thanks for the info Dave
Coffee Break # 7 Spring is in the air!!
I was joking (or my DW was). Although Naples is not near the top of my list when I get to Italy.
For our 20th anniversary, DW is taking me to Epcot for their flower show and to another garden in Orlando.
looks like links Victor would enjoy
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/p.php?pid=6295651
one for the cat lovers... i chuckled a few times
http://www.spike.com/video/japanese-cat-song/2743212?cmpnid=746&pt=if&lkdes=VID_2743212
Yaaahoooo
The lazagna extention is done - -finnito!
DD and I finished it this morning
33 feet long shaped like a boomerange 9 feet deep in the middle tapering to 2 feet either end.
from the oposit end
nice shape.... can't wait to see it all filled up!... go get some well deserved rest!
It's a beauty, Jo Ann---can't wait to see it this summer.
Cool links, Allison - thanks. Looks good, Jo Ann!
Why not Naples, Dave? Positano is definitely near the top when I finally go. Is this year your 20th?? The Epcot flower show is fantastic. Caught it twice. My wife is in Disney today - on 'business'.
http://www.positano.com/en/positano-info
Sorry Victor.
The lonk left me with a barrage of ads and other visual blockage.
I had seen the item on CNN. The kreep should be molested by the ugliest woman they can find so he gets the idea what he is doing is not love.
Didnt he keep this daughter chained in the basement for years?
Yes, and fathered her 7 children...a few of which died in captivity.
The link was how Romania might join a few other European countries in decriminalizing incest - as long as it's consensual! How sick is that?! And they like to lecture us all the time.
What a monster.There is no rationale for how he thinks.
Truely sickoooo
ge, your beds look good!
Victor, just lots of other places seem to have more of a pull. Florence, Capri, Venice, Tuscany. Positano is beautiful! I have just been getting the impression that Naples is the gavone capitol of Italy.
Uconn men rolled to the sweet 16. They are playing their best bball. Women start tomorrow.
Wisconsin won in double overtime in the late game & do you know how tired I am?
My white trash neighbors are havng a party 30 feet from my house...do you know how tired I am??Acreage acreage acreage next time. I notice all the TVs in the neighborhood are glowing because no one can sleep, but no one wants to be uncool and call the cops. Besides, I think they're also drug dealers, and no one wants to cross them.
ge, I wanted to ask you, what do you have in your "lasagna" bed? Do you use cardboard/newspaper as a base? What do you use on top of that? This is just what I want to do.
Hey Drumlin
I used only newspapers on the main part of the bed and magazines for the border at the back, no plants there so it doesnt matter if there is complete decomp.
Newspapers decompose faster than mags and I need to have the place ready in 5 weeks when the plants come.Even if the newspaps arent completely disolved I'm putting plants in when they come.
I put a fine( ground twice) mulch on top of everything.
We have such clay soil here , we dont bother to compost over everything, just mulch.
When we dig a hole for the plant we dig a bit large and work in the compost and some fine mulch befor the plant goes in, put the plant in, water and wait.
We have a black compost box which doesnt produce w whole lot of compost so we dont spread it around a whole lot.
I got compost from a GF who has an organic farm, wont do that again, I never saw so many weeds.
What would you say is the thickness of the compost/mulch that you have over the newspapers? I guess it depends on how big the plant is that you're putting in.
May=be 4 inches, a bit deeper in spots. Not an exact science as you know.
This is Just mulch. Compost goes in the plant holes.
We have used newspapers to start paths.
I joined this website called freecycle... just a few days ago... I found the link posted in one of the threads I watch... in the matter of a half a day I have found 2 places to go pick up firewood for free.. all I did was post that I was from Denville and needed firewood... but they stress any postings must be free and picked up promptly ... just a way to keep stuff out of a landfill... they post things like lunch boxes, sheets, furniture, computer stuff etc... bad part is I am getting hundreds of emails to my inbox daily... but man seems pretty nice so far
http://www.freecycle.org/
I put cardboard and mags down where there is no need to dig later, they taks ages to decompose. I hate to use plastic but will if desperate but never wheer I want to garden.
took a screen cap of my inbox... this was just in 4 hours worth... not joking when I said hundreds of emails
yesterday I went away from the computer to work in the garden... came back and there were 50 new emails... guess you gotta take the good with the bad
one of those ones you don't use might be good for this... check it when you want and not have to deal with it all the time
but it seems pretty nice so far... I tried to grab a photo printer for my old kodak camera... mine doesn't work great but it sort of works... but that was already taken
Wow - I've considered Freecycle, though never tried it. Now I would think long and hard.
