Cedrus deodara ‘Glauca Pendula’

I noticed this cedrus has some yellowing needles on it already, even though I just brought it home yesterday. Root stress, perhaps. There's a lot of new growth on the plant, too, so I will hope for the best.

Cedrus deodara ‘Prostrate Beauty’

Picea sitchensis ‘Papoose’

Picea abies ‘Reflexa’

Conifers are all new to me, but some people go nuts for them. I suppose, in that case, I may be going nuts.

These are the maps I used to plot our course and estimate our distance. I had hiked the first half of our course several times and I'd visited the termination point many times by car, but this was my first time hiking all the way through.

Although we never saw any rain, it was forecast all day and we did have to walk through some heavy clouds to make it to the top.

The path from Tate City to our high point on the Appalachian trail climbs almost 3000 feet over just a few miles. Frequent resting was required.

After breaking through the clouds to sunshine, things warmed considerably and we were able to strip our outer layers.

A long range view near the top was partially obscured by cloud cover.

Eric takes a much-deserved rest at the fire tower that marked the end of our trail.

After digging out enough earth to get the depth I needed, I removed the old fire ring, smoothed everything out, and with my wife Maureen's help, laid some heavy-duty landscape fabric over the whole area. (By the way, I bought the landscape fabric from one of my favorite stone yards - it is twice as thick and much higher quality than the stuff they sell at the box stores.) We were careful to set each piece of fabric so that it overlapped the piece next to it by 8 inches or so - I don't want any weeds to find their way through. Then we used scissors to trim the fabric around the edges and to cut a hole for the new fire ring. Finally, crusher run and sand was added on top of the fabric to level up a base for the new fire ring bolders and a cobblestone border.

Setting the cobblestone border was fairly easy, despite the fact that my cobblestones were purchased second-hand and weren't all the same size. I just took my time, adding only enough crusher run and sand to place a few cobbles at a time.

Some odd-shaped pieces of granite were found among the cobble stones I bought. I used one of them to create a marker that points North, just for fun. Well, North-ish. I stood out there for 15 minutes trying to find true North with my iPhone, but it seems to be a moving target. So, I settled for North-ish. I figure I can easily move it if I ever bother to check it with a real compass.

I agonized a bit about the type and color of gravel to use for the seating area. A friend with an eye for design suggested brown river pebbles, but I wasn't initially convinced. Eventually, though, I decided to follow her suggestion and ordered three tons of #57 river pebbles. After having the gravel delivered to a nearby driveway, Maureen, ever the trooper, helped me load the wheelbarrow about a dozen times to move it all to the fire pit. It was a good workout for both of us, and I am pleased with the result.

Later, I plan to add a garden around the outside edges of the fire pit. I'm not sure what I'll put there, yet, but I'd like to have a few plants that can serve as a wind and visual screen. Maybe some conifers. We'll see. I'd also like to add some stepping stones leading up to the fire pit, and maybe even a boulder or two for a place to sit.

I started by unpacking the stones and arranging them - roughly - by size and shape.

My idea is to put a cobblestone border around a simple fire pit that I built in an hour or so in the fall. I'll also increase the size of the fire pit, slightly, and will "upgrade" to larger stones on the fire ring. I'll fill in the area around the fire ring with gravel for a stable, fireproof seating area.

I pounded a short length of rebar into the center of the fire pit to serve as a center point for the new cobblestone border. Next, I tied a length of string from the center point to a second piece of rebar. Holding the string taut, I used the second piece of rebar to scratch a circular line in the ground around the fire pit. This will be outer edge of the seating area.

Next I dug. And dug and dug and dug.

All. Day. Long.

Even with a few hours' help from my wife, it took an entire Sunday to dig an area about 5 inches deep at the sides. Unfortunately, 5 inches deep is not deep enough. I'll need to dig it out some more to make room for a "crusher run" and sand base for the cobbles.

Oh well. Something to look forward to next weekend.

