Your greatest gardening "find"

[SWMOgardens]

My wife and I sell real estate. One day we were at a home and I noticed a big pile of driftwood on the back deck. I said to the seller "that wood would look great in my garden". She said "we use it in our taxidermy business for mounts, you can't have that wood. But, I have some out back you can have". We went to her shop out back and there was a huge pile of "junk" driftwood. She let me have it all! It filled my trunk, about 50 pieces. Truly one of my greatest gardening finds.

[Trudy]

Nice find. We have a lake across the road that has plenty of drift wood, but I never make it a priority to go drift wood collecting!

Here is a find of mine, actually my brother found it for me at an auction for $50.
The Vermont-Built Garden Cart gets used often. Can hold a lot of garden items in one load. The big wheels make it so easy to push or pull. One of these days it may need some repair, but for the price we got it...it was a deal!

http://www.gardeners.com/Large-Garden-C ... lt,cp.html

[renaldo75]

Nice find on the 'junk' driftwood.

Trudy, I've always liked those carts. That's a great deal for one!!

My best score was the old-fashioned bumpy front concrete blocks I got from the basement of a house that had been demolished.
I used them to make raised beds & the blocks match the foundation blocks of my house in Corning.

[Chris_W]

For me, it would probably be the treasure trove of field stones we found, quite accidentally, when we built our house here.

We found this property in 2003 and one of my biggest disappointments was that there weren't any field stones to be found on the property. I always like to use them in gardens... Well, one day the contractor called us up and asked us to meet him at the property to stake out the corners of the new building. We took a tape measure and stakes and put them in place, then I took a look out across the property towards the west, told him to move it back further from the road a bit and tilt the building a little more to the north. So we lifted the stakes and tried again, I took another look and liked that spot better. The next day the excavators came out and started digging a 4 foot deep trench for the foundation. They started on the north wall and after a few feet started digging up nothing but field stones! They had hit the mortared, field stone foundation to an old building or farm house After about 30 feet they reached the northeast corner, and as they turned to dig the east wall, that old foundation turned as well. At the exact same corner there were two huge corner stones, and then another 10 to 15 feet of field stones. By the end of the day we had a huge pile of field stones collected which Brian and I hauled away so we could use them later. The excavator asked if I knew that was there, and no, I had absolutely no idea. We knew there was a building somewhere in that general location at one time, but had no idea the foundation was there, let alone in the exact same spot as our new home.

We used all of those stones to line the pathway of our hosta garden out front - you can even see some of the mortar on a few of them. Here are a few in this picture of Hosta 'Nancy Gill', H. 'Crusader', and H. 'Golden Scepter' (click to enlarge).

Thanks for asking!

Chris

[renaldo75]

That's pretty amazing, Chris!! You couldn't have 'planned' it any better.

[HostaDesigner]

Yep, I'm in a similar boat as Chris. We had no stones in our landscaping, but there was a treasure of them at the back of the lot pulled from the farmer's field over the years. Everything from baseball size to several hundred pounds. One by one, I moved them in my trusty plastic wheelbarrow.

[Linda P]

This farm is probably the biggest and best. While I had to plant trees to make shade and wait for them to grow, the soil here is wonderful for growing hostas. The chicken yard, where chickens and various other animals had been kept for years on end has been fertilzed for decades, and hostas love it there.
The next biggest find is my pile of rocks. I was driving down the road to my parent's house one day and saw a huge pile of rubble at a farm owned by a friend of my husband. I asked if I could look through the pile, and it turned out to be the foundation of a very old barn. I went and got hubby and the truck, and we pulled out a lot of rock and some bricks. The rocks made the surrounding for my pond, and in the pile of them was one that had a half round drilled in it (probably for a water pipe to go into the barn) and it made the perfect splash rock for the waterfall. The man who grew up on that farm was here to tour my garden one day, and I pointed those rocks out to him. He was so pleased that they didn't end up in a hole with the rest of the rubble. It made him happy to see that some part of the old barn lives on in another form. I love those old barns, and always hate to see them go.

waterfall 07.JPG (64.06 KiB) Viewed 384 times

approaching pond 07.JPG (71.96 KiB) Viewed 384 times

Pond ZDoDahUnchndMldy June 08.JPG (72.31 KiB) Viewed 384 times

Linda P

[Linda P]

I forgot to mention that the hunk of wood is another 'find'. It's an old cedar trunk that my dad pulled out years ago. He had in on a pile of brush to be burned, and I hauled it out and brought it home. Dad got a good laugh out of seeing me pull that thing from the pile, and asked me what I was going to use it for. I told him I would put it in my garden, and it would remind me of him, as he was always cutting firewood. When he saw it there by the pond, he was amazed, and just stood and shook his had and said he never would have thought of using it for something like that. I have it propped up on rocks so it isn't touching the dirt, and hope it will last for years. Now that my dad is gone, I look at that every day and think of him.
Linda P

[thy]

Great finds

They are starting to ask for money for field stones here..a few years back, the farmers begged us for taking them

WOW Linda, I have never seen those pics before .. and that chedar trunk is to die for, nice way you have managed to fit it in with the pond.

