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Elizabeth
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| Posted: April 23 2006 at 1:32pm | IP Logged
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I'm planning to use Lissa's great gardening idea to make a bed on the side of my house...and maybe to enlarge one in front too. Do you think it would work if I planted these strawberries in that bed, the way Lissa planted roses? What about kitchen herbs? Is it too late to transplant lavender?
More questions later, I'm sure.
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Elizabeth Foss is no longer a member of this forum. Discussions now reflect the current management & are not necessarily expressions of her book, *Real Learning*, her current work, or her philosophy. (posted by E. Foss, Jan 2011)
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Dawn
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| Posted: April 23 2006 at 1:36pm | IP Logged
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Elizabeth wrote:
| Is it too late to transplant lavender? |
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Dh just came home with a flat of 8 lavender plants so I'm hoping not! Although I'm several hundred miles north of you, Elizabeth, so probably different rules apply. 
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lapazfarm
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I'm planting lavender this weekend and I am south of you, but likely a higher elevation, so I think you will be fine!
I am not sure about planting the strawberries with the nespaper method. Here's why: I would think that for the first year, while the newspaper is still solid, you would need to plant something fairly shallow rooted (like the portulaca that Lissa planted). Strawberries are typically planted in hills to give the roots plenty of room. Plus, I would think that there might be a soil drainage issue with the newspaper, and strawberries like well-drained soil, another reason for the hilling.
I will say, however, that I am no expert. I tend to use newspaper only in aisles (under mulch) to keep the weeds down, but I have poorly drained soil here anyway. I have to build everything up and add lots of organic matter due to the high clay content. Your situation may be different.
I was reading on your blog that you have a 14yo son interested in gardening. What good luck! My 15yo son has been quite an asset in digging beds for me and hauling manure and mulch! Perhaps he would be willing to bust up the sod for you?
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mary
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| Posted: April 23 2006 at 2:38pm | IP Logged
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i have my herbs next to my sunroom door and love it. move em!
my sister used to keep strawberries next to her house and had no trouble. i think she used straw or mulch underneath rather than newspaper.
this is a great time to move lavender. it's not always hardy here where i live and so i have to buy new every year around this time.
now can someone tell me: i want to move my asparagus to a box bed. is it all right if i do that now?
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Elizabeth
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Okay, so the strawberries can't go in back because that's the bed that drains poorly. And they can't go in the new bed because the newspaper isn't a good idea. Can I put them in the front bed if I do little hills? What will they look like; won't they just spread and be ground cover? Are strawberries weird groundcover in a front bed? Right now, they're in a cardboard box. I've got to think my time is short.
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Elizabeth Foss is no longer a member of this forum. Discussions now reflect the current management & are not necessarily expressions of her book, *Real Learning*, her current work, or her philosophy. (posted by E. Foss, Jan 2011)
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lapazfarm
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| Posted: April 23 2006 at 3:38pm | IP Logged
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OK,
Here is what my book (Rodales Encyclopedia of Organic Gardening) says about planting everbearers (which I am asssuming these are from the description on the website).
"Hill System: Space plants 1' apart in rows, with 2'-3' between rows. Remove all flowers the first 3-4 months after planting to give the plants a good start (I didn't do this). Ruthlessly remove every runner so plants channel all their energy into producing fruit. You'll get luscious, large berries and fewer disease problems because the crop will get good air circulation. Renew the bed the third year by allowing enough runners to root in the row to replace the mother plants, which will be less productive because they have formed multiple crowns. Remove the mother plants in the fall after harvest."
That being said, it sounds like what you are after is more like groundcover and willing to sacrifice fruit production. If this is the case, then I would omit removing runners and let the plants have their way with your space. You will get less fruit, but more cover. Also, this is a less-intensive, carefree method, which is a bonus to me.
As far as drainage, as long as you build up a good, thick raised bed you won't have a problem there, either. They are not all that deep rooted. You will need good sun so they don't get moldy.
That is the limit of my strawberry expertise, I am afraid.
Good luck with them!
