First Time WS #3

Cross-posted. Terese and Karen thanks! UP they will go on the picnic table. That just made it so much easier. Thanks! Peg

I don't know how big a problem the squirrels would be, if at all, but I'm just anticipating that they might be a problem. One never knows what they might decide to get into.

Karen

They've not been a problem for me, and I have a lot of squirrels. I think they mostly go for tree seed, sunflower seed, those things that make up their normal diet. Jugs of common flower seeds don't seem to entice them.

Karen

hi everyone! This is the first time I've ever heard of a lasagna garden and I wonder if there's somewhere on DG that will explain the layers in detail. Could someone direct me? I have a couple of spots that would be perfect to do this in and I have a TON of newspaper to use right now.
I'm going exploring..see if I can find another forum about this. I used the link that was provided on this thread to read what they said, but it doesn't start at the "beginning" of making the garden.

thanks :)
Chris

Hiya ClanCampbell...... Go here http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/909930/ for a discussion of a few lasagna-type projects, I think you will find the info you need in that thread -- it 's not too long either. ;-)

Kyla, thanks so much..that was perfect. I've bookmarked it so that I can go back. Told DH I found a way to improve our gardens and he rolled his eyes.. how rude! LOL (I think he's finally caught on that when I say that..it means more work for him!)

(I love the fact that you live in "Weed" CA.. how appropriate for a gardener!)

Chris

Googling "lasagna garden" brings up 1, 200,000 hits.

Karen

clan my husband has been rolling his eyes at me forever now, Every time I want more lawn space taken out of commission. As long as they roll IN is head and not out on the floor its not as big problem for me.

Cherie ... does he realize the more lawn you turn into beds, the less he has to mow?

I'm wracking my brain on this... you were the one that got the new sunroom, right? if so, how's that worked out for you?

Terese

Yes he does and that is the problem. He LIKES, in fact ENJOYS to mow. Go figure hey?

My husband too!! I was talking about how much of the front yard that we could turn into a huge flower bed and he said no, that he wanted at least half of it in grass going along the beds. Go figure is right!

Chris

How come they say how much they like it but it never gets done?

I think it's a man thing, liking to have lots of lawn and mowing. I do happen to like the look of how much lawn we have (I live with my youngest sister, her 18-year-old daughter and our elderly father), but I don't like all the time it takes to take care of it. It's time I could be using to attend to my gardens instead.

Clan, I have a whole book on LG called Lasagna Gardening by Patricia Lanza. You can get it at Amazon.com: http://www.amazon.com/Lasagna-Gardening-Layering-Bountiful-Gardens/dp/0875969623

Karen

I dunno - I'm the mower in our family and I totally love it. Mowing gives me a chance to get out of the house by myself and (this is the best part) start and FINISH a project all in ONE DAY!!! For a new mom, getting any project finished in one day (laundry? seed sorting? tooth brushing?) is a rare and joyous occasion. That being said, having more beds and less lawn has never hurt my feelings. :D

I'm still trying to round up some boxes to put my milkjugs in and haven't had much luck. I'm going to ask the produce guy at the grocery if we get there today.

Has anyone successfully WSown petunias? I just got some and then checked the WS database and the few I saw on their had poor results. Thanks!

-GB

I get a lot of my boxes from Sams. They are generally low and pretty thick. I posted a photo in the What have you sown thread.... http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/fp.php?pid=5967140
I had a great one last year that even had handles built in.

even if i do not have a lot of groceries [i may have to go again today] but i look for the good sturdy boxes ... handles are a bonus.

GB -- I have tried Petunias twice... no luck either time. I know they self sow... so i have no idea WHY i can't get them to grow. I think others have accomplished this ... but not me.

I love mowing the lawn. Its my exercise. Our lot is not really that big... we [either DH or I] can do it in about 45min .... DH will 'edge' and use the blower, but i wont. But I do the way back.... it's state property, and the area i do is about 120x100 give or take... it takes me about an hour or so... depending on how tall the weeds/grass is.

Tcs, you have it made with your mowing. It takes me 4-5 hours to mow. I do like the excercise, but I have so much work to do in my extensive gardens that I resent all the time it takes to do the mowing, too. I work 49 hours a week currently, and may go up to 52 hours. Was 52 a short time ago, but recently got 3 hours cut out. But I may get those 3 hours back on Mondays. I would really just rather take all of Monday off, then I will have 3 whole days to work in my gardens. I would love that.

