gardening - beginners to experts needed!

[Anonymous]

Hi all,
I know most of you are not necessarily hard core gardeners, but after 10 years of writing the gardening column for the magazine, I'm looking for new reader feedback and would like to solicit input from any of you interested in responding.
Are there any specific gardening topics you'd like to see us atttack in the next year? Are you having *challenges* in the green world that our regional reporters might be able to help with? Have you tried a new plant or gardening product of technique you'd like to share?
I'm just getting ready to organize for 2007 and would really appreciate hearing what topics you think would be of interest to you and to our readers.
Thanks in advance,
Pat

Pat Hayward
Horticultural Editor
Garden Railways Magazine

[FJ and G]

1. Getting grass and other weeds not to invade your plants

2. How to encourage and maintain mosses and ferns for shade

3. How to make bonsai without adding all those wires

That's for starters but gotta run now to catch the real train home, the Virginia Railway Express.

Good luck; I know it'll be good as usual!

[Anonymous]

How about listings of natural dwarfs, or ultra slow growing plants? Maybe divide them up by type (conifers, bulbs, etc). Make sure to cross index by the USDA planting zones (and provide maps for those who don't know their zone).

Also might be helpful to list invasive plants that might seem like good railroad plants but become invasive too quickly. Also some plants have surface roots while others have tap roots, surface roots might upset the railbeds where tap roots will not.

[FJ and G]

Pat,

Please push my list down as I considered what is needed on the train home!

The idea I have would benefit not only the garden railroader but also his or her buddies as well.

What is need is a series on propogation; you know, grafting and stuff which I know NOTHING about for trees, shrubs and groundcover. That way I could save a heap of $$$$ and as well give some away to other garden railroaders.

Also include in that, planting from seeds.

I have some Sedum that accidentally started spreading b/c some piece got knocked off and started growing on their own. I was amazed and delighted.

Also, someone mentioned adding moss to buttermilk to make that spread (but my hound would likely devour it first).

I know NOTHING, I repeat, NOTHING about doing all this and it would be soooooo coooool.

[kstrong]

The one thing that's still a complete mystery to me is successful transplanting. I run about 50/50 when it comes to getting something to grow in a new location. Naturally, it's the really cool plants that don't make it, but even things like wooly thyme are hit-and-miss.

And something about llamas. [:)]

Later,

K

[ttrigg]

A good "dictionary" of GRR Plants would be very nice!

1) A large photo (An old putz like me has a hard time seeing the usually small photos.) If you put this on your web site, give me a PDF that has a picture filling the entire page 1, put all the data on page 2.

2) A good description of climatic requirements. Don't just say "Hardy to zone X", I thought I had found a neat looking tree and went to my local Garden Railroading/Garden Nursery Center, and asked the "GRR Specialists" about a particular plant and found out that in order to get the nice little blooms that were in the photo, the tree needed some cold temps during the winter, something we do not get here in San Diego. (do they need a chill factor?)

3) Soil and watering requirements.

4) Growth rate, probable maximum height and width.

5) Pruning and trimming requirements /hints. How do I prune it to make it skinny and tall, or short and fat? Will it ignore my pruning and grow fat anyway? Once a year? Once a month?

6) Ground covers. A full complete article on every ground cover we can use, listing each one by zone. And where to find them! (on line or local nursery?) Much the same as for the trees, but also need to know how fast it will spread. What can I do to make it spread faster/slower?

7) Is it a "passive" or "invasive" plant. If invasive is there a "trick of the trade" I could use to contain it.

8) How about an article on low growing grasses, i.e. dichondra?

NOTE: I have two luxuries that most GRRer's do not have. 1) 34 Years married to a Pro Gardener. 2) One of our local "Large Family Chain" Nurseries, also carries GRR supplies, LGB, Aristo-, USA, etc. as well as having about half an acre of their plant lot set up as a GRR. Most days there are 3 - 6 trains running around the layout. With a little advance warning they will let you bring in your own trains and run them on their layout. See their layout at http://www.walterandersen.com/

[markn]

How about a "Pest of the Month" eradication tip.

[FJ and G]

Tom,

Is your RR still under construction? I couldn't find any photos other than that; can you give a direct link?

