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Misc 2018 Banter & Venting Thread

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J.C. said:
So what kinds of trees or shrubs have you guys planted in your yards lately?
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Azaleas, Redbuds, Viburnum, Clematis, and Oakleaf hydrangea
 
There was a cardinal nest with 3 speckled eggs in one of my bushes very near a window that I first spotted 5 days ago. This was exciting and interesting. I was looking forward to observing and hoping to see the babies. It was fascinating to see momma (beige with a red beak but not red all over) doing the hard work of constantly looking out for predators while trying her best to remain on the eggs. I never saw daddy near the nest. It was also fascinating to see how well hidden the nest was as it was on the side bordering my house and thus unexposed to the yard side. Also, I noticed that each time momma returned, she would sneakily come up from underneath instead of flying to the top of the bush and letting predators know where the nest was.

Unfortunately, when momma was gone, I noticed one of the 3 eggs was gone a couple of days later. Even more unfortunately, yesterday I found the nest on the ground with no eggs. I was saddened. I'm guessing a predator got the eggs at night. This shows how difficult it must be for a small bird to actually have hatched babies. The momma was dedicated to protecting the eggs for probably a week or more and yet it was all for naught. :(

The nest was put back up on the bush but I don't expect it to be reused.
 
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Today is the 10 year Anniversary of the Mother's Day Tornado Outbreak in Georgia. I remember that morning so well. Where I was at, it sounded a lot worse than the actual damage that occurred. However, most of the streets in town were blocked by fallen trees. It was a mess.
 
SD said:
Magnolia, azalea, muhly grass

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Tarheel1 said:
Azaleas, Redbuds, Viburnum, Clematis, and Oakleaf hydrangea
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You really can't go wrong with Azaleas. I just bought a house in east Cobb and there is literally no landscaping, all oak/hickory cover. I need some type of greenery in the front that can handle the shade.
 
J.C. said:
So what kinds of trees or shrubs have you guys planted in your yards lately?
Click to expand...
What works down here may not work up there, so I'll forego suggestions ... except one ... plant at least 8 feet away from your house (10 feet from the exterior wall if possible); it gives roots room without compromising the foundation, allows the plants to form a natural shape, and really preserves the exterior paint ... keeps mildew and bugs off/away from the exterior (plus, with a good heavy bed of mulch about a foot out in front of the plants' faces, spread back to the dwelling, it deceptively makes the homestead look bigger, and reduces the amount of lawn to mow, as well) ... ;)
 
J.C. said:
You really can't go wrong with Azaleas. I just bought a house in east Cobb and there is literally no landscaping, all oak/hickory cover. I need some type of greenery in the front that can handle the shade.
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I love azaleas but they can get fickle when they are out of filtered shade. How much shade are you looking at? I would recommend hostas, rhododendrons, and gardenias if they aren't in full sun

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Bermuda seedlings are coming up purple I see that it might be phosphorus deficiency. I I'm really nervous about hitting it with more fertilizer. Any suggestions

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SD said:
Bermuda seedlings are coming up purple I see that it might be phosphorus deficiency. I I'm really nervous about hitting it with more fertilizer. Any suggestions

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Did you get the soil tested? Purple tips is normal btw.
 
NoSnowATL said:
Did you get the soil tested? Purple tips is normal btw.
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This stuff has been purple for about 5 days. My test plot was purple for a few days until I hit it with 10-10-10.
No soil test I majored in soil science and thought I had it under control. My big thing is not really being familiar with bermuda grass and I've never really seen any grass purple. When the rye was living it would turn gold until fertilizing. I got some lesco starter 18-24-20 and broadcast this evening before watering.
I'm just worried about losing 2 full days of tilling and 10 of water
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SD said:
This stuff has been purple for about 5 days. My test plot was purple for a few days until I hit it with 10-10-10.
No soil test I majored in soil science and thought I had it under control. My big thing is not really being familiar with bermuda grass and I've never really seen any grass purple. When the rye was living it would turn gold until fertilizing. I got some lesco starter 18-24-20 and broadcast this evening before watering.
I'm just worried about losing 2 full days of tilling and 10 of water
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You should be fine, I would just water daily in dry patterns and let Mother Nature do her thing. Water and heat is all she needs at first, Bermuda germinate in 2 weeks and grows pretty fast. I would roll the yard and not use fertilizer until the grass gets established. And if you have pets or kids I would keep them off, seedlings are very sensitive to foot traffic and you don’t want the soil compacted. I’m sure you know this but as you I major in this as well at UGA. If you want something hard try growing centipede grass. SMH. You doing everything right it sounds like. Good luck
 
