Posted by bloomville z4 NY (My Page) on Thu, Oct 12, 06 at 16:57 Hi all, Over the past several years, I have built about 6 raised beds of various lengths in a field near my house. I have used newspaper and hay as pathways between the beds. I like the rustic look (and scent!) of the pathways, and they seem conducive to housing toads, snakes, and other desirable critters. However, there are 2 disadvantages to this method: (1) The paths have to be "rebuilt" with new hay annually, which is time-consuming and laborious (2) by mid-summer weeds are cropping up through the hay in many spots. I can live with all this, and may continue to, but I'd be interested in other, environmentally friendly (and low cost) options that are lasting and also aethetically pleasing. I'm eager to hear your ideas! Posted by veggievicki 7b (My Page) on Thu, Oct 12, 06 at 18:32 I get mulch from our county mulch yard. It's free, so you can pile it on as thickly as you've got a way to haul it home. I get the fresher stuff. Seems maybe the acidity helps keep weeds down. The down side is some ends up in the veggie beds so you have big chunks of stuff that gets in the way of the garden fork and small seeds. Posted by granite z6 NC (My Page) on Fri, Oct 13, 06 at 1:08 I've had my pathways in mowed grass (terrible, clippings blown in to the beds, etc), grass clippings, leaves, pine bark nuggets, wood chips, and hay. I vote for wood chips. I vote STRONGLY against pine bark nuggets as they float around when it rains, never make a good firm path, and don't get the job done. Grass clippings rot in quickly, so I use them more to mulch around the beans than in the walkways now. Posted by rosebush z7 NC (My Page) on Fri, Oct 13, 06 at 10:12 Bark mulch (shredded) works for me. Tried the straw/hay on paper one year and the sprouts came fast and furious. The mulch can be piled thicker on cardboard and works great. Posted by terri_portland 8 NW OR (My Page) on Fri, Oct 13, 06 at 16:06 Is is possible the seeds in the hay are sprouting? Straw is a better option, it's been stripped of seeds (for the most part) and still has that lovely farmy earthy smell. Posted by hunter_tx 7bTx (My Page) on Fri, Oct 13, 06 at 17:12 One thing you might consider is relaying the newspaper really thick. I used newspaper in a new raised bed about four years ago, and it's still working great. You could also consider using pea gravel or small river rock stones on top of the newspaper. Mrs H Posted by bloomville z4 NY (My Page) on Fri, Oct 13, 06 at 20:57 Hi all-- thanks for these thoughts/ideas. alas, the price of straw was crazy last year--around here, I was quoted a price of $6 a bale--couldn't afford it given how many I needed. as for thickness of the newspapers--maybe that's the issue. I guess I need to keep experimenting, and you all have given me some new ideas to experiment with! Posted by laceyvail ...

Di, stop judging your adequacy as a person by your productivity, dammit! Just be. You're not in denial. Nobody is going to think you're "all better now" just because you're working in the garden, and any guilt you have belongs in the bottom of your compost heap where it can rot into something better. Easier said than done I know. But I do wish you'd be less harsh on yourself. Rant over. You are as beautiful as you are loved, and I hope that the nurturing of life around you helps you to continue to heal. You'll never turn off the grief like a switch... it's just a new part of you... As for gardening activities, I'm going a bit frantic myself. Mostly because spring and early summer are make-it-or-break-it times for those of us in colder climes and there are certain things that just need to be done. But they mostly got done. My fingerprint is now clearly visible on our yard. It has come a long way from the 30-some nