Homeowner Forum / Lawn and Garden / June 2008

We have a Grevillea on the corner of a well drained, raised bed.  It's been
there for many years but now is turning brown and dying off in patches here
and there.  They're such good value plants and flower on and off for such a
long time that we're rather sad at the thought of ...

Is there a difference between a primrose and polyanthus? I ask because
the Thompson & Morgan catalogue has arrived in the post and it lists
both, yet they look the same.
Thanks,

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For the record, I am not complaining! Where have all of the fire ants gone?
I haven't seem many over the past couple of years and none this year.  I
used to have several mounds in my yard at any given time and now not a
single mound or fire ant to be seen.

Earlier this year I chitted and set a mixture of First Early, Secon
Early and Main Crop potatoes. I made a pencil sketch of the bed i
which I planted them, marking on it what each row was. Unfortunately
my partner went on a spring cleaning mission and threw away everythin

I am thinking of hydroponics for a project of mine. I searched for
"hydroponic" in Google and almost all of them said "Use our
hydroponics to grow your cannabis"!
I can't imagine that the police don't monitor traffic on these sites

Have received planning permission for a fence but it has to be screened by
plants.
Can I buy hedge plants at this time of year?
I am considering Escallonia, Ceanothus, Pittosporum, Hebe, Cotoneaster,

I am looking at buying a long reach hedge cutter and my fancy has been taken
by a Stihl combi system where one engine unit can have several attachments
like a long reach hedge cutter, or strimmer.
Do any of you use one of these? If so are they as good as a stand alone

Any suggestions on what kind of grass to use in a shaded area that
will NOT grow into the sunny areas? Have Bermuda TIF 419, which is
great, but won't grow in shade. Do not want the TIF to get overgrown.
Thanks.

Just took out my backyard above ground pool.  It requires about 18 yards of
top soil to fill it back in (was a 24' round pool). How do you smooth out
the soil over a large space like that as a home owner with no power
equipment?  Is there some trick like dragging around a log or ...

Has anyone used the new reel mower from Mantis, either the manual or
the 24-volt battery assited one? My wife just put in another flower bed
so the lawn part of the yard has gotten considerably smaller. Thinking
it may be time to pass the Toro on to one of our kids and get me a ...

Does anybody out there in rgo land play or use any of the  persistent worlds
games that are out there, like Second Life or Kaneva or even the Entropia
Universe?  I was thinking it might be fun to get a group of people together
to build an online orchid society in one of these 3d ...

I don't have a picture to post but I have a bunch ( more than 20 and less
than 100) of these little insects on and around my house.... they appear to
be little cone-shaped bits of yard debris, no more than an inch in height.
There is a little insect inside that inches along or ...

I don't hit the home page often but had to empty a mailbox, and saw this:
As of June 23, 2008, Road Runner will no longer offer Newsgroups, however
users can subscribe on their own to third party News providers.
Why is Road Runner discontinuing their own Newsgroups service?

rubus spectabilis olympic double.
Does anyone grow this?  I saw it at an open garden on Saturday, with
ripening berries and the owner raved about the beautiful flowers.
Before tracking it down further, can anyone tell me;