NoSnowATL said:
You should be fine, I would just water daily in dry patterns and let Mother Nature do her thing. Water and heat is all she needs at first, Bermuda germinate in 2 weeks and grows pretty fast. I would roll the yard and not use fertilizer until the grass gets established. And if you have pets or kids I would keep them off, seedlings are very sensitive to foot traffic and you don’t want the soil compacted. I’m sure you know this but as you I major in this as well at UGA. If you want something hard try growing centipede grass. SMH. You doing everything right it sounds like. Good luck
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Thanks I appreciate the insight. Not a fan at all of centipede I wish zoysia seed wasn't so expensive

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J.C. said:
You really can't go wrong with Azaleas. I just bought a house in east Cobb and there is literally no landscaping, all oak/hickory cover. I need some type of greenery in the front that can handle the shade.
Click to expand...
If it’s real shady, like 2-4 hours of full sun or less, try hostas,camellias sasanquas, aucubas, yews, camellia japonicas. Or hydrangeas, the blue or pink ones ( the. Colors depend on soil acidity: blue= acidic soil, pink: alkaline soil
 
GaWx said:
There was a cardinal nest with 3 speckled eggs in one of my bushes very near a window that I first spotted 5 days ago. This was exciting and interesting. I was looking forward to observing and hoping to see the babies. It was fascinating to see momma (beige with a red beak but not red all over) doing the hard work of constantly looking out for predators while trying her best to remain on the eggs. I never saw daddy near the nest. It was also fascinating to see how well hidden the nest was as it was on the side bordering my house and thus unexposed to the yard side. Also, I noticed that each time momma returned, she would sneakily come up from underneath instead of flying to the top of the bush and letting predators know where the nest was.

Unfortunately, when momma was gone, I noticed one of the 3 eggs was gone a couple of days later. Even more unfortunately, yesterday I found the nest on the ground with no eggs. I was saddened. I'm guessing a predator got the eggs at night. This shows how difficult it must be for a small bird to actually have hatched babies. The momma was dedicated to protecting the eggs for probably a week or more and yet it was all for naught. :(

The nest was put back up on the bush but I don't expect it to be reused.
Click to expand...
Cardinals are very neat. They mate for life, the females do most of the work, in all aspects of their lives! Females are always at the feeders first, to make sure it’s safe, then males come in! All cardinals are born with female coloration/markings, as they mature, they either stay female( females of course) or gradually turn to all bright red ( males) the nest and eggs probably won’t make it, but they can have 3-4 batches of eggs a season! Research brown-headed cowbird; that’s a really interesting bird! It actually never makes its own nest, it lays its eggs in other birds nests and those birds feed and raise them!
 
Rain_Cold, maybe your A/C will be a simple fix. Low Freon or stuck capacitor or something!? They do always break at the hottest times! How old is the unit? Our A/C guy said 10 years is fantastic life for ones these days! Ours totally died last year after several years of “ band aid” fixes, it was right at 20 years old, and it was a Trane brand! Replaced it with Ameristar brand, that’s supposed to be Tranes “ economy “ version! But the efficiency and difference in power bills, is amazing! Good luck, and yes, a window unit will get you through, but so will a hotel, or visit to Moms!:cool:
 
