June, 2013 Update from Family Garden Trains^TM

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In this Issue

Okay, you're used to getting our newsletters late, not early. But we have some late-breaking news about open railroads in Ohio June 2-9 that we have to share right now. In addition, we've been so busy prepping our railroad for the open railroads, that we have more to report than we did a week ago.

Readers know by now that the National Garden Railway Convention will be near Cincinnati this June. And we're looking forward to giving several clinics and holding at least two "open railroads." We're especially looking forward to seeing old friends and meeting readers we haven't seen face to face yet.

Note: - We have just learned that of the three busses going to the Miami Valley Garden Railway open railroads on Friday morning (June 7), only one bus is coming to our railroad. Our railroad is listed as Railroad #15 on the tour, and the only bus currently scheduled to visit is Bus Route #3. That said, all three routes visit some unique and impressive railroads, so get on at least one of the busses, whatever you do.

Bus #3 should arrive at our railroad about 10:15AM, assuming that everything runs on schedule. So if you're driving, consider arriving by 9:15, or maybe after 10:45, in case the bus brings a crowd. On the other hand, the five railroads closest to my house are all having open railroads on Sunday the ninth, so if you don't get up Friday and you happen to be going north or east on your way out of town Sunday . . . .

This week's projects include lots of weeding and other work that won't be new to anyone with a garden railroader, but might be more fun to read about than it was to do.

In addition, we're leaving up our links to the Convention, clinic, and open railroads one last time, since a bunch of folks just signed up for the newsletter.

If you're tired of hearing about a convention you can't attend, don't worry, it will all be over by the next newsletter, and we'll be back to the silly practical things we usually write about.

Finally, please accept our wishes for a great summer. And please enjoy any time you can spend with your family in the coming months.

Topics discussed in this update include:

• Columbus Garden Railroad Society Pre-Tour
• NB&DCR Update - Prepping for the 2013 Open Railroads Part 2
• Garden Railroading in Mid-Summer
• The National Garden Railway Convention is Six Days Away!
• Come See Our Clinics You've read the articles; come see the presentation.
• Come See Our Railroads - regional open railroads including ours.

Columbus Garden Railroad Society Pre-Tour June 2

Most of the same railroads will be on the bus tour, but driving over on Sunday this will give you extra time to look around, take photos, steal - er, borrow - ideas, and chat with the owners.

To see a schedule and descriptions of the Sunday, June 2 Columbus-area open railroads, please click on the following link:

http://thecgrs.org/CGRS_2013_NGRC_pre-tour.php

Prepping for the 2013 Open Railroads Part 2

If you want to see our most current efforts, please click on the following link:

http://familygardentrains.com/newbost/13_prep_for_conv/prepping_for_2013_open_rr_part2.htm

Garden Railroading in Mid-Summer

• Plant Maintenance - It will soon be time to "deadhead" any plants that bloom in early summer including including yarrows and larger sedums.

  If you have "normal" thyme, you might want to "harvest" some by cutting it while it is still in flower, then tying it in bunches and hanging it upside down until it dries. Watch for bees; thyme attracts some very tiny species you almost never see otherwise. Try not to cut back beyond the last green part of the plants. It's also time to pull the crabgrass, nutgrass, and goldenrod that somehow gets seeded into your railroad every year.

  As you work your way around your railroad, be sure to take a dandelion puller/knife with you so you're not tempted to break off any dandelions or thistles at the ground - they WILL return with stronger roots that ever.

  This is not a good time to trim evergreens; wait until cooler weather if you can.

• Irrigation - After several summer droughts in the last few years, I've been making a point of monitoring the plants on my garden railroad. Fortunately most of them, like my ubiquitous sedums, are pretty drought-resistant. And having weed growth and insect migrations slow down in the dry summer months is a benefit, not a curse. But sometimes, you have to get the hose out. One way to tell when is when evergreen groundcovers start looking as gray as they do in the winter. Another way to tell is that certain deciduous plants, trees, and shrubs will be pointing their leaves almost straight up, as though they're conserving moisture and hoping to trap any rainfall at all. Here are a few caveats:
  • Watering your entire garden railroad indiscriminately (say with a lawn sprinkler) will increase weed growth, so that should be done sparingly.
  • Watering evergreen trees with hard water may keep them alive in the short term, but too much hard water can harm them in the long run. In true droughts, there are always cases of folks "killing with kindness" when it comes to conifers and hard water.
  • Watering in the late evening will make the moisture last longer. However you should avoid evening waterings during the "wetter" months of the year, as it can compound mold or other problems.
  • Make certain you don't leave any open containers that can collect your irrigation water and give mosquitoes a place to breed.
  • Even if you don't water your garden railroad much during the summer, consider giving it a soaking the morning of any day in which you plan to have company. It will "perk up" and green up your plants and make the whole garden look that much more attractive.

