--------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 208 HOME & GARDEN Ref: E2F00006 Date: 02/10/97 From: JANIS FOLEY Time: 02:49pm \/To: ELAINE LOVELESS (Read 3 times) Subj: Bonzai Trees? > JF> Hi everybody! I was just wondering if anyone has any > JF> ideas on how to "make" a bonzai tree... can any plant be used > JF> and just clipped or how does it work? > I've taken a couple of classes on Bonzai, but haven't > continued to work with them. I haven't seen a rose done as a > Bonzai, but that doesn't mean it can't be done. The big > thing about the initial pruning is that both the roots and > the top of the plant must be pruned. Ooohhh! Pruning! A subject that I don't know much about! But I'm willing to try... I've seen all kinds of bonzai trees! I've even seen one tiny little pomegranate tree - with fruits!!! I'd love to do one! My favorite tree is probably the ficus... but I don't know if that can be ne... Chat with ya later! Janis :) --- System Support BBS * Origin: System Support BBS (1:202/1609) --------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 208 HOME & GARDEN Ref: E2F00007 Date: 02/10/97 From: LINDA TAYLOR Time: 01:49pm \/To: WANDA GUIN (Read 3 times) Subj: Melbourne FL I live just minutes from Melbourne in Cocoa, which is just a bit north of it on I-95 or up U.S. 1. Closer by 95 though. My dad works for Brevard Community College. Right now I'm not employed, but I hope that that will change in the near future. You're right. Our grass is different. Our grss is, if you believe in the devil, the devil's own. Sent to terrorize us, and keep us repressed by forcing us to mow it every two weeks even in the dead of winter. (Grin.) Of course it makes for lovely compost. Bright Blessings Kat --- GEcho/32 1.20/Pro * Origin: VETLink #60 - 554CES(HR) (1:374/37) --------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 208 HOME & GARDEN Ref: E2F00008 Date: 02/10/97 From: LINDA TAYLOR Time: 01:54pm \/To: BILL PIEHLER (Read 3 times) Subj: weather Heckfire! By the time we have to worry about hurricanes the snow birds have all flocked north again. The retirement community that my dad owns a house in generally empties out of those who don't live here year round about April. Most Hurricanes don't even get a good start till June or July. If that early. Besides something bad can happen no matter where you are. Up north, and west, you have to worry about tornados in spring. Bad snow storms all winter long, and then the spring storms. In the midwest it's flooding from snow melt off and rain. All winter long it's ice, ice storms, snow, cold, and being without power. Thanks, but I'll take the possiblity that the old bulls eye will land on us once ever ten to twenty years. Anything to avoid all of that mess and hassel. Bright Blessings Kat --- GEcho/32 1.20/Pro * Origin: VETLink #60 - 554CES(HR) (1:374/37) --------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 208 HOME & GARDEN Ref: E2F00009 Date: 02/10/97 From: MICHELE MAURO Time: 08:32am \/To: BIRDMAN (Read 3 times) Subj: Preventing wasp return. B > MM> Even when we destroy the nests, they come back and start building new B > MM> ones - any long term solution that you know of? (...) B > B > Well, under the eves of the house, we caulked all the cracks that hey B > were crawling into and scraped the old exterior nests off the facia boards. B > I don't supposed that'd work too well on your century plant. Well, they aren't nesting in cracks per se... they're under the eaves, on the flat smooth board behind the fascia board and on the smooth sides of the century plant leaves. B > Short of totally removing whatever the attractant is, in this case he B > entire plant, I'm not sure what a good solution is. Any chemical owerful B > enough to have a long term effect is probably neither something you want in B > your yard nor something that would be too good for the plant. Unfortunately, That's what I was afraid of too... B > I just don't know enough about the wasps themselves or what it is about the B > plant that causes them to prefer it as a nesting site. My best guess is that B > the tight spaces between the leaves makes just the sort of home, like the B > tight spaces in the cracks between the boards on the eves of our house, that B > wasps prefer. That's the thing, they're not nesting in the tight spaces between the leaves - the dern leaves are about 4-5 inches wide and 10 feet long - they're mostly nesting on the undersides and behind the fascia board in the same general area. It may be an