UK tenants should have ‘right to garden’, leading horticulturist says
rouge21_gw (CDN Z5b/6a)
14 days ago
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Woe is Me, I Should Have Used RoundUp
Comments (43)Hi tomacco, Many of the people that object to its use provided references . I posted one that shows actual results that are counter to conventional wisdom. Wrong once means one can be wrong twice. I also doubt most of the people that use pesticides or herbicides even know what it is. Its easy to wipe out weeds. Just weed cloth it for a while. I even look forward to finding some weeds since they are great green manure and ferilizers. http://purecajunsunshine.blogspot.com/2008/08/how-to-make-free-fertilizer-from-weeds.html Everything is a chemical thus its absurd to lump together all chemicals as bad. Plants produce chemical defenses like alkaloids. What is stupid is mono culture and cultural practices that rely on a single measure and the quick kill. Even if round up were non-toxic it would simply breed weeds that will develop immunity to it and simply waste the resource. The best chemicals are the ones produced by plants that always gravitate toward suppression. I don't mind using pyrethins judiciously because it is something that follows this pattern where it knocks down and suppresses without killing and altering the attacking species. It is also a naturally occurring chemical that does break down in sunlight. Quick break down is essential to prevent dilution and attenuated exposure to build resistance.Thats probably why nature made it that way. We have one person with a spray bottle so we can have buildings full of lawyers and accountants doing nothing. They were spraying DDT around as if there was no consequence, same with agent orange. We have seen this attitude before of spray and pray and it nearly killed off the national symbol. Newer research does not look so good to me. . http://www.i-sis.org.uk/DMPGR.php http://www.sott.net/articles/show/180255-Death-by-Multiple-Poisoning-Glyphosate-and-Roundup...See MoreSince when does a neighbor have the right to tell you how tall
Comments (44)What...we're not supposed to be all drunk and whatnot on here? G'bye folks! +oM PS....I do get what Floral speaks of. I live in what is considered (and is) one of the northernmost states in the US. The 45th parallel-that's half-way between the equator and the N. pole-runs right through here. But if one looks at a map of Merry Old, they'll see it is much farther north. As such, sun angles in winter take on a meaning that may seem quite foreign here. For my part, I don't know a single soul who doesn't come down with at least a touch of Seasonal Affective Disorder around November in these parts. Day after day of gloom, each one of those days a little shorter than the prior. Makes it easy to have a feeling for what the UK resident may experience. I didn't look at the videos but I get the sense of what's happening here. A couple thoughts: In all cases of neighborhood strife, it seems best that the parties involved talk to one another first, long before it gets to this point. I wonder if opportunities weren't lost in that regard. The other point-Leylands grow sufficiently fast that you can't say the angry, shade-hating guy shouldn't have foreseen this and went with an different property, if in fact he moved in after the plants were installed. Finally, there is a fine line in all cases where your freedom to do as you wish conflicts with someone else's freedom to live as they wish. In any and all such cases, compromise of some type is far superior, IMO, to rigidly holding your ground. Life's too short. And as much as I am a tree-lover (Anyone who follows my thousands of trees planted knows this) there are legitimate cases, and this appears to be one, where the other factors may trump the desire to leave these be. The fact this is a hedge gone awry does seem to have a part to play in this matter. +oM...See MoreWhy Did You Become a Horticulturist?
Comments (27)I became a horticulturist because it was in my blood. Both my parents and both sets of grandparents were avid gardeners. It was what they did in their spare time and as a child I grew up in gardens and the woods of North Florida. I got my AA degree and still had no clue what I wanted to major in so I moved to Colorado and became a waiter at a country club where I met one of the gardeners who tended the landscape not the fairways when I was dumping ice from the shrimp buffet into the shrubs off the deck in the early spring and he objected and explained why. It just dawned on me that was what I was supposed to get my BS degree in. I had to party and ski a bit first and then move back home again but I did get my degree from the University of Florida in Gainesville. I knew it was not going to be a big money career but I also knew I could not work in any kind of office type job. I needed to be outside and to be honest away from people. What it has allowed me is to be successfully self-employed for the last 18 years. I have never advertised and all my work comes from referral. My business is essentially me and one helper. I have never made any effort to hire a big crew and get tons of accounts. My perfectionist nature would cause me to implode trying to keep all that together. The money part, yes I do have regrets, not having saved or bought my own home and living month to month. That has much more to do though with me being a lousy business man than the field I chose. I'd suggest, Dr. Horticulture, that if you are concerned about the money take a few business classes. I wish I had. I have seen plenty of people make plenty of money in the vast vast field that is Horticulture. More then anything it is a function of how much of a priority it is to you and the skills you have to make that happen. Even with my lower middle class life I do not regret the choice I made. As I have gotten older and my body has begun to complain, money has taken on a new priority. For me getting sober was necesary before I could begin to realize the true value of the knowledge I have and to start charging what I was worth and get more selective about who I would work for and what I was willing to do. In just four years that has made a big difference in my income. The simplest answer to your question though is you can make plenty money in the field of horticulture if you are a good business man as well. ilima...See MoreCalling all Hill Country Gardeners!
Comments (12)Here are some thoughts from the southern fringe of the Hill Country, AKA Canyon Lake. Water and electricity are expensive but to well heeled folk moving here it doesn't seem to be an issue to scrap bare the native vegatation and transpose what ever city concept of plants they choose to use. They bring in "top soil" (with weeds:( and want their city lawn grasses. I guess what I am saying is many new folks moving in and think they want what they had from where ever they came from to grow here. Some even succeed to a degree but many learn over a few years not to try and subjugate Mother Nature and learn to adapt often after they have destroyed their ecosystem. On the other hand there is a groundswell of people moving in that appreciate Mother Nature and try to adapt to their environmnent and utilize the local plants to make their landscapes an extentsion of the surrounding area. Getting involved with the Master Gardner program will be a big plus. It is what I did when I came to Texas from Hawaii 11 years ago. I would also look at the Master Naturalist program to further educate you about the local flora and fauna. Deer will be an issue so learning about the basics of plants that are deer resistant (there is not such a thing as deerproof IMO:). Many folks will do raised beds to adapt to the area instead of trying to punch holes in the limestone rock. I would expect you to do just fine with finding work after a period of adjustment and real Hill Country living. Welcome to the Hill Country and enjoy the majestic beauty that abounds here and look to educate those behind you how to help keep Austin weird and the Hill Country, the Hill Country. An Eagles song says a lot for how I feel about the Hill Country or any place we humans call Paradise. The song is Paradise Lost. I love the Hill Country and try to help other keep it that way as a horticulturist and garden center manager. Mulch of choice local when possible, red cedar if not. I am of the camp that termites are not an issue except those that build on the ground. I am on pier and beam so I would see tunnels before any damage would be done. Not much leaves my property unless I can't figure out a way to reuse it some way. Welcome and Happy Growing David...See Moreprairiemoon2 z6b MA
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