Both the oxblood lilies and the Grand Primo narcissus have completely croaked in the past two weeks; I sincerely hope that's dormancy!
Replanted front flowerpots with vincas, doing OK so far. Pansies had completely dried up.
Copper soap fungicide (or dumb luck) is doing wonders for the roses. No sign of black spot or powdery mildew.
Daylilies still blooming, only a couple at a time, but really fantastic colors.
Monday, June 26, 2006
Sunday, June 18, 2006
Rose Hose: Operational!!
My roses supposes their toeses have no hoses
But my roses supposes erroneously!
What a wonderful feeling, after two years with my crummy first attempt -- then, this weekend, two 96-degree afternoons of hauling, digging, cussing, connecting, getting sprayed and cussing -- to do this...
....Simply stroll into my backyard, turn on the tap, and watch little burblers soak the feet of all 11 of my favorite rosebushes.
Oh, the luxury! I am going to take to this like the first time I had a washing machine of my own. No more hauling jugs of water out there -- I can just come home and water them all with one flick of the wrist!
The total project cost was about $20. (Well, the total cost for the Rose Hose that worked.) Rose Hose Mark 1 was about 50 feet of tiny vinyl tubing, and it was piggybacked off the existing flowerbed's minisprinklers. My thought was, that system is already there, and it's all tiny vinyl tubing, so that must work, right? Well, somewhere between splicing the systems and doubling the length of the tubing, hardly any water actually made it out to the roses. By that time, though, I had unwisely already trenched and buried the 50 feet of tube. So I left it there for two years, testing it occasionally, hauling gallon jugs of water out to the roses and plotting my revenge.
Lesson 1. Do not bury the system until you have tested it!
Rose Hose Mark 2 is about 80 feet of 1/2-inch stiff black poly tubing, connected directly to the tap (well, a manifold on the tap). Only two segments need to be buried because we've decided to put a bed along the fence (so we'll just put mulch over the pipe). It even extends to the climbing roses on the back fence! However, because the pipe is so stiff, it was a b*&%$-kitty to get into place -- every place it has to curve more than about 15 degrees (under the metal border, under the fence, up to the faucet) I either had to grade the earth to accommodate it or make some other adjustment. It kept bending almost to breaking point, and I'm lucky it still holds water. Not a forgiving product. I cursed a LOT. The next time, I would definitely use cheap garden hose instead, though the cost is probably $25 vs. $11.
Lesson 2. Investigate how many curves you will need to make, not just how many connections, before buying your materials.
All of the various bits I'm using come from
Anyway, it is good for my heart to see the little guys getting a really adequate amount of water through those drippers. I hope this will hold them through the hot three months to come. They have responded extremely well to the copper soap fungicide, showing little sign of powdery mildew or black spot at the moment, and they are leafing out afresh even now, bless their bippies. Just think what they will do with solid watering!
But my roses supposes erroneously!
What a wonderful feeling, after two years with my crummy first attempt -- then, this weekend, two 96-degree afternoons of hauling, digging, cussing, connecting, getting sprayed and cussing -- to do this...
....Simply stroll into my backyard, turn on the tap, and watch little burblers soak the feet of all 11 of my favorite rosebushes.
Oh, the luxury! I am going to take to this like the first time I had a washing machine of my own. No more hauling jugs of water out there -- I can just come home and water them all with one flick of the wrist!
The total project cost was about $20. (Well, the total cost for the Rose Hose that worked.) Rose Hose Mark 1 was about 50 feet of tiny vinyl tubing, and it was piggybacked off the existing flowerbed's minisprinklers. My thought was, that system is already there, and it's all tiny vinyl tubing, so that must work, right? Well, somewhere between splicing the systems and doubling the length of the tubing, hardly any water actually made it out to the roses. By that time, though, I had unwisely already trenched and buried the 50 feet of tube. So I left it there for two years, testing it occasionally, hauling gallon jugs of water out to the roses and plotting my revenge.
Lesson 1. Do not bury the system until you have tested it!
Rose Hose Mark 2 is about 80 feet of 1/2-inch stiff black poly tubing, connected directly to the tap (well, a manifold on the tap). Only two segments need to be buried because we've decided to put a bed along the fence (so we'll just put mulch over the pipe). It even extends to the climbing roses on the back fence! However, because the pipe is so stiff, it was a b*&%$-kitty to get into place -- every place it has to curve more than about 15 degrees (under the metal border, under the fence, up to the faucet) I either had to grade the earth to accommodate it or make some other adjustment. It kept bending almost to breaking point, and I'm lucky it still holds water. Not a forgiving product. I cursed a LOT. The next time, I would definitely use cheap garden hose instead, though the cost is probably $25 vs. $11.
Lesson 2. Investigate how many curves you will need to make, not just how many connections, before buying your materials.
All of the various bits I'm using come from
Mister LandscaperAnyway, it is good for my heart to see the little guys getting a really adequate amount of water through those drippers. I hope this will hold them through the hot three months to come. They have responded extremely well to the copper soap fungicide, showing little sign of powdery mildew or black spot at the moment, and they are leafing out afresh even now, bless their bippies. Just think what they will do with solid watering!
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