Looks great! Are you going to fill it with bulk compost?
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Yep⌠probably gonna be bought from the store for this year, though weâre gonna start our own compost pile too⌠I should probably check to see if the county has some compost? Probably not, since they donât collect it at the streetâŚ
The epic gardening channel had a suggestion of putting in some sticks at the bottom, which will help with drainage and theyâll break down eventually, tooâŚ
Iâm certainly gonna start very small⌠maybe a couple of different plants if that? Iâm still not sure what yetâŚ
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There may be a municipal compost. Even if they donât collect household compost they may have to deal with leaf litter from parks an dealing with downed branches.
Getting a yard of compost delivered may be cheaper than buying bags at the home store, even when the delivery cost is added in. Looks like your construction os about a yard in volume. Locally I get compost for about $45 per yard. Buying that at Home Depot is about three or four times that.
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Iâll definitely look into what the county has or maybe the next county over⌠maybe one of the local towns has something from their parks and rec, too!
I donât think the local smaller gardening shops will be any cheaper for that stuff, either.
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The oaks are trimmed now. It was a heavier year in terms of pruning, maybe 7% on the one that needed the most work. We shouldnât need to go that heavy again for another 2-3 years. Next winter should just be cleaning out the interior of cross branches. We tend to be really conservative with pruning and always an eye towards long term stability.
I want to prune the Mexican redbud next. A lot of people wait until itâs done blooming in spring so they have more blooms. But while blooms are nice, a healthy tree is more important and weâll do it when the tree is still dormant.
We need to prune the neighborsâ tree. 
Itâs damaging the fence. The whole thing needs to come out, it should have been removed as a sapling growing within 2 feet of the fence. But we assumed the owner would take care of it and they didnât and itâs very fast growing
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Wow⌠in case you need a very zen live stream⌠no music or anything.
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Are there any landscape suppliers near you? Another potential source of compost.
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Iâll check into that, too! Thanks!
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Anyone do a raised bed using hugelkultur techniques?
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I am doing that tnis year, but have no experience to share yet. Had lots of logs and leftovers after our various tree disasters this year!
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Get a big ziploc bag, or a big container (we tend to use mulitple large plastic yogurt tubs), and keep your collection in the freezer, sealed. Bring it out to load it or top it off. Store as much bio-scraps in the freezer as you can.
At your leisure, you can bring all your kitchen scraps to the compost pile while frozen. Itâll all thaw, and the freezing usually helps break down stuff so it rots even faster.
If you donât have a copy of Rodaleâs Encyclopedia of Organic Gardening (which as a nice large entry for âcompostingâ⌠then here:
One thing to avoid: attracting rats, cockroaches (even though they are good soil-decomposers), and flies. A roll of hardware cloth around your pile will keep the rats away. And a hot pile with plenty of microbe activity will naturallly repel flies and roaches.
Apparently this excellent video by Geoff Lawton shows you can make a compost pile that attracts healthy young folks with strong backs!
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Thrips in the potted tropical hibiscus! 
I brought the plant inside a couple months ago for its winter vacation. I sprayed it and drenched the soil with horticultural oil beforehand. All good until last week, and itâs covered with the little nasties. I gave it another soaking with the horticultural oil sprayâbarely slowed them down. Just back from the local garden center with a pyrethrin/neem spray. Hope this works better, but where the hell did they come from? Dormant in the soil? None of the other indoor plants have them.
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A youtuber i follow that specializes in orchids had some tests for trying to eliminate thrips, when i get home i need to look and see if i can track down what she used. And i canât say where they come from but some types of plants are just beacons for certain kinds of pests, and sometimes its a particular individual plant that is susceptible to pests.
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yes.
at least that what we found when we moved down here to the keys. there is a very hardy thrip that can be dormant for very long periods. they can ravage healthy hibiscus plants quickly. they also form scales over themselves that makes it nearly impossible to kill them topically. i tried everything i could, before i just ripped them all out.
i love hibiscus and have had to just give up on growing them here.
i hope you can overcome yours.
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New orchid in the house, small pretty thing 
@
KeybillyJefe, do I repot it into an orchid pot with bark potting mix now, or should I wait until itâs done blooming? Itâs in that plastic sleeve of moss with one drainage hole.
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you can go ahead and put it in a proper container with a bit more moss, but orchids like their roots crowded and not too wet. those are very healthy looking roots, too! it looks happy as is, but wouldnât be upset getting out of the plastic bag.
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Are you suggesting they like their roots⌠mo***?
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in a manner of speaking, yes!
my understanding of orchids is that they like that term.
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Did some gardening today, despite continuing recovery from being sick.
My roses are monsters. We had 4 days of at or below freezing temps, they were uncovered, and continued to produce new growth!! We had overnight temps of 16 degrees one night. Only a few new buds/leaves with frost damage. These roses also love roasting in the summer over-100 days. Crazy plants. They are all David Austin roses and chosen for being hardy. I didnât expect no-frost-damage but loves-an-oven hardy.
All four got big haircuts. Iâd missed the early fall pruning and the particularly vigorous Charles Darwin had decided to grow another 6 inches on the canes over the winter. 2/3 down with particular attention to canes with damage and cross-overs.
The others are
Rolad Dahl
Teasing Georgia
Queen of Sweden
Rosemary bushes also got a haircut. The old branches of the Pride of Barbados are gone. That plant dies down to the roots over the winter.
Then my husband spent 20 or 30 minutes sculpting the potted lemon tree. He had bonsai for a while, but he just doesnât have time anymore. So now the lemon tree gets these super careful cuts. Not many this year, since the silly thing is now on itâs 4th round of blooms since late November. Iâm glad it is happy.
We had to move it into the front door alcove and cover it for this long cold spell. When we started to move it, we discovered fire ants in the pot. Used a drench of orange oil and Garret Juice. Damned ants were still alive when we moved it back today, though the pavement underneath was covered in their dead. I went and did another drench, this time with spinosad. Hopefully that is enough. If not, Iâll do the orange oil again next weekend. Since this is a potted plant, Iâm wary of doing the orange oil drench too close together.
Next weekend is the Sunshine Community Garden sale. hoping to get all our peppers, tomatoes, and basil there. The blackberry brambles need their serious haircut too.
Lots to do.
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In case youâre curious, this is the plant lists for the community garden sale. The money goes to support the garden. They have so many interesting plants!
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