Why I Oughta...

#6 on my 2022 to-do list included the need for providing a more robust structure or trellis system for our one-year-old Cascade Hops vine that was planted last year.  Last year, I used a small, metal ornamental trellis that allowed the vine to get up about three or four feet off the ground .  This year, I was planning on providing a true, stand-alone trellis.  But...the growth of this vine thought otherwise.   Why?  Because it grew like crazy and by the time I was getting around to thinking about which trellis to buy, it was too late.   But, my 2022 to-do list still stood.  What could I do?  I decided to take the same route I took with the Belgian Fence frame:  attach some deck screws to the fence and wire up a grid on the fence to provide for the vine to grow up.   I put in a dozen or so screws and wrapped green, outdoor wire around them in a box-shape and some cross-wires to make various ways for the vine to grow.   How'd it go?  The Cascade Hops vine quickly found the trellis w

I've done these ' Christmas Haul ' posts over the years where I show off some of the gifts that I have received from family and friends at the holidays.  In 2011, I posted a couple of Beatles magnets that I received .  In 2018, I posted a photo of a bird seed bell .  For 2019, Nat's folks gave me a heated bird bath for the backyard .  Last year, I received a gift that sat RIGHT at the intersection of two of my loves:  Disney pins and jigsaw puzzles .  And, I also put a new pair of chainsaw protection gloves to work in the Spring.   This year, I received some fun gifts from Nat and the kids and as part of a family gift exchange, Nat's brother gifted me a few things for the yard.  I mean...what else would I want, right? The first thing they gave me is here, below.  A double pack of Rapiclip Soft Wire Tie (Light Duty) espalier training (padded) wire.  Each of the spools is 16 feet long.   I've posted about this padded training espalier wire before and have found i

One of the items on  my 2019 gardening to-do list (addendum)  was to make sure I got around to wiring up the new Gold Cone Junipers that I planted this Spring.   When  I picked them up , I was drawn to the promise of their bright needles and how they filled a big part of my desire to add conifers to our landscape.  In  that original post , I referenced how a pro-gardener recommended that these particular junipers get wired up to avoid any sort of Winter/snow damage.  That's what this post is for:  documenting that I actually wired them.  The top photo shows one of the Gold Cone Junipers all wired up with a green coated metal garden wire.  Compare that photo above with the photo of the same shrub  in this photo .  I tucked in all the leggy new growth and bound it to the core of the plant.  Here's a closer look at the wire:  The shrub in the foreground is wired up.  The one in the background is not (yet!). There were seven items on  my 'to-do list addendum