Thanks.

[Anonymous]

I to would like the natural dwarfs list too.
Something helpful would also be what color are the leaves in the fall on decidous(sp) plants when different plants are investigated, It would be nice for photo's for realism[;)]

[ttrigg]

David;

Construction is finished at Andersons, here is a direct link to their photo page. http://www.walterandersen.com/railroad-photos-02.html

Rosebud falls is closed while I modify the mountain to accept the "hotel blum" that the boss wants up at the water fall. In other words makeing the mountain top wider and the tunnel longer.

[John Busby]

Hi Pat
You could demistifie the zone stuff the US zones are not very helpfull to us over seas types.
So could you please give a description of the conditions the plant requires and bigger pictures.
Would also help if you could stop the plants shaking every time I look at them
I am a black rather than green thumb gardener.

FG&J
If you want moss on your line try tipping thined down(with water) plain natural yogourt or milk on your track and it will need to be in a shaded cool damp spot.
Thats what some of the 16mm scale guys do to encourage moss.
Forward all other gardening questions to some one that knows what they are doing[:D]
regards John

[rpc7271]

I think the first issue I have is what plants to plant that would survive in the desert of Phoenix, Arizona. I don't want a lot of cactus but I have no doubt that dwarf alberta spruces would hast about 2 days, although with all the problems we have had with forest fires and bark beatles a forest of dead dwarf alberta spruces might be very prototypical. I would like th see a page or 2 that features plants with what zones they thrive in ( as the magazine does now) but then a web page that lists all the plants by zones and add the new plants every couple of months or so. Also a good list og garder suppliers so I can find the plants I want without going to Home Depo all the time.

[dwbeckett]

Gee any info on indoor plants for a planned large indoor RR in a room with two fixed windows would be good.

[holland]

how about the deer from running in and eating my plants

[ttrigg]

Holland:

Go down to yur local barber shop/ beauty parlor. Ask for the days cuttings. Spread along your property line. Most grazing animals will turn away from the human scent from the hair. You will need to repeat each month.

[Anonymous]

Any scale grass out there???? I found a "weed" in my brothers driveway that looked like a "longhaired" moss, but so far unable to transplant (tried once, failed to transplant & told him not to kill the rest).

[Anonymous]

Thanks to all of you for all your input. Regrets for the delay in responding, but life is back to semi-normality in the Hayward household.
I'll try to address many of the topics suggested in the upcoming issues - some great ones were suggested, and many were quite challenging.
As far as a Dictionary of Garden Railroad plants, we've now published more than 100 of the Plant Portraits...maybe a little letter-writing campaign to the book department at Kalmbach might result in a publication of all the plants with larger pictures and even more detailed info... (hint, hint!). I know they've talked about it, but don't know if the idea is still on the table.
We've covered many of the topics suggested in the past, but perhaps it's time to address them again with some new info, as well.
As far as Phoenix goes, good luck! I hear your rails can get to over 120 degrees F in the middle of summer! Nothing wrong with native plants, cacti and succulents. I may run one column on some of the "blast-furnace" railroads I've seen.
Thanks again to all. Hope to see some of you in CA next week!

[vsmith]

Xeroscaping? Please????

How about an article for us guys who live in downtown desert-ville and are encouraged to use drought tolorent plants. A selection of nice hot/dry weather tolorent plants that dont have a thousand little torns on them would be nice.

[vsmith]

QUOTE: Originally posted by carpenter matt

I to would like the natural dwarfs list too. [;)]

We could start off with Dopey, then Doc, then Sleepy.....[:-,][(-D]

[ttrigg]

QUOTE: Originally posted by vsmith

Xeroscaping? Please???? How about an article for us guys who live in downtown desert-ville and are encouraged to use drought tolorent plants. A selection of nice hot/dry weather tolorent plants that dont have a thousand little torns on them would be nice.

Vic:

Do you mean something like this?

It is called Rocks.

[tangerine-jack]

I'm a little tired of seeing the 8,000 acre terra-formed plantations that cost thousands, what about really nice gardens of less than maybe 500 sqft? Something that the average Joe (or Jane) can make with a limited amount of space and budget, yet still be of high quality. I've got a ton of ideas for something like that.