I have nothing to say, but here is an update on the exciting goings on at Casa Steve.
It was hot as hell yesterday and today. It will be hot as hell tomorrow.
I bought a willow tree today on sale at the nursery.
I soaked a bunch of wisteria seeds and put them in three inch peat pots.
I spent a lot of quality time with the dogs, who do not like the heat. Lily took three steps outside onto the deck this afternoon, looked at me and basically said “screw this,” turned to go back inside, stopped, turned back around, pissed on the deck, then turned back around and went inside. I just muttered “right on, I understand” and walked around it.
Picked bout a quarter bushel of peas, and then ruined my dinner by eating so many of them while shucking them. The pea vines were so hearty I am not even planting them in a bed next year. I’ll just plant them around the fence and let them climb that and use the bed for something else.
Whoever suggested Monty Don on Netflix is my hero. Before my nap today I watched another episode, and a woman who had a daughter (well, presumably still has) chronic fatigue wanted to turn her unused lot into a nice garden area for the child to relax and enjoy. Her finished product was “interesting”:
I hope I am not the only one to observe this woman has chosen to erect a giant penis in her back yard.
That’s about it for me. Time to rage watch some House Hunters I dvr’d.
Sarah in Kingston
Wisteria will take over your life and try to tear down your house. Proceed with caution.
Tams
This right here, for so many reasons, is why I love you!
JeanneT
Can I make a music offering? Richard Shindell’s Wisteria
Amir Khalid
My first thought was, “That looks like a squatting toilet.” (You can still find them in Asia,)
Suzanne
What ended up happening with the grading and drainage problem?
schrodingers_cat
That would be me. I recommended Monty Don’s show.
John Cole
@Suzanne: We’re seeding and planting a willow tree and we’ll see if a rain garden is necessary next year.
NotMax
Be very, very, very careful where you plant that willow. Roots will find their way into any and every pipe which contains moisture as well as do a number on any nearby foundation.
Also, repeating because of the TV mention.
New to me is Impossible Peace, apparently from History Channel – Australia. Wonderfully put together and globally wide ranging, with a pointedly acerbic but not inaccurate narration complementing the astounding array of historical film footage included, covering the years from the end of WW1 to the start of WW2. Stumbled upon it on Amazon Prime. Binge worthy series. A teaser.
NotMax
Italics fail. Fix.
Be very, very, very careful where you plant that willow. Roots will find their way into any and every pipe which contains moisture as well as do a number on any nearby foundation.
Also, repeating because of the TV mention.
New to me is Impossible Peace, apparently from History Channel – Australia. Wonderfully put together and globally wide ranging, with a pointedly acerbic but not inaccurate narration complementing the astounding array of historical film footage included, covering the years from the end of WW1 to the start of WW2. Stumbled upon it on Amazon Prime. Binge worthy series. A teaser.
Pogonip
Cole, what do you mean by “rage watch”?
John Cole
@NotMax: The water and sewage lines are in the front yard. There is nothing but the natural gas line in the back yard and that is on the other side of the yard.
A Ghost To Most
Willow well away from foundation, water, sewer, I presume?
Eta Asked and answered.
Jager
What woman would not want a giant penis in her backyard?
SG
I second the wisteria warning. Do. Not. Plant. This. Invader! I bought my own f***ing old house in 1990 and I’ve been battling its established wisteria vines ever since. It will clamber over every shrub, tree and structure on its path to world domination. The only thing worse is oriental bittersweet. Maybe wild grape. Honeysuckle also sucks.
But you get the idea. Beware giving vines a home. You’ll never get rid of them.
Another Scott
@John Cole: Reposting – CBC on the joys of willow roots:
Sciencing:
Be careful…
Cheers,
Scott.
NotMax
@SG
Kudzu for the more northern.
@John Cole
Also too, should any of your immediate neighbors have a well or cesspool (in use or not), keep that in mind when it comes to planting location. Willows are aggressive, there’s no getting around it.
John Cole
@NotMax: They do not. The water and sewer lines run down the street in front of my house, and everyone’s water and sewage is in the front of the yard. I HAVE LOOKED INTO THIS.
We have city water and no one has cesspools or wells.
Suzanne
@NotMax: @Another Scott: I don’t know too much about willows. The trouble we have here in the desert is that most trees are shallow-rooted and they undermine foundations. Do willows do that?
chris
Sort of garden-related. Happy Canada Day!
Jager
@NotMax:
My neighbor’s septic system feeds a eucalyptus next to my garage. The tree is cracking the garage foundation and has moved one of the walls about 3 inches. Trees are giant, slow moving, strong monsters. 10k to take it down.
jharp
“I bought a willow tree today”
Do not plant it on your property.
It’s a no brainer.
Gvg
Wisteria has an aggressive reputation in Florida. The only place I have seen that contained it while getting blooms was a lighting lamp seller who had it planted in a hedge type strip surrounded by blacktop parking lots and trimmed it as a hedge every year.
I enjoy gardening but like to do it for pleasure and not grim urgency. I am too lazy to deliberately plant aggressive invader plants.
For a rain garden would various pussy willows work bout be less”….potentially hard work in the future?