One of the reasons it takes me so long to mow is because I bag all the clippings and it's pretty time-consuming to keep taking the bag off and emptying it. I save the clippings for mulch and for the compost piles. It's really great for both. Great for lasagna gardening, too, for anyone who is interested in doing that.

Karen

Karen -- we bag the "lawn" but i spread the grass clipping out in my beds sometimes... or just dump the piles in the weeds [there are plenty of those on States property] but the BIG area i mow, i just mow/mulch.

Terese

tsc forgot to answer your question before. Yes I'm the one with the sun room/greenhouse. The one DH said he wasn't heating this year then put the heater in there himself. It is working out pretty well. Haven't taken any pics out there so far but I can show you how well it worked last year.

This Alstromeria was blooming for me in Feb. of last year.

It gets down , even with a heater,to around 35° at night but then when the sun shines it can be 80-85°. I keep a fan in there and keep it running day and night.

We don't bad our clippings....just leave lay and decompose right where they are

Karen, we mow every 7-10 days, but found out that we better leave the bag off. The mowed grass will fertilise the lawn. It's really saving a lot of time. And our lawn got thicker. Only if we wait too long to mow, we use the bag and put it in the garden or compost it.

Okay I finish about 23 types of flowers/plants last night and have them already outside ready for Mother Nature.

Marigold Tagetes
Bush Morning Glory
Candle Bush
Hollyhock: Alcea Rosea
Sunflower Seed Mix
Apocynaceae Nerium Oleander
Love Lies Bleeding Amaranthus
Sneezeweed Asteraceae Helenium
Purple Hyancinth Bean Vine
Cleome Hassleriana Spider Flower
Gaillardia Arizona Sun
Purple Fountain Grass
California Poppy
Vitex Texas Lilac Chaste Tree
Zinnia Mix
Zinnia Mix [dollar store]
Shasta Daisy
Sweet William
Aster
Bachelor's Button
Sunny Wildflower Mixture
Forget-Me-Not Dwarf Firmament




This message was edited Jan 6, 2009 6:29 AM

The only thing I wonder....does having solid ground work better? I wonder if anyone has 'sown' on second level before without the solid 'warmth' of the ground.

I have the containers on the second story deck for several reasons....one big one is the deer and trying to keep the seedlings safe. Then convenience for me to check on them.

But I know they will suffer through colder conditions without solid ground.

They won't suffer at all. Frozen is frozen, doesn't matter if it's 31 degrees or 1 degree, the seeds can't tell the difference. I WANT mine to stay cold so they don't germinate too early. Think about how it happens in nature- the plant drops seeds, they sit in the soil all winter, frozen, and when spring comes they sprout. They're only susceptible to cold damage after they germinate and become seedlings.

I don't think a pot sitting on the ground is really warmer anyway in real wintry weather. Below ground, (i.e. actually planted) is a different story. If anything the surface of my concrete patio is probably colder than your wood deck.

About your baggies: I've never used baggies. Do you have something in there to prop up the bag in case of heavy rain or snow? Remember, I'm questioning not critiquing because I've not used them.

Karen

With regards to frost and being planted/under ground, that would depend on your frost line. The longer the colder weather, the deeper the line.

Henygirl please let me know how your starters do outside. Most of those seeds I wouldn't start untill March. However, even though I'm in the south it gets really cold. Right now it is 38 and raining. My seed supplier says that if you live North of the Texas Panhandle you should direct sow Ca poppies in early spring (March). I'm direct sowing HH and sweet peas but MG woulg laugh at me before they keeled over. I'm really interested in how they do in Texas we plant around heat and there isn't a lot of info on cool weather gardening many people just don't do it. We worry about the heat and then the cold killing plants. I think there is a whole lot of info. I'm missing out on.

Anita: What I meant about being planted (I wasn't very clear was I?) was this:
A perennial hardy to my zone 6 should theoretically survive a winter planted in the ground in my yard. But the recommendation I've seen a lot is that a potted perennial hardy to zone 6 should be planted in the ground over winter, as long as it's in a pot it's more like it's exposed to a zone 5 winter- one zone colder.

