grow, marvel, eat, laugh, persevere

Thursday, March 13, 2008

Zero, Nada, Zilch

Winter Sowing

I checked every single container today and there is not a damn thing happening in there. Several people in blogville are reporting growth in their WS containers so I'm not sure what's going on. It's warm and sunny today so get to growing, seeds!

Patio update
The paver guy came by today to look at my space and he'll call me with an estimate later. He talked me out of the stamped concrete when he mentioned the cracking. One thing I didn't like is that he really had no design ideas. I was hoping he'd come out and have some big grand vision that I'd totally buy into. Instead, he simply measured and said I should pick the kind of bricks I want. The more I think about this design thing the more I realize that I'm not so much BAD at it as I am insecure. If somebody else designs it and I don't like it, I can blame them. If I design it and hate it then I can only blame myself. Oh well, time to go paver shopping! Oh, by the way, I spoke to a composite decking guy who was extremely nice but told me that it would be almost 3 times as expensive as pavers. HOLY CRAP! He's still going to give me an estimate on a pergola - hopefully I'll be able to afford that.

Himalayan experiment update
No growth

5 comments:

  1. We got a quote on a patio and a pergola for our backyard as well. The quote I got blew me out of the water- it is back to square one for us (my husband building the pergola himself) and us either putting in our own paver patio (which is kinda hard to do with only two people - one being me (i.e. a wimp)) or just sucking it up and only paying to put in a cement slab patio. Out of curiosity - who did you get your quote from - I need to get a second quote to see if it me who is crazy and don't know where to start. As for designs - I get my ideas online - of course - and even started a flickr album of my ideas - I shared the link with the person I was getting the quote from so he could get an idea of what I wanted. Visit different landscaping websites to get ideas.

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  2. Patience, Gina. Patience.
    I know, easier said than done.
    This should make you feel better: I won't see one darn sprout until at least April. All my WS containers are buried under snow and there's more coming down on them right now. I know it's hard to wait, but you'll be able to gloat at me pretty soon that you have sprouts and I don't!
    :)

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  3. suzyq - my garden buddy gave me her paver guy's name and I contacted him directly. He did a great job with hers as well as one of our other friends. He hasnt given me a number yet but I belive GB said its about 10 dollars per square foot (the composite deck guy said 27 per). If you live near chicago email me directly and I'll be glad to give you his number. I also called HD for a quote so I'll see how they compare. I think I'll also get the name of the company who did my neighbors patio for a 3rd quote. I know they'll all be too high but I am willing to do just about anything for a patio at this point.

    tina - patience? what's that??

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  4. Hey Gina,

    Sorry about the WS seeds. What a bummer!

    Pavers are really great because they let water percolate through them into the ground water instead of being diverted into drains and into local waterways.

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  5. Um, what zone are you in? I'm in 6 and according to my records, nothing sprouts in my containers until the end of March. I'm not even looking for another couple of weeks at least.

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