| Posted By |
Message |
| Pages: [1] 2 |
greenfreak
.
Member since 9/06 11483 total posts
Name:
greenfreak
|
I have to share this one with you
I'm kind of proud of myself right about now.  I discovered a great slug & snail control completely by accident, as a by-product of something else I was already doing, and I wrote on my "Green Garden Tips and Tricks" Facebook page.
I wanted to share it with you, in case you're not a Fan. And if you're not, WHY NOT?!  I kid, I kid.
Here's the link: Green Garden Tips and Tricks
|
Posted 7/9/10 2:06 PM  |
| |
|
Long Island Weddings
Long Island's Largest Bridal Resource | Prudential Douglas Elliman Real Estate |
RocPin
Life's Beachy <3
Member since 2/08 6765 total posts
Name:
Heather
|
Re: I have to share this one with you
Good work! Who would have thought but it does make sense considering how acidic pine needles are. Thanks for the advice
|
| Posted 7/9/10 5:36 PM |
| |
|
Mrs007
Im obsessed w my lil man!
Member since 3/09 2528 total posts
Name:
K
|
Re: I have to share this one with you
Wow thats great! I love your green advice since I am trying to be more green inside and outside my home.
And yes I am a fan on FB 
|
| Posted 7/9/10 5:54 PM |
| |
|
CallaLily
Thank you, Saint Gerard!
Member since 10/07 4937 total posts
Name:
|
Re: I have to share this one with you
I'm a fan now! Thanks for the tip!
|
| Posted 7/9/10 7:38 PM |
| |
|
AimeeE2006
Time flies!
Member since 1/06 5698 total posts
Name:
Aimee
|
Re: I have to share this one with you
Pine needles?! Who would've thunk. We have 2 pine trees in our yard and my neighbor behind us has them lining his backyard - so a lot of those needles fall in our yard too. We need to do a complete cleanup of our gardens - and our mulch is old and faded. I'm thinking, maybe we'll try the pine needles...easy to come by in my yard and FREE!
Thanks for posting!
|
| Posted 7/9/10 9:17 PM |
| |
|
greenfreak
.
Member since 9/06 11483 total posts
Name:
greenfreak
|
Re: I have to share this one with you
Thanks guys! Here is how that shade bed looks now... I had to put the little fence in because the dogs haven't quite gotten the idea that it's off limits in there. Hopefully I'll be able to take it out when the plants are fully grown in.
|
| Posted 7/9/10 10:47 PM |
| |
|
AimeeE2006
Time flies!
Member since 1/06 5698 total posts
Name:
Aimee
|
Re: I have to share this one with you
I really love the way the pine needles look - almost gives it a forest floor feel. Too bad you didn't live by me - I need all the gardening help I can get!
|
| Posted 7/9/10 11:06 PM |
| |
|
greenfreak
.
Member since 9/06 11483 total posts
Name:
greenfreak
|
Re: I have to share this one with you
That's part of why I started that FB page Aimee, to help! I don't need to live near you to do that... Post a question on my wall, I promise to answer.
I like the woodsy feel too, that's why I leave the stray leaves in the beds. I don't like sterile, perfect gardens. I like real, comfortable ones.
Message edited 7/10/2010 12:17:06 PM.
|
| Posted 7/10/10 12:15 PM |
| |
|
LisaI
Momma's Little Beans
Member since 1/06 3923 total posts
Name:
|
Re: I have to share this one with you
You would be surprised to know that most homes down South use Pine Needles for their beds. I could never understand why people used it (as we do) over rocks, mulch, nuggets.. but it makes total sense. We have no issues with termites, bug, slugs and whatever else. Well, spiders of course.
|
| Posted 7/10/10 12:24 PM |
| |
|
MommyofG
just the girls
Member since 5/05 9461 total posts
Name:
Janice
|
Re: I have to share this one with you
a small bowl of beer does the trick too.
|
| Posted 7/13/10 12:32 AM |
| |
|
Erica
LIF Adult
Member since 5/05 11767 total posts
Name:
|
Re: I have to share this one with you
I don't think I have the patience to collect pine needle! 
my dad dries out egg shells and crushes them up around plants as a slug deterrent.
|
| Posted 7/13/10 7:56 AM |
| |
|
rkoenke
my little piggys
Member since 3/08 4315 total posts
Name:
rachel
|
Re: I have to share this one with you
there has to be a place to go and get them, no? pine needles that is? buy or collect them from parks?
|
| Posted 7/13/10 9:15 AM |
| |
|
JldDolphin
Member since 1/07 6929 total posts
Name:
Jen
|
Re: I have to share this one with you
So Greenfreak, do tell what plants are in that garden? I see Ferns, Heuchera & a think Japense Forest Grass in there too.  See I'm learning!
|
| Posted 7/13/10 9:47 AM |
| |
|
HeatherRose
Life is Good :)
Member since 11/07 6605 total posts
Name:
|
Re: I have to share this one with you
we were in NC in April and EVERYONE down there uses them around all of the trees and plantings. its actually very pretty. They are very easy to buy down there.
