A Walk in my Garden

schwarcw
schwarcw Posts: 7,341
edited July 2008 in The Clubhouse
My second hobby is gardening. I'm not nutso about it, but I enjoy the time outdoors. It's mid Summer here with about another 6 - 8 week in the growing season before a potential frost. In reality, things are pretty much done in late Sept. I thought that some of you might enjoy a few select pics. I hope that you enjoy the views as much as me!

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Carl

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  • george daniel
    george daniel Posts: 12,096
    edited July 2008
    Just beautiful Carl,,I know that you put some time and effort in that,,it's just relaxing to look at,,I am reminded of the times we spent at my brother in laws' home just outside of Pittsburgh,, there is just something about those Pa. evenings that seem special,peacful and settled.Thanks for the pictures,,I often think about those evenings spent with friends and the good times.
    JC approves....he told me so. (F-1 nut)
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  • Pauly
    Pauly Posts: 4,519
    edited July 2008
    Looks good but where are the indoor out door polks? ;-)
    Life without music would♭
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  • zombie boy 2000
    zombie boy 2000 Posts: 6,641
    edited July 2008
    That is absolutely georgeous Carl. I would love to have something like that in my backyard. I imagine it takes away a lot of stress. That being said... you're not planning on incinerating those poor flowers, are ya?
    I never had it like this where I grew up. But I send my kids here because the fact is you go to one of the best schools in the country: Rushmore. Now, for some of you it doesn't matter. You were born rich and you're going to stay rich. But here's my advice to the rest of you: Take dead aim on the rich boys. Get them in the crosshairs and take them down. Just remember, they can buy anything but they can't buy backbone. Don't let them forget it. Thank you.Herman Blume - Rushmore
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  • ND13
    ND13 Posts: 7,601
    edited July 2008
    Carl,

    You're more than welcome to come landscape my yard...ANYTIME!!!
    "SOME PEOPLE CALL ME MAURICE,
    CAUSE I SPEAK OF THE POMPITIOUS OF LOVE"
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  • Ricardo
    Ricardo Posts: 10,636
    edited July 2008
    Looks great Carl; I wish I had the time/patience for that.
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  • ben62670
    ben62670 Posts: 15,969
    edited July 2008
    Damn Carl. Nice setup. I love the fireplace. I was thinking a pair of monitor 7's on the sides, and a tube amp in the FP would be sweet with a romantic glow coming from there. Some wine cheese I'd be tagging some classy broads with that setup;)









    Sorry the sub lower class slips out of me every once in a while:eek:
    Please. Please contact me a ben62670 @ yahoo.com. Make sure to include who you are, and you are from Polk so I don't delete your email. Also I am now physically unable to work on any projects. If you need help let these guys know. There are many people who will help if you let them know where you are.
    Thanks
    Ben
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  • Jstas
    Jstas Posts: 14,842
    edited July 2008
    ND13 wrote: »
    Carl,

    You're more than welcome to come landscape my yard...ANYTIME!!!

    Dude, that is an established garden and it takes a couple years of growing seasons for stuff to fill out that nicely.



    Carl, very nice! You've posted pictures of it here before and it still looks great!
    Expert Moron Extraordinaire

    You're just jealous 'cause the voices don't talk to you!
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  • cfrizz
    cfrizz Posts: 13,415
    edited July 2008
    Absolutely beautiful Carl. You should be proud! Enjoy.
    Marantz AV-7705 PrePro, Classé 5 channel 200wpc Amp, Oppo 103 BluRay, Rotel RCD-1072 CDP, Sony XBR-49X800E TV, Polk S60 Main Speakers, Polk ES30 Center Channel, Polk S15 Surround Speakers SVS SB12-NSD x2
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  • mrbigbluelight
    mrbigbluelight Posts: 9,840
    edited July 2008
    That has to very peaceful, I have one question: what are those big blue flowers (the puffy ones) ?

    I wish I had the time and patience for that sort of horticulture; I like the results, but ....... :o

    Very nice work !
    Sal Palooza
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  • strider
    strider Posts: 2,568
    edited July 2008
    mrbigbluelight wrote: »
    That has to very peaceful, I have one question: what are those big blue flowers (the puffy ones) ?

    Hydrangeas.

    I wish ours were blooming so nicely. Great work!
    Wristwatch--->Crisco
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  • Mike Reeter
    Mike Reeter Posts: 4,315
    edited July 2008
    Carl,You have a Green Thumb for sure...It looks like you have had plenty of rain this Summer also.

    I love the retaining walls and the Brick patios to.
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  • tonyb
    tonyb Posts: 33,002
    edited July 2008
    Nice Carl,a bit of a gardener myself.Did you use coffee grounds to get the hyd. blue?
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  • candyliquor35m
    candyliquor35m Posts: 2,267
    edited July 2008
    How big is your staff of gardeners.
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  • SCompRacer
    SCompRacer Posts: 8,513
    edited July 2008
    Very nice Carl! As you know, dear wife is a Master Gardner and gardening is a required hobby of mine.:D
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  • ND13
    ND13 Posts: 7,601
    edited July 2008
    Jstas wrote: »
    Dude, that is an established garden and it takes a couple years of growing seasons for stuff to fill out that nicely.

    Thanks again for pointing out the obvious.:rolleyes:
    "SOME PEOPLE CALL ME MAURICE,
    CAUSE I SPEAK OF THE POMPITIOUS OF LOVE"
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  • F1nut
    F1nut Posts: 50,735
    edited July 2008
    Beautiful, just beautiful. I'll bring the moldy cheese. :D
    Political Correctness'.........defined

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    President of Club Polk

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  • Jstas
    Jstas Posts: 14,842
    edited July 2008
    ND13 wrote: »
    Thanks again for pointing out the obvious.:rolleyes:

    That's why they call me Captain Obvious! I've even braided my chest hair in a big C and O just for people like you!
    Expert Moron Extraordinaire

    You're just jealous 'cause the voices don't talk to you!
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  • Hawkeye
    Hawkeye Posts: 1,313
    edited July 2008
    You have beautiful garden. I imagine maintaining that does not leave much time for music! Fortunately for me, my wife is the gardner and I'm only allowed to edge and cut the grass.