ForsythSnow said:
Planted some oakleaf hydrangeas and two cryptometia trees.
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I'm going to have to google cryptometia trees, I've never recall seeing them before.

pcbjr said:
What works down here may not work up there, so I'll forego suggestions ... except one ... plant at least 8 feet away from your house (10 feet from the exterior wall if possible); it gives roots room without compromising the foundation, allows the plants to form a natural shape, and really preserves the exterior paint ... keeps mildew and bugs off/away from the exterior (plus, with a good heavy bed of mulch about a foot out in front of the plants' faces, spread back to the dwelling, it deceptively makes the homestead look bigger, and reduces the amount of lawn to mow, as well) ... ;)
Click to expand...

Duly noted, the last thing I want or need is roots penetrating a house built in 1973 with a basement. I'm definitely with you on the mulch.

SD said:
I love azaleas but they can get fickle when they are out of filtered shade. How much shade are you looking at? I would recommend hostas, rhododendrons, and gardenias if they aren't in full sun
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Some of the yard stays 100% shaded. Right in front there are three azaleas, but I'm not sure which kind they are. Both the back and front yards are basically shaded by black and scarlet oaks. Rhododendrons aren't a bad idea either, those need the shade.

Tarheel1 said:
If it’s real shady, like 2-4 hours of full sun or less, try hostas,camellias sasanquas, aucubas, yews, camellia japonicas. Or hydrangeas, the blue or pink ones ( the. Colors depend on soil acidity: blue= acidic soil, pink: alkaline soil
Click to expand...

I can tell you are well versed in this area, I have some learning to do. My wife loves blue hydrangeas, so a couple of those would fit in nicely. I would guess my soil is slightly acidic with the oak-hickory composition of the trees, but without having it tested I can't really be sure.

My left neighbor has a chain link fence in his back yard, against that fence is the only part of the yard that gets decent sun. I feel like most people would plant leyland cypress there, but I was thinking something more native like Virginia Pine, is that a bad idea?
 
ForsythSnow said:
I just realized I misspelled it. It's cryptomeria. They are a somewhat fast growing tree that is planted quite a bit around here.
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I gotcha, yeah those look kinda like Arborvitae. They are definitely all over the place, and they look good too.
 
ForsythSnow said:
I just realized I misspelled it. It's cryptomeria. They are a somewhat fast growing tree that is planted quite a bit around here.
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Yes they are a contractor ideal plant for new construction due to the low maintenance and fast growing. It’s a great plant/ tree for privacy and shade. They are everything around Atlanta.
 
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J.C. said:
I'm going to have to google cryptometia trees, I've never recall seeing them before.



Duly noted, the last thing I want or need is roots penetrating a house built in 1973 with a basement. I'm definitely with you on the mulch.



Some of the yard stays 100% shaded. Right in front there are three azaleas, but I'm not sure which kind they are. Both the back and front yards are basically shaded by black and scarlet oaks. Rhododendrons aren't a bad idea either, those need the shade.



I can tell you are well versed in this area, I have some learning to do. My wife loves blue hydrangeas, so a couple of those would fit in nicely. I would guess my soil is slightly acidic with the oak-hickory composition of the trees, but without having it tested I can't really be sure.

My left neighbor has a chain link fence in his back yard, against that fence is the only part of the yard that gets decent sun. I feel like most people would plant leyland cypress there, but I was thinking something more native like Virginia Pine, is that a bad idea?
Click to expand...
Yes, I would strongly advise against Leyland Cypress! They are now dying everywhere around here! Bag worms and other diseases are killing them off! There is a great alternative called Arizona Cypress “Carolina Sapphire “. It grows almost as fast and to the same sizes as the Leyland Cypress, but has bluish foliage and grows about 5 feet a year and is very drought tolerant.