odor from the plant that only they can detect or something like that. Thanks, Michele Internet: chaos@ao.net FIDO: 1:363/340 * Gun laws control guns like drug laws control drugs! RoseReader 2.52T P001948 Entered at [COMPLICATIONS] --- * Origin: Complications, Altamonte Spgs, FL 407-297-8298 (1:363/340) --------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 208 HOME & GARDEN Ref: E2F00010 Date: 02/10/97 From: BIRDMAN Time: 08:38pm \/To: BILL MADDUX (Read 3 times) Subj: Re: Chickens BM> Many years ago when I was a youngster (I still am but only in my BM> mind!) I was a poultry fancier. I raised all kinds of chickens and a BM> breed of quail called Coturnix. I spent many many hours just messing BM> around at the barn and messing with my animals. Now I'm all grown up BM> and don't live where I can raise any birds. Oh how I'd love to have a BM> place and have a barn and chickens. I love having my chickens. Previously, I was in Jr. and Sr. High when my family had chickens. (Guess I could also say college, but I was only around 3-4 months of the year then.) Needless to say it's been a few years since then, but that I'm once again able to have them is a great thrill. It's nice to be able to go out and talk to them, to check their feed, fill their water and, best of all, find eggs. Finding eggs, even though we get quite a few and know their going to be there, is a little like having Christmas every day. It's been three months since they started laying and my S/O *still likes to come in and take the eggs out of her pocket one at a time to show me how many she's collected. This is after her muttering to me how she'd never get chickens again because she got no pleasure out of them and all they amounted to was an extra expense in feed. (That took place about a week before they started laying.) BM> I used to get all of the mail order catalogs. I day dreamed about all BM> of the varieties I hoped to have. Its been too long to remember all BM> of the things I used to know about the various breeds. I also raised some BM> Black Australorps and thought they were nice. I do remember that they BM> were the result of a cross but don't remember what the parent breeds BM> are. Is it Black Orpington and what other one? The Black Minorca? Those BM> are ok birds. I like getting the catalogs, at least McMurray's, because they are a wonderful source of information. Acording to McMurray's catalog, the Australorps were developed from Orpington's imported to Australia from England, but that's all it says about their origin. Mine are nice, quiet, calm birds, altough they do seem a little more timid than my other varieties. Since I do't use trapping nests, I can't really speak to their laying ability, but they must be laying right along with the rest of them because my daily egg count is just too high for it not to be so. They *are larger bodywise than the rest of my hens so I guess it'd be safe to assume they'd be good broilers. BM> One that I never got that I really wanted is the Speckled Sussex. Just looked it up in the catalog and they are a pretty bird. Similar to the partridge rock in coloring (which I intend to get some of) but a bit lighter colored in the underpinings. BM> I had this awsome Auricana rooster. He was black and had a very colorful BM> speckled mane. He was very cool looking and one mean dude. He took BM> care of a dozen hens and he did his job if you get my drift. I had BM> incubators and I hatched many a chick and I can say I can't remember BM> an unfertile egg. He had his favorite hen and her eggs were pink and BM> always hatched in 18 days. I guess she was a good lay(er). Ever see BM> any of those Shamo Japanese? Now those are mean birds when they want BM> to be. Very odd looking. A friend of mine has a a flock of mostly fancies and araucanas. Some people call them the "easter egg chickens" because of the variety of shell colors, although my experience with them has been only about two colors - green and blue. Can't say as for sure if I've seen the "Shamo" before. I've never kept any fancies myself but I've seen and handled some of the long tail varieties. Is that what you're talking about? They are strikingly beautiful birds and I have considered getting a few once I have more chickens laying and can justify the expense of birds that aren't producing. Our first chickens were on a very small scale (when I was younger). I'm talking "backyard scale." We kept 8 and never had a rooster (that was old enough to crow, that is) so as not to disturb the