First Time WS #3

LissaD sorry this may not be the answer you're looking for I just plop my plants where ever. Seems to work for me so far. When i run out of room, I just take some more lawn away from DH. It makes for some ummmmm interesting conversation after dinner. but there you go.

I plant things wherever there is room, but I am not sure I am a very good example of how to landscape. I do think putting taller things in back medium in front of them and small in the front makes sense, but I think gardening is one of the safest places to let your creativity go wild. Sometimes that even makes the prettiest gardens.

LissaD, I've been thinking about the same things you have today... Here is what I have so far: I'm going to split my long full sun lasagna bed into thirds long ways, so tall things will be in back, then middle, then short in front but within those limits I am just going to plop things in. My shade lasagne bed is going to be random groupings of impatiens, hostas and leafy plants. I picked up Mel Bartholomew's "All New Square Foot Gardening" from the library today and just finished it a few minutes ago and am seriously considering setting up my veggies that way, especially since I already have a raised 4'x4' bed in place.

Since I'm new like you, I have no real concept of how many plants I'll have and how much space they will fill, so if I have too many I'll probably take a page from Cherie's book and start stealing a little more yard... WHAhahaha!

tcs - it's good to see you back, too! Hopefully Potagere will be back with us soon.

-GB

Cherie, thank you for the pictures. It really looks good.

LissaD, when I started my garden 4 years ago, there was nothing, just a meadow. I made plans on paper, but that was the theory, in practice it did not like on my paperplans at all.
Then I thought to make different parts, every part having a colorgroup: 1. Yellow, orange and purple, 2. red, white and purple, 3. Pink, white and purple 4. A wild garden with everything mixed.
I found out that sticking on these colorgroups made the garden a bit dull. I was very happy with my wild garden, where everything was mixed.
In 2008 I started growing my own plants on a larger scale. Now, if plants are ready to be put in the garden, I walk through my garden and try to imagine where 'this' or 'that' plant would suit best.
Or I walk through my garden, looking for parts I'm not satisfied with and searching self grown plants for these spots.

Today I WS'd these plants, making a total of 22 jugs of seeds:

Bronze fennel
Hollyhock `The Watchman'
Oriental poppy `Coral Reef'
Oriental poppy `Brilliant'
Flax
Dame's Rocket

Two more WS weekends and I'm considering myself through for my first year. Nothing has germinated yet except for one lavender sprout! Two things I am noting for my own benefit: leave enough room to add more soil after seeding and the green paint pen I bought while waiting shipment on a black paint pen shows up better than the black one on the clear plastic soda jugs, particularly against the bottom part when it's loaded with soil! I like the green one better.

Hemo -- when is your cold weather? I wouldnt think you'd want anything to germinate this early.

Hmmm, green pen huh? i may look into that as my black one slowly dies. [this will be my 3rd season with it]

Well, believe it or not, we're having it now and on through Jan. and Feb., but what constitutes our winters is usually pretty mild with a few bitterly cold days thrown in just to keep us off guard! Yesterday we had winter weather warnings posted and some icy roads; today I was out in my sweat jacket sowing away. Today started out with lots of fog and cold, but it's warmed right up, relatively speaking. Currently, it's 46 degrees.

OK -- i've got a question....

in the Cottage Garden thread [the piggy seed swaps] we have been talking about 'soaking seeds'

here is what started it all:

Hello, everyone, just thought I'd pop in here, as I'm interested in giving this WS thing a go. I'm a WS virgin, but very have been gardening otherwise for many years. I will have questions and such as we go along, and would like to share my experiences when I get started.

Hey, Karen, I'm Karen, too! I want some of that Yvonne's Salvia that you have. That is spectacular!

I have never tried lasagna gardening, but I think I will try it this year. I have so many beds I need to put in, and just don't have time for all the digging that needs to be done. I have tons of piled up yard waste slowly turning into compost, and lots just from this past fall alone, and will have more in the spring when I rake all the leaves off my gardens. Just think of all the beds I can make with that stuff alone!

What is the HOS method some of you are talking about?

Cece, I loved the way you say you take some lawn away from your DH. I don't have a husband, but I can still relate, and I live with my sister. In some cases I need to consult with her before I put in a new bed where there is lawn. My close gardening friend, whose name is also Karen, is always taking lawn away from her DH. Sometimes he notices, sometimes he doesn't. Don't know why he cares. The lawn is mostly weeds, and he doesn't have to spend as much time mowing if there is less lawn.

LisaDD, I don't usually have a plan on where I will put what, either. I put stuff where ever. A lot of times it works great, other times it doesn't. Most plants are easy to move if you decide your design doesn't work. I look through lots of gardening mags, look at threads here on DG, read gardening books, all to get ideas. I've been gardening many years now, and I'm always learning new things. My gardens are constantly evolving. There's always something new, and that's what's so fun about it. Never a dull moment in the world of gardening.

Karen

OH -- i'm gonna cross-post in the lessons learn thread too....

Welcome NFDLKaren! (I thought that sounded nicer than Karen #2... :D)

I have to admit, I am pretty excited about lasagna beds. This will be only our second Spring in our house, and last year I was so bummed that once we got the house updated there wasn't much left in the budget for the yard/garden. We have what feels like a lot of space to me, and I just couldn't imagine how long it would take to dig up and buy soil for a bunch of beds. Now I have two new beds for free!! The only problem I have found is that it is a little addictive. I used up most of the leaves I was planning on saving for the compost pile for the lasagna beds, so I thieved a neighbor's leaf bags on garbage day yesterday. I know I ought to save them for the compost bin, but I keep thinking, "wouldn't it be nice to have another bed over here?"