And as far as the blue hydrangeas, 97% of clay and soils around here are acidic
 
Also, a good screen plant for the sunny fence line privacy screen, could be Camellia Sasanquas. There are types that easily grow 10-15’ tall and wide, with many flower color options, they are evergreen, take full sun to full shade
 
Tarheel1 said:
View attachment 5202
There is a great alternative called Arizona Cypress “Carolina Sapphire “. It grows almost as fast and to the same sizes as the Leyland Cypress, but has bluish foliage and grows about 5 feet a year and is very drought tolerant.

And as far as the blue hydrangeas, 97% of clay and soils around here are acidic
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Agreed, in 2006 my family planted both Leyland and Arizona Cypress trees at my childhood home. Almost all of the Arizonas', are still standing. One took irreparable damage from the foot of heavy snow we received last December. While with the Leylands, all but one have since died.
 
I just noticed that after having had no posts for nearly a year once southernwx.com was made the permanent replacement, the wx forum site that gave birth to this one has had 13 posts from 4 different usernames since late December of 2017 with the last one being made in late April. They don't all look legit, however. The last post was about cleaning tile floors with a vacuum cleaner lol.
 
Tarheel1 said:
Cardinals are very neat. They mate for life, the females do most of the work, in all aspects of their lives! Females are always at the feeders first, to make sure it’s safe, then males come in! All cardinals are born with female coloration/markings, as they mature, they either stay female( females of course) or gradually turn to all bright red ( males) the nest and eggs probably won’t make it, but they can have 3-4 batches of eggs a season! Research brown-headed cowbird; that’s a really interesting bird! It actually never makes its own nest, it lays its eggs in other birds nests and those birds feed and raise them!
Click to expand...

Thanks for this info, Mac! I noticed that the female cardinal is normally at the feeder first though I thought that was to let the female eat first while the male carefully watches from nearby and is ready to come in and protect the female if needed.
 
GaWx said:
I just noticed that after having had no posts for nearly a year once southernwx.com was made the permanent replacement, the wx forum site that gave birth to this one has had 13 posts from 4 different usernames since late December of 2017 with the last one being made in late April. They don't all look legit, however. The last post was about cleaning tile floors with a vacuum cleaner lol.
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Link? I don't even know it

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SimeonNC said:
It's amazing how fast this site has grown in a little over a year.
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There have been lots of folks, FS, Charlie, SD, Metwannabe, Shawn, Whatalife, Packfan 98, Webb, Larry ... just to name a few (and pardon me for excluding so many more, but this is just a sampling), who have really worked hard to give us all a great place to visit, converse, learn, and most importantly, be civil ... :D
 
GaWx said:
Thanks for this info, Mac! I noticed that the female cardinal is normally at the feeder first though I thought that was to let the female eat first while the male carefully watches from nearby and is ready to come in and protect the female if needed.
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A pair of wrens have been building a nest in my hanging basket all day! It’s amazing that they can do this in a day! They’ve both been building all day and they make a fairly complicated nest, with a dome and side entrance!
 
pcbjr said:
There have been lots of folks, FS, Charlie, SD, Metwannabe, Shawn, Whatalife, Packfan 98, Webb, Larry ... just to name a few (and pardon me for excluding so many more, but this is just a sampling), who have really worked hard to give us all a great place to visit, converse, learn, and most importantly, be civil ... :D
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Phil,
Thanks for including me in your list! But in addition to other valuable posters left out because your list is just a sampling as you said and at the risk of us sounding like Sammy Maudlin and Bobby Bittman from SCTV ;), you are more than worthy of being around the top of the list. Besides your much appreciated work on the Wiki along with FS, this site wouldn't be anything like it is without your consistent enthusiasm as well as efforts to keep discussions going.
 
GaWx said:
Phil,
Thanks for including me in your list! But in addition to other valuable posters left out because your list is just a sampling as you said and at the risk of us sounding like Sammy Maudlin and Bobby Bittman from SCTV ;), you are more than worthy of being around the top of the list. Besides your much appreciated work on the Wiki along with FS, this site wouldn't be anything like it is without your consistent enthusiasm as well as efforts to keep discussions going.
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Very undeserved, but really, Thanks!
 
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