So Printesa do you think it would be okay to put one of the crêpe myrtles in that 4‘ x 4‘ square?

I would plant it there..it has plenty of space there

I really had taken the yes on your previous post, but I was double checking LOL.. thank you 🙏 when it comes to a tree we certainly don’t want to have to move it later if we don’t have to. The second one I had placement for, but it did depend on where the first one went as to how I wanted the pair to act almost together versus standalones. They will get big but I think I have the room and sure need the shade as I’ve said before. I’m struggling with the big stumps that were left here on the giant trees I had cut down a few months ago. The guy didn’t have a grinder, and of course I said oh that’s okay.😆! Now they are in my way. I’ll probably just start deteriorating them myself which will take time, but the sooner I start.

These trees have plenty of space there..when you see that you don't like the size, just some pruning in the spring will do..I will do that for the smaller one I have this coming spring..I want to keep it shorter and remove some of the width.

We have to cut a bunch of voluntary trees..we keep postponing because they are behind the giant thujas and it's not the easiest access..we have to cut and then paint with the stump killer..I also have a mulberry tree by the front fence..somehow we missed it growing and then when it got larger, we saw the fruits and thought we might make it work..nope..the birds took everything..so it will be chopped and painted.. Weeds..ugh..all this rain keeps making them grow. At least from now on the weeds should not grow as large since it's cooling down..

Ask me later when I receive those 700 tulip bulbs and I have to plant them:)

Ha you definitely always go all out on the bulbs 👏 you have the knack for sure of filling the spaces and making them look beautiful. I guess that is one good thing about our drought is that the weeds are gone, of course they’re probably under their waiting to come back in the spring. And when I mowed that back area full of weeds a few weeks ago, I bagged all of it and in the trash it went so hopefully I got some of the seeding that was about to take place. I thought about the birds and my new blackberry adventure. I will definitely get a netting put in place. I went to too much work on that and sorry to the birds LOL. They look like they’re doing OK back there! I see some new growth and I’m still covering them in the heat of the day but I read I won’t have to do that after they get established. It hasn’t been too much trouble to just stretch the sheets over it and clip them to the little posts. With our winds up lately a couple of them will come undone, but I just watch it and go back out there and clip it back again. As we speak, I’m removing the door to my laundry room. It’s an accordion door that we never use and has gotten old and looks icky. Plus, I think it will help get that new washer in there and the old one out. I didn’t want to pay for the haul off because I have one of my contractors is coming to get the old washing machine. I said you can have it do as you wish, I’ll just be glad it’s gone. He is going to come over at some point in the near future and help me get some lighting put up in the backyard here at the back porch. I’m having to feed and tend to the kitties and at night carrying the flashlight at the same time. I’d like to light it up just a little bit back there for myself. I’m hoping, well, I’m going to insist, he give me a break on labor since I gave him the washing machine. The fellows that I had on the list here between OH’s old contacts and my contacts has been quite valuable. They are all super people just some work on some things and some work on other things. And it’s good that I know them and can trust them in my home for the most part.

How fast does that paint work on the stumps? I’ll have to check into that.

The stump-out from bonide seems to work well...they say the deterioration starts in about a month or so. I used it on a number of volunteer trees and shrubs that keep appearing among other trees or shrubs..So far, they did not come back so it seems to work

Fall is here it seems..52F this morning..brrr..It's nice to have cool weather in the evening and morning. I know it won't stay this way until later in the season, but I am ok with that:) I will go outside and take advantage of this and clean a bit..I had cleaned about two weeks ago under the trees and I saw that the weeds are back..

Which washing machine did you order? It's good that you have some trustworthy people who can help with a few things there..I would be afraid to have strangers in my house..Fingers crossed that he gives you a discount on work. I am sure he can make that washing machine work and it will be working for years

I am glad your new washing machine arrives today! Yes, I agree with Printesa that it is so nice you have people you can ask for help. I have been trying to get someone to clean my brother’s condo as his health is failing. Can’t find any one yet.🤪

When I went shopping for the washing machine, it was down to a GE and a Maytag. There was of course the economy Amana which I had had before, but I thought it best to bump up at least one small notch. I got the non-digital of course and the Maytag had an extra filter for pet hair! So that’s the one I got. Just as simple as I could find and of course they were all on sale. I asked if they could do a little better on the price so they gave me free delivery 👏 I said I’ll take it LOL. It’s running it’s first test cycle, then I will be doing laundry!

Hip, hip hooray! 🙌😉😄

And I think I have Mealy bugs on my Cleyera Bigfoot 🤪

That’s so sounded like a personal problem!

