1st Gen. Lunch Table - General Discussion

Tundra on call, a juicy rat tail clogging the shower drain……

 

This?

 

Its warming up here but I'll be heading back home by end of this week. It rained for two days and a lot of snow cleared, but it snowed hard yesterday so its winter wonderland again.

 

Yes it does. We used 2 during panhandlemonium. Bob and Josh brought them cause they're smarter than me.

 

Aint no party like a texas tundra party, cause a texas tundra party dont stop. Morning beers for the win.

*my bad* got turned around. Those are evening beers. Sunrise was from the other side.

 

I used my truck for truck stuff today. Pulled some boxwoods.
AND I was in 4wd so I’m counting this as wheeling.

 

Any day one pulls boxwoods is a glorious day !

 

When they say they bought an abandoned property - Anyone here wouldn't want to own this?
https://youtu.be/uCIKMK08Mlo

 

I really, really hate boxwoods.

 

Want some pachysandra?

 

Nah, I hate non-native invasives even more.

 

Quick and easy check: count the wheel lugs.

 

Same.
Kelly has a real knack for landscaping and plants and stuff. 2 years ago (?) we pulled all the boxwoods on the other side of the house and she replaced that hedgerow with junipers and hostas and some small flowers. It looks 100x better than a big green wall in front of the house.
She really likes junipers...but she's very particular. Some of the junipers she's been after for 2 years. The boxwoods we still have are in place while she sources the remaining junipers and plants she wants.
It's good for her, and me, that she likes to do these larger projects in stages. But I have a feeling I'll be tearing out the rest of the boxwoods on the front of the house before this summer is up.
(There are still boxwoods on the west and north side of the house. Plenty more offroading in my future.)

 

What's so bad about boxwoods? I had them at my last house. Trimming was a pain but I had some sort of thorned holly shrub that I hated 10x more.

 

So your argument is that because AIDS is worse you're okay with herpes?









IDK what a boxwood is. I'm just being a dork.

 

Ni!


I had boxwoods at my pasadena house, not too bad because they didnt get trimmed, and were big and thick enough for decent privacy.

 

They smell awful when they get wet.
They harbor all the bugs.
They need constant maintenance.
They are unsightly at best.

The only two redeeming qualities they have are:
- They pull a ton of moisture from the soil. So if you have a seepy basement, a hedgerow of boxwoods will help trememendously.
- They are good for privacy if you let them grow tall enough.

 

You make a compelling argument. I think I was so annoyed with the thorn shrubs from hell that I didn't pay much attention to the tiny boxwoods we had.

 

Every one of the boxwoods we pulled yesterday would erupt in a cloud of flying bugs. Like cover your mouth and nose so you don't inhale them. It was vile.

 

Oh yea, we used to have some wicked wasp nests in ours.

security systems dont grow out here like the did in pasadena. My brother is scared to death of em, so i like having em near my doors.

 

The trick to that one is two cans of wasp spray from 20 ft away. Then run like a mofo.

 

That cog gave it all.
Time to rest.

 

No master link necessary.


the other chains master link is missing a plate, too.

 

Well, when you don't have spares, refuse to order domestic, and wait 6 months for things to be delivered from Germany...

You'll have that. Will not order from McMaster Carr, will not order from TSC, will not order from Cayce mill. Blows my mind.

 

Boxwoods are "contractor specials". They're the basic, cheap evergreen shitbox shrub that every contractor installs to cut corners. That and ligustrum, sometimes holly.

Boxwoods suck because they're just "meh". They're prone to mites (looks like spider webs), if not kept well-pruned, they'll die out in the center, they're susceptible to blight, and they're pretty boring, those tiny leaves really don't contribute much to the landscape.

Most people don't want an entry-level "starter" house, why the hell would you want entry-level "starter" shrubs when there are so many other good, interesting, and even showy evergreen shrubs out there? Especially for foundation plantings. For us west of the Mississippi, Gardenias, Hawthornes, Laurels and Mountain Laurels, Spruces, Junipers, things in the Ilex family, all are exponentially better options. There's a lot of stuff in the Rhododendron family that's evergreen and compact too, not the typical giant ones we see in the mountains around us.

This is ultimately what we've done over the years. Yoinked the shitty boxwoods and ligustrum (privet) with evergreen shrubs as foundation plantings (Gardenias and Camellias for us), some perennials in front of that, then annuals for fill-in pop, especially at the borders. We do all of our own planting, design, and most of the hardscape. I used to keep pics of all that stuff, like when I cut the original beds up front, but ... I've lost track of it all over the years.

We've gone through quite a few iterations of stuff, lots of labor for me. I originally planted bunch of Loropetalums and sweetspire up front with Gardenias in front of that. The Loros were only supposed to be ~3-4ft tall/wide varieties, I was getting tired of cutting them back every time they would climb over 5ft, if I let them go, they'd get as high up as 7ft, which is ludicrous. Here are some pics of the work as it's happened over the years, up front. Side yards are much less showy, south side is stacked stone garden beds which are active year-round with asparagus, strawberries, tomatoes, peppers, beans, brassicas, herbs. North side is natives like mayapple, hepatica, club moss, maidenahairs, foamflower, grancy, witch hazel, etc. Back is paved out.

Original cutting of beds up front -





Loropetalums in...



Gardenias in...



Built retention wall, recut beds on the right to match left, added Magnolia on left 18mos prior



Added stackstone beds on side, with wraparound to back



Front panoramic, maybe 8yrs ago?



Ditched Loros, moved Gardenias to foundation a couple years ago but too late in the season sadly, they died, but I took cuttings just in case, re-planted those recently. Added stone borders. Added stone patio/firepit area.



And the firepit catching the edge of there.... had a friend create a custom steel cover with removable center lid, grilling grate underneath that for cooking.



More-recent pics after paving in a seating area up front w/teak bench. Colorful stuff up front is Coleus. Good cover for the Gardenia replacements that are all tiny up front.



Oh, and skulls. Can't not show skulls. These are some I've found around the yard while working.

 

Corolla timing chain? Cool. Didn’t know they used a bicycle chain.