September Landscapes – Installing Winter Rye!

[Soldierhorn]

I used to live in Killeen. Worked there for the Daily Herald. Was hired to redesign the look back in '94. I was there about a year and a half. Met my wife there.

wow... small world.  The KDH is almost nothing now and virtually all AP, Routers, & other national news feeds. I quit getting it about 20 yrs ago and even then it was mostly to get the classifieds and sports; nothing I cant get online now.  The sports writer was terrible back then and had to be from Big8 country.  if a Texas school screwed up, it was on the front page. If something good happened to a Texas school, they MIGHT get a one paragraph lead on the front to page 2 or 3.  However, if a former Big8 school did something or beat a Texas school, there would be a full or half page section on it.  horrible 

 

[Sirhornsalot]

good stuff.  I did not know about the jug lone. I'm going to have to read up on that.  I have a huge walnut tree near the same creek as the pic of the deer.  It's so big that I cant put my arms around it. The jug lone probably explains why there is hardly anything but grasses and weeds growing around it.  

On a side note about texas black walnut, I was at a guy's property near Gatesville and I asked him what type of oil or tar did he put on his long driveway. it looked a strange darkish color.  He said it's an oil but from black walnuts. Apparently, his family has own the property for about a 100 yrs and they habitually tilled in the black walnut shells into the road base.  I found it interesting

That is interesting. Walnut shells and time gave him a nicely paved driveway.

In the downtown Tyler area, there are bricked streets. Ever so often as you drive down them, you see spaces where the bricks are missing.

This is because those streets were originally paved with Bois'de Arc bark. When they decided to brick the streets, they bricked right over the Bois 'De Arc bark. Later, after a summer afternoon shower, the bark would swell with pressure until it would occasionally blow straight up, dislodging and propelling the brick above it into the air. Like little geysers. lol

 

[Soldierhorn]

I dont want to go off topic too much but I was wondering something. If I'm going to transplant my trees in pots and put them in ground at my hill country property, I need to do it now or wait till next fall - right?  So, will it's not a grass growing question, it is a fall planting question.  I have a couple of Lilac trees I have been growing in pots for a few years.  Either I'm misunderstanding it or there is a difference of opinion about Lilacs.  On one hand, people like them as decorative & fragrant trees. On the other hand, some things I've read state that even though they may be native, they are now considered invasive due to their ease of propagation.  I tend to not believe they are THAT invasive because mine (in pots) have flowered and I havent seen any propagation around the pots or anywhere else. What do you think?

 

[Sirhornsalot]

I dont want to go off topic too much but I was wondering something. If I'm going to transplant my trees in pots and put them in ground at my hill country property, I need to do it now or wait till next fall - right?  So, will it's not a grass growing question, it is a fall planting question.  I have a couple of Lilac trees I have been growing in pots for a few years.  Either I'm misunderstanding it or there is a difference of opinion about Lilacs.  On one hand, people like them as decorative & fragrant trees. On the other hand, some things I've read state that even though they may be native, they are now considered invasive due to their ease of propagation.  I tend to not believe they are THAT invasive because mine (in pots) have flowered and I havent seen any propagation around the pots or anywhere else. What do you think?

The propagation can take place a ways from your home. Just depends on how the wind blows sometimes.

It sounds like you would give them some attention over time so I don't think its a concern. If you saw them popping up here and there, you could remedy that.

You mentioned Mountain Laurels earlier. I love those things. They're evergreen. Not very fast growers. Beautiful clusters of blue blossoms which are very aromatic. I see them in Austin growing into the sides of cliffs. lol

We sit on the northern fringe of their grow zone. Our winters are almost too much for them. But we plant a lot of them and they seem to make it okay. They do not bloom here as well as they do in the Central Texas area.

Oh, and do your transplanting now. Best time of year to plant a tree. What we want to concern ourselves with is the window of time between now and July 1. July 1 is generally when the real heat begins. So we want them to be as acclimated and happy as they can be before that time comes. So the larger the window, the better chances on the transplant.

