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Showing posts with the label vertical gardening

Living With The Land - At Home - Hydroponic Exploration - February 2023

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It is well established (in our house) that the best (or at least...my favorite) attraction in the entire Vacation Kingdom is in Epcot called Living with the Land .  What's that?   You haven't been on it? Well...let me tell you about it.  Or...actually...let ChatGPT tell you about it.  I asked her this: Can you describe the attraction at Disney's Epcot center that is called Living with the Land? Why would someone call it their favorite ride at disney? Here's what she said: Living with the Land is a slow-moving boat ride attraction located in the Land Pavilion at Epcot Center in Walt Disney World Resort in Florida. The ride takes guests on a journey through various indoor and outdoor agricultural environments, showcasing different methods of sustainable farming and food production. During the ride, guests can observe a variety of farming techniques, including hydroponics, aquaculture, and integrated pest management. There are also several dioramas that show different ecos

2023 Garden Trends Via Garden Design Newsletter - December 2022

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Trends come and go, right?  In fashion.  In food.  In living.  Feels like you have to kind of pick your spots in all things trendy, right?  Can't be too on trend.  But, you still want to show how you're a little contemporary, right?  Trends in the garden are something that I've unpacked over the year.  Here's a trends post that I did very early this past year - January 2022 .  And I did the same thing in 2019 and 2020 .   I came across a recent 2023 Garden Trends list from Garden Design email newsletter and thought it was worth kicking-the-tires on the items they included.  Here's their list .  Below is a screenshot showing the nine items that they think will breakthrough and show up in gardens this growing season: There are a few - what I'll call - 'narrow' items on their list.  And others that are way more 'broad' in nature.  Let's start with the more 'broad' category items.  Why?  Because they're A LOT less interesting to me. 

Humulus lupulus 'Cascade' Hops Vine Stretch Upward - July 2021

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Earlier this Summer - in early June - I planted a Humulus Iupulus 'Cascade' Hops vine in a sunny spot of our backyard.  I posted about it in July and mentioned that it was a very mature vine that was 'bulging' in the container that I bought from The Growing Place.  It suffered some tremendous transplant shock, but with a little bit of attention (and water), it recovered.  The photo below shows what it looks like mid-Summer - just about 40 days or so after planting it.  You can see that one of the vines is edging over the six-foot-tall fence. I put up a small, thin metal trellis that I found on our lot when we moved in, but you can quickly sense that it needs more.  Back in Elmhurst, I had these wooden trellises attached to our fence that I think would be worth exploring in this spot next year.  I'll have to put - adding a real trellis or vine system - to my 2022 to-do list.  For now, I'm thinking I'm going to drive a couple of screws into the fence to giv

Humulus Cascade Hops Vine - Planted June 2021

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Back at our old house in Elmhurst, we had a pair of Hops growing on trellises along our fence in the backyard.  We had both Golden and Cascade Hops and I really liked how they added a vertical element to our landscape.  In our current plan, we don't have any trellises planned nor does the plan call for Hops vine in any location.  But, when I came across this REALLY full 1# nursery container of Cascade Hops (Humulus Cascade) at The Growing Place, I grabbed it and decided to figure out a good spot for this later.  Here's what the container looked like when I brought it home below - very vigorous and healthy.  The container was BULGING - you can see it below.  And It seemed like this Hops vine was VERY root-bound.  So, it took some time to get this thing out of the container.  And when I did, I had to trim up some of the roots to get it from strangling itself.   As for the location, you can see below what it looks like after being planted for a day or two.  Within the week (after