Recent content by mitch landen

They do; to make sure I get a good crop, each spring (at flowering), I attach a few chicken wings (or whatever) into the tree limbs. They rot, smell like 3 nightmares, and ... the blowflies love it. They pollenate the blooms, and .... voila! Fruit.

Sad-to-say, no feng shwei for my house. Lots of southern exposure, BUT ... only a couple of bathroom windows, a glass door to a patio, and 1 regular window (nothing could be put there; too tight). Not to mention, the southern border of my little spread has tall pine trees and a few other...

Funny -- and that means I'll have to compose a shot to capture the "sense" of the yard. Some would say .... a junkyard? ....

thx -- the info stuck, so I'm happy ....

thx, elk -- perfect!

A sunroom or greenhouse would be pretty ideal -- but I don't have the logistics for 'em. Small backyard is already cramped -- veg garden, bee hives, pond, patio (with pool!), grape/kiwi vines, some fruit trees, storage house ... and just enough room for a short walkway. The front? Even tighter...

Howdy; maybe ominous. I'll just go with the flow here, and ... whatever happens. Won't expect any miracles. Thx ....

Hi -- re: the avatar: don't know how to insert "eastern NC" into it. I've clicked on lots of buttons (profile, edit, etc) and see a comment somewhere about "in eastern NC" ... but that didn't translate into an addition of Location into the avatar. Can you give me succinct directions on how to...

Hi -- thx for the reply. I've had the trees for so many years, I have no idea if they were grafted or not. I have the feeling they were not -- they aren't any special type of tree as far as variety is concerned -- basic ol' grapefruit, lychee, guava. OK -- the orange was a blood orange, but --...

I -- after years of keeping them in huge pots -- last fall yard-planted several tender fruit trees (here in eastern NC). I've aged to the point where I could no longer drag the heavy pots inside or to an outside utility room, even via handcart, so into the ground they had to go, come-what-may...

Hi, troops; I have a 7'-tall papaya tree (really neat plant), 2 years now, and it actually has some tiny fruits this year. But .... I see lots of super-small fly-like things in its potting soil -- and they're also hanging around the adjacent rooms of my house from where I keep the plant. The...

Thx much; I was thinking that may be the only way to go -- vigilance, and work. I have bees, and am told they love p. ivy blooms. Too bad - I guess they'll have to do w/o ....

I have patches of this mess in various places of my yard. Some of it is almost inaccessible (deep in azalea islands, entrenched among fence vines, etc), so digging it out ain't in the cards. Does anybody know of something other than a toxic chemical I can use that'll work? I've reluctantly used...

Thx much for all the valuable and insightful info. Who'd've thought it could be so complicated? But reasonable. The cemetery plot is small (only 8 graves there), so not too terrible for working, but ... still, effort. Yesterday I drove there and did what I could do -- added lime, leaves...

Thx a heap -- yet another good idea. I can see I'll have to make a production out of it if there's to be any real improvement made -- mixing in the good stuff is gonna take some effort. Well, we do what we must do ....