Think my best find is from this new garden. Square granite blocks withthe size of a lady foot, 25 or 30 of them. I haven't used them for anything yet, but they will for sure be used one day

[Phil_and_Gayle]

Here on our 150 wooded acres near Pleasant Hill, Missouri, we utilize many of our natural resources in our Hosta gardens. Those resources include rocks from the creeks, soil from our bottom land, and leaves for mulch. However, one particular “gold mine” has impacted our gardens more than any other. Among our many tree species is Osage Orange or "Hedge." This has the greatest density of all our trees but most particularly, has outstanding rot resistance. Since this tree has limited wildlife qualities, we harvest the old growth trees and slice them into 1" thick boards on our saw mill. After cutting these boards into two foot lengths, we selectively match them together to form a continuous wooden walkway. Our many paths now total in the hundreds of yards in length and provide an excellent and durable walking surface to view the hostas and other woodland accoutrements.

An existing sunny garden that needed expansion. Note the water spigot (for ref in later photo).

The old landscaping wall has been ripped out and construction of a much expanded wall is begun, making ready for bottom soil backfill.

Completed project with the addition of a sun retardant arbor and the boardwalk (can you see the spigot next to the tree?).

Winter photo in alternate location. Alas, no hostas for viewing this time of year.

Those hedge trees looked good out in the woods, but they sure add beauty and practicality within our gardens.

[SWMOgardens]

Love your hedge walk. I don't have a sawmill, but I had an arborist cut some 2 inch slices of hedge tree for me too. I have a small path/patio of it.

[renaldo75]

Those hedge board walkways and the patio are very cool!! My dad always used to use hedge trees for his fence posts since they were so durable and would last for years.

[putnamgardens]

I'd have to say....my rocks. I admired them for years and finally GOT'm delivered. NOW I gotta move'm into a pond position. Later, Love, Lisa

[kaylyred]

My favorite find came from a garage sale last year. It was an old hunk of wrought iron fence that the farmer hosting the sale had found in his barn and thought someone might want. It cost me all of $2. I simply liked the way it looked, so I put it in the shade garden and will train my Northern Bush Honeysuckle up against it as it grows.

Reclaimed piece of an old wrought iron fence in the courtyard hosta garden. You can see it on the left.

I also liked these little twig chairs that I found. They give a rustic look, and I like to pretend they invite faerie folk to take a seat here and enjoy the cool shade.

Twig chair with Pineapple Upside Down Cake.

[Noreaster]

Really nice finds, everyone! SWMOgardens, I really love your patio out of tree trunk slices- I saw that in a garden project book of mine and would love to have something like it, but I don't have a spot for it, sadly.

Kayly, I love the little twig chairs, too. I saw that my parents had a few of those in their garden in SC and I was shocked when my mom said that my dad had made them. My dad is a type-A personality, retired Army Colonel, and the thought of him taking the time to craft something so whimsical just surprised me.

I guess my best "find" would have to be the large rock ledge I uncovered in our yard. When we moved into our house, I knew nothing and had no interest in gardening. But when my dog's frisbee landed in this mess of stuff one too many times, I decided to just start ripping it out. Underneath it all was a big ledge that I've since designed my garden around. I think it makes a cool backdrop for things, and I love that it gets more and more moss on it every year.

Here are the befores and in progress pics





Last year

[Noreaster]

Really nice finds, everyone! SWMOgardens, I really love your patio out of tree trunk slices- I saw that in a garden project book of mine and would love to have something like it, but I don't have a spot for it, sadly.

Kayly, I love the little twig chairs, too. I saw that my parents had a few of those in their garden in SC and I was shocked when my mom said that my dad had made them. My dad is a type-A personality, retired Army Colonel, and the thought of him taking the time to craft something so whimsical just surprised me.

I guess my best "find" would have to be the large rock ledge I uncovered in our yard. When we moved into our house, I knew nothing and had no interest in gardening. But when my dog's frisbee landed in this mess of stuff one too many times, I decided to just start ripping it out. Underneath it all was a big ledge that I've since designed my garden around. I think it makes a cool backdrop for things, and I love that it gets more and more moss on it every year.

Here are the befores and in progress pics





Last year

[eastwood2007]

I love this topic - what a great question! Lovely photos, everyone!

Gayle and Phil, I would love to visit you and your place sometime...I live just south of Kansas City.

We, too have rocks and things we acquire when digging - like for the foundation of the house, water lines, or to put in another perennial bed.

But I think the thing that has had the greatest impact here, are my fall excursions into the local town to collect bags of lawn leaves that residents set out to the curb. I spent about 4 mornings (trash day) in the fall the last 3 years collecting, and hauling home, the bags of leaves. I got a used shredder for Christmas 2 holidays ago, and I shred the leaves for mulch.

Most of the leaves in town are from oak trees and have a lovely medium tan color which holds all season long in the beds. It looks very similar to cedar/cypress mulch. I previously didn't mulch my beds because it would have been very expensive. Besides the leaves breaking down thru the season and nourishing the beds, they form kind of a mat over the top and all but the toughest weeds don't come thru it.

In addition, I used all the leaves from the first year to create "soil" for the new hosta bed I planted last fall. We have very hard clay here, and the quality of the leaf 'soil' is amazing. I can't wait to see how the hostas do in it this year.

[SUEDIA]

My greatest find is when my husband piles manure on a slab of cement that was not being used. It sets for about a year and it turns into what I call black gold. He adds to the pile every year so I keep having more each year. I can tell exactly to the inch in the hosta bed where I have put it down. The earthworms just love this stuff and come to the top to work it in. Sure helps my hard clay soil easier to work in.
Sue

[SWMOgardens]

Suedia,
When I started this thread, I never in a million years thought someone would say their greatest gardening find
was a pile of poo.

[kaylyred]

Noreaster, that IS a great find--simply incredible.

Suedia, I love that your greatest find is a pile of poo. I think I'd be pretty happy with a ready source of awesome compost, too.