Gardening and Lawn Maintenance

[sugar magnolia]

My theory on gardening is to put it out there where I want it and let Nature take its course. It either lives or dies, gets enough sun and rain or not, and either finds enough food and nutrients in the soil or it doesn't. We have 2 big pots of passalong hostas, one in full sun, one in full shade, and they overwintered in a pot full of nasty water with no soil and were frozen solid for over a week. They're fixing to bloom any day now. Shit is blooming everywhere in my yard right now and I don't do a thing other than stick it in the yard. My husband has a green thumb though, and we have an entire room for nothing but putting his potted plants in during the winter. We also have 2 mated pairs of cardinals. a ton of hummingbirds, and snakes in my aspidistra.

[bill_g]

These poisonous plants are thriving in the PNW right now and warrant a posting about the dangers. Beware.

Six similar looking plants that can hurt or kill you.

Put them on your personal "don't touch, don't burn" list.

[sugar magnolia]

These poisonous plants are thriving in the PNW right now and warrant a posting about the dangers. Beware.

Six similar looking plants that can hurt or kill you.

Put them on your personal "don't touch, don't burn" list.

Interesting that Queen Anne's Lace is on the list. It's used a lot in wedding flowers.

[Maybenaut]

These poisonous plants are thriving in the PNW right now and warrant a posting about the dangers. Beware.

Six similar looking plants that can hurt or kill you.

Put them on your personal "don't touch, don't burn" list.

Interesting that Queen Anne's Lace is on the list. It's used a lot in wedding flowers.

The flower used by florists looks nearly identical to queen anne’s lace, and a lot of people call it that, but it’s not the same plant. I don’t know what the safe plant is called. You can tell the safe from the dangerous because the safe plant has a tiny black dot in the center of the flower. My sister the flower farmer grows it, and gave me a little dissertation about checking for the black dot before you touch it.

[sugar magnolia]

These poisonous plants are thriving in the PNW right now and warrant a posting about the dangers. Beware.

Six similar looking plants that can hurt or kill you.

Put them on your personal "don't touch, don't burn" list.

Interesting that Queen Anne's Lace is on the list. It's used a lot in wedding flowers.

The flower used by florists looks nearly identical to queen anne’s lace, and a lot of people call it that, but it’s not the same plant. I don’t know what the safe plant is called. You can tell the safe from the dangerous because the safe plant has a tiny black dot in the center of the flower. My sister the flower farmer grows it, and gave me a little dissertation about checking for the black dot before you touch it.

Queen Anne's lace (wild carrot) is the one with the dark floret, and the one florists use. Unpacking shipments at the flower shop makes the whole place smell like carrots. Legend says the dark spot is a drop of blood from Queen Anne pricking her finger with a needle while making lace.

[keith]

Begin winge

I'm working to keep my criquet club's lawn playable. We have a watering system with six stations 5 of which have 2 popup sprinkler each.

6 months ago sprinkker starion number 5 stopped working. In the past this has meant to digging up the solenoid valve and replacing the diaphram or cleaning up the contacts to the coil.

Unfortunately, we only know the locations of 4 out of 6 solenoids. Station 5 is one of the 2 unknown locations.

Since its gonna cost $250 an hour to get a pro to sort it out, I've spent at least 6 hours over the last 2 weeks digging holes trying to find the damn thing. Every time I think I have the archeology figured out I am proven wrong. I really wish they had documented this all 30 years ago or whenever they put it into the ground. Once i find it I'll get the pro to fix it.

This is REALLY frustrating.

End winge.

[sugar magnolia]

Begin winge

I'm working to keep my criquet club's lawn playable. We have a watering system with six stations 5 of which have 2 popup sprinkler each.

6 months ago sprinkker starion number 5 stopped working. In the past this has meant to digging up the solenoid valve and replacing the diaphram or cleaning up the contacts to the coil.

Unfortunately, we only know the locations of 4 out of 6 solenoids. Station 5 is one of the 2 unknown locations.

Since its gonna cost $250 an hour to get a pro to sort it out, I've spent at least 6 hours over the last 2 weeks digging holes trying to find the damn thing. Every time I think I have the archeology figured out I am proven wrong. I really wish they had documented this all 30 years ago or whenever they put it into the ground. Once i find it I'll get the pro to fix it.

This is REALLY frustrating.

End winge.

Is it something a metal detector would pick up?

[bill_g]

+1 what Sugar said. Get a metal detector with headphones.