OK, they drain to the washing machine is running out underneath the house, be back later

Hope everything goes well with the new machine. Laundry galore to do now:) Maytag is a reliable brand and you can find service easier pretty much anywhere. I am not a fan of digital controls..as long as I can help it, I stay with manual, though I am aware that at some point I won't be able to do that

Mealy bugs..ugh..can't stand them..they ruined so many plants for me. Not many options other than spray with some neem and soap and then wipe with alcohol and rinse...

This is acting odd this is acting weird I don't know what's going on I don't even know if you're getting my message right now oh there it comes boy it lined out again I have no idea to see my words I'm glad you got your wash machine Alice but may take is a good brand at least you bought a brand name but all these new shiny new stuff to me they don't last as long as they used to they all go wrong my washing machine is still hanging together from 2001 and yes it's a may take and I still don't see my words I hope they're being good the stupid words I don't know what's going on maybe I got too much junk in my phone or maybe it's the app itself Has a Glitch right now

I wouldn’t plant the tree in the middle of that patio area because you will constantly have to be watering it. Rain may not penetrate the soil enough because of the rocks all around it… especially as the tree gets larger and needs more water to sustain itself. A small shrub might be all right in that spot but I would think not a tree.

Flowers from our garden at our lake house. And I noticed on other plants, leaves were missing and big chunks eaten out of the big leaves of the Cana lilies. So I guess we need to find out what is eating them. I figure it is THE HUNGRY CATERPILLAR.

Oops…

Gls but the flowers look really pretty and healthy. That is a miracle with this heat. I have been watering everything that I’m trying to keep alive here practically every other day or more if needed.

So I’m getting several likes on Lia’s comment about not planting the tree there. grrr now I’m not sure what to do? I got all the rocks out of there today and was about to put the crape Myrtle tree there. I do understand the watering thing with planting the tree there. I have a plumber coming Thursday, he said, to fix the broken drain under the house. The laundry party had to stop. It looked like a river under the house and the kittens, Missy’s two kittens had gone under there and Missy and I were meowing and calling for them to come out if they could. I was expecting to have to throw in some floaties for them. After about 10 minutes I turned around and there they were behind me playing with the broom on the patio 🤪 I guess they had come out earlier and I didn’t notice!

Alice, I know I seem to be in minority here, the crape myrtle in my MIL's yard gets no water other than the rain..this summer is the only summer we had a lot of rain. Most of the time we go for almost the entire summer without rain and she does not have any irrigation there. She would water them from time to time, but nothing regular. The area is covered in rocks to help with the weeds..

Ah Printesa you present yet another strong case lol! It is much closer to the water hose. I do believe I’ll have to water quite frequently especially since our summers are so drying here and there are cracks all in those pavers or I wouldn’t see stuff growing in between them constantly so that’s a very good point. I’m going to plop one there and see if I can get it established. There are open areas of ground behind it and beside close to that square space. If the roots flare out as I’ve read they do to accommodate the crêpe Myrtle’s then I believe it may be OK. I know they grow in the medians of our streets here. They are planted everywhere.

yes, they are on the highway pretty much everywhere in the south..When we were driving to AL, as you hit TN area, you see those all around the streets. I haven't seen any of these tree struggling and we do have lots of people here who do nothing for their garden

Alice, OH never waters our two crepe Myrtle. It is hit and miss with the rain too. When you drive around your city, with kind of trees do you see? Printesa is correct down here in south Alabama we have a lot of crepe Myrtle and azaleas.

This morning the temperature was only 75! Hallelujah! We have dry air.

gls, your flowers are beautiful! Love the bright colors. I see now more people planting hibiscus. I find them too tropical for our area:)

Have you heard anything from zaz? I keep checking her thread and she hasn't been here for over a month..hope everything is well with her and family

Printesa, I check in periodically but only her online friends have submitted anything to her site; she hasn't responded in such a long time. She had been exercising a lot and really not eating much (it seemed to me) so I, too, hope all is OK for her and her family.