So sorry you have to endure that crap, drum. Get some rest!
Since I was up anyway I was out raking my yard at 6:30 AM! I got the front all done, so that was fun! That makes sense now, compost only in the area where you're going to actually plant something. Der. I used cardboard boxes as a base in my front foundation plantings last year and put cedar mulch on top of that, and the boxes are only now starting to break down. But hopefully all the ivy and junk underneath is dead by now. The foundation plantings (Rhody, Beach roses, hydrangea) seem quite happy with it.
Thats the idea.
I am just not strong enough to turne over the amount of sod for the extention area.
Out this way (Pacific NW) in the land of LotsaRain, paper products break down pretty fast. My general rule is to use cardboard in the late autumn through winter, and newspaper in the spring/summer.
Cardboard is a great weed suppressant, but when you place it - soak it! Then soak it again.
I also use it for paths, placed on top of newspaper & covered with bark or wood chips. Seems to work well for us.
If planting immediately - use newspaper and leave the cardboard for other areas.
Yep thats what I figured out.
I had so few newspapers I used cardboard and mags at the borders,saved the news for the plant area.
I lazagned a bed with cardboard late last summer it was 2 months and I was transplanting Hostas and bulbs, the cardboard was still there.I just punched thru it to get plants in the ground.
Wish I had know about cardboards before this winter, perhaps I can stilluse it and put some mulch on top, I have a new small area I dug up last fall that needs taken care of
One way I use newpaper is as a support to the small berms/basins I create for newly planted beauties.
My property is on a slope, so these are necessary for ease in watering.
I create the basin/berm, wet the newsprint down & like paper mache', form it to the place it needs to go.
Press it firmly against the soil & tuck the edges into the basin itself.
This has worked well, despite the errant dog feet.
Bark can be placed on top of this & it breaks down over a month or so.
Good news about the newspaper breakdown time. I only have a month befor the perennials arrive.
I work a 40 hour week & perform as head of the Staff of One...
It rains more often than I like (why can't it do this at night?) so I have had to find ways that will allow me to perform necessary tasks with super-efficient use of time.
Breaking tasks up & ruthlessly holding my feet to the fire has made me appreciate time.
I like to prepare the planting sites before I receive my plants - otherwise, another pot ghetto is born.
I have 3-5 gallon nursery pots (with some rocks in them for stability) ready to be placed in the areas I want to plant. If I only have 20 minutes, I place what I can. I can come back later to have another look & change locations without any fuss.
When all are placed to my satisfaction, I start digging the holes. Again - I may only have 15 - 30 minutes, but I can probably finish 2 - 3, and they're ready to go.
Rocks come out of container,
most of the soil from hole goes into container,
compost/amendments gets mixed into the existing soil in the new hole,
container is placed on top of new hole,
rocks are placed on top of the soil in the container.
When plants arrive, container is removed from prepared site,
plants goes into hole,
soil in container is used to create the berm/basin,
rocks mark it as newly planted.
As I am notorious for plant-placing angst & then moving planted plants, I have found that I can go faster with repetitive motion. The caveat being that plants will stay where i have put them.
This has saved me lots of time, and the lives of many plants!
Wow that is efficient.
That is a great testimonial for a new way of planting for me. I'll have to try that one, for sure! Jo Ann, you lasagna gardening project looks just perfect!
Here in my neck of the woods Freecycle is wonderful. I guess it depends on how densely populated your area is. I get perhaps 20 Freecycle emails. So far I have been able to Freecycle a lot of stuff that was just cluttering up the house, found a wood stove for the elderly neighbors, a dishwasher for Anna, a tennis racquet for Samantha, and some other stuff that we just couldn't be able to afford. It's been a lifesaver!