Welcome,lpptz,
You sound about like the rest of us. I've got the diabetis and my DD has the back surgery that did'nt work.We're both disabled. My garden not only saves my sanity but the more active we are the better we can function. So helps physically also.

Good luck on the disability. The rule of thumb seems to be It takes about 3 tries and the last time you take a lawyer.

Want to hear all about your garden. Esp the trees. I've a forest around me so guess i've a wild tree garden.LOL

Am just getting into medicinal herbs not sure if i want to really go there. But it will be fun to grow them and read about them.I've been growing the herbal teas for years and love them. Am growing tomatoes and cukes in containers for the first time and so far so good. cukes are good and i've had a couple of ripe tomatoes that were so-o-o good. My favorite flowers are spring flowers and daylillies.

I'm 68 and two DD,S 44 AND 48

Your slow growing garden would'nt be on the same order as a watched pot never boils, by any chance. LOL

I remember when the fad of talking to your flowers went around. I did'nt join in untill i read that even if your plants could'nt hear you, they loved the carbon dioxide from your breath. So i became a beleiver and the plants don't seem to mind.
Vent away, i'm probably going to in the very near future.
vickie

I really shouldn't do this!

As you love gardening with trees and also love to 'do the rounds' - have you perhaps thought about doing some bonsai? They appreciate lots of pondering, reliable watering and feeding, and care. Many are NOT hard for a beginner and you definitely don't need to spend lots of money. If your regular trees produce seedlings - there's a place to start for nearly free! Young plants just starting out don't need fancy and expensive pots, either. And you probably already have sharp secateurs, some soft twine, and some potting mix with sharp grit to add.

One bonsai blog I love to look at regularly because it is so clear with ideas and progress pictures is by Walter Pall.

(Why shouldn't I? Bonsai can become VERY addictive :-D )

Vetivert,

About 10 yrs ago I bought a book called Bonsai by Jack Douthitt.Needless to say I wanted to try,While I still could work ,I found a couple of junipers along side the house that needed gone so I carefully dug them and potted them in large about 10gal pots,one died but the other I have been training since,just this spring I planted it in a permanent spot in the yard.I also have a Larix larcinia @ 6 yrs that looks ok,I will take pics soon and post them.

I'd like to try an indoor conifer but I'm unsure of a good species to try.

When my health went south 8 yrs ago the pain was so bad I thought I would have to do myself in if it did not get better,since then I learned to tolerate and do much less physical work to keep my sanity.

I found alot of good ideas for raised beds I'd like to try.
Because of my diabetes Exersise is a big plus,but my low back pain renders me totally useless if I don't do to much so raised beds just might work.
In the past I went to a support group but out of 60 people or so I was the omly one under 50 and only 1 older man that shook as bad as me.but I received more support from 1 post here than I get in a year.
Thanks so much for shareing your stories.

lp

vetivert, i definately don't need another addiction. gardening,daylilies and iris,s is enough. On that note. Have you known of anyone using a dogwood in bonsai and would it have blooms? Not that i'm interested or anything.; )
Does it take a lot of time to develope a bonsai plant. I don't have a lot of time left.
DD has a wheelbarrow for a raised bed and 2 old wash tubs on a stand and she can sit and garden. I worry about her because she is in so much pain she has to take so much pain medicine it keeps her out of it. I hurt so much for her pain and wish so much for something that could help her. But understandably she hits the panic button if anyone says back or pain specialist or another surgery.

I don't have a lot of pain . Just weak and can't breathe if i exert myself any. When i go through a depression episode, thats a pain unto itself. I've been looking for a depression web forum but have'nt found any yet.

My grandson is staying with me now and he is such a Godsend.He does a lot of things i am unable to do anymore.He.s done a lot of cleaning outside and it's amazing the differance.

You mentioned your shaking. My husbands family has a genitic parkinson like shake as they get older that most in the family have but not as bad as parkinsons.

Hello Oakleif,
I,m not to savy on the abbreviations What does DD mean?

As far as bonsi goes I,'m a novice but this is what I know.
The translation of the word bonsi is[tree in pot]so that you don't have to be an expert.
I'm sure others could give better advice but you can use trees that grow slow like a bristlecone pine, junipers and also flowering trees like crabapple or common lilac hve been uesed.You don't have to spend much,you probably have stuff laying around from your other garden leftovers.I think trying will give you satisfaction.I killed the first 2 trees I tried.So maybe someone with more knowledge will give you tips.

I wish someone could invent a pain meter,It seems like most people can't comprehend great pain that is never ending.My pain right now is under control but when I think back 6-7 yrs most of it is a blur.

Just a thought but used books might have alot of info,or some web sites on the subject are very good.

lp

Indoor bonsai is definitely possible. I'd leave the conifers outside and look for plants that others count as house plants.

Choose plants with little leaves and flowers so they look dainty. Serissa can make a very nice bonsai, for example. Another plant is azalea. Personally I'd go for a plant with single flowers rather than big, frilly flowers. So long as they get enough water, and morning sun over summer to set their buds, they can stay in quite small pots for a long time.