My new puppy loves to eat mulch, so I was trying to figure out what I can use that he won't eat. I will have to look into getting these as well!
thanks for posting, and I am a fan now too! I had no idea you had a page. I always notebook everything you post on here, since I kill nearly everything I plant 
|
| Posted 7/13/10 10:06 AM |
| |
|
HeatherRose
Life is Good :)
Member since 11/07 6605 total posts
Name:
|
Re: I have to share this one with you
here is a site you can buy pine needles from to use as mulch
|
| Posted 7/13/10 10:08 AM |
| |
|
JldDolphin
Member since 1/07 6929 total posts
Name:
Jen
|
Re: I have to share this one with you
thanks for posting this Heather. No shipping. NICE!!! Greenfreak, are these expensive prices for pineneedles?
|
| Posted 7/13/10 10:56 PM |
| |
|
greenfreak
.
Member since 9/06 11483 total posts
Name:
greenfreak
|
Re: I have to share this one with you
Thanks ladies
I've looked for a place to buy locally, and haven't been successful yet. We have three different sources to collect from now. The key is for it to be convenient for a car to get to, to load the bags in, and to be in a place people won't get upset you're taking them. For instance, not someone's home.
Some of the things I read on Gardenweb about the pine straw is that the square footage on that website is off. My little shade bed in that picture is only three feet deep, but about 20 feet long. It took four bags of pine needles to fill it (you want to lay it on thick). By their calculations, that would have cost me $78.00.
To do the 50x10 bed that I wanted to, that would be $207. and I couldn't bring myself to spend that money, so I spent time and effort instead to get it for free. I only have that one large bed left to do. You can't see from the picture, but right across from the walkway is an area that is also covered in pine needles, much larger than the shade bed. I'm really putting them to work.
|
| Posted 7/14/10 7:19 AM |
| |
|
greenfreak
.
Member since 9/06 11483 total posts
Name:
greenfreak
|
Re: I have to share this one with you
Posted by JldDolphin
So Greenfreak, do tell what plants are in that garden? I see Ferns, Heuchera & a think Japense Forest Grass in there too. See I'm learning!
Yes, yes and yes!
It looked great last night, after the rain we had yesterday so I took more pics. I'll be doing a blog with pics, visio diagram, before during and after photos, etc.
Here's what's in the bed:
2 Wood Ferns
2 Lady in Red Ferns
4 Ghost Ferns
3 Autumn Ferns
3 Japanese Forest Grass (these are the yellow cascading ones)
3 Columbine Clementine Blue
2 Columbine Tequila Sunrise
2 Astilbe Amethyst
1 Astilbe Lilliput
1 Heuchera Georgia Peach
2 Heuchera Peach Flambe
2 Heuchera Marvelous Marbles
1 Heuchera Silver Veil
2 Lady's Mantle
Everything is performing well except for the Astilbe Lilliput and the Heuchera Marbles/Veil. They're very small. I should have gotten more and clustered three in close proximity to each other, for a bigger impact. I'll probably wind up moving them if they even come back in spring.
Thanks for asking Jen
|
| Posted 7/14/10 7:35 AM |
| |
|
greenfreak
.
Member since 9/06 11483 total posts
Name:
greenfreak
|
Re: I have to share this one with you
Posted by MommyofG
a small bowl of beer does the trick too.
Not with two curious dogs around.