neighbors. None of the neighbors ever did complain and were less likely to as they frequently found a dozen fresh brown eggs on their doorstep. The reason I mention this is you say you don't have the space for chickens but it sounds to me like you really would like to. It doesn't take much space and there's usually a mill or some source for all your needs near enough by that you could do chickens on a smale scale if you wanted to. An 8 ft. cube of 2 x 4s covered with chicken wire and with a door in it and a small roosting box that you can close at night would get you going with maybe 5-8 chickens (no roosters) and you'd start getting eggs in about 4-6 months. I'd do it just to have the sound of chickens cackling in my yard again. Of course, if you live in an apartment or in a restricted development, it might not be feasable, but most homes with a backyard are space enough. Hope you find a way to get back into it and it's been nice cahtting with you. Byrd Mann ___ Blue Wave/QWK v2.20 [NR] --- Platinum Xpress/Win/Wildcat5! v2.0GY * Origin: The Playhouse TC's Gaming BBS - Powered by WC5 (1:282/4059) --------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 208 HOME & GARDEN Ref: E2G00000 Date: 02/11/97 From: ELAINE LOVELESS Time: 12:58pm \/To: JANIS FOLEY (Read 4 times) Subj: Bonzai Trees? As Janis stopped to smell the roses, I heard..... >> I've taken a couple of classes on Bonzai, but haven't >> continued to work with them. I haven't seen a rose done as a >> Bonzai, but that doesn't mean it can't be done. The big thing >> about the initial pruning is that both the roots and the top >> of the plant must be pruned. JF> Ooohhh! Pruning! A subject that I don't know much JF> about! But I'm willing to try... I've seen all kinds of JF> bonzai trees! I've even seen one tiny little pomegranate JF> tree - with fruits!!! I'd love to do one! My favorite tree JF> is probably the ficus... but I don't know if that can be JF> done... The whole key to Bonzai is pruning. And like I said, to begin with, not only the top of the plant, but the roots as well, must be pruned. You need to have one of the rather flat Bonzai planters in which to place the plant. I've started from scratch with both a juniper and a boxwood. the plant must be removed from it's original container, I think I started out with plants that were in a three gallon nursery container. Take a chopship and start removing as much dirt as possible from the roots of the plant. Remember, you are going to have to prune those roots to fit in a very small container. When you've removed the dirt, look at the size of the container and start pruning roots to fit. You will also need to prepare some soil for the container and this soil needs to have something like vermiculite or perilite in it to help retain moisture, but not too much. You want good dirt in this container. After the roots are pruned, you will need to put some wire over the holes in the container (to keep the soil from leaking out) and you will need to use some copper wire to insert from the bottom up through the two holes and long enough to wrap over the remaining root ball to hold the plant in the container. After the plant is secure, fill in the rest of the container with dirt mixed with a very fine gravel. This will help the dirt settle and prevent the dirt from washing away. now you can start working on the top of the plant. Remember in Bonzai, that shape is everything. Also, most Bonzai masters try to work with threes and often with triangles. Look and your plant and try to visualize how you want the finished plant to grow. Then start prunning. In order to shape the plant, you will need more copper wire and the wire is wrapped around the branches and used to very carefully bend the branches and hold them until the plant assumes the shape you want. This is not a quick process and can take several years. Working with Bonzai requires a great deal of patience. Because Bonzai plants have a small root system, daily watering is imperative! They also need to be feed frequently because there is no place for reserve nourishment in such a small container. When the plant starts to put out new growth, remember your overall plan for the way you want your plant to look and prune frequently to keep the plant small and in line with your plan. I live in Texas, and I have seen a number of Bonzai done using Native trees! It's very interesting to see Bonzai of our Cedar Elm, which can grow to be a large sprawling tree! :) May you walk with a Wildflower Rainbow, Elaine --- * Origin: The Wildflower Rainbow (1:382/506.6) --------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 208 HOME & GARDEN Ref: E2G00001 Date: 02/11/97 From: BRIAN MARTIN Time: 04:11pm \/To: LINDA TAYLOR (Read 4 times) Subj: Ground Hog : Is he right? -> You all are just getting what we had two summers ago. We darned near -> got drowned by two hurricanes and four tropical storms. It's been dr -> year in comparison. Actualy this is normal oregon weather....We have been having a long dry spell...... Brian --- GEcho/32 1.20/Pro * Origin: Moondog Central (1:3406/1) --------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 208 HOME & GARDEN Ref: E2G00002 Date: 02/10/97 From: MARILYN BOISSONEAULT Time: 10:39pm \/To: LISA PENNER (Read 4 times) Subj: Introduction -=> Quoting Lisa Penner to Marilyn Boissoneault <=- LP> If seeds aren't ordered early, how are people going to get them in LP> time to start their seeds? I start getting catalogues in November for LP> pete's sake! I like to get my seeds as early as possible, but then my garden season starts early here. But even if your garden season starts later, I'm sure you want to order early to have what you need, when you need it. When does your spring garden season start? I think you're in Ontario, but I'm not sure. LP> LP> Richter's is THE herb catalogue as far as I'm concerned. Quality, LP> good selection and a genuine interest/concern for what they're doing. I gather you grow a lot of herbs. Do you have a "formal" herb garden? I've just gotten interested in herbs really. Gradually adding more to the garden, but still don't have too many. I received a bay plant in the mail today that I had ordered. I'm hoping it'll do well in a container. It's supposed to, so I guess I'll see. Marilyn ... PORCUPINE: A squirrel having a really bad hair day. ___ Blue Wave/DOS v2.30 --- Alexi/Mail 2.02b (#10000) * Origin: Space Coast REACT, Melbourne FL <407> 255-9069 (1:374/710) --------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 208 HOME & GARDEN Ref: E2G00003 Date: 02/10/97 From: MARILYN BOISSONEAULT Time: 10:39pm \/To: LISA PENNER (Read 4 times) Subj: Cover crop -=> Quoting Lisa Penner to Marilyn Boissoneault <=- MB> pack says. So I had a beautiful row of marigolds, but they MB> quickly crowded out the okra, and they never were seen again! LP> Not all bad, I guess. At least marigolds are good to look at! :) Yes they are real pretty, but when they hide the plant you were trying to grow, you kinda over look their looks! :) LP> If you go yard sailing, try and find an old blender that still LP> works. You can use this to blenderize the marigolds, then pour the mix LP> into the spot you want it. If you can pull the plants out by the roots LP> it will be more effective. This is a little faster, and is a method you LP> can use for lots of different things. But you don't want to use your LP> regular blender for this. Not if you plan to make some of the better LP> natural bug repellants! UGH! That's an idea. Yeah I've seen some of those recipes for natural bug repellants and definitely wouldn't want those in my kitchen blender!! Marilyn LP> Lisa LP> -!- Maximus/2 2.02 LP> ! Origin: Five Guys BBS (1:221/1050) ... I WILL procrastinate, if I can just get started! ___ Blue Wave/DOS v2.30 --- Alexi/Mail 2.02b (#10000) * Origin: Space Coast REACT, Melbourne FL <407> 255-9069 (1:374/710) --------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 208 HOME & GARDEN Ref: E2G00004 Date: 02/10/97 From: MARILYN BOISSONEAULT Time: 10:39pm \/To: LINDA TAYLOR (Read 4 times) Subj: Cover crop -=> Quoting Linda Taylor to Marilyn Boissoneault <=- LT> it's driving me nuts. I quit smoking over a month ago now, and yet I LT> can't tell a difference yet cause of this darned bronchitis. (Yech!) It's getting ready to turn cool again which probably won't help either. Hope it clears up soon for you. LT> Most hornworms like anything that is a succulent of some sort. LT> They also will eat such things as dill, fennel, and rue. LT> And if not you can always direct LT> them there by putting them on another plant. If I find a hornworm he's not going to get the luxury of being transported to another plant! I'll pop him in my container of soapy water and say goodbye! Fortunately, I don't usually have very many of those. But every once in a while I'll find one. Marilyn ... Excommunicated: On vacation without a computer & modem. ___ Blue Wave/DOS v2.30 --- Alexi/Mail 2.02b (#10000) * Origin: Space Coast REACT, Melbourne FL <407> 255-9069 (1:374/710)