The morning sun light is “tasty.” If we like it then the plants must love it. Like your approach to a large, ongoing projects. Sectioning things off is a good way not to get too overwhelmed and see some progress. Keep teaching us. Thanks.
Summer experimenting with Mark Shepard's STUN method. Seeing what grows through Sheer Total Utter Neglect. A benefit for the nursery to plant his display plants close together: Quickly closes in, and can be trimmed to keep shape and take cuttings.
Wow oh wow!! You have a little piece of heaven on earth !! I hope you continue tours as I would love to see all that you will be doing!! That redbud is amazing!! 💕🌸🌸
Lovely, the good thing of all that tight planting is that now that you are taking things off, the sick trees and the invasive plants, there are no such huge gaps. And you learn that is better some more spacing.
Yes, at the edge of an unfriendly farmer's hilly cornfield, we saw Iris stalks growing in with cattails, where the Bobolinks made their nests. We went peering into nests during Spring in the water of this swampy valley . In Summer, in very shallow water, we could collect a few Irises for inside but still got really wet shoes. I guess that they like it hot and humid. Our swamp dried when the city installed a pipe which kids crawled through in the summer. That left the Willow Tree high and dry on which to play and play around which had been in the deepest water. A few very deep spooky potholes of water remained next to that tree. Nobody went close to those. I wonder what is there today. Enjoy your natural setting. A breath of fresh air is priceless.
This is incredible… the property, the flora and fauna, the hosts… everything!! Absolutely spectacular :) Thank you for sharing your home with us viewers 💚🌱💚
Thanks for sharing Summer, Sander and Joey! I love your updates, it makes me excited for my own dream of having a farm with a part dedicated for regenerative agriculture and natural rewilding. I'm in the tropics :)
However, it's better to put down aged wood chips as fresh wood chips take nitrogen up from the soil beneath it, in the breaking down process, as I've understood it. I've seen RU-vid bloggers who used deep, fresh wood chips when planting a new bed. I tried to warn them but I suspect they either never read my warnings or decided to just not worry about it. Then a couple weeks ago, I happened to be watching them & they were puzzling over the poor growth & high die off of their transplants in a later section I'd watched them planting this year.
Your land is stunning and I love hearing about your vision for it. It makes total sense to thin things and to remove invasives, especially between the lake and the house. You want to be able to see that awesome view.
As someone who's severely injured her shoulder, by dislocation & at least one tear, many years ago, I can tell you, work smart - not too hard. In one, dumb moment of trying to muscle through & do a job that could've been made into 2 or 3 lighter loads, I put an end to life as I knew it, back around 1990. Since it took 11 years to find a doc who'd order me an MRI, I'd managed to un-jam my shoulder myself, but it was a long, excruciating road & I still had do cook, do dishes, laundry & grocery shopping for my small family, with one arm. it took 9 years before I could raise my right arm & I'm right handed. I'd been enjoying gardening for many years, have n=bought & read many books & have watched countless hours of other people gardening while I have to watch my gardening designs get overrun, my shrubs go unpruned, & now watch as PI is taking over my spring bulb banking planted over 15 years ago, despite only having the use of one arm. It was painful but I was determined because I also believed it would one day, possibly painfully clunk back into place, & then I could build myself back up to the way I had once been, but in '06, I'd finally gotted an MD to order me an MRI. What they found was a big tear, of nearly 50%, so a surgery was recommended. For reasons I won't go into I didn't have it done yet, so I can do some things but not all the normal things one needs to do when gardening, like using a shovel, pruning & hedge trimming, & even weed whacking risks making my torn shoulder worse, so please - I'm trying to warn you guys - use measures which are far less costly AND available to you, which will NOT be so hard on your bodies. There's no need to try to yank out hundreds of the undesirable shrubs. Now you're adding barberry to your list, which I get, though some people love it so maybe someone would want them. You may feel like you'd rather destroy them, which I understand. Separately I'm going to post ways to remove them all more easily. .
Hi Summer. I'm pretty sure you need a taller pole for that martin house. I think the ones I knew as a kid in Pennsylvania were 30 - 40 feet high; it's that thing about how different birds inhabit different layers of the air above the land. Maybe in the fall when the swallows are gone you can get someone with a crane truck -- some time when you have other crane work. Also that big oak you showed reminded me that we were always told to plant corn when the "oak leaves were as big as squirrels' ears." Good luck with your big project of good works!
that's high for the purple martin house haha. Not sure how we'd go up and clean that every year. The Lab of Ornithology recommends at least 12 feet, but I'm sure the higher the better! And then no big trees within 30-60 feet... The next nearest tall tree is 70 feet. We haven't really seen any purple martins in the area (we were hoping), but tree swallows are aplenty. And now we have a swallow living on one side and another on the other side... So maybe it'll just become the tree swallow chalet! And thanks for the good luck!