I wanted to tell you guys about the funny story with my Plumber this morning. You know I got the new washer installed on Tuesday I believe? When they brought it and installed it they started it up. I said oh that’s a good idea but then they left because of course they had other deliveries and they probably didn’t want to just sit here and wait for 20 minutes or so. Everything was fine in the house. I started to do laundry and was actually excited about that, and I was outside doing some yardwork and heard a lot of water flowing. I looked under the underpinning there where that washing machine was and it was like a river. So that’s when I called for the Plumber to come over and Stop doing laundry well this morning he showed up at 7 am and he got to look in under there and he said can you run it once for me so I can see where the leak is., Sure I said I’ll run a short wash. Well to make a long story longer, when the company did the install they put the drain hose in the wall but they failed to stick it in the hole. So the water was draining towards the outside wall and luckily not inside into my house across the floor. Of course we all laughed about it and didn’t speak too highly of the install guy. I asked the Plumber what I owed him, because he is someone we’ve had here before in 2020 and we’re very satisfied with him and he is a very good Contractor. He said whatever I think. So I said well you used the gas to come over here and you did make the call as you would any other job. So he said $75. That is actually the going rate for just a house call around here anyway. I held him the $75 and called Home Depot and told them what happened, or what didn’t happen the day of install. I had stated that I would get an invoice if they needed it but I was to be compensated. The associate spoke with her manager and they credited my purchase on the washer for the $75 with no argument whatsoever.

On another note, did I post here that a lizard climbed into my refrigerator last night! And no, I have not seen him 🤪

That really sucks that is not a very good plumber that the Home Depot hired they should confiscate I can't say the word and they should do any payments toward repairs if it's something going on keep a fan blowing in there so things don't get moldy you might have a mold problem next that's terrible

Happy it really was unfortunate that he was in such a hurry and didn’t get that hose in the drain pipe. Looking back there it looked like it was in there but it was not. I shouldn’t have any trouble with mould. It’s going to the outside of the house. I am so thankful to get past that issue today I must say. And Home Depot compensated me for the charge which is all taken care of now.

I am proud to say I got one tree planted today and it took all day long. There was lava rocks in that bed for many years ago that had sank probably 6 to 8 inches down and a thick heavy barrier they had made. I got a pickax and wet it down and was able to dig in there and get nearly all of them out. I guarantee if anyone was buried in there, I would have found them.

You had quite a day today Alice! I hope you sleep well after all that physical labor!⛏️

Printesa, no, I haven’t heard from Zaz. With 4 guys in their home, I think she just has a lot on her plate. Plus, her mom, and I do hope she is doing well too.

Well, we’ve graduated to the double apartment and I’ve got a litter box in one end a tiny litter box with litter smell but not litter. It’s a corner that they’ve been using and I hope that they’ll continue using that corner. I’m going to use my shredder tomorrow and put some paper in there for them. Now they can run around and play a little bit as well. Gls I am absolutely ready to Stop for the evening. I got the Tree planted in there and the mulch down. Seems as though when I get ready to plant anything I have to really rework, but I’m slowly making my rounds back here for my gardens, or I should say my future gardens LOL.

All I have to do really to complete my chores this evening is clean the other litter boxes for the evening, then done 👏 just gave these two little Rascals their dinner. They fight so terribly and I can only feed one at a time! Did I post here that the lady, the young lady that was going to take the kittens, may not be able to now. I heard through the grapevine but not from her that she had a possum infestation at her house and had moved in with her grandmother, hopefully not permanently. She has not contacted me and I think she’s afraid to tell me. But if she cannot take them, I’d rather she not if there’s a problem like that. I’ll keep my fingers crossed that they can straighten it out and she can move back in to her permanent residence.

Alice, I hope you slept well after such a hard working day...digging there all that stone must have been exhausting. I laughed when I read about how deep you had to dig:)) Those kitties look like trouble makers:)) I do hope that the young lady will be able to take them. Maybe you find a way to let her know that if she is not sure yet, to not stress out..things happen..Maybe someone can find someone else..Any of the contractors, helpers around there know someone who wants kitties?:)

Not much happening here..yesterday I woke up with a migraine..was functional, but not great. I had a dentist appointment which was thankfully quick and without problems. Sleep was ugh..headache throughout the night..Now I am so and so..some pain, nausea and teary eye from the migraine..hopefully it doesn't get worse so I can do some work. I can't go outside to finish some cleanup because it's really humid and uncomfortable

I am glad to hear that the plumber fixed the problem..how in the world the HD installer thought that it was a good idea to just not take care of that? that should be basic rule that the water should be connected to go outside and not just drained wherever. Hope everything else is in order and no more surprises.

Those kitties are so darn cute. You have done an amazing job. Your yard “adventures plus plumbing craziness makes my problems seem small!! Thanks for keeping us informed! Sure hope the woman who committed to taking the kittens comes through. Whatever, these kitties deserve a good home, but not yours! Time to start advertising their availability!!