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mary
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| Posted: April 23 2006 at 3:39pm | IP Logged
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they need to get plenty of sun wherever you put them. i had them on a little mound next to my sunroom, west side. plenty of sun i thought. but, the berries often molded before we could eat them. so, i think you might want to put them on an east or south side or if you do a west side, just a singular row of berries would work.
i was referring to newspaper around the individual plants, not below the mulch. i would think you could put the newspaper down, then the mulch and then the berries on top. provided it all got plenty of sun and drainage.
i don't find berries to be good groundcover - they can't seem to beat out the weeds all that well and when they are so closely spaced, you are back to the moldy berry (not drying out again) issue. i think that's why pple plant them in rows with straw around or in those circular pyramid planters, or even a strawberry pot.
mine are planted in a short row along the back side of my house. one row and i keep the runners in the rows.
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marihalojen
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Do the newspaper!!!!
This whole system is called the Lasagna Gardening Method and it really does work. After 13 years intensively gardening (can I call it that if everything failed???) clay soil this is the ONLY thing that worked. We were so desperate we even planted strawberries in PVC pipe halves to completely eliminate the ground. (Did I mention desperate?) The newspaper goes away very quickly, think compost heap or worm bed, but smothers out the weeds first and you are left with beautiful soil that is tillable by hand. I mean, you can sink your fingers down underneath the carrots or the radishes to harvest. That is amazing - I used to break all my fingernails and end up clutching one radish in a reinactment of Gone with the Wind...
Without the newspaper though the weeds or grass sprouts up through the dirt no matter how thick the dirt is. Actually, we ended up using feed bags and even cardboard
boxes. Lasagna Gardening : A New Layering System for Bountiful Gardens: No Digging, No Tilling, No Weeding, No Kidding!
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marihalojen
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| Posted: April 23 2006 at 4:14pm | IP Logged
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mary wrote:
| now can someone tell me: i want to move my asparagus to a box bed. is it all right if i do that now? |
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Mary,
You cannot transplant asparagus easily due to its taproot. Can you leave it where it is and build a bed around it? Asparagus is a huge commitment. When we toured a garden in England we saw an asparagus bed that had been there for 350 years. I seem to remember that there is a very special way to prepare the garden bed, if I recall the method or find it online I'll post...
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mary
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| Posted: April 23 2006 at 5:04pm | IP Logged
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thanks jennifer! i thought asparagus was a bulb and would be easy to transplant? it is so far from my house now that i forget to harvest it and then it is mown down with the grass. it may as well be moved because it's useless where it is. when i planted it originally, i made some deep wells and added cow patties from the pasture behind us. was there something more i was missing?
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Rebecca
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| Posted: April 23 2006 at 5:34pm | IP Logged
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Elizabeth, I am not sure what your landscaping style is but, personally, Iwould not put strawberries in a front bed. They are kind of a ground cover but not a really attractive one.
I have not read all of the posts in this thread so forgive me if I am saying something that was already said. My husband and I put in three four flower beds after moving into this home six years ago. My husband had the idea to line the beds with a garden hose to make the design. Then he used cornstarch to outline it, removed the hose and Voila! We had the outline of the beds without tripping over the hose or worrying that someone would move it slightly and mess it up. This was nice because we could change it if we didn't like the design by kicking around the cornstarch and adding new.
I did what someone mentioned and laid the newspaper down before adding the topsoil/humus mix for the beds. I never dug out the beds or turned over the old soil or anything. It worked wonderfully. It would have added a whole days work to dig the grass out and turn over the soil if I did not use this method.
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Elizabeth
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| Posted: April 23 2006 at 5:45pm | IP Logged
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Okay, more questions:
I think you all are saying this will work with strawberries. Can I put herbs in the same bed?
Rebecca, did you do it in the spring? If I did this to extend my front bed, ala Lissa, what plants do you recommend?
And, what veggies/herbs do I put in the backyard bed, where drainage continues to be a problem?
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Elizabeth Foss is no longer a member of this forum. Discussions now reflect the current management & are not necessarily expressions of her book, *Real Learning*, her current work, or her philosophy. (posted by E. Foss, Jan 2011)
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Lissa
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Elizabeth, everything I planted on top of the newspapers did really well, including strawberries. I just put extra soil & compost on top of the papers for the berries, and then covered that with mulch.