OOOOOO a mushroom episode!!!! Gosh there's so much to look forward to :D could you innocculate other types of wood with mushroom spores? Like pine or cedar? And would it have to be freshly shredded wood or could it be on some kind of storebought mulch? :O (I assume you would have to watch out for fungicides?)
💖 Thank You ! I particularly liked the human finger pointing. lol Gave a humorous element, made me chuckle ! I appreciate you folks. It added to my morning ! Wisdom in years of life has taught me to not pessimize on things so that I don't interfere nor influence what is to become. A journey of fresh and new perspective is what I await in future episodes at Flock Finger Lakes. It was on my mind I would like to send a couple bucks towards a tractor. Would you perhaps have a gofundme ? I ❤ the episodes.
Just be careful, Barberry bushes are a tick haven. Have a few in my yard and I don't have a chainsaw, so getting rid of it is really hard. Would you like a path that goes all the way around the pond/lake or are you going to keep it as is?
Yes, thanks for the words of caution on the barberry! And we'll have a path that goes around 3/4 of the lake. But hooks around deeper into the forest in the back....
This is such a delight. I've been spending most of my days at a treatment center for mental illnesses. This is probably only for Sander because idk the English description of it: Het is een soort zorgboerderij voor dagbesteding en therapie. There I've been working on de land with a gardener on turning it from overgrown and neglected to a beautiful garden we can work and eat and learn from. Seeing as you guys are kind of doing the same thing, I enjoy your chill informative videos. Gives me ideas and stuff, love it 10/10
whew! that's a lot. Very Beautiful and going to be even more beautiful. I love pruning but now senior senior so just patio and house gardening. Thanks for such nice videos.
Oh I'm so glad y'all have a project manager to help you guys out with your returning to meadow project. That's gonna need a lotttt of hands on deck I imagine. Looking forward to that episode! :)
Hey guys, big fan of your work! Your videos have such a great mix of useful information and inspirational scenery. Great video, audio, and editing work too!
How do you create a nice clean border between grass and a neat mulched bed? How do you prevent the grass from encroaching? It seems like grass does what grass wants to do! I want to figure this out for my home too.
Fab tour with so many beautiful points of interest. You mention bears coming onto the property and raiding birdfeeders ~ are they dangerous, and do you have to consider your personal security at certain Seasons of the year/times of the day?
Look into surrounding your deer candy plants with deer resistant plants to dissuade them from browsing. Sage, lavender, mints, most really scented plants deer dislike. Sean on edibleacres has a video on protecting your plants from deer browse.
That's a great tip. I was thinking there must be some plants to keep them away. I'll check that out. Also - spray of wild cat or coyote pee might do a pretty good job of discouraging them too, but, I wonder if it would lure in wild cats or coyotes - out of curiosity or seasonal interest..
@@FlockFingerLakes You could totally tell the guy was a nursery owner too. He used the house as a kind of "showcase" for all the expensive, specimen type plants. It probably looked incredible was it was first planted through like year 5. Excited to see where you guys take it!
Could you explain the seed plugs you were talking about earlier, Summer? I believe you said something about planting them in the ground with an agar and that they were provided by Proven Winners? Is it like a cluster of seeds in one ball or something? :O
I think she meant seedling plugs, which are like baby plants with small rootballs. And she's digging holes with an auger, which is a drilling tool to dig holes.
Your place is wonderful and has magnificent potential while the atmosphere becomes more and more your own, still it's shared with constant wildlife. The bear is too much though. The humming bird is cool.
We're going to be cutting wide paths in the meadows to reduce any tick potential and make it easier for folks to walk around the land. So in sum, we won't really be frolicking in the tall grass. The low meadow will be 6" or less for the lawn and will also have some paths in it. We hope over time the deer exclusion fence that we're fixing and some chickens (and maybe guinea hens) will be able to keep the tick population in check around the house!
You can also “slit trench” plug plants in. Stick a spade in, wiggle it and drop the plug in the pocket it creates, it’s a quick way to plant a lot. Here we plant yellow rattle to inhibit grasses taking over, it has a parasitic effect on their roots & gives wild flowers a chance, not sure what you N America alternative/native would be?
We have yellow rattle that is native and it's something that I'd like to do. We also have Indian paintbrush. I was speaking about it with some horts at CU about doing it, but the actually type of yellow rattle that is native here is hard to get ones hands on. Then growing it out is another thing! It's an experiment I'd like to do though and it's on our shortlist of plants.
