Pause in Poipu

Hi and good afternoon - our morning was very relaxing, a walk along the beach, high tide and big waves, surfers out there, and lots of people on vacation. But everyone is SO nice - the spirit of ALOHA is actually enshrined in law here. It is MANDATED that you are wonderful and friendly and nice to everyone - malama - helping people is important. Every time we come,we are amazed at how many people read on vacation. It is an excellent escape when you are escaping physically as well. Construction here is advancing as quickly as if it were mainland. too bad.
Are you familiar with this word - Vespiary - From word a day from Wordsmith. This week's theme: blend words. vespiary (VES-pee-er-ee) noun; A nest or colony of wasps. [Blend of Latin vespa (wasp) and apiary (a place where bees are kept).] I'm sure many of us have had to deal with a vespiary. New words are so cool. and knowing how to pronounce them - a REAL bonus.
Overwintering geraniums was a topic on the Master Gardener forum a bit ago. The conversation went to the simplest method of keeping them over. The suggestions were:
1.)I dug up all my geraniums, shook the dirt off and placed them in paper bags and put the paper bags in a cold room. In late Feb, I soaked the roots for a few days, and potted them up. After a few weeks, I took cuttings from the new growth. It worked pretty well.
2.)I have also potted up a couple of plants and put in sunny windows and let them bloom. In late Feb/early March, I have taken cuttings. Some of the smaller parent plants continued to grow and I put them out in spring. Using this method, I have had blooms all winter.
what about using old carpet -

1. we use strips of carpeting in the field paths in some areas. in our blue mucky wet clay, it h on when trying to get through the field rows. however, we have only about 5 % or so of the rows done this way. This coming spring we are planning to pull up those rows of carpeting when we redo those fields.
2. one of the master gardeners reports that in the community garden she is in, carpet is used in the paths between the plots; they are taken up every fall and put back down every spring, and they last for many seasons. the thoughtis that they would think in a home garden they would work better between plantings, rather than trying to cover an entire bed and planting through it. It does a fabulous job of suppressing weeds, by the way.
3. another master gardener wrote - 10 years ago, when the liner for our swimming pool had to be replaced, the installer decided to "carpet" the bottom of the hole before putting the new liner in. He did this because the grouted surface had some rough spots and carpeting was a cheaper solution than trying to regrout. As I recall, bright green indoor-ourdoor carpeting was laid down and then the liner was put in and the pool was filled. It gave the bottom of the pool a "cushy" feel that it had not had with just the grouted surface underneath. I am sure the expectation was that this carpet would not break down, at least not quickly - and I can tell you for sure that, 10 years later, the bottom still feels as if the carpet is there.
4. Lasagna gardening - Perhaps carpets of natural fibres and with no backing might be biodegradeable - but I expect that, even if it was, it would take considerably longer to break down than does newspaper - which takes long enough as it is. I have used layers of newspaper too, knowing that I can cut through it with my spade to make planting holes. I think that, if carpet was used in a bed,it would be a difficult job to cut holes in it. But perhaps it could be fitted around the plants after they are planted. It could also be useful under pond liners or in an area where you wanted to make a grade change - put it down and cover it with topsoil. It would probably also be good between the rows in a vegetable garden.
5. I have heard of old carpet being used to protect roses over winter in very cold places such as Calgary.
6. I am an avid lasagna gardener and an even greater carpet enthusiast. I use carpet in many many ways ... under paths with wood chip on top to slow the break down of the wood chip in pathways, outside a garden shed to slow down mud tracking, underneath the branches of almost every shrub I own to retain moisture , as pathways in garden rows to increase moisture retention, on top of weedy sections of various gardens to create next year's beds...( by the way nothing works better than throwing a few bags of leaves underneath with some birdseed esp. cracked corn that won't germinate) ( this brings all the garden mice and they work wonders for you over a winter. ). I have become a connoisseur of discarded carpets... pure wool burlap backed being the most sought after and continuous filament nylon being the disaster option.... (it runs for miles and never breaks down) ... but I would never use it in lasagne gardening as I want the layers to eventually create a divine soilbed... Cardboard yes newspapers and almost every other carbon based fibre product... but not unfortunately carpet... Still don't pass by a good used rug on clean up week.

Lots of frangipani/plumeria being pruned severely this week. And - the pruning pieces are then sold as starts for plants overseas - which is everywhere from here - tee hee. The 12 foot trees are cut nearly back to their trunks at about 4 feet and all the 1 inch branches will be made into 8 inch long pieces to be sold. what a great way to have beautiful plants, and also create a harvest and recycle plant material.

wishing you all ALOHA and all good things. Blessings -
Betty