My moss roses (portulaca) and petunias did wonderfully well! Both those are annuals, of course, but I am really crazy about portulaca and plant a bunch every year in the corner of my front border by the driveway, where the sun just bakes down. They like it dry and hot.
My rosemary did fine on top of the papers and came back this year as a big bush.
In my backyard I have lots of strawberries and herbs in one bed. Fennel, rue, & parsley for the butterflies; oregano and thyme for me. Also turtlehead and cardinal flower for butterflies and hummingbirds!
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MichelleW
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mary wrote:
| now can someone tell me: i want to move my asparagus to a box bed. is it all right if i do that now? |
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The wisdom around here is: make whatever changes you are going to make to your asparagus while the daffodils are blooming. It's one of those country rules that everyone around here lives by, but that I can't find any science supporting or refuting. It sounds like you might as well give it a try, since your asparagus isn't benefitting anyone where it is.
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teachingmom
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| Posted: April 23 2006 at 8:28pm | IP Logged
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Is the garden hose only used as a guide for where to lay the newspaper? So if I am using this method to make larger mulch beds around existing trees without pulling up the grass, I could just skip the garden hose step and make a circle of newspaper?
Rebecca wrote:
| My husband had the idea to line the beds with a garden hose to make the design. Then he used cornstarch to outline it, removed the hose and Voila! We had the outline of the beds without tripping over the hose or worrying that someone would move it slightly and mess it up. This was nice because we could change it if we didn't like the design by kicking around the cornstarch and adding new. |
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I am a bit confused by what you wrote here, Rebecca. What was the purpose of the cornstarch? Is it just a guide, like a line on the grass, to take the place of the hose?
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Rebecca
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Elizabeth wrote:
Okay, more questions:
I think you all are saying this will work with strawberries. Can I put herbs in the same bed?
Rebecca, did you do it in the spring? If I did this to extend my front bed, ala Lissa, what plants do you recommend?
And, what veggies/herbs do I put in the backyard bed, where drainage continues to be a problem? |
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Yes, I did my beds in spring. It took my husband and I most of two days to determine the shape, lay the paper, haul all the soil, level it out. I had the soil delivered by the truckload (which took care of what the kids would do while dh and I worked  ). Then I went shopping for perrenials because I am not an annual kind of gal (code:lazy gardener).
In regard to plant ideas, I'd need to know if it is sun, part sun or shade. Also, what direction does the front of your house face? Do you want flowering (code:pretty) perennials or neat and tidy, (code:low maintenance) bushes? Do you want a cut flower garden or something more manicured?
Don't forget that some herbs (mints especially) will take over an entire bed if you are not careful. If you are putting in tall herbs (dill, mint, basil, etc) then put them in the back and the berries in the front or the herbs will block out the sun and the berries will not bear as much fruit. Strawberries do best in a bed facing south without large trees around.
I have to go back and read your post to figure out what the drainage problem was...too much water or not enough.
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mary
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i agree, don't add herbs that will spread wildly. my oregano, bee balm and fennel are like wild creatures wanting to take over everywhere. i can never have too much basil or thyme. you might want to separate your strawberries from your herbs with something sturdy like a lavender that will be able to block the strawberry runners. (just in case you are like me and forget to move runners.)
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Elizabeth
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Rebecca wrote:
I have to go back and read your post to figure out what the drainage problem was...too much water or not enough.
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Too much water. We can't get this bed to drain properly.
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Elizabeth Foss is no longer a member of this forum. Discussions now reflect the current management & are not necessarily expressions of her book, *Real Learning*, her current work, or her philosophy. (posted by E. Foss, Jan 2011)
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Lissa
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I'm trying to think what likes wet feet. Milkweed for the monarchs.
Pussywillows! Ooh, I love pussywillows.
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marihalojen
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Elizabeth,
Several plants that I remember liking wet soil are:
Hostas
Astillbes
Both of these are perennials and come in many varieties and colors.
Bleeding Hearts and Forget-me-nots would do well but only bloom in spring. A stand of pampas grass would be very dramatic and easy to care for.
You could build a raised bed or dig a pond for two lasting solutions!
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Topic: Gardening Questions