I hope you manage to source some. I hear that there is a scarcity here this year too. This might be a network worth joining appliedeco.org/restoration/nativeseednetwork/find-seed/ I also wondered about the lake, a local one here has a beautiful stand of red cornus at the lake side, in winter the red reflections in the water, with snow on the ground, are stunning. You could simply push single whip cuttings into the ground. x
Looks like the deer don’t like the prickly Berberis, couldn’t you just place that up to the path instead of bark has a barrier to them? Plus with all that woodland there should be enough leaf mulch if you could collect it into piles to make compost.
Would you potentially get a naturalistic pond in front of your house? I can imagine you all sitting outside listening to the waterfall 💚 greg the pond guy loves working with youtubers because you get an amazing pond and he increases his viewer base so I think he gives discounts lol
well, we have four ponds already so not sure we would be putting another one in. It would be cool to connect two with a little waterfall (we talked about it), but that would be for something way down the line! The little stream in the woods, however, has a little waterfall and pool area, so that will do for now!
Hello! I am so looking forward to following your journey:) Could you tell me what your prof suggested ‘dabbing’ into the drilled hole of the invasive false honeysuckle? False honeysuckle and mulberry tree saplings have invaded my property. Would the method work on mulberry saplings, as well? Thank you!
Hope you get that deer fence up and running asap! My mom's garden was getting destroyed until she put up a six footer, her yard has been safe ever since, shame to put in so much hard work
You're absolutely right. We thought it was native. Seems as if it was introduced: plants.usda.gov/home/plantProfile?symbol=AJRE . Thanks for saying so!
@@FlockFingerLakes thank you for responding, I look forward to more native plantings! It's exciting to live vicariously through flock and dream of my future property ☺️☺️☺️
If you can find out how to steal the Canadian geese over to your pond, that really would be interestingly cool!! You can do it, I know you can. Research, research and research!!
They come and go. I think the previous owner didn't really like them, so maybe they have some sort of fear of the area. But they visited us in the fall quite a bit on their stop over flights to the south.
Also, you mentioned bonsai and I happen to want to get into that. I haven't seen a video from you about it so it might be something you could consider? Like if you would also like to watch that
FLOCK FOLKS - PLEASE READ: Please - work easier - not harder. To remove the weedy plantings, use a high acidity horticultural vinegar - instead of any form of Glyphosate. There's no need to introduce that into your water table. You have water all around you. And please, stop yanking those shrubs out like you are. There's no need to do it that way & you could permanently injure yourself, your guy friends or damage your vehicle doing the removal this way. >>> Easier = cut them to the ground with a chainsaw. It takes 5 minutes or less. Then, using a spray canister, mix a 20%, 30% or 45% vinegar with some portion of water. Use a 1 to 1, 50/50 mix of water & vinegar on the freshly sawed off crowns of the shrubs - to be sure. It will likely kill the remaining root ball. Return weekly to look for any sprouts & spray with a 50/50 mix of water to vinegar, & hit any unwanted plants you see at any time you're walking around your property.. That should be enough on tender new growth sprouting up from remaining roots. The reason I suggest not worrying about removing the root systems, is because roots store sugars which the plants had provided via the sugars produced in its leaves, photosynthesis. No more leaves, no more photosynthesis. This is why they'll only keep on sending up new shoots until they use up their food storage. Once that's used up, the roots have no more For smaller weeds in the yard, & around the house, maybe 1 part vinegar to 2 parts water will do. Some weeds are stronger than others. Also, the proportions can vary with the strength of the Hort. vinegar too, of course. Just spare your bodies & vehicle, & keep at it, year after year. It's so much easier when you haven't injured your young self. Then you can pile up the matter in simple piles - no need to build structures like a little barn with a roof, walls, & gates, forming compartments. Let it be out in the weather with soil contact, sun & rain, & remember to turn it weekly with a hay fork if you have some long branches, or just rent a chipper & save months of composting time. Maybe you can write off the expense of buying one on your taxes, if you establish yourself as a business. You can mix wood chips ( a carbon) with green matter to compost unless you want to use wood as a mulch, & keep them separate. Lucky you! You'll have enough leaves & stems to make mounds of composting material every year!
