Nova bonsai garden

[Brian Van Fleet]

Thanks - mosquitos there haven’t been nearly as bad as they are living in the middle of the swamp here in Houston. Deer ticks, however, are a new challenge for me and something I’ve not dealt with before. We’re still trying to figure out our strategy with them - they’re damn hard to see.

- S

Ticks suck

 

[Adair M]

Thanks - mosquitos there haven’t been nearly as bad as they are living in the middle of the swamp here in Houston. Deer ticks, however, are a new challenge for me and something I’ve not dealt with before. We’re still trying to figure out our strategy with them - they’re damn hard to see.

- S

Keep a flock of Ginny Hens. They love ticks!

 

[just.wing.it]

Congratulations on the new property.
Welcome to the east coast!


Get ready for the humidity.

 

[namnhi]

Congratulations on the new property.
Welcome to the east coast!


Get ready for the humidity.

Hummm for god sake, he lives in Houston. We swim in humidity everyday in Summer.

 

[just.wing.it]

Hummm for god sake, he lives in Houston. We swim in humidity everyday in Summer.

Really? I always heard east coast is the worst on the humidity front.

 

[rockm]

Welcome to Va.! I've been a Virginian for almost five decades. I grew up out in the Shenandoah Valley. You're in a beautiful place out there.

Several bonsai events coming up in the late winter/spring.

The Potomac Bonsai Association's Show and Sale is coming up May 6-May 8 at the National Arboretum in D.C. Always a decent event. Some good vendors and local club exhibits.

PBA Spring Bonsai Festival

Art event in Washington D.C. by Potomac Bonsai Association on Friday, May 6 2022 with 211 people interested and 55 people going.

www.facebook.com

Also the Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden in Richmond is hosting a bonsai exhibit by Gardens Unlimited all during January.

BONSAI EXHIBIT | Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden, Richmond, VA | January 30 to February 25

BONSAI EXHIBIT happening at Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden, 1800 Lakeside Ave, Richmond, United States on Sun Jan 30 2022 at 09:00 am to Fri Feb 25 2022 at 05:00 pm

happeningnext.com

Bob Chilton and Todd Stewart who run Gardens Unlimited are behind the exhibit. I've known them for twenty years. They have excellent winter storage facilities for bonsai. I board my live oak with them every winter. I'll be making a run in early April to their nursery to pick up my oak. PM me if you want to come along for the ride. They have some of the best bonsai in Va. Their place is between Richmond and Fredericksburg.

They run a Japanese Garden landscaping company and have designed gardens for the U.S. Capitol greenhouse and Mary Washington University. They also have Koi ponds. They work all over the state, including the Valley.

Also, you probably will want to visit Julian Adams' bonsai place down in Lynchburg at some point. Julian has been a regular vendor at the PBA Sale.

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A visit to Nature's Way bonsai up in Harrisburg, PA is also a must. It's a drive, but worth the trip.

Nature's Way Nursery

nature's way nursery bonsai suiseki tools horticulture classes trees plants linglestown harrisburg pennsylvania interiorscape interiorscaping landscape landscaping

www.natureswaybonsai.com

Ginter event is all during FEBRUARY...got my dates mixed up

 

[penumbra]

Keep a flock of Ginny Hens. They love ticks!

This is true and it is a good strategy. But you need to get them young and imprint them to your surrounds or else they will wander off and become fox food. Actually they are also coyote, bobcat, eagle, hawk, and owl food as well. All of these critters live here. Also, because they nest on the ground, they are also prey for raccoons, possums, weasels and rats. And then there are wild dogs and feral cats.
Guinea Hens are great but you better plan on raising quite a few. BTW, they can be quite noisy and will frequently sound the alarm when anyone shows up, people included.
And then there is the deer. Better plan on having a dog.

 

[penumbra]

Really? I always heard east coast is the worst on the humidity front.

Houston is #1 as far as I know. It was built upon drained swamps. You can't have a basement in much of Houston. My sister has lived there for about 35 years and she hates it. She was planning to come back to VA but now there are grandchildren so she spends all her time inside.

 

[rockm]

Congratulations on the new property.
Welcome to the east coast!


Get ready for the humidity.

East Coast humidity is not in the same league as East Texas humidity. I lived both places, no comparison.

 

[rockm]

This is true and it is a good strategy. But you need to get them young and imprint them to your surrounds or else they will wander off and become fox food. Actually they are also coyote, bobcat, eagle, hawk, and owl food as well. All of these critters live here. Also, because they nest on the ground, they are also prey for raccoons, possums, weasels and rats. And then there are wild dogs and feral cats.
Guinea Hens are great but you better plan on raising quite a few. BTW, they can be quite noisy and will frequently sound the alarm when anyone shows up, people included.
And then there is the deer. Better plan on having a dog.

Thing about deer ticks is the nymph stage is tiny smaller than a grain of salt. Guinea hens eat mature ticks. Deer tick nymphs bite repeatedly. I'm allergic to their bite. I have had to get treated for Lyme more than once because I got the little bastards collecting trees in the deer-infested woods behind my house. For a Texas equivalent, chiggers are about as close as you can get, but the ticks are itchier...