Another plant that is very kind to beginners is the 'Money Plant' - Crassula ovata. It hasn't made me wealthy at all but it is developing a good sturdy trunk - and it doesn't take long. (Maybe three years so far.)

For flowers in spring - Forsythia can be useful. So can Chaenomeles (Japanese quince) though it is 'forever' if you grow it from seed.

Little Japanese maples - red or green - planted in a group - can look very pretty. If you keep them outside you'll get the spring colours, summer green and autumn glory. I love that!

And another easy to shape, quick to flower plant for a 'bonsai look' is fuchsia. Instead of developing a standard or grow in a basket or tie to a frame - shape it like a little tree with a trunk and sprays of flowers at the tips. Very easy to maintain with feeding and pinching out the spent blooms. (If you know people who grow fuchsias you might be able to beg cuttings from them and start your own that way.)

lpptz5b - I have one fairly old juniper in the yard - and I intentionally prune it as a big 'bonsai'. It grows quickly enough to hide my errors and gives me lots of information I can use on other plants.
I'm currently trying out 'poodle clip' - little puffs of foliage - and learning the do's and don'ts.

The best thing of all is - while I'm immersed in my pruning and plotting - I don't notice the pain and stiffness. That's the Super Plus!

DD is dear daughter.DS-dear son,DH Dear Hubby.
Dog wood is slow growing. I think it is a year round beauty. Tomorrow will google bonsai.

It's too hot to go outside the last day or two. So have stayed inside and actually got some clutter fixed up. Am the worst at creating clutter and than wonder why i can't find anything. I really need to keep things where i can easily find them. So have been working harder to keep things straightened.Bought some of those plastic small white drawers and keep all my meds,writing things, sewing stuff,personal care things,small tools,bills in them next to my chair.Helps me to keep organized.

Do you ever think about what you will do as your health problems get worse? I want to hold on to living at home as long as i can.A nursing home is next. I've always fought the idea of being a problem for my kids.Tho both have said No nursing home.But i think they realize it's inevitable. The question is when is it time to say, i need more help now.

I have roseacia and psorisis, both considered auto immune diseases. I googled auto immune disease last nite and found out lefthanded people are more susceptable to auto immune diseases than righthanded people. Being lefthanded, i was not amused, also some depression may be auto immune related. I bookmarked some of the sites.Will definately go over this info with a fine tooth comb.

Vetivert8,

I have a couple of questions.
1 What is a secateurs?

2 Sharp grit? is this the same as perlite.

3 A couple of yrs ago I received a plant that resembles the leaf of a japanese maple but it,s name starts with an A,It came with small stones mixed in a glue like substance to act as a mulch.
4 Do you know of any books for beginners?in the past everything I read was to vague or way over my head.

lp

You can't learn eveything in a day, read every thing that you can lay your hands on, used books are great so are used catalogues, you need to be on a regular forum and foerget your handicaps, and think of what you can do. Then do it. the small stones are for shipping purposes, so the stones don't shift out of the pot. It is bad for the plant, get a screwdriver and hammer and get the glued stones out of the pot and give the plant a larger pot, (next size up) and new soil. I don't care to dwell on my health for even one minute, thank you. Secateur as in cut, pruning shears. Sharp grit, not made smooth with a tumeler. small pieces of granite, or quartzite or some other hard stones. Roofing material. Stones,gravel like you may find washed down from a hill after a storm, not coming from the beach about 1/8 -1/4 in size, natural stone like out in the deserts. Not perlite. Books: The Popular Exotic Cacti in Color, Mother Natures succulents, or cactus? about $3.50 There are hundreds, get a hold of the Amerteur's Digest. They offer used books. Go to used book store, go to the Salvation Army Stores. Ask for them here. CACTUS AND SUCCULENTS YOU CAN DO SITTING DOWN AND AT A TABLE. Be patient and take your time, beautiful plants must not be hurried. They must have the right conditions and care to grow that way. Norma

ipptz,
your japenese maple like plant could'nt by any chance be a japenese apricot. Could it? A neighbor gave me one. It has grown into a beautiful small tree but i know nothing about it and neither does she.

I have some boxwoods that are just getting big enough to trim. I could play with them and there are red cedars all over the place too.

Seems like a lot of info over the web is too simplistic or too technical. I guess we just keep trying.

I hope everyone has'nt been turned off by my posts above. Sometimes it helps me to rant and this is in my opinion the best place to go. I can have a breif pity party and go on from there. It's very hard sometimes for people who don't have major problems such as only a hand that don't work to come down hard on people who have major pain in nearly every part of their body or major disability and who work hard to find a way to enjoy gardening to take their minds off their pain.
There are also people in todays world who can be very cruel and we need to take into consideration that these people have their own kind of problems and overlook them or ignor them in a kind way.