It would be helpful to put a locate tone on the wire to that zone so you know the dog scent of the right rabbit. Thankfully, there are rental companies that have all the niche equipment for specialized tasks like this. You'll have to find something local.

[bill_g]

These poisonous plants are thriving in the PNW right now and warrant a posting about the dangers. Beware.

Six similar looking plants that can hurt or kill you.

Put them on your personal "don't touch, don't burn" list.

Interesting that Queen Anne's Lace is on the list. It's used a lot in wedding flowers.

I was surprised by the listing as well, but like so many other things, apparently some people are quite sensitive. They may have shown life threatening reactions putting the common QAL on the list along with its brethren. To be fair, the DFW document cited above states the dangerous QAL has a reddish center flower which I've never seen. I've only seen the black dot ones.

For clarification on this, I found this naturalist's blog with more discussion on QAL plant ID.

[northland10]

+1 what Sugar said. Get a metal detector with headphones.

It would be helpful to put a locate tone on the wire to that zone so you know the dog scent of the right rabbit. Thankfully, there are rental companies that have all the niche equipment for specialized tasks like this. You'll have to find something local.

Ground-penetrating radar... most likely overkill (especially the $18.5K model) but it's a toy to play with.

[bill_g]

+1 what Sugar said. Get a metal detector with headphones.

It would be helpful to put a locate tone on the wire to that zone so you know the dog scent of the right rabbit. Thankfully, there are rental companies that have all the niche equipment for specialized tasks like this. You'll have to find something local.

Ground-penetrating radar... most likely overkill (especially the $18.5K model) but it's a toy to play with.

They got it all, don't they? But, they also have simpler cable tracer units that place a doo-dah tone on the wire to ease location. You put on the earphones, and listen for the doo-dah with the metal detector wand. Believe me, finding *the* wire in a building or in the dirt can be challenging. Finding a wire fault is next level fun.

[keith]

+1 what Sugar said. Get a metal detector with headphones.

It would be helpful to put a locate tone on the wire to that zone so you know the dog scent of the right rabbit. Thankfully, there are rental companies that have all the niche equipment for specialized tasks like this. You'll have to find something local.

A metal detector would be of little help. The valve has 8 small screws and a small electromagnet that might give a signal, but it will be right next to a buried piece of corregated steel they used to section off the area when they flattened off the the hillside in the 1920's.

[Phoenix520]

Or you could hire a dowser.

[bill_g]

A metal detector would be of little help. The valve has 8 small screws and a small electromagnet that might give a signal, but it will be right next to a buried piece of corregated steel they used to section off the area when they flattened off the the hillside in the 1920's.

If you put a tracer tone on the wire at the irrigation controller where the wire originates, you will hear the tone all the way out to the sprinkler head, or the first break.

[northland10]

I remember that toy. At a camp where I was Program Director, we had some issues during setup with phone lines being down. The Ameritech person would hook up a device to figure out where the buried cable was so he can find the break. This happened enough that I memorized where the lines were and one time was able to point to where I think the break was (somebody had put in a new fence, sigh).

[bill_g]

I remember that toy. At a camp where I was Program Director, we had some issues during setup with phone lines being down. The Ameritech person would hook up a device to figure out where the buried cable was so he can find the break. This happened enough that I memorized where the lines were and one time was able to point to where I think the break was (somebody had put in a new fence, sigh).

My x-ray eyes never developed. After renting test equipment like this a few times, I bought my own. Mine has a TDR (time domain reflectometer) so I can see distance to fault (DTF). Super handy when chasing broken circuits in a building be it a high rise, a hospital, a concert hall, or just someone's home. It will show one wire is greater than 1300ft long, and another is only 150ft long. So, which wiring closet / junction point / wierd splice hanging from the ceiling is 150 wire feet away? It can proof lines during a project install. It can determine expected data throughput on network cables. It can ID jacks through a building back to the patch panels. It does quite a bit for three grand. However, it does not comb my hair or make coffee.

[keith]

A metal detector would be of little help. The valve has 8 small screws and a small electromagnet that might give a signal, but it will be right next to a buried piece of corregated steel they used to section off the area when they flattened off the the hillside in the 1920's.

If you put a tracer tone on the wire at the irrigation controller where the wire originates, you will hear the tone all the way out to the sprinkler head, or the first break.

No doubt. But my intention is to save that cost. Im sure the pro has the equipment and expertise to do that. But he wants a fortune we cant afford. The damn thing SHOUD be halfway between the two popups on the station. It should be trivial. It isn't.

