I am a big fan of white hydrangeas! 
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We had boxwoods there earlier and I do not want to get those again. Iâd like the plant to not be over 3 ft tall if possible. We have plenty of space - so, it could be a couple of feet in width I would think.
H loves hydrangeas - has been asking me why we donât have any in our yard. So, that is definitely one weâll look into.
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There are miniature varieties of hydrangeas that would fit your space. Check your local nurseries!
So many varieties of hydrangeas! Different shape flowers, sizes, colors . Take a picture of your area and show it to a reputable nursery so they can make a recommendation.
I also prefer the white or white/green hydrangeas. Is your home brick or a color?
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Gray vinyl siding with a dark blue door.
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Love that look! (I have a navy door too). I think white hydrangeas would look wonderful!
Just be sure you read the tags to know how tall they are grow and such. There are the ones that are small-medium bush size and there are ones that look more like a small tree!
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Chicken Wire or Hardware Cloth metal screen might be a better choice. Birds and snakes can get entangled in plastic netting, but they donât get stuck in the metal and donât get your veggies. I think Chicken Wire would keep big birds like crows out but you might have to go smaller like Hardware Cloth (itâs metal not cloth) for smaller birds and snakes, maybe squirrels.
https://www.lowes.com/pl/Hardware-cloth--Building-supplies/4294934297?refinement=4294817428
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Thanks, thatâs good advice especially since I hadnât considered that plastic netting could be a hazard for birds.
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This is apparently a very effective crow repellent:
https://www.amazon.com/Realistic-Hanging-Lifesize-Feathered-Deterrent/dp/B07SGQMF4C/
One needs to move the fake dead bird around periodically, but it must be done so the crows would not see the person moving it.
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Was in Costco today and they had lots and lots of bare root roses and lilacs. Perhaps too early for us here in the New England area. Anyone here have experience planting/growing these bare root plants? The price is definitely enticing.
Given that we have over a month to go for warmer temperatures/spring, I would think we need to plant this in a container for now and then transplant it into the ground later on?
I think you are fine just buying and planting right now, as long as you can dig a hole, ground is not frozen. These plants are dormant and would normally be going through a cold winter otherwise. If you get them donât let them just sit around, be ready to plant them. You could always pot them up temporarily but I wouldnât want them to start sprouting before planting them in the ground so if you do I would keep them in a cold place.
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Not sure where you are in New England, but where I am, the ground is still frozen. I wouldnât plant until the ground has thawed.
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Not only is the ground still frozen, but we are still seeing snow :). Which is why I was so surprised to see these bare root trees at the local Costco.
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Those of us in the Midwest or 4 seasons annually are getting CLOSER to planting! Anyone germinating seeds indoors?
This was a very interesting article - I gifted it so everyone can read. The idea of not tilling and instead, lightly disturbing the soil before planting. I also think his idea of germinating seeds and then planting clumps interesting.
If nothing else, the photos of his garden are SO fulfilling and amazing to look at!!!
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There are a lot of videos on YouTube of him talking about this technique.
In my opinion, it sort of mimics what happens naturally in a forest where all of the plant and tree litter falls to the ground and decomposes in place. Only youâre putting down compost instead.
I donât grow many vegetables but I do use a lot of free mulch from Chip Drop deliveries about once a year. Started doing that about 4 yr ago. Here in AZ, everything breaks down very quicklyâŠa 12â thick layer of mulch will be 6â within 3 months. When we moved into the house, there was nothing in the backyard. The dirt was hard as a rock and had no organic material. Now there are worms everywhere and a slowly growing layer of black soil on top of the inorganic native dirt.
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There used to be a poster here who lived in Seattle (emerald?) and was a huge advocate of no-tilling gardening.
My grandfather did not rotate crops, although the garden got tilled. We had a beet bed, a carrot bed, etc. He also planted root vegetables in clumps.
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I am germinating seeds indoors in my AeroGarden. I will move them to pots in the next couple of weeks but canât plant outside until May. Once this batch is done I will start on the next batch of 50.
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Yup, I practice no-till. I leave most of the vegetable detritus in the ground over the winter, and in the spring I chop and drop - leave everything in the bed except for really big woody stems or whatever - and add a few inches of compost over the top. Sometimes Iâll dig a hole for a seedling and thereâs a thick stem or something left over, but I just move over a few inches.
I follow Charles on Insta and also watch his videos - heâs very inspiring, but he has lots of help and runs a market garden, so I try not to get too jealous.
It works well for me, plus thereâs less clean-up! Of course, the garden looks horrible all winter if youâre a Martha Stewart type. (Iâm a Martha Stewart type; this took a lot of inner counseling to get over myself.)
Seedlings - because I am taking Thing 2 on a college visit in the middle of my usual frenzy, Iâve only sown the â12 weeks before last frostâ seeds: various onion types, some flowers and herbs, and peppers. The bedroom is a forest by the middle of May, but right now there are only a few trays started.
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I do a lot of chop and drop, too. It bothers my next door neighbor a lot because she looks out her 2nd story window into my backyard and doesnât like to look at stuff which she thinks are âmessy.â Her yard has an entirely different look but to each his own.
Lately a gopher has been eating a lot of my Vetiver grass in the front and back yards. I just haul the dead stuff to the back and them chop it all into 4â pieces and drop it on the ground. Instant cheap mulch that I didnât have to pay for. The worms eventually will eat it, too, and it doesnât go into a landfill.
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We have a gopher here, too - 
! I wished him a happy Saint Paddyâs day by shoving some Irish Spring soap into his tunnels. Smell that! 
Will be starting my veggies this week. We are resurfacing the deck, and my contractor unfortunately cannot predict when the permit will be issued (itâs complicated). So no idea when I will be able to use the deck for gardening. I decided that if I have to move my pots off the deck, I will move them into husbandâs truck bed to keep everything high up off the ground and safe from deer and rabbits. Then we will move everything back on the resurfaced deck.
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