 

[just.wing.it]

East Coast humidity is not in the same league as East Texas humidity. I lived both places, no comparison.

Well, in that case, get ready for the lovely weather!
Haha!

 

[penumbra]

Thing about deer ticks is the nymph stage is tiny smaller than a grain of salt. Guinea hens eat mature ticks. Deer tick nymphs bite repeatedly. I'm allergic to their bite. I have had to get treated for Lyme more than once because I got the little bastards collecting trees in the deer-infested woods behind my house. For a Texas equivalent, chiggers are about as close as you can get, but the ticks are itchier...

I have been treated for Lyme 3 times now, last time this summer. Also, the chiggers can be vicious. I think I am allergic to most bug bites but ticks are the worst. Even regular ticks. One day about 10 or 12 years back, I was limbing up a big cedar tree. When I came in and took off my shirt for showering, I had deer 43 ticks on me. I wouldn't have believed it but my wife used a piece of duct tape to pull most of them off as they had not attached yet. Twice over the years I have been bit by a deer tick in the belly button. First time was serious, requiring blood tests, antibiotics, and 6 months of the area healing.
The people I know who have Guineas have down well by them. The tick population density is significantly less.

 

[markyscott]

Congratulations on the new property.
Welcome to the east coast!


Get ready for the humidity.

Lol. I’m mostly worried that the fine patina of mold and mildew I’ve developed over the years will flake off on account of how dry it is there!

Scott

 

[just.wing.it]

Lol. I’m mostly worried that the fine patina of mold and mildew I’ve developed over the years will flake off on account of how dry it is there!

Scott

All the know is, Baltimore city in the middle of summer, 100f+ and the air is so thick and soupy, it's just gross....

.....on second thought, maybe it was all the crack smoke in the air....hmm...?

Who knows, it's an ancient Chinese riddle....humidity vs crack smoke.

 

[rockm]

All the know is, Baltimore city in the middle of summer, 100f+ and the air is so thick and soupy, it's just gross....

.....on second thought, maybe it was all the crack smoke in the air....hmm...?

Who knows, it's an ancient Chinese riddle....humidity vs crack smoke.

Bwahahahahahahaaaaaa....Spend a summer on the Gulf Coast --Louisiana or East Texas and B'more summers will seem springlike.

 

[just.wing.it]

Bwahahahahahahaaaaaa....Spend a summer on the Gulf Coast --Louisiana or East Texas and B'more summers will seem springlike.

I will take your word for it.
Haha, hopefully I'll never have to move again...I hate moving.
....but MD is a volatile place....and I can forsee a day when I'll basically be forced to leave, under my own personal constitution. But I'm optimistic for now.

 

[PiñonJ]

ticks, however, are a new challenge for me and something I’ve not dealt with before.

That was the reason for my comment. 100% DEET is one of the few good defenses. I don’t know if REI still sells it, but it should be available somewhere. I still have part of a bottle that I bought there years ago. We don’t have much call for it around here. I think habitual use if you’re going to be in thick grass, or walking in the woods would be a good idea. Lyme disease is not something to trifle with.

 

[Adair M]

I have been treated for Lyme 3 times now, last time this summer. Also, the chiggers can be vicious. I think I am allergic to most bug bites but ticks are the worst. Even regular ticks. One day about 10 or 12 years back, I was limbing up a big cedar tree. When I came in and took off my shirt for showering, I had deer 43 ticks on me. I wouldn't have believed it but my wife used a piece of duct tape to pull most of them off as they had not attached yet. Twice over the years I have been bit by a deer tick in the belly button. First time was serious, requiring blood tests, antibiotics, and 6 months of the area healing.
The people I know who have Guineas have down well by them. The tick population density is significantly less.

Peacocks are good for keeping the snakes away, too.

Heck, if @MarkyScott’s place has gone to the birds, he might as well have a flock of hens, too! Nothing like gathering a few eggs in the morning for breakfast!

 

[Zerobear]

So the deal is done and I’m relocating from Houston to Virginia. It’s a beautiful piece of property about halfway between Front Royal and Warrenton. Best of all - I’ve claimed a pasture for my garden! It’s going to be a journey - I’ve got a well to drill, a greenhouse and a cold frame to put up, a barn to build and a bunch of trees to relocate. So I’m making a little thread to document my journey. It’s exciting for me and I thought that perhaps there is interest in following the construction of a garden from a pasture. So I’ll record all my trials and tribulations here.

Here’s a picture of the pasture when I flew my drone over it back in the summer. The elevation is about 660’. There’s a small stream that runs through the woods bordering the property to the NW. The pasture consists of rolling hills - it’s been in hay and cattle primarily for many years.

View attachment 413698

Nice opportunity. I want this to sound as sincere as possible because I really am serious.

The world needs more commercial bonsai operations. The only way to get there is to start and work, work, work to make my dream become your reality.

 

[namnhi]

@markyscott Forgive me if I missed it but what does it mean Nova. How you come up with that name?