Sarah
@SG: Mine is fortunately confined to an arbor, but it’s still a huge yearly project to rein it in.
maya
Hey, John, I’m with you. Plant that willow wherever it will give you the best shade. In 1998 had my septic system installed with the new house which required two leach lines about 60′ feet from the house 8′ apart. A year or two later planted a 3′ redwood sapling near the end area of that leach field. Also planted two more in the backyard. 18 years later that leach field redwood is over 50′ high and looking strong. Backyard redwoods, not so much… bout 1/3rd the growth. Redwood likes the leach line and is causing no harm to the system. Just sucks up the nutrients. I check out the septic tank every year and clean the membrane filter that leads to the D box, no roots, no problem. Love that tree
Mai naem mobile
I think you should grow the wisteria on the willow and let them fight it out.
Another Scott
@Suzanne: Dunno. John has an old house with a basement, so a new tree’s roots shouldn’t cause foundation issues as for a new house on a slab. That’s my guess – but it’s just a guess.
I’m sure John has considered the size of the tree, the root issues, etc., etc., but it would make me very nervous to put a willow on such a small lot.
It may be too late, but this WaPo article and the comments might be something to think about.
Cheers,
Scott.
NotMax
@Suzanne
I’m certainly no expert on this, but have heard recommendations from those in the know to not plant a willow within 50 feet of a structure with a foundation. A common form of damage done by the roots is supposed to be from underneath; drawing water from the soil there causes subsidence of the foundation, which leads to cracking, etc.
Suzanne
@Jager:
Yes. We had a lovely jacaranda that was planted in the corner of the yard by a previous owner. It was much too close to the walls, and the roots undermined the foundation and one of the boughs would smash into the wall during storms. So we had the wall repaired and the bough removed…..which all but killed the tree. One of the two trunks of the tree (the one that didn’t have the bough) seems to still be alive down low, but we had to have the vast majority of the tree removed. It’s sad. And expensive. If we had had the whole thing taken out, including the roots, it would have been probably $8K. I’m hoping that it can come back to some extent.
Olivia
@Jager: Or anywhere, really.
NotMax
In moderation for some no doubt egregious infraction. Liberation requested.
Willows are also notorious twig shedders. Gets old real fast picking them up every time one needs to mow.
Suzanne
@Another Scott:
As with all things, it depends. Some trees send their roots deep, even when they’re young, and that can cause foundation issues if they’re too close. We had trouble with a tree cracking a basement wall in our house on Long Island. My grandparents had bought a Christmas tree with a root ball, and they planted it after the holiday. Within 15 years, the thing was enormous, and they had to have it removed and the wall shored.
Then they got a fake Christmas tree.
Chacal Charles Calthrop
I fully sympathize with Lilly.
Here in NYC during our April snowstorm (fond memory in all this heat) I was walking down the street when I saw a neighbor in a coat with pajamas on under it come out of her apartment building with her dog on a leash. They literally stepped just outside the door, the dog looked up at the human, the human looked down at the dog, the dog squatted, the human said, “Good dog!” and then they turned around and went back inside.
Steve in the ATL
@Suzanne: dude, it’s Sunday. Take a day off from architecting!
Another Scott
@Suzanne: Ah. Thanks.
Cheers,
Scott.
Yutsano
@NotMax: Kudzu is at least edible so that’s at least one point for it.
lol chikinburd
Can someone please explain what the hell has happened in Mexican politics? They finally elected a leftist President and I was like “Oh, PRD finally won”, and then I look at the results and PRD were in an alliance with PAN (!!!) and another center-left party and they lost, and lefty Obrador’s new party is in another alliance with ex-Maoists (ok) and right-wing fundies (!!!???!?). I’m confused as goddamn. How does that even happen?
namekarB
@Mai naem mobile:
Win! Also plant a kudzu vine and have a 3 way battle for world domination
Shell
Well, at least its a circumcised penis-shaped pool.
Mike J
I took four students on checkrides today and I’m very low on bourbon.
Steve in the ATL
@lol chikinburd: bottom line is that Mexican politics are massively corrupt and ultimately dictated by narco money.
Joseph A. Miller
@maya: In about a thousand years those redwoods will be fantastic.
A Ghost To Most
@namekarB: Honeysuckle in WBGV.
B.B.A.
@lol chikinburd: Meade should’ve campaigned more in Jalisco – the Wisconsin of Mexico.
Yarrow
Wisteria is very difficult to keep under control. You don’t like this hot weather? Too bad. That’s what you’ll be out in cutting back your wisteria, because if you don’t do it this week it’ll double in size by next week. Have fun!
HalfAssedHomesteader
Wait, you’re planting wisteria? On purpose? Are you mad!?
rikyrah
On a hot day like today, I did a marathon of Pool Kings. Love that show.
Mike J
@A Ghost To Most: Blackberries in the PNW. It’s amazing how much people spend every year on goats to eat it.
Aleta
Oregon Public Broadcasting
Steeplejack
@rikyrah:
I like Pool Kings and the other one (Insane Pools?), but they are frustrating, because they never do one exactly like I would like. (I’m always mentally planning the one for my lotto dream home.) I like the natural “lagoon” ones, but I’d also like a lap lane, maybe even just 20 meters. And I don’t want the big “theme park” effect.
Sister Golden Bear
@namekarB: Add some horsetail for a battle royal!
frosty fred
Whatever you think of wisteria, no one needs “a bunch” of them unless you plan to go into the business. And compared to cutting-grown plants, seedlings can take forever to reach blooming age–so you’re looking at years of training and pruning with nothing to show for it in the way of flowers.