]]>http://matthyatt.com/blog/rss-comments-entry-32745499.xmlgardeninghomehowtoMatt HyattSun, 06 Jan 2013 22:39:49 +0000http://matthyatt.com/blog/2013/1/6/an-experiment-in-improvised-camellia-propagation.html212566:2088134:32484277My grandparents were excellent gardeners, providing beautiful flower arrangements for their church every weekend for many years. Although they've passed on, their property is still in the family and some of their plants continue to thrive there. I visited yesterday to take some cuttings from some of my grandmother's prized camellias. I hope to grow a few good plants as personal reminders of my grandparents. Not having a greenhouse or any fancy growing equipment, here's my "poor man's" solution for propagating the cuttings.

Most sources suggest a mixture of peat and sand as a good starter soil. I mixed 5 parts sphagnum peat moss with 3 parts sand in a bucket.

Next, I filled four 5-inch terra-cotta pots about 3/4 full of the peat/sand mixture:

Experts recommend cleaning pruning tools with a diluted bleach mixture before preparing cuttings. Having no bleach on hand, I used 1 part distilled white vinegar with about 5 parts water.

I took several 2-3 foot cuttings from each camellia bush. These were brought home and put in vases of water overnight (until I had time to prepare the final cuttings). Loosely following instructions from various websites and Internet forums, I cut smaller lengths for potting. Each cutting started as a 4-6 inch length from the tip, with a diagonal cut to maximize the area for rooting.

Only vegetative buds and the 2-3 leaves at the tip of each cutting are left. All other leaves and flower buds are carefully cut away. Large leaves left on the cutting are cut in half.

Each 5" pot has enough room for 3 cuttings. I used a capped (and spent) Sharpie pen as a dibber to create holes in the dirt for the cuttings. Then, each cutting took a quick dip in the vinegar and water solution before gently pressing the cut end into a small container (about the size of a milk jug cap) of rooting hormone. After tapping off the excess rooting hormone, I dropped the cuttings into the holes and gently pressed the soil around them. Finally, I gave each pot a good dousing of water and labeled each plant with some wooden Popsicle sticks.

With hundreds or even thousands of camellia varieties in existence, I may never know the exact cultivars I ended up with. However, it looks like there were probably two varieties across the three plants I found.

After coming up short at my local garden center and big box stores for a "real" growing box, I found a clear storage box with a locking lid that should work almost as well. By using the lid as the base and the container as the cover, it looks to be as good or better than most of the flimsy "grow boxes" I found on the Internet.

Most sources suggest keeping the cuttings under artificial light for 8-16 hours per day and maintaining a soil temperature of 65-72 degrees Fahrenheit. In our house, the laundry room provides a suitable environment with bright flourescent lighting, relatively high humidity, and appropriate temperatures.

Will it work? This being a bona fide experiment, I really don't know, but I'm certainly hopeful. Check back here in 6-12 months and I'll post an update. Or, knowing me, I may be interested in something else by then!

All 100 of the luminaries were still going strong after 3 hours, but I was ready to go to bed before they were completely spent, so I blew them all out. The sand was recycled this afternoon by pouring it into a few low spots in the yard. Looking forward to trying it again next year. Maybe I'll do some kind of design in the yard next time.

]]>http://matthyatt.com/blog/rss-comments-entry-31808534.xmlMatt HyattSat, 02 Jun 2012 22:54:08 +0000http://matthyatt.com/blog/2012/6/2/dancer-sihouettes.html212566:2088134:16543275I attended a dance recital today and was thrilled when one of the routine's featured a huge red background for silhouettes. It was a dark room, but I had the camera preset for ISO 6400, f2.8 and 1/250 second to try to freeze the action. I am pleased with the result of this particular photo, especially.

Those who know me may have discovered that I don't follow sports much, but some have figured out that I do enjoy gawking at cars from time to time. I got a kick out of some of the car advertisements in this old magazine, so I thought I'd share them here. Enjoy!