Homestead mailing list

[Roy Morgan <k1lky AT earthlink.net>]

On Jun 29, 2008, at 12:26 PM, WF Smith wrote:

> ...
> trying to clean some things out and revive some others. There are  
> azaleas
> there older than I am, and they seem to be dying off.

One point of experience: Till recently I worked at NIST, formerly NBS  
(National Bureau Of Standards) in Gaithersburg, MD.  The organization  
moved to it's current site in the early 60's.  There had been a fellow  
at the old site near DC who was a renowned grower of azaleas, and had  
planted many of them around the site.  Many of his prize varieties  
came from DC to the new site.  By about 5 years ago, they were all  
gone, I presume because of old age.  It's quite possible that they  
live only so long unless they get unusual care, and possibly are re- 
started from rootings of some sort.

> .... I'll begin watering
> them, check the soil pH and possibly feed them some and see what  
> happens.

Hollytone is the/a recommended fertilizer, I understand. They need/ 
like a certain pH and can respond remarkably when it gets corrected.


> My specific question for the gardeners is about boxwoods. There are  
> a few
> boxwood hedgerows I suspect to be over 100 yrs old,

This is the plant that the British have grown for many hundreds of  
years, is it not?  And old well developed ones can be worth a LOT of  
money if you go out to buy them?  Maybe 15 years ago now, I saw some  
at the officers quarters of a long-abandoned military training  
facility.  They were overgrown, untended for decades, and looked like  
they would need a decade of care to become nice again.



> but they are sickly and
> stunted looking. We are in a drought which partially explains slow  
> growth
> and stress. Are there any supplements or anything that one can do to
> invigorate a boxwood hedge or do they have a limited lifespan and  
> limited
> growth? They are a major element in the front landscape and because  
> of their
> history I hesitate to replace them if I can avoid doing so.
>
> I have a website centered around the house and the lives of it's  
> former
> occupants that I will be updating more frequently as time allows. I'll
> probably chronicle the renovations and other projects there as well.
>
> The very first obstacle... was a dry well... We preferred a new well  
> but at 12/ft
> plus pump/tank/casing etc and a predicted depth of 750 ft or so, we  
> had to
> tap onto the "city water". When my ship comes in I may drill a new  
> well,...
> The taste of the water was never good- it was bitter and
> Grandad always attributed that to the damned walnut trees sinking  
> roots in
> the aquifer).

Water showing up in a dug well or shallow drilled well can be very  
different from that from a deep drilled well.

Surface water has come through the upper layers of the ground and may  
carry the taste of whatever it's passed along the way.  Deep water may  
be from hundreds of miles away or more, having been en route for a  
very long time.  The well here is 200+ feet deep and has lots of iron/ 
rust in it.  If we were staying, a purifier of some sort would be in  
order.

Roy


Roy Morgan
k1lky AT earthlink.net
Lovettsville, VA 20180