• Planning an Open House - If you're thinking about a late summer or early autumn open house for your garden railroad, now is the time to start planning. My club, the Miami Valley Garden Railway Society (in southwest and west-central Ohio) often has some around the end of August or early September, but so many have been open for the convention tours, I don't know how many families will be up for another session. I'll probably have one in November if not sooner, so stay tuned. Some tips on planning your own open railroad are in the following article:
  http://familygardentrains.com/primer/openhaus.htm

• Landscaping Opportunities - Although you're not supposed to plant trees in August, many stores start reducing prices on landscaping trees in late summer. Generally, if I get anything like that at the sales, I leave it in the pot in a shaded area and make sure the soil in the pot stays moist until I have time to trim it up and get it into the ground in the fall. (Some folks dig a hole and drop the whole pot into the ground, which has the additional advantage of stabilizing the soil temperature.)

• Water Feature Care - Make certain that the "waterfalls" that aerate your pond are running properly. This includes cleaning out the filter as often as necessary to maintain a strong flow. If you're going to be gone for a time during hot weather, consider putting your pond pump on a timer so it only runs during the afternoon, when the fish need it most, but it doesn't run so much that it clogs up and stops running period.

  If you need to treat the pond to get rid of that stringy dark algae, be careful to read the label - some brands kill water hyacinth and other plants (Pond Care Algae-Fix's present formula works without killing my plants). If you do treat your pond for algae, be doubly careful to make certain your pond is getting aerated - otherwise the dying algae creates an unhealthy environment for your fish.

• When It's Too Hot to Play Outside - If it's too hot to run trains, you might think about planning an indoor "test-track" somewhere that you can use in the "dog days" of summer as well as the cold days of winter. It probably is time to start prioritizing your list of what you plan to get accomplished before the leaves fall. Unless you live where the leaves don't fall, then you may need that indoor "test track" right now.

National Garden Railway Convention is Five Days Away!

As you may know by now, the National Garden Railway Convention will be near Cincinnati Ohio on June 5-9 this year. That's as close as the convention ever gets to my house (although we're still about 70 miles away).

We're hoping to see lots of our internet friends, so if you're coming at all, please let us know so we can keep an eye out for you.

If the rest of your family isn't sure this is the best way to spend your vacation, remind them that this area has lots of local features you won't get anywhere else. For example the site is next door to Kings Island theme park and water park, and only a few miles from the world's largest indoor Large Scale Railroad at EnterTrainment Junction - so there's plenty for the family to do, even if you're not all "train nuts."

On a more personal note, Paul is providing four garden railroading clinics, and we'll have our own railroad, the New Boston and Donnels Creek open for visitors. The links to our clinics and open railroad schedules are in the next two sections.

Come to See Our Clinics

For more specific information about the clinics we are currently planning to present, please click on the following link:

http://familygardentrains.com/clinics/cincy_clinic_schedule.htm

Come to See Our Railroads

For more information about our open railroads, please click on the following link:

http://familygardentrains.com/outside_resources/openhouses/june_2013_open_rr.htm

Keep in Touch

Finally, please let us know about your ongoing projects. Ask questions, send corrections, suggest article ideas, send photos, whatever you think will help you or your fellow railroaders. In the meantime, enjoy your trains, and especially enjoy any time you have with your family in the coming weeks,

Paul Race

FamilyGardenTrains.com

To view the newsletter for May, 2013, click on the following link:

http://familygardentrains.com/fgt_newsletter/13_05_newsletter_gr.htm

To read more, or to look at recommended Garden Railroading and Big Indoor Train products, please click on the index pages below.