I need someone in my ear whispering "simplify, simplify, simplify."

Hemo - congrats on your second round of WSing! Lookin good.

-GB

Thanks for the welcome, GB. You can just call me Nuts if you want. When it comes to daylilies, or to gardening in general, really, that's definitely what I am.

That lasagna gardening sounds more and more enticing. I have a whole book on it. Now I gotta dig it out and read it.

Karen

"Nuts" -- hahaha! (Hmm, shall we have Nuts Karen and -- oh, never mind.....)

HOS refers to "hunk of seeds" which is how to sow germinated WS plant material that is growing too close together to separate effectively..... Go to http://wintersown.org for a good description.... it was also linked a bit ago in this thread too.

Hemo, gosh, your lavender is sprouting? I will have to check mine tomorrow, hope it didn't go and "shoot" off early, lol!

Lissa, my garden planning is quite, er, spontaneous also. And this time it is even moreso because for one thing I am starting new and for another I am going to be planting out in an area that is pretty wild and scruffy, and for yet another I honestly do not know how long I will be living here, and so...... I am thinking to try to plant things that can have a good chance of naturalizing. I tend to "dream it up" too, just imagine how it might look, not in any kind of planned out way..... and when it comes the moment to plant something, I just sort of feel in to the space and what seems like it might work. I don't mind making mistakes -- eventually all the mistakes go away and what's left is a nice garden.

LOL! Kyla, you're too funny! Thanks for the explanation of HOS. Now I get it.

Karen

You're welcome but not sure I got it right, maybe it's "hunk of seedLINGS" or even "hunk of STUFF" cause by then the seeds are no longer....... anyway, they tell me it works just fine. ;-)

I was told it is hunk o f seedlings by another ws er last year. It works!!

I started WSing 3 years ago and most everything planted into my beds has been by hos. Works well for me. Just cut 'em up into squares and plant with a spoon.

Other Karen

So you just have a small HOS, and then whatever plant is the strongest wins?

Nuts Karen

Very pretty Other Karen! What are the little yellow ones in the bottom right corner. Those are pretty little ones.

I guess a few from the mass die, who knows. If so, there are so many surviving in my hunks that I sure can't tell or miss them.

Yellow ones in bottom right are coreopsis moonbeam, one of only two remaining plants in that bed not wintersown.

Karen

Oh, is that a verbascum in that second picture? I love those.

Nuts Karen

It's verbascum Southern Charm, that was in it's second year.

Karen

the question about the soaking seed was in another thread - here is my answer - remember - you are sowing the seeds in saturated soil. The soil will freeze and thaw - that is enough to soften the shell around the seed.

Oh, nice! I put that verbascum on my order with Pinetree.

Karen

Hey, Lissa, hos method also looks like a good way to plant thickly enough that you crowd out the weeds, eh?

Sounds like it to me! :)

Here is a cute little article from DG about Corepsis "Moonbeam". I had to look it up.

http://davesgarden.com/guides/articles/view/535/

Wall-to-wall flowers make great mulch

Karen

Oh Karen - thank you for the pictures! My seed catalogues are starting to get worn out from flipping through, trying to envision my garden and your pictures was just the right medicine. Your gardens are lovely, and I like your wall-to-wall flower idea. :D

-GB

I'm glad, GreenerBeaner.

I like seeing flower pictures in winter, too. Keep in mind, though, that perennials usually need several years to bloom and grow full. "Sleep, creep, leap".

Karen

Looks a little like my Sun strip garden. I call it my wild garden. BEV

another view.

Splendid Bev!! nice to see such color on a gloomy cold day.

Nice Bev and Karen! Thanks!

Karen

Newbie here with a question.. Do the WS containers need to be "on the ground" or can they be put on a picnic table, or etc? New puppy in town and I love her to death, but don't know if I can keep her from tearing up, carrying around and basically deciding the WS containers are her new toys. But maybe she'd design a better garden if I let her.

Also, I'd like to order one of Karen's and one of Bev's beds, LOL. That's what I want, full plantings. Peg

Peg, maybe you could put your containers in cardboard boxes or clear storage containers with holes drilled in the bottoms for drainage. That would probably keep the puppy from getting to them. I'm planning on putting all my seeds in regular plastic pots, which I have a ton of, and putting the pots in clear storage containers with holes drilled in the bottoms. I'm thinking I will use shipping tape for the tops and leave them cracked open slightly on one side lengthwise for ventilation. Hopefully that will keep squirrels out, too.

Karen

Peg that sun garden is about 100 yds long and 8 ft wide and it is taking about 4 yrs to fill the way I am going but to fill bare areas for now I just take seeds out and throw them all over and plant in between as I get things. It is a fun garden but I have 8 more areas to work also. BEV
Here is the whole garden going from West to East to the ally.

Peg, yes they can be "up"

I recall a gal telling a story where she saw her pooch playing in the back yard with what looked like a toy... then to her horror, the dog was 'shaking' about her milk jugs filled with seeds....

I too have a pooch that likes to play with containers... so i put them in boxes, old laundry baskets, etc. If i had a picnic table in my back yard... i'd probably put them up there. just make sure they are anchored in some form... you'd hate to watch them blow away on a really windy day.

Pretty!

Peg, containers on a table would be fine. And those beds of mine are never static, always a work in progress

Karen

Bev, it's lovely.

Karen, I have some gallon containers that I will box, but DH found some cheap styrofoam coolers, glued the lids on and divided them lengthwise for larger WS containers. We're duct-taping vented bisqueen (sp?) on the tops. Are squirrels a big problem? I had not even thought about that... we also have rabbits and I was hoping this would deter them. I hoped to finally get some sunflowers that the rabbits did not get first.