Pacific Northwest Gardening: Mistakes I have made in my gardens, 1 by

wrote:
Water and an occasional song... beautiful! I love the thought of that, Kayte!

Ladybuggfan, this garden is planted almost underneath my neighbor's cedar tree. It would actually be beneath it but I keep the branches of said tree trimmed back on my side. Cedars have a lot of feeder roots just under the surface. These roots can be pulled up in small areas without harming the tree. So I pulled out a ton of reddish roots, then I dug a trench about 18 inches deep and lined it with heavy plastic and backfilled. Then I bermed up the soil. It's not a permanent solution but it keeps the little feeder roots at bay so I'm not pulling them out every year. I do have to water this bed every day in the summer, though. you'd probably have good success if you planted beyond the dripline, too. It can be done, you just have to improvise.

Julie, it's a deal!

Lynn and Kayte, I got a variety of cup and saucer vine called 'royal plum' from Hortus Botanicus in their seed grab bag this year. I separated out a couple of trade bags for that variety if either of you is interested. I've never been successful with this vine, but I'm starting to have hope that many of my failures were because my soil wasn't as good as I thought. Lynn, I ordered 10 yards of Tagro today. It will be delivered on Friday morning. Yahoo!