    Gordon
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  • suprafantx
    suprafantx Posts: 249
    edited July 2008
    Do you use Polks under-ground speakers?
    Very nice garden Carl
    Living room
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  • hockeyboy
    hockeyboy Posts: 1,428
    edited July 2008
    Awesome setup Carl. I have a beautiful house on the golf course that could definitely benefit from your input. We have been planning on getting something started but don't know where to begin. Do you have recommendations for great looking low maintenance plants that would grow in Texas?
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  • pearsall001
    pearsall001 Posts: 5,092
    edited July 2008
    Beautiful to say the least!!! That sure is a lot of time & devotion to a fun hobby. The final result is well worth the toil though.
    "2 Channel & 11.2 HT "Two Channel:Magnepan LRSSchiit Audio Freya S - SS preConsonance Ref 50 - Tube preParasound HALO A21+ 2 channel ampBluesound NODE 2i streameriFi NEO iDSD DAC Oppo BDP-93KEF KC62 sub Home Theater:Full blown 11.2 set up.
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  • polktiger
    polktiger Posts: 556
    edited July 2008
    very nice, we moved a couple years ago, and I am just now getting to the yard, so it is a few years away. (I am also discussing watering with my neighbors, they don't like to use a timer on their sprinkler and they did drown a couple of our plants with their run-off. If we can't work this out I will need to make some more changes to that side and alter the drainage.)

    Are you planning to train anything to the trellis behind the bench in the 1st picture? Aside from the neighbors and their watering, the former owners had a koi pond that fell into disrepair that I need to get straightened out.
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  • schwarcw
    schwarcw Posts: 7,341
    edited July 2008
    george daniel wrote: »
    Just beautiful Carl,,I know that you put some time and effort in that,,it's just relaxing to look at,,I am reminded of the times we spent at my brother in laws' home just outside of Pittsburgh,, there is just something about those Pa. evenings that seem special,peacful and settled.Thanks for the pictures,,I often think about those evenings spent with friends and the good times.

    George, you got the magic of the moment perfectly that I was trying to capture. I took the photos in the late evening for exactly the reasons you described so vividly. The only thing you missed was the fireflies (Lightning bugs) rising up out of the grass at twilight, and the smell of freshly mowed grass. Crickets starting to chirp, the locusts sing in unison and the tree frogs yap away.
    Carl

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  • schwarcw
    schwarcw Posts: 7,341
    edited July 2008
    zombie boy 2000 wrote: »
    That is absolutely georgeous Carl. I would love to have something like that in my backyard. I imagine it takes away a lot of stress. That being said... you're not planning on incinerating those poor flowers, are ya?

    Actually Jason before the frost hits, I pull the annuals from the ground and give them to a friend at work who feeds them to his pigs.
    Carl

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  • schwarcw
    schwarcw Posts: 7,341
    edited July 2008
    Mike Reeter wrote: »
    Carl,You have a Green Thumb for sure...It looks like you have had plenty of rain this Summer also.

    I love the retaining walls and the Brick patios to.

    Mike the brick that I used to build the small patio on the side of the house was salvaged. I found a few hundred in the wood behind my house. These were obviously left over from the construction of eith my house or the neighbors house over 50 years ago. The brick itself is over 100 year old, solid brick block.
    Carl

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  • schwarcw
    schwarcw Posts: 7,341
    edited July 2008
    Just a couple more notes. I do not have a stereo out in either of the 5 garden "rooms". The magic of the gardens are the natural sound of the wind in the old pines, squirrels scampering about squabbling over a nut, the sounds and song of the birds, insects calling, the smell of the grass, flowers, and the freshness of the air. All of these touch your senses in an immense way. I save the music for other times. The patio garden on the side of the house i use to make phone calls, read and maybe pray when I'm compelled.

    The soundstage, imaging, detail and dynamic range cannot be reproduced by anything man made.

    I use very, very little fertilizer. I get a big load of a mix made from mushroom manure, peat and triple shreaded mulch (no color added). The mix should cool for about three weeks before planting as the mushroom manure can be "hot". The only exception is that I use an acid fertilizer (Miracle Grow) for acid plants. I use this on the Hydrangeas to get the deep blue color. The Hydrangeas are the trickiest to prune and grow blooms. Of course you all were kind enough not to mention the many weeds. Which can be overwhelming. I grow some pretty nice weeds also. Misssing from the photos are the seasonal flowers such as Daffodils, tulips, Azeleas, Peonese, Phflox, forsythia, Lilac (purple and white) Dogwood and weeping cherry.

    Good fun and expensive. I put a mid priced two channel system into the ground every Spring LOL!:eek:

    Carl
    Carl

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  • snow
    snow Posts: 4,337
    edited July 2008
    Very nice Carl. :)



    REGARDS SNOW
    Well, I just pulled off the impossible by doing a double-blind comparison all by myself, purely by virtue of the fact that I completely and stupidly forgot what I did last. I guess that getting old does have its advantages after all :D
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  • engtaz
    engtaz Posts: 7,664
    edited July 2008
    Very nice job.


    engtaz
    engtaz

    I love how music can brighten up a bad day.
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  • reeltrouble1
    reeltrouble1 Posts: 9,312
    edited July 2008
    very nice Carl, looks like a great place to relax and contemplate your next great move.

    RT1
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