Well, was productive over the last few days....got two beds in, one is gently terraced - modified lasagna....dug in a bunch of cages for the babies and bulbs...
Here is the bed underway.
Definitely fall....new beds are in..waiting for bulbs now
Here is the bed all done, waiting for the orders to arrive...(finally got some bulbs into the ground from their pots!)
Here is the nursery. Was feeling very brave and put all the babies (scaled 2005 and 2004) and bulbils from moved lilies into this one. Have some space to try some seed au natural....also somewhat layered...used some potting mix that was sitting around so unfortunately has that wierd white dot look.
another view
esw what a lot of work you have done. Very impressive. You lucky cat, with your greenhouse ;0)
You have been very busy I see. You new garden bed i very nice. I can't believe you have to use those cages to protect the bulbs, what a pain in the neck that must be.
Wow, that is very cool. My orders from Lily GArden, Buggy Crazy and Old House Gardens have arrived, and we're quickly preparing the borders. Will be able to raise a 3' x 8' section of one border, and am planning to make hills in places here and there. My husband is getting soil ammendments now. Can I ask how you prepared the soil for your raised bed? Do you have a recipe?
thanks magnolialover...the greenhouse is nice, need to better utilize it though.
Maureenpm00 - not as much of a pain as it is to watch the lilies disappear before your eyes...from below ground!
wickerparker - I am waiting for my orders from OHG and BuggyCrazy and the species lily group and ..YIKES....better get digging!
No special recipe....just tried to make it light...I had some well aged compost, some topsoil (not too much), coarse sand, some composting leaves, some leftover peat...the base was sandy loam. The slope and the fact that it is raised off the grade should help with drainage too...
The nursery bed was dug down about 4 inches, I lined it with hardware cloth and built up from there....with the removed dirt, additional compost/soil and layered with a bale of potting soil (was out of leaf compost) and sand...hopefully it is light enough...
thanks very much, esw. Our soil is clay, but the beds have been worked and ammended many many times. I plan to dig down as deep as I can, and back fill with existing soil, composted leaves and coarse sand in equal measures, raising the bed a few inches, and then hoping for the best. I wish I was as organized and well-prepared as you are. Hope your bulbs get there soon and that you're not having the early winter we've been having -- snow, sleet and hail yesterday. Delightful for digging!
I wouldn't dig down too much....just pile it up! My best and lightest bed came from a lasagna bed .....layers and layers of goodies all piled up and allowed to settle and meld over the winter. Much easier all around. The reason I dug was t o line the area with hardware cloth to try to foil the voles....For goodness sake, avoid digging if you don't have to! Hope your weather tames down a bit and gives you an indian summer to plant in.
that sounds like excellent advice. Thank you. My back thanks you.
How I envy your prime-for-planting beds!
I had to make up for the poor lilies that had to overwinter in pots the last 2 winters and doing next to nothing with the garden this year other than dividing a bunch (a WHOLE bunch) of Heuchera....I did go a bit hogwild with the ordering the last couple of weeks....between the species lily group and PNWLS and Buggy Crazy and Old House gardens and B&H I have my work cut out for me....those two little beds don't begin to be enough! ( I planted a hundred or so assorted little bulbs today in scattered places - those were easy)
edited to add to the mayhem
This message was edited Oct 13, 2006 6:51 PM