about a 300 foot driveway. to the left is the front yard lawn surrounded by many flowering trees. to the right I have 30 x 300 foot blank canvas at the woods line. I am new to gardening, but have always found waves of color blossoming all season long to be a most interesting challenge, at least in my mind. I can see this giant stage begging for a major production. The tough part now is finding plants that will bloom all season & or layering this area with plants that will bloom different colors at different intervals. Please, any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks, George.

New Home - New Garden

sumimasen — Sun, 04 May 2008 11:29:04 GMT

We have moved to our new home last October and the garden has been quite barron. As the weather has been very unpredictable so far, we havn't had the chance to do much gardening yet, apart from clearing all the weeds and bramble. Nevertheless, to my amazement the whole garden is covered with bluebells now. It looks very pretty....so mother nature has done her work this spring...it'll be a shame to have to dig up all the bulbs, but for the moment we are just enjoying the 'blue sea' of spring flowers...

PATRIOTIC FLOWERS

savitbound — Sat, 03 May 2008 20:40:24 GMT

What kind of shrubs to plant in a wet area?

Ritochka — Mon, 17 Sep 2007 18:31:09 GMT

Could you please suggest what kind of shrubs to plant in a very wet area between two lawns, our neighbor's and ours: we both water our lawns and water stays on the border of 2 lots all the time. We planted three bushes but they died and three holes left full of water. A willow tree is not an option in our case. Any advice on how to make it works?

Thank you,

Rita.

My favorite flowers

crystal — Wed, 12 Sep 2007 23:31:22 GMT

What are yours- some of mine are below:

Blue Flowers

Sepia Flowers

Lollipop Lillies"

PINK TULIPS

Sunflowers

Garden Size?

britjojo — Thu, 13 Sep 2007 15:26:45 GMT

How big is your garden? Do you have gardens both front and back of your house?

How do you decide how much garden to give over to growing vegetables, and how much for looking pretty?