Royce, you do bring a chuckle, never boredom! I have a tree service dump their chipped up wood here on the front of my property nearest the highway. I have four huge piles out there. I mulch everthing and use preen around my TB iris. I spend a whole lot less time weeding with all the free mulch! I like to avoid the chemicals but do have the roundup handy for poison ivy and sumac. Well you have fun tomorrow and hopefully it won't be raining on you! We've been getting much needed rain here since Friday and they are talking a dusting to 3 inches of snow come Monday evening.... time will tell ... I hope they are wrong! Last week I planted several DL seeds outside in shoeboxes covered with that wonderous stuff they call Glad Press N' Seal. Didn't want the rain washing all my dirt out of my plastic shoeboxes! No green yet!
Didn't mean to keep mumbling but that seems to be what I do best.
Nancy

Mumble away because I enjoy the thoughts and plans of everyone.

You will love the pvc and T arrangement - not pretty and wish we hadn't moved the seedlings out of the field into the "garden" section but eventually they will go back to the field. I can read the labels, standing up without my glasses. If the pvc falls over during the winter, the hole is easy to find and you can put them back up and not wonder if you have it in the correct place.

Have you ever used Trimec instead of Round Up? I think it is a combination of the RU chemical and 2-4-D and can be over sprayed on daylilies and kills more weeds. The other thing we are adding this year is Basagran T/0, which stands for tropical and ornamental. Hubby talked to Norris and this stuff kills nutsedge and won't harm the daylilies but I think (and that's scary) he said to do it prior to scapes. I will check with husband later if I am remembering correctly. He said to spray the pest when it is about 3" tall. RU will kill it but it takes repeated sprays. We only have one season of seedlings in the field now and that is the area where the nutsedge will get the Basagran. By the end of summer, hopefully nutsedge will be history here.

We had several loads of wood mulch from a tree service dumped in the field last year so the newly cleared seedling field will have this wonderful composted magic stuff to add to the area. As soon as the chips were delivered, we got zero rain for the rest of the year. You guessed it, the centers of the stuff never got wet to get hot enough to compost.

numama if you are using Preen only once a year you need to step it up to three times a season. You have spring, summer and winter weeds to eliminate and it needs to be applied early, early spring, late spring and late summer. It should also be applied and then receive an inch of water to wash it down into the top layer of soil. If it stays on top, it only takes a couple of days of bright UV to break down the chemical and make it ineffective. We use Snapshot which contains the same chemical as Preen but in greater quantity plus an additional herbicide and it eliminates a larger variety of weeds. Treflan is another version of Preen but again, more concentrated than Preen. OK, that's all my knowledge about chemicals.

My plans for the day - lots of watering in the building. I judged a cocker sweeps yesterday in Louisville and spent the day as a lady, complete with make up and pantyhose. Today I can do some fun stuff.

Brooke

Thanks for the info on the chemicals Brooke! I've pasted those into my garden notes so I can check into them. I've been using the Preen twice a year. Early spring ... which I did 2-3 weeks ago and I will spread it again prob. late May. Yes I do water after applying. I'm just winging it here! LOL

ARGHHH the dreaded make-up and pantyhose! Have fun watering!

Nancy

Well, I bought the Ts and Glyphosate. While at Lowe's, I also took a good look at how they put their wheelbarrows together. I bought one a couple of weeks ago and was puzzled over one part (a brace). They did theirs a little differently, but looks like my way might be as good (I hope). The new one has two wheels on front for greater stability. I bought it a couple of weeks ago in Augusta. Of course, the main purpose in going to Augusta was to get the frames on my glasses repaired. One side (a temple?) was broken and I was tired of trying to keep my glasses in place with only one side to hook over my ear.

Prior to that, I had not left my property for nearly two weeks. Didn't want to get a lot of stares and it took that long to for the cuts on my head to heal. Still some scars, but not too bad. At least people don't openly stare at them. I'm sorta used to being stared at anyway, 'cause I'm nearly as ugly as Kelvin.

Don't think I mentioned it earlier, but I am working off and on with a new project. I am building a raised bed, which will have shadecloth (already has some) and plan to plant some seeds in that when I collect them in June. I have been filling it with the little compost I have. The STUPID one wheel wheelbarrow tipped over and in my trying to keep it from going all the way over and spilling the compost before I reached the bed, the STUPID wheelbarrow sent me sprawling and my head bouncing off everything within about 6', which included several landscape timbers. Granted, my head is hard, but have you ever felt (really felt) landscape timbers ('specially the corners at the end)?