People who come to this forum for love of gardening and want to communicate their problems and look for information to make gardening more accessable for their individual needs are in my opinion heros who don't give in but will keep fighting to keep going.
vickie

A plant with a leaf like a maple - could be Abutilon. There are several different sorts. Some grow well in baskets as they have cascading branches.

I agree with dufflebag on the secateurs. They come in two styles - bypass or anvil. Left-handers can get them with handles to suit - just as they can for scissors. I'm ambidextrous and I know I'm not happy using my left hand with right-hand secateurs.

You can also get them with a double action which can be really helpful for people without a lot of hand strength.

There are very cheap ones - but they aren't worth it. And horribly expensive ones... :-( (They're the ones that end up in my compost bin. Don't know how!!!) The Wolf Garten range is often reasonably priced - or you may have a local product which is even better.

Isn't it great being a newbie?! You can do the most outrageous things and ask the questions all the old hands are too embarrassed to air....;-).

There are some really kind 'old hands' here on the forums: lindac and calistoga and pnwgal48. They often stop by on the 'New to Gardening' forum - and their own favourites. I've always found their advice to be excellent - and very plain.

You can also use the FAQs (frequently asked questions) for specific forums. It can be worth the time - particularly if it gives you an answer that's relevant for your zone.

For excellent 'before and after' bonsai pictures - google for Walter Pall's bonsai blog. Some of them are just 'oh, my goodness! I wouldn't dare!' but he takes truly useful photos so you can see what's been done. (I don't think I'll be up to using power tools for a l-o-n-g time, however.)

With books - some can be downright confusing. However, a couple of books later and another author explains. Whew! I don't know how it happens, a bit like a child learning to speak, I suppose; but one day the jargon makes sense. It must just soak in ;-).

oakleif (Vickie): go for it! There's one forum I visit and each month there's a thread for members to rant about anything. The only rule is - no one can offer advice or rescues or sympathy. (You have to be specifically asked in a separate thread for that.)

And there's also a thankfulness thread. For the simplest things, even. I enjoy reading both of them. And having a grumble, or saying thanks. Feels good.

I should have given more detail,I took some pics of some of my trees,I'll take a pic of my mystery plant also and hope I don't have trouble posting them.

When I bought the plant I did a search and found what it was but my memory fails me,It resembles a cut leaf maple deeply cut.I also remember that it is a shrub were it grows in the wild.
It is very tuff sometimes I'll forget to water and just about all the leaves fall off but it always comes back to life.

hope fully I can produce some pics soon.

lp

Here is a pic of my mystery bonsai.

how do you post more than 1 pic at a time?

Here is a link that might be useful: {{gwi:337047}}

I know this is a long shot - any chance that your mystery could be a Grevillea robusta? It's definitely NOT an Abutilon!

There might be something on one of the Gallery forums for how to post more than one picture. I haven't managed to even take one yet so posting is a challenge for another day for me.

Hello Vetivert8,

I looked at images of grevillia robusta and It does look as if your right.One thing it is not and thats fast growing, after 3 yrs and I see almost no growth.

I picked it up at Walmart as a clearence item for 2-3 dollars,I figuered I could use the pot if I had no luck with this plant,so far I'm not impressed.

lp

You could try for a repot: neutral to slightly acid mix and let it have plenty of sun, moderate water.

They grow quickly if they're planted out - and much more slowly in a pot. They're probably doomed in zone 5b if planted out, though. (You might want to put it in your Trades collection. I have a set of plants I like - but I don't mind exchanging for something else I like better. Do you do that?)

They do flower - just not often if potted - but they're mainly grown for the greens.

Thanks for posting the photos, too. Could you explain a bit about the container? It looks to be a real rock trough, though it might be 'tufa or concrete?? So very nice.

lp, Liked your pictures.also the way you use natural stone. There is just something poetic about stone and plants together.
I bought 12 crepe myrtles on sale at wally world for $2.50 each for my DD,s for their birthdays coming up next week,after thinking about it, i decided to keep one for myself and will ask my library to find a book tomorrow on beginning bonsai and see what i can do. I love crepe myrtles with their beautiful trunks. I also don't think you could kill one if you tried.

So can i come to you for advice on any goofups i make.Which will probably be the first day.LOL
vickie

Vetivert,

The containers you see under the Arborviae and the Larix Larcinia are real stone.Both are granite,The first One I cut a bowl about 4in w X 16in d I was in fairly good shape 9yrs ago and it took about 1 month.I used a skill saw with a diamond tip blade,Hammer and chisle.The Arb you see on top is a regular tree,I'm mounding mulch around it so the roots will anchor it when the tree gets tall.They already have rooted so I'll give it 2-3yrs then remove the mulch to exspose the roots.

The secound rock is also granite this one I did 3 yrs ago This one took all summer to finish,plus 2 more blades plus I burned out my skill saw.
Alot of sweat and pain went into them and I'm not sure I could do another but I have my eye on a certain rock I found back on the stone fences.

Vickie,
Thanks for the compliment,I'm not sure how much I could help since I'm just a beginer myself,but I'd be glad to share what I know.Good luck with those myrtles.

lp