You may have been using a culinary vinegar which is about a 5% acidity. Then often people dilute this with water, so it's too benign to kill anything. Horticultural vinegar is so strong it kills weeds immediately. After several hours, all that's left is light brown crispy remnants. The rain & wind will take care of the rest. To use on woody shrubs, I'd try to cut them to the ground, & pour the 50/50 mixture on the open cut. It may draw the liquid in if done immediately after the cut was made. This will make it easier to do several per hour. Then I'd go back in a week to see if there's any new growth & just spray that. If something is really tough, and it wants to keep sending up growth, I'd just keep spraying new growth. The roots only have so much stored food to enable them to put out new growth, without photosynthesis possible, considering you've removed or chemically burnt any above ground growth. If needed, like a tree maybe which has thicker, longer roots, maybe I'd make the extra effort of scraping the soil away from around the top of the root ball, & then chop around the upper cluster & at the base of the root ball with a big, heavy mattock & separate the clump from its roots & then spray the freshly cut root ends - immediately. Let the roots rot down in the soil. It will severely burn & kill desirable plants too, so when using near other plants, you could try to use a sponge painting brush ( if it doesn't melt). Remember to protect the ground as desirable roots may be passing through that area too.You can use use a sheet of corrugated cardboard, or a sheet of wood, or metal trash can cover as a shield, to block overspray. I've used cardboard box(es) over the neighboring plant(s) when spraying other things to prevent overspray. A sheet of plastic may work but I think it could melt. It will also burn any tender roots it drips onto. Most importantly, it WILL burn the skin of people & pets, so please read up about using it. I've read that it can & does destroy the sprayer mechanisms in spray bottles used for small jobs, after a few uses, so you need to use sprayer heads designed for strong chemicals. I'm not sure about the nozzles on spray tanks, but have a couple & will start with the smaller, less costly one. & do all I need in one day - just in case, & then rinse & soak in soapy water to see if I can get more than one use out of that spray head & hose. I may watch the plastic tank after filling & mixing it, to see if it melts the sprayer container before picking it up to use it, & risking a run to the ER. Wear long, chemical gloves, eye protection & don't breathe it in. I bought several inexpensive, disposable coverings for my lower arms & legs but it's so flimsy, it may just help redirect small droplets so it doesn't soak into my clothing or shoes instead, then rip them off & replace them. I think leather boots would be protective, but probably not plastic/man made materials or canvas shoes. If you spill it on your pants leg or shoes, rip them off immediately or risk burns which will require an immediate trip to an ER. Keep a hose handy, & a medical ointment for burns. Please remember - if it splashes into your eyes, it can cause blindness or damage your vision, so don't touch your eyes with your gloved hands. I've seen youtube vids of people who've used it & within hours, the weeds are burnt to a crisp. No green can be seen - at all. The Horticultural vinegars come in a few different strengths. I've seen @ 20%, 30% & 45%. I bought 4 @ 30%, I think, on Amazon, so a 50/50 ratio with water, which is still quite strong @ 15% acidity, & 5X the acidity of a culinary vinegar. These are so acidic, I'd guard against breathing it in. I'd stand upwind or use on a windless day, & hope to remember to avoid leaning in or over what I'm working on, to see what I'm doing a bit better, & risk breathing in the fumes. I bought mine to use on PI, which has nearly taken over my 17 year old Spring bulb garden. 1st I'll be cutting the PI leaves & vines & then wait until the bulb greenery dies back. I'll try a 1pt vinegar to a 2 part water on a small sample area & see how it goes. If that isn't strong enough, I'll go to using the vinegar @ a 50/50 on new PI growth. Since it is growing in amongst many flowering ground covers & spring bulbs, I'll be approaching this in stages, so after the leaves of the bulbs have died back, I'll remove those dead leaves so I can see new PI growth better, then will try using the sponge brushes. If they melt, I'll go to animal bristle brushes, or even a folded up rag if I have to.
“Where do you start with all this?” A great gardener said to me “live in your new garden for a year without touching much.... then you will know what your garden has to offer.” :-)
We were thinking about it, but there is so much potential for them to take over. Most folks plant their water lilies in pots and bring them in - in winter. The pond plantings are a bit further down the list at this stage for us, but we'd love to do different plantings on the four different ponds. It'll be a fun project
when you mentioned plants looking dead then really not being, i thought of my passionflower that was dormant for 8 months, how it lived that long with no life above the surface? who knows. making discoveries in what can show once the honeysuckle is gone is motivating, though here in an adjacent state buckthorn outcompetes the honeysuckle sometimes, there's hints of dogwood and summersweet
SO BEAUTIFUL AND WONDERFULLY AMAZING! Congratulations. Thank you for sharing that to the world. So inspiring. I really wanted to have a property like that, so that I can plant all my foliage. And trees. And flowers. Ahhhh breathe taking environment.