Before I had dogs, I did the beer thing. I wound up with a dish full of putrid slug carcasses that I had to pick up and dispose of and I'm not normally squeamish but that turned me off. 
|
| Posted 7/14/10 7:37 AM |
| |
|
rkoenke
my little piggys
Member since 3/08 4315 total posts
Name:
rachel
|
Re: I have to share this one with you
what about the dogs? do they love the pine needles? do they go in there and chew them up?
my co-worker has a house upstate and is willing to bring me back boxes of pine needles.
i just got a puppy and was hoping that he wouldn't want to destroy them. it should deter him from digging, if he gets them stuck in his foot?
|
| Posted 7/14/10 8:37 AM |
| |
|
LisaI
Momma's Little Beans
Member since 1/06 3923 total posts
Name:
|
Re: I have to share this one with you
Try asking your local HomeDepot if they can get it in for you. As stated down South it's used pretty much everywhere. So it's easy to get it everywhere... HomeDepot, Lowes, local nurseries, even local farms sell them for $3-4 a bale. We generally get over 200 for our homes 2x a year. You don't need to ever replace it, just add more to it in 6 months. It does discolor/fade/flatten. You can easily spruce it up with a rake every now and then.
|
| Posted 7/14/10 9:18 AM |
| |
|
JldDolphin
Member since 1/07 6929 total posts
Name:
Jen
|
Re: I have to share this one with you
Posted by greenfreak
Posted by JldDolphin
So Greenfreak, do tell what plants are in that garden? I see Ferns, Heuchera & a think Japense Forest Grass in there too. See I'm learning!
Yes, yes and yes!
It looked great last night, after the rain we had yesterday so I took more pics. I'll be doing a blog with pics, visio diagram, before during and after photos, etc.
Here's what's in the bed:
2 Wood Ferns
2 Lady in Red Ferns
4 Ghost Ferns
3 Autumn Ferns
3 Japanese Forest Grass (these are the yellow cascading ones)
3 Columbine Clementine Blue
2 Columbine Tequila Sunrise
2 Astilbe Amethyst
1 Astilbe Lilliput
1 Heuchera Georgia Peach
2 Heuchera Peach Flambe
2 Heuchera Marvelous Marbles
1 Heuchera Silver Veil
2 Lady's Mantle
Everything is performing well except for the Astilbe Lilliput and the Heuchera Marbles/Veil. They're very small. I should have gotten more and clustered three in close proximity to each other, for a bigger impact. I'll probably wind up moving them if they even come back in spring.
Thanks for asking Jen
Thanks for the list! Damn girl I didn't think there was that many different plants in there.  Can't wait to see the blog about this garden bed.
|
| Posted 7/14/10 10:12 AM |
| |
|
BabyFever10
St. Gianna Pray for us
Member since 9/09 1326 total posts
Name:
|
Re: I have to share this one with you
Wow - thats great! Would i be able to use pine needles in my veggie garden? I used grass clippings this year - was a great idea until i realized that our lawn is fertilized
|
| Posted 7/14/10 11:30 AM |
| |
|
greenfreak
.
Member since 9/06 11483 total posts
Name:
greenfreak
|
Re: I have to share this one with you
Posted by rkoenke
what about the dogs? do they love the pine needles? do they go in there and chew them up?
my co-worker has a house upstate and is willing to bring me back boxes of pine needles.
i just got a puppy and was hoping that he wouldn't want to destroy them. it should deter him from digging, if he gets them stuck in his foot?
So far, so good. Brinkley is my stick/acorn/mulch eater and when I first got the needles, I let him sniff them. Dogs "test" things out with their mouths so I let him try to put it in his mouth once, out of my hand. The next time he tried, I did the "chhhht" sound (which we trained them to mean no) and he hasn't touched them since.
What he likes is crunching things, and they don't crunch. Plus, I can't imagine that pine needle resin tastes good.
Ginger could care less. Brinkley recently started to enjoy digging, but only in one place, not in the needles. It's his little man cave, so we let him dig only there.
If you ever find yourself with extras from your friend, let me know.
Message edited 7/14/2010 3:36:51 PM.
|
| Posted 7/14/10 3:36 PM |
| |
|
greenfreak
.
Member since 9/06 11483 total posts
Name:
greenfreak
|
Re: I have to share this one with you
Posted by LisaI
Try asking your local HomeDepot if they can get it in for you. As stated down South it's used pretty much everywhere. So it's easy to get it everywhere... HomeDepot, Lowes, local nurseries, even local farms sell them for $3-4 a bale. We generally get over 200 for our homes 2x a year. You don't need to ever replace it, just add more to it in 6 months. It does discolor/fade/flatten. You can easily spruce it up with a rake every now and then.
Great tips, thanks! I don't know if they'd do it this time of year, but I'll definitely ask Lowes and HD.
|
| Posted 7/14/10 3:37 PM |
| |
|
| Pages: [1] 2 |