[keith]

I remember that toy. At a camp where I was Program Director, we had some issues during setup with phone lines being down. The Ameritech person would hook up a device to figure out where the buried cable was so he can find the break. This happened enough that I memorized where the lines were and one time was able to point to where I think the break was (somebody had put in a new fence, sigh).

My x-ray eyes never developed. After renting test equipment like this a few times, I bought my own. Mine has a TDR (time domain reflectometer) so I can see distance to fault (DTF). Super handy when chasing broken circuits in a building be it a high rise, a hospital, a concert hall, or just someone's home. It will show one wire is greater than 1300ft long, and another is only 150ft long. So, which wiring closet / junction point / wierd splice hanging from the ceiling is 150 wire feet away? It can proof lines during a project install. It can determine expected data throughput on network cables. It can ID jacks through a building back to the patch panels. It does quite a bit for three grand. However, it does not comb my hair or make coffee.

So you are sayin' my $15 chinese made multimeter wont cut it huh?

[bill_g]

So you are sayin' my $15 chinese made multimeter wont cut it huh?

It will tell you if there is a dangerous voltage on the wire, whether it's shorted together or open, possibly give you the loop resistance, and may even give you resistance to earth. But, it will not help you find the buried wire or sprinkler head.

[bill_g]

No doubt. But my intention is to save that cost. Im sure the pro has the equipment and expertise to do that. But he wants a fortune we cant afford. The damn thing SHOUD be halfway between the two popups on the station. It should be trivial. It isn't.

Welcome to my world. I am a bit of a wizard. The cone hats and purple gowns are frowned on these days. So, we mask it thoroughly in technology and khaki pants that show way too much dirt. But, they prove we've been where no one should go.

[northland10]

My x-ray eyes never developed.

For me, it was not a matter of x-ray eyes but getting good at determining where somebody screwed up. When it happens more than once, you get pretty good at it.

Now, our long-time Nature director (and later Camp Director for a few years) did have x-ray eyes or a really good memory. Back in the 70s, during some rough financial times, they had a huge turnaround in camp rangers which reduced general knowledge. One summer, they suddenly had the drains in the dining hall kitchen backing up. Turns out, the dining hall tanks for sewage and they had been forgotten about, for like, many years. They were scrambling around trying to figure out where they were.

Out comes the Nature Director (who hat that time already had 25+ years experience there. He stands up against the loaded dock and paces out a certain amount, points down, and says, dig here. Right on the spot was the actual pipe to the tank. They dug here and the sewer sucker company guy comes out with a truck. They mention it has been many years since they emptied the tank so was he ready for that. He said his truck was half full so he had plenty of room. In short order, they fill up the truck and the sewer guy goes and comes back with an empty truck. They filled up that one. And again and again.

Turns out, the underground tank also had 2 reserve tanks and they were all full. It may had been almost 9 years since they had emptied them. The camp got better after that and had the emptied every year along with the pit toilets around the camp (and the shower house one as well).

[bill_g]

My x-ray eyes never developed.

Turns out, the underground tank also had 2 reserve tanks and they were all full. It may had been almost 9 years since they had emptied them. The camp got better after that and had the emptied every year along with the pit toilets around the camp (and the shower house one as well).

Wow. What a mess. Are closed septic tanks required in your area, or was it a decision by the camp itself? Around here they would just put in a septic field, and let nature take its course. A spider of large diameter pipes would slowly leak the fluids into the soil while the solids would decomp over time.

[Slim Cognito]

The city recently put in our sewer system so we made the big switch from well/septic to city water. You could always tell where the laterals were because of the lush green, taller than the rest of the yard, grass.

(sigh)

[Patagoniagirl]

NW Ohio. I finally found someone with a tiller who was going to come this a.m. to till my garden good and deep, but its 45° and raining sideways! I may have to turn my heat on. It was 89 a few days ago.

Edit! My three Patchouli Plants just arrived! My kids always hated the "old hippie smell" of Patchouli oil. It is a lovely calming scent to me so I'm going to enjoy these...probably as house plants.

[MsDaisy]

According to weather history the last rain we had was April 25th we got 0.6 inch, the last one before that was March 25th and we only got 0.8 inch. It hasn’t really rained here since February! Most of the grass is all dead and I was beginning to think I was going to run the well dry just trying to keep the gardens alive!

Right now it’s just pissing down rain and more to come throughout the night!