Karen

Henygirl - what an awesome system! That's one I haven't read about yet - I can't wait to see your little seedlings taking off in the Spring. I agree with the above posts - I think they ought to be fine on your deck, since cold is cold. IMHO, since you're not direct sowing, it doesn't even really matter what your soil temp is, so I would think anywhere that the seeds will go through natural stratification would be great. They might even drain a little better up on your deck where your drain holes wouldn't stop up and water wouldn't puddle. How will you prop up the tops of the bags when the seedlings are up? Thanks for sharing your method.

-GB

Hold yall dont give me credit for the system.......it is grampapa.....will edit if I got the name wrong. Anyway she tried this last year with different bags but same concept.

After holes are drilled on the lids.......somewhat large holes about 7 I will put the lid on the tub. There are drainage holes in the bottom ONLY of the ziplocs and the Ziplocs are sealed till the germinate. So the lid holes will allow for snow/ice but will also 'hopefully' keep them from being beat to death.

I will measure [using my cooking thermometer] the 'ground' .....See if the air temp is the same as the ground temp or what the variable.....especially since several of my kiddos want to use the information for a Science Project......I will have them collect extra data.

I have popsicle sticks in each baggie with a number painted on it that matches my spreadsheet.......labeling :)....but the sticks should help support the baggies.

Grampapa said she didnt open the bags for air till germination then used a clothes pin to keep them open.

If it fails it is okay I will know WHAT not to do! ;)

Another issue I had which lead to the back deck is the deer! With the lid [with holes] I shouldnt have bird eating anything either.....till they are big and strong.

Where is the best place to print an accounting of the weather from now until April. I would like to have the totals and such for the projects and well to see how they compare to another winter. But I cant find a weather site that tracks it and lets you print from the previous year.

>>here are drainage holes in the bottom ONLY of the ziplocs and the Ziplocs are sealed till the germinate.

Heny -- did you drill holes in the bottom of your bins?

if not, say you get A LOT of rain or snow, and it filters in the bins ... then your bags are literally sitting in water and that is not good.

I had a lot of mold last year because some of my holes were not big enough and all that excess water had no where to go.

Yeah the bins have holes in the bottom and top.

I will try and dig up the diagram i used to cut the holes in my bags too.....it was really neat and easy to follow.

Heny,

I didn't actually have a chance to look through the weather part of this Farmer's Almanac page, but it might be a place to try.

HTH - GB

http://www.almanac.com/weathercenter/index.php

GreenerBeaner, thanks for that link. It for sure has history and charts and stuff. I will look through it better later. I think that might work for the school projects.

I just saved the kiwi container........it had holes on the bottom and top already. I figure the Duchess can plant a few seeds in it. :)

Henygirl, how big are the holes you drilled in top and bottom of your storage bins? I'm going to use the same method and want to make sure I make the holes big enough. I never thought of using baggies like that. I'm planning on putting the seeds in pots, then I think I will stick the pots in the baggies like you're doing as well. I like that idea! I think I will put small holes in the top of the baggies, though. I'm thinking a paper punch might work well for that.

Karen

Hang on Karen I will upload a picture of the holes. They are the smallest of the round with teeth drill attachments for the bottom and the next size up for the top.

Here is the top of the containers.......again I want to make sure grampapa gets the credit for most of what I did...I copied her! :)

And here are the bottom holes {I may have to add more to these} ....

Thanks, Henygirl!

Karen

This looks tidy on my deck........which is visible from living areas of the house. I will take the lids off on warm stretches. One thing I have read about in all containers is the algae stuff or mold. So I think drying out needs encouraging.

Thanks for the pictures, Heny! That makes a lot of sense now that I can visualize it.

I am feeling green today - I have sprouts in my veggie box! I was reading a thread from the TX forum about garlic in mid-December, and although it was way too late, I soaked and sterilized some huge cloves from the grocery and plopped them in the ground. Now they're up! I'll try to get a picture once the sun comes up.

I also went through the cleaned up and cut back my house plants, restarted some philodendrons, and composted my very sad palm.

Does anyone else have anything green in their lives right now?

-GB

anything green ?? i have a ton of Spider Plants, a very sad Hoya and an ever blooming Hibiscus. OH yes, and Pothos.
thats about it. for anything else, i have to read catalogs or view pics on line.