We may have another big landscaping project in the works.
Not to sound all creepy mysterious but nothing is finalized yet so I can't say much - BUT ... My Fella and I might be moving to another RV lot here at the golf course next season; a lot we can fully landscape.
for those keeping score at home, another lot change would mean 4 RV sites in two years
If the deal works out I wanna be ready. Over the past few weeks the internet has been my best friend, doling out free advice on:
- sun and shade perennials
- native trees to BC
- low maintenance ornamental grasses
- landscape layouts
- building your own veggie planters
- alternative ground cover, something besides grass
- why people mulch
If you're not into gardening/landscaping, you'll probably find this post boring, but I did learn some interesting things. You know those little plastic tags tucked into the plants you buy from the garden center - the ones that describe the plant and its ideal growing conditions? I've always wondered exactly what full sun or part shade meant in terms of daily hours:
- full sun means at least 6 hours of direct sunlight every day
- part sun plants need 3 to 6 hours of direct sun per day, morning or afternoon sun
- part shade plants also want 3 to 6 hours of direct sun per day, but preferably morning sun before everything gets too toasty in the midday heat
- plants in full shade or deep shade require less than 3 hours of direct sun every day or filtered sunlight throughout the day
It's a rough guideline, but it clears up some of the mystery of where to put what plant.
Another cool tidbit if you have a slug problem in your garden; slugs love beer. I should have remembered this particular fact learned during the niteclub phase of my 20's :)
From ehow.com:
"Slugs and snails are attracted to the smell of beer. Dig a shallow hole in the ground near an infested area of your garden and sink an aluminum pie pan in the hole so the lip is level with the surface of the soil. Fill the pie pan with beer. The mollusks will crawl in and drown. Remove the dead pests regularly and refill the beer trap every several days."
The thought of wasting good beer is kinda painful, but I might give it a try. Wonder what else I'll catch beside slugs. Maybe one of our neighbours...
Edited later to add: Hope yer having an awesome long weekend. The In-laws are all here for a family reunion/camping/golfing weekend and tonight is Burnt Marshmallow Night. Sadly, no photo evidence of the weekend exists since the official photographer (Uncle Coast Guard) left his lens cap on during the entire first night of pictures. Between that and Pa-In-Law trying to explain an adverb, it's been an interesting couple of days. Thanks for all the laughs, Out-Laws :)
Apparently the slugs die happy!
Posted by: Don | September 05, 2011 at 07:14 PM
Mr P
It's the least we can do for them, considering their fate :)
Posted by: kelsi | September 06, 2011 at 02:06 PM
Kelsi, have you found any great landscaping plan sites that aren't some kind of hugely labour intensive rock-star gardener plans? I'm just looking for some plain Jane quick growing stuff and it's almost impossible to "weed" (literally) through all the overly ambitious projects out there. I thought I'd maybe just drive through neighbourhoods and take pics of other people's yards. Sort of like a yard stalker.
Posted by: Jacq | September 12, 2011 at 09:27 AM
jjolie - thru my research I've stumbled across so many different sites that I can't keep them straight anymore. And there's no one site that has everything - you really have to "dig" around.
In the end I prefer your 'yard stalking' method - I do it too :)
What are you landscaping - front or back yard?
Posted by: kelsi | September 15, 2011 at 06:29 AM