Printesa you know the seasons are changing and I think sometimes it brings on your headaches? I’m hoping that’s all it is and hoping that you can get some rest tonight no fun and I’m not sure how you even function with that going on. I guess some people can say that they’re used to it, but I wouldn’t be able to get used to having headaches such as migraines as you do. I think we’re finally turning the page. We were 97 today and it looks like the rest of the weekend next week may not get past 95 or 96? Yes, those rocks became a problem. After I wet the area soaking it for a while and then letting the mud try to dry a little bit it seemed like the pickax went down in there pretty good. And I’m not a good swinger, but I think just the weight of it with a little bit of swing got it in deep enough to uproot most all the rocks in there. I thought to keep them but really? As much as I like rocks LOL. So that crate Myrtle is in there and looks like it’s happy with mulch and the second one to plant the soil was even worse. Cement and sand just a dried up old area I guess from when they worked on this pond so many years ago. I started to hack away at it because that was my goal for today was to get the other one in the ground so I could move on with this. I looked for another spot and I really wanted to line them up somewhat along that side. What I decided to do was put the second crêpe Myrtle tree and a large pot which it’ll last probably about a year and slowly clear that area out over there because I do want to plant other things too. I can get the rocks out at my own convenience and then throw my leaves and some compost and perhaps next year it will be a lot better suited for a tree or any other plantings I want to do. I mostly spent the morning watering the yard and cleaning up the patio from the squirrels making a mess with the pecan shells. I guess just basic cleanup after the messes I had made LOL.

Yes, it’s unfortunate that I got that news about the young lady that might not be able to take the kittens. I took it up upon myself to text her with some kind words if she could let me know what her thoughts were on rehoming these kittens. Hopefully she’ll text me back, as I said I think she was afraid to tell me. I know she needs to move back in her home so maybe they’re going to get an exterminator or something over there to take care of the problem. She fell in love with these two when she helped me rescue them that hot hot day so I know her heart is in it. Nobody wants kittens! I’ve checked and I ask everyone and they laugh at me ha ha. Either everybody has more than they want or they don’t like cats and or don’t need anymore. I’m sure along the way perhaps I’ll be able to rehome a few here and there of the outdoor kitties. Meanwhile I’ll just do what I can. Of course the ones that are outside, for the most part come and go anyway. It’s just the ones that I’ve been able to make friendly enough and try to slow down the population. I can’t do much but I can do a few.

Alice, I will send you some of our temperatures your way and rain:) We will be in the high 60s this week and some rain. Today it rained and it might rain later again..just 71F so pretty fall like weather:) It will warm up back in the 70s and I am sure we'll get again a week or so of high temperatures

Yesterday I felt ok and managed to clean outside a bit..finished part of the walkway...I know, these paver walkways are the bane of my existence..I cleaned and then applied some preen..hopefully it holds for a while until we get to reapply sand..With all the rain we had, there were barely any three days in a row without rain..and then just because we had some dry days doesn't mean our schedule was free for that..fun things:) My ankles have been a feast for mosquitoes..we still have them and they find any piece of skin I have uncovered. Speaking of mosquitoes, my niece is at Tampa university and apparently they have some body of water where mosquitoes were forming..someone died from dengue fever..scary...They apparently sprayed, but knowing that that thing exist, it's scary

Today I need to do some office work and hopefully tomorrow I can get back outside to continue this Sisyphean work

Your plan for the second crape myrtle sounds good. It will be ok in a pot and that gives you time to prepare the area..we can't really arrange our schedule around plants, even though that seems to be the case:) In your case, the kitties are making your schedule:) I am sure you are known as the cat whisperer. You do so much for all the cats in the area..If only everyone would do a small part, the population of stray cats would be under control

Going to my daughter's for a cookout and two birthday parties middle grandson and youngest grandson they're going to celebrate their birthdays together not on this same day they weren't born on

Dengue fever…best she be really cautious my good friend in Mexico has recovered but with long term effects.

Lia, it is scary for sure. The good thing is that mosquitoes don't really move from where they are so spraying the area pretty much gets rid of it. When we lived in California, we were dealing with the West Nile virus and that caused many issues..It's difficult to keep away from mosquitoes. I have creams that I use and it works to some extent..During the hot weather, I can't wear long sleeves, though I should

I find all cotton white long sleeve men’s dress shirts ….with the collar up…and sprayed with repellent..are good protection from the sun as well as bugs that bite …

Add a big hat…also sprayed…work well ..without being too warm on a hot day in the garden

I choose the a synthetic fabric so they look freshly pressed after a wash

Partially synthetic…

These shirts are usually available in thrift stores for as little as a dollar…

bty, I will have to see what spray I can find that can dry on the shirt and doesn't smell..the off one is ok on the clothes, but I haven't tried it to see if it dries and doesn't touch my skin.