Homeowner Forum / Lawn and Garden / July 2006

I had lots of rougue pumpkin vines come up this year. (I didn't plant any
but I have a dozen vines. Meanwhile, I planted 100 sunflowers but I don't
have a single one.  Go figure.)  Anyway, this is a first for me.  Tell me,
when the fruit turns orange, is it done growing?  For ...

I want to try starting cucumber seeds, so I have cheaper stock to
experiment. Can I do it now in South California?
I have got the seeds from Gurneys.
What is the better and most sure way to do it?

We have a robust gourd vine that is putting out a nice sized dipper
gourd.  There is one additional smaller gourd starting.   Two more
small ones also. In order to encourage really large gourds, would it be
better to trim off the smaller gourds, or does it make any difference

Reports in the local press show that Wolverhampton in the West Midlands has
been the subject to a  large hatch of  biting and stinging insects, these
are said to include wasps, gnats, mosquitoes and hornets.
I suppose it has something to do with the weather, most things have.

We have quite a large garden, with a lot of hedges, and areas that are
constantly invaded by brambles. We are thinking of getting a shredder,
obviously needs to be fairly powerful and able to cope with some woody
branches, etc., but also needs to last more than one or two seasons.

Once again I am plagued by the cabbage white butterfly laying eggs on
my cabbages & Cauliflowers! I'm loosing them left, right & centre.
Can anyone reccommend a really good 'treatment' to keep the
Butterflies away from my plants please?

My Acer is looking sick with white edges to it's red leaves.
It has been watered copiously, do it require a specific feed ?

Here at the community garden the veggie plants are being eaten by deer and
ground hogs.  The only ting that is going well are beans and corn.  They are
eating everything squash, tomato , peppers etc.Hoe do farmers tolerate this?
They must lose tons of plants.  Do they have some ...

My eggplant foliage is being devoured by black beetles.   They are
charcoal black with a narrow edge of gray around the periphery of the
wings.   It has a small head, distinct from the body.   Size varies from
1/2 to 3/4 inch long by 1/8 inch wide.   They fly well and also escape ...

http://oxholmfamily.com/geoff/poconoPictures/flower.jpg
I think not, but I don't know much. If it's not, do you know what it is?

Got to the court much too early yesterday, and spent a couple of hours in
the Prospect Inn. Got chatting to a few of the regulars, who knew baldrick,
but strangely knew nothing of his titanic one man campaign to stifle free
speech on the internet!

I am having trouble getting the pull cord to stop getting stuck. It
looks like the pull starte system has a plastic stop inside the wheel.
It appears to be coming out prematurely and I am afraid to dismantle
the top of the mower too far. Anyone experience this before and know

anyone have a service manual or cd for this lawn tractor (or simialr 200
series). I need to replace th deck belt
thanks

Are Israeli attacks against the people of Lebanon and Gaza in accord with
the requirements of international law, and if not, how are these attacks any
different to Hitler invading Poland?

Okay, so I thought the grass looked nicer when it was mowed really
short. What did I know about St. Augustine and drought? We left town
for a few days after I mowed and the sprinklers stopped working while
we were gone. Go figure. So now the lawn is yellow and crispy with