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Location: ๏̯͡๏﴿ Gwinnett-That's a Civil Matter-County
2,118 posts, read 6,373,478 times
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lol!!!
Yes it certainly is especially with high maintenance and poorly adapted exotic plants like hydrangeas and turfgrass and other high maintenace money wasting plants.
Heres an idea for you.... replace the troublesome plants with natives or start from scratch by letting it return to natural area. Mother nature is the best landscaper.
I think someone hit the nail on the head in saying that I don't enjoy it as much because it was not my creation. I think if i got to design, layout, choose all the plants and watch them come to life it would be more rewarding.
It still is fun seeing the new flowers come up in the lawn and seeing that my maintenance is actually working, for the most part. but everytime someone gives me a compliment on the yard i feel its not my compliment to receive since the garden wasn't really my creation.
Anyways ill keep at it just cause I love the look and it completes the house. I do have a small area around the deck which has mulch beds with nothing in them. maybe I can make that part my own.
A few people said to get rid of the bag a bug, but how else can i control the beetles? there are a TON of them. I have been knocking them off and stepping on them, but there has to be over 100 of them on the grape vines. Is there something i can spray them with?
Quote:
Originally Posted by karen_in_nh_2012
Chris, I think your yard looks lovely! What part of New Hampshire are you in? I just bought a house on 1.29 acres in southwestern NH and I am loving it, although I don't have a clue yet what I want to do with the yard. It has lots of shrubs (and LOTS and LOTS and LOTS of trees) but few flowers. For this year, I am just planting annuals in containers and putting them in my front yard. I don't want to do too much until I think it through (e.g., my back yard is huge, at least compared to the 30'x100' back yard at my last house, but I don't want to just plant stuff without any kind of plan).
I really like the paths and other landscaping you have too! Very nice!
I think someone hit the nail on the head in saying that I don't enjoy it as much because it was not my creation. I think if i got to design, layout, choose all the plants and watch them come to life it would be more rewarding.
Two opportunities for control -- when they are in the "grub" stage (yes, those are the grubs the killer powders in the store are designed to control) and when they are in the beetle stage.
Grub stage -- dry powders/pellets that go into your lawn and kill them in larval (grub) stage. Early summer, late spring (normally). Triazicide, etc.. (look for the bags with the picture of the grub.)
Beetle stage -- Sevin powder works (it also kills all other insects that land on the plant, including bees and butterflies). Liquid sprays that say they kill ***. Beetles will work as well. I don't know if they have any residue, so they may be better for just killing the bugs on the plant at the time of spraying.
Certain plants seem to attract them more than others (roses, rose of sharon, apple trees I have noticed to be some of the worst).
Even if you eradicate them from your yard, you are at the mercy (if you have plants that attract them) of your neighbor's yards.
Personally, we treat our own yard/beds (grub killer) and then spray the affected plants as necessary.
It doesn't totally eradicate them, but slows them down and minimizes plant damage.
and ... I HATE japanese beetles.
(nothing worse than cutting a beautiful rose bloom only to realize its full of feeding beetles).
regarding beetles. knocking them off and stepping on them is not the best use of your time. you have to hand pick them and dunk them in a cup of gasoline. too many will fly away just by knocking them off.
try milky spore disease in your lawn. yes i know you need to get your neighbors to do it too but it will help a bit if you control your own property with milky spore disease (a natural bacteria). Theoretically bugs will not attack healthy plants but I don't know about grapes. I usually spray my ornamentals for beetles but i'm guessing that is a no no for grapes.
look up care of grape plants. again cultivate friendships with neighborhood gardeners. they will be a wealth of valuable and practical info.
Thanks for the info. The beetles only seem to be attacking the grapes, I have 3 apple trees that have no beetles at all.
I did notice that i had grub in the grass this spring, so i did treat the lawn, but apparently it doesn't kill grub that's already growing, it just stops them before they hatch? so next year should hopefully be better with the grub/beetle issue.