I have often heard it said that it is as bad to think something as to say it, so I laid there and had quite a conversation. Don't remember daylilies being any of the words. Anyway, my glasses, although not in one piece, were still there the next day, so all is now well. Gotta get back to that project soon.

I thought I had missed something about your head and was just figuring you and Kelvin had a high ole time and you just didn't want to brag about it. Ouch - STUPID wheelbarrow - glad you got the one with training wheels. Hubby finally broke down a couple of years ago and got me the same one - I call it wheelbarrow with training wheels. Glad to know I am not the only clumsy in the world that can't balance that STUPID one wheel dude.

We are doing the raised bed thing in the seedling field too. Hubby was told this was the only way to "somewhat" control weeds but he thought he could do it without the work and expense. Nope, he gave up and now is the chemical king with raised beds on the horizon and the black landscape walkways. Here is another tip we learned from last year - if you use the landscape fabric, DO NOT put mulch on top of them. Weeds grow great in the mulch and root THROUGH the fabric. Sometimes, you just have to let Ma Nature prove a point.

In the beginning he thought he could tame this earth we own that has been nothing but a field since time began. No, nature has been tending that patch for centuries and she won. I am always astounded by the people who can direct plant seeds into the earth and be able to find them when they come up. Around here, the weeds would have killed the baby seedlings before they had a chance to grow. Hopefully in the next couple of years, the chemicals will be eliminated or greatly reduced the need but until then, we need help to tame the beast.

Now that you have your glasses back and operational, did you find any good seedlings today?

Brooke

"Wheelbarrow with training wheels" - very funny, but a great name. I have had a little problem with the STUPID wheelbarrow before, especially when I used it to mix concrete. Concrete is heavy and of course, I want to dump it in the trench and not in the yard. Never had it totally get away from me before. After this incident, I promised myself the first thing I would do would be to get my glasses repaired and the second, get a wheelbarrow with training wheels.

I have never used, or even heard of, Trimec. I looked up some info on it. If it can be sprayed on daylilies without greatly harming them, that is great. I can overspray to kill grass and overspray to kill nut grass, so if I can overspray Trimec to kill weeds, that will be great. You and I had a discussion regarding Basagran, on the discussion side of the forum. I have used it. IMHO it does not kill all nut grass with one application. I think it kills all that is showing, but there are other nuts, just waiting to sprout. My plan now is to spray future daylily areas at least one full year and possibly two with Glyphosate (same chemical as Roundup). On the older daylilies, I will then mulch with pine straw. I have to let the seedlings grow a little before mulching, or I have a tendency to cover them.

One word of caution about Preen, Treflan, etc. I think everyone knows this and it is probably ridiculous for me to mention it, but just in case - do not use this in an area where you will plant seeds. It will treat daylily seeds just like weed seeds.

Did not find any good seedlings today. So far, blooms have been a little disappointing. I am still probably 2 to 3 weeks away from peak bloom in the gh. I have been dabbing a little pollen, but nothing real exciting.

Long ago I had a wayward wheelbarrow. I ended up with a bruise on my leg, but the wheelbarrow broke a handle. Do you have any idea how hard it is to push a wheelbarrow with one handle just a foot long???. Finally got new handles, and then the barrow rusted out. I rebuilt the thing with a poly barrow, and now I'm fighting flats. Who else gets flat tires on their wheelbarrow? Are they cursed--I mean, even before Royce tangled with his? (Glad you've made a complete recovery, Royce!) I also have a little red wagon that I love. It's a Radio Flyer with soft tires, and I just wish it were a little bit bigger. Maybe what I need is one of your wheelbarrows with training wheels.

Lelia

Lelia, I can give you a solution to the flats. I kept having flats with my STUPID wheelbarrow because I use it in the woods when raking pinestraw. There is a guy in town, who has a business that does nothing but sell and repair tires. I mentioned to him one day, how aggravating it was. He suggested I put a boat trailer tire on it. Worked like a charm. Never had another flat.

WOW! You guys amaze me! I CANNOT IMAGINE using a wheelbarrow! I've NEVER been able to balance and push one of those things! I've had one of those durable heavy duty garden cart on four wheels! I haul my mulch in it. I mix my dirt in it. I pull the kids around in it ... you name it. I have a smaller one I started out with and then when I saw the bigger model, I got it. I also have one of those heavy duty metal garden wagons that I haul the plants around in.
Royce, glad you were not hurt badly ... know how you feel about those glasses tho as I have been wearing them all my life. I find myself arguing with my glasses quite a lot during the gardening season! LOL
Nancy
P.S. What does BTW mean?

Thanks for the reminder to not use a preemergent if you plant daylily seeds in the ground because they will keep them from germinating. We only plant out germinated seedlings.

The area in the seedling field that has been cleaned out still will get the RU or whatever to eliminate the nutsedge but the area with the seedlings that will bloom this year will get the Basagran - darn sure was hoping it would kill in one application since I'm sure the stuff is more expensive but the beast has to be eliminated. We had one area soooooo bad with it the stuff got bigger than the clumps of seedlings in that area. When we moved the seedlings to the garden area I blasted the clumps with water to get all of those tiny little white roots out of them. I had one clump in the new area that kept sprouting nutsedge and everytime it appeared, I dug the clump AGAIN to get it all. I ended up digging the clump three times, hope it made it through the winter!

I also have a little red wagon that I use for small loads! Wouldn't garden without it. The wheelbarrow with training wheels only gets used for the big jobs. I kept getting splinters in my hands from the handles so hubby painted them smooth. He will do anything for me to keep me productive, what a sweetie. Leila I highly recommend the wheelbarrow with training wheels. Our property is sloped and you don't really notice it until you make a bazillion trips UP the slope. When I have a heavy load, I actually pull it rather than shove it. You certainly can't do that with a STUPID wheelbarrow.

Brooke

BTW, I forgot to say BTW stands for, by the way.

Brooke

BTW = By the way. Nancy, I also used the STUPID wheelbarrow for mixing concrete. Not sure I could do that with the gardening cart. Anyway, I looked for a gardening cart recently. Could not find one locally at Lowe's or Home Depot, so bought the wheelbarrow with training wheels.

Brooke, I will be interested in seeing how well the Basagran works for you. My experience was that it worked well on nut grass that was growing, but more came up from the nuts still in the ground. Sorta like your experience in digging it. I am fairly certain it is only a post emergent spray, with no pre emergent help. Even so, that is lots better than trying to dig it up.

Too bad there isn't a preemergent for the beast that would kill those little nuts. If you elected to dig it out, it would take YEARS to eliminate. Not only do you have to get the nuts, but those very fine white roots will also reproduce it. It was the fine white roots that were growing in that clump I kept digging up. If it wasn't 33 degrees, trying to snow but drizzling rain instead, I would walk down and see if that clump survived all the digging and replanting.

You aren't the only one hybridizing Royce - I made several crosses this a.m. in the building. No, not on the JERRY NETTLES that is blooming, no, not on any of the attempted converted daylilies but on some hosta seedlings. I finally have some streaker hosta blooming with some of the heavy substanced blue/green hosta so I dabbed away. If you think marking a cross on a daylily scape is tough, try a mini hosta scape!

We have had one attempted conversion bloom the other day but it was not converted. When the cut off treated crown grows fast, they probably aren't converted. We do have several that we think are converted. The foliage is warty and warped and very slow growing and probably won't bloom until mid summer.

Back to the building, I'm still watering plants where it is bright and warm and I can pretend it is spring.

Brooke

I love the ads at the bottom of these posts. There are four ads for wheelbarrow and on the tree thread, there are four Japanese maple ads.

Thank Goodness, I am not interested in Hostas (no shade). Good luck with the hybridizing and conversions. I tried the seed conversion with treflan thing. Thought I had converted one from the way it looked, but it didn't. I was just mucking around and it would not have been anything great if it had converted.

The ad thing you mentioned, is interesting. I don't have any ads. When iVillage had all the floating, flashing garbage running amuck, I blocked everything. Too bad they did not stick to something like you are seeing. I would have no objection to that.

BTW! Der I feel stupid...NOT, just pretty ignorant to the cyberspace lingo.
Thanks for clearing that up. Ya'll have been quite busy! Love reading about it.
Nancy