 

[Sirhornsalot]

wow... small world.  The KDH is almost nothing now and virtually all AP, Routers, & other national news feeds. I quit getting it about 20 yrs ago and even then it was mostly to get the classifieds and sports; nothing I cant get online now.  The sports writer was terrible back then and had to be from Big10 country.  if a Texas school screwed up, it was on the front page. If something good happened they MIGHT get a one paragraph lead on the front to page 2 or 3.  horrible 

I hate to hear that. While I was there, we had a very active staff. I wasn't involved on the sports side, but yeah, we were lacking there. I even campaigned for improvement as the head honcho was a long-time friend of mine. I kept telling him to put his money where the money is - HS football. Create something the Friday night fan can't live without on Saturday mornings. But I digress. . . 

 

[Soldierhorn]

The propagation can take place a ways from your home. Just depends on how the wind blows sometimes.

It sounds like you would give them some attention over time so I don't think its a concern. If you saw them popping up here and there, you could remedy that.

You mentioned Mountain Laurels earlier. I love those things. They're evergreen. Not very fast growers. Beautiful clusters of blue blossoms which are very aromatic. I see them in Austin growing into the sides of cliffs. lol

We sit on the northern fringe of their grow zone. Our winters are almost too much for them. But we plant a lot of them and they seem to make it okay. They do not bloom here as well as they do in the Central Texas area.

yeah, one of my neighbors bought some blue mountain laurels years ago and I grew mine from the seeds of his plants which are about 3 feet high now in pots.  I love the blue-velvet-ish colors and fragrance.  it's VERY hearty and survived with minimal watering.  I literally put the laurels near the succulents and cactus plants in pots and the laurels did fine.  

speaking of succulents, do deer like succulents?  I put some sedum plants I have in pots out in the hill country property and it looks like something ate them all the way down. They do that naturally then grow back but not normally in August, or at least the ones still have in killeen havent died back yet.  

just wondering

 

[Soldierhorn]

I hate to hear that. While I was there, we had a very active staff. I wasn't involved on the sports side, but yeah, we were lacking there. I even campaigned for improvement as the head honcho was a long-time friend of mine. I kept telling him to put his money where the money is - HS football. Create something the Friday night fan can't live without on Saturday mornings. But I digress. . . 

yeah, when I got stationed at Fort Hood 25 yrs ago ('95), the KDH had a far more robust staff. 

I've told people at KDH that I see at different social functions that I can get AP, Routers, Schiff (sp?) national news online and have told them this for 20 yrs that they should focus on original content such as local sports (including HS and local college/universities). UMHB wins football national championship 2 out of 3 yrs and they hardly covered it. Nebraska beats the Longhorns ONCE and it's a full page spread. I would buy the paper if it had more local content (local events, home&garden, cultural fests, local history, on and on and on.) and ideologically balanced, which they arent.  The best political debates (city council,sheriffs, judges, school board, state & congressional reps,etc) were organized conducted by the local TeaParty groups. KDH would show up for 5 minutes and take a picture to prove they were there and then leave; with maybe one paragraph in the paper the next day. But, have any poorly conducted NAACP, or LuLac or Public education meeting, or a particular councilmen cuts a ribbon and it's a half page spread.  KDH &TDT have both become really bad the last 20 yrs and virtually useless. 

You may appreciate this since it has to do with plants.  I'm always getting love notes from the city code enforcement [sarc].  I was trying to explain why I have dirt on my sidewalk (yes, I had to see the judge over this).  I put dirt on the city's cracked, tilted and sinking sidewalk to level it out because the little kids were crashing hitting the 4" drop. It's actually safer using dirt to level out the drop and pitch. I told the judge that when they tell me they are going to fix THEIR sidewalk, I'll take the dirt off. Well, that didnt work and I had to pay a fine. Oh, well, i said my piece,   Anyway, while miss-priss (city-girl code enforcement) and I were talking about the sidewalk, she told me, "I can also give you a ticket for a dead tree in your yard."  I said, "really? I take care of my plants and I dont have any dead trees. You're going to have to show me this dead tree."  We walked over to the side of my house and she said, "right there on the other side of your picket fence."  I started laughing. I said, "they give a city-girl the power to write tickets and you cant tell the difference between a tree and a FLOWER." haha  I then said, "that's SUNFLOWER plant. And, yes, they start drying up about this time (late August/early Sept) and I will pull it out and shred it for compost." All I could do was shake my head and walk away

 

[Sirhornsalot]

yeah, one of my neighbors bought some blue mountain laurels years ago and I grew mine from the seeds of his plants which are about 3 feet high now in pots.  I love the blue-velvet-ish colors and fragrance.  it's VERY hearty and survived with minimal watering.  I literally put the laurels near the succulents and cactus plants in pots and the laurels did fine.  

speaking of succulents, do deer like succulents?  I put some sedum plants I have in pots out in the hill country property and it looks like something ate them all the way down. They do that naturally then grow back but not normally in August, or at least the ones still have in killeen havent died back yet.  

just wondering

Yes, deer LOVE succulents.

However, if you plant some "Society Garlic" around them, the deer will likely leave them alone. Society Garlic is a landscape plant of the onion family. They're pretty, they bloom all summer, need minimal care, and they keep critters away because they smell onion.

 

[Sirhornsalot]

yeah, when I got stationed at Fort Hood 25 yrs ago ('95), the KDH had a far more robust staff. 

I've told people at KDH that I see at different social functions that I can get AP, Routers, Schiff (sp?) national news online and have told them this for 20 yrs that they should focus on original content such as local sports (including HS and local college/universities). UMHB wins football national championship 2 out of 3 yrs and they hardly covered it. Nebraska beats the Longhorns ONCE and it's a full page spread. I would buy the paper if it had more local content (local events, home&garden, cultural fests, local history, on and on and on.) and ideologically balanced, which they arent.  The best political debates (city council,sheriffs, judges, school board, state & congressional reps,etc) were organized conducted by the local TeaParty groups. KDH would show up for 5 minutes and take a picture to prove they were there and then leave; with maybe one paragraph in the paper the next day. But, have any poorly conducted NAACP, or LuLac or Public education meeting, or a particular councilmen cuts a ribbon and it's a half page spread.  KDH &TDT have both become really bad the last 20 yrs and virtually useless. 

You may appreciate this since it has to do with plants.  I'm always getting love notes from the city code enforcement [sarc].  I was trying to explain why I have dirt on my sidewalk (yes, I had to see the judge over this).  I put dirt on the city's cracked, tilted and sinking sidewalk to level it out because the little kids were crashing hitting the 4" drop. It's actually safer using dirt to level out the drop and pitch. I told the judge that when they tell me they are going to fix THEIR sidewalk, I'll take the dirt off. Well, that didnt work and I had to pay a fine. Oh, well, i said my piece,   Anyway, while miss-priss (city-girl code enforcement) and I were talking about the sidewalk, she told me, "I can also give you a ticket for a dead tree in your yard."  I said, "really? I take care of my plants and I dont have any dead trees. You're going to have to show me this dead tree."  We walked over to the side of my house and she said, "right there on the other side of your picket fence."  I started laughing. I said, "they give a city-girl the power to write tickets and you cant tell the difference between a tree and a FLOWER." haha  I then said, "that's SUNFLOWER plant. And, yes, they start drying up about this time (late August/early Sept) and I will pull it out and shred it for compost." All I could do was shake my head and walk away

Now THAT was funny. lol

 

[Soldierhorn]

Yes, deer LOVE succulents.

However, if you plant some "Society Garlic" around them, the deer will likely leave them alone. Society Garlic is a landscape plant of the onion family. They're pretty, they bloom all summer, need minimal care, and they keep critters away because they smell onion.

ok, good to know.  I'm going to have to protect them.  