1st house - down South, hardpack clay, no landscaping, only pine trees and bahia grass. Plowed up the whole yard, mixed in horse manure we 'harvested' from a neighboring farm, let it lie fallow for a year, then put in not only native plants for shade and flowers, but roses, peach trees, sand cherry bushes, raspberries, etc, with a large vegie garden in the back; even a greenhouse where I started all of my plants. Laid everything out. I HATE GRASS, so my main expenditure was mulch... This took 20 years of almost constant experimentation and work - and I had at least 2 full-time jobs the whole time.
The local government ordinanced out my trees and flower gardens in the front yard - grass only, and it had to be only so high - so I sold out (for 3 times what we paid for it) and moved...
We bought a 100 year old house and 60 acres of mostly pasture - but three acres of it was road frontage. The only thing notable for plantings were two lilac bushes in the front yard, several honey locusts, a cottonwood, and two gorgeous silver maples for shade; and a couple of sad and dreary 'specimen' plantings, mostly around a decorative octagonal pond in front... everything else was overgrown crabgrass, sandburrs, even some cactus. In four years we have planted 125 fruit trees, lots of daylilies and other perennials, and filled them in with annuals as we went. Some things live, some don't; we immediately replace the latter.
Things I've learned -
Landscaping cloth - heavy-duty - saves you a world of weedy anguish. First plow in manure and compost, then "Staple" it down, cut and plant, seeds or starter plants. Cover with a mulch.
Japanese beetles are the spawn of Satan - and the best way to treat for them is to use the lawn fertilizer in the spring and fall that has beetle killer in it. Also spoke to a UNL Master Gardener who said - if you must spray, spray in 20-foot strips on the OUTSIDE of your plantings. We have a problem with grasshoppers - they will even eat screen and siding - so we spray "Tempo" in strips outside of the garden, and between the house and pasture.
Anything green (like clover) in a lawn is good - except catcus and sandburrs. Those you have to dig out and haul away or burn.
Annuals fill in while you plan your perennials. The short and various-colored sunflowers are awesome and fast-growing.
If you don't like it, either plant other things around it - or rip it out and start over.
Simple (perennials) are better. But you need a variety. I am fond of daylilies, canna lilies, and now have an assortment of (hopefully) hardy mums that will bloom in fall.
Growing your own is not only better for you but provides more flavor than you can get in a store.
The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. Failing that - now.
Draw out what you have, and plan what you want (grid/graph paper helps). Investigate companion planting, but plant things you want and like. Don't expect too much the first year or five; just keep gradually adding and subtracting til you get what you want.
My yard went from overgrown and under-appreciated to notes on my FB page from neighbors - "Just drove past your yard; looks amazing!" in 4 years... but.. 'everyday I'm [out there] shufflin!' grin
1st house - down South, hardpack clay, no landscaping, only pine trees and bahia grass.
That was me 4 yrs ago when we moved from So. Cal. to N. Alabama and my introduction to the "hard clay soil". Being a stubborn guy, I refused to admit defeat and, with a single pick, I dug 7 holes (4' diameter X 1' deep) to plant young trees. I did not know simple tricks like wet the ground to soften the soil before digging and I chose a cold month of April to do this. After that, I could barely walk and lift my arms for 2 weeks.
But now, I look over my yard with pride at the Maple, Redbuds, Cedars and the fruit trees I've planted. Some are now over 15 ft. tall. The two raised beds have brought our household lots of enjoyment and good eatings. The reward is greater and more satisfying after you put in your sweats (and lots of it during the summer here in the south !) & hard labor of love.
BTW, the yard is beautiful. It looks to me like it was worth all the work.
Seriously. I'd kill to have my yard looking half that good.
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Being a stubborn guy, I refused to admit defeat and, with a single pick, I dug 7 holes (4' diameter X 1' deep) to plant young trees. I did not know simple tricks like wet the ground to soften the soil before digging and I chose a cold month of April to do this. 
After that, I could barely walk and lift my arms for 2 weeks. 