I have some plants that look like a cross between an onion and garlic. they are not very big and they have pinkish flowers when they bloom.  I dont know if they are edible or not.  I have an old ice cooler that the lid came off and I filled it with dirt/compost and put them in that a while back. I could put the succulents between the coolers for now but raised up to get sun

 

[Soldierhorn]

Now THAT was funny. lol

yeah, it's time to restore the old house on the hill country property and get out of the cookie cutter city dwellers way.  The city council is on this "beautification" (revenue generating) kick and want all the houses & properties to look the same, except the city properties are exempt of course. 

 

[longhorndon]

Any suggestions about eradicating chinaberry trees? My mom has some land near Lake Belton and they seem to grow like weeds.

 

[Soldierhorn]

Any suggestions about eradicating chinaberry trees? My mom has some land near Lake Belton and they seem to grow like weeds.

man, aint that the truth.  When I bought my hill country property I cut down numerous giant chinaberry trees at least two feet in diameter.  They are everywhere in the hill country esp near creeks and ponds. They are almost as bad as mountain cedars.  Just cutting down those type of trees, I can see through my property and do something manageable.  The chinaberry trees we cut down in the summer ALREADY have sprigs almost 5 feet high so I'm going to have to cut them again later.  

Other than constantly cutting, i dont know what the solution is.  I saw one video where a guy cut one inch holes in the stump and packed the holes with salt. he insisted that it worked.  I wonder if you alternate filling the holes with salt and 20% vinegar?  I dont know

 

[Sirhornsalot]

Any suggestions about eradicating chinaberry trees? My mom has some land near Lake Belton and they seem to grow like weeds.

Cut them down. Cut them ALL down. They are highly invasive. 

 

[longhorndon]

HaHa...  We've cut every single one of them at least once!  They keep coming back...  Any ideas on ways to kill the root system?

 

[Sirhornsalot]

ok, good to know.  I'm going to have to protect them.  

I have some plants that look like a cross between an onion and garlic. they are not very big and they have pinkish flowers when they bloom.  I dont know if they are edible or not.  I have an old ice cooler that the lid came off and I filled it with dirt/compost and put them in that a while back. I could put the succulents between the coolers for now but raised up to get sun

Wild onion? Texas is a great home to wild onion. They are everywhere. You could probably eat them but I wouldn't, particularly when you have better options.

You could put a poultry-wire cage around those succulents. Would have to be fairly high though.

 

[Sirhornsalot]

HaHa...  We've cut every single one of them at least once!  They keep coming back...  Any ideas on ways to kill the root system?

When you cut each one, either 1) Spray the immediate root area with RoundUp, or 2) leave a pile of salt on top. Salt kills everything. Of course, the deer may eat the salt before you're able to kill off the roots. lol

 

[Sirhornsalot]

man, aint that the truth.  When I bought my hill country property I cut down numerous giant chinaberry trees at least two feet in diameter.  They are everywhere in the hill country esp near creeks and ponds. They are almost as bad as mountain cedars.  Just cutting down those type of trees, I can see through my property and do something manageable.  The chinaberry trees we cut down in the summer ALREADY have sprigs almost 5 feet high so I'm going to have to cut them again later.  

Other than constantly cutting, i dont know what the solution is.  I saw one video where a guy cut one inch holes in the stump and packed the holes with salt. he insisted that it worked.  I wonder if you alternate filling the holes with salt and 20% vinegar?  I dont know

Forget the vinegar, you don't need it. The salt will kill it.

If have stumps from the cutting, simply drill a few holes in the stump and like your friend said, pack them with salt. You could also make cross cut grooves on the stump with a chainsaw and pack the grooves.

 

[Soldierhorn]

When you cut each one, either 1) Spray the immediate root area with RoundUp, or 2) leave a pile of salt on top. Salt kills everything. Of course, the deer may eat the salt before you're able to kill off the roots. lol

I'm asking because I dont know: is glyphosate (roundup main ingredient) safe to use near to creeks and ponds?

 

[Soldierhorn]

You could put a poultry-wire cage around those succulents. Would have to be fairly high though.

that's a good idea. I still have some bottomless cages that I built for a rabbit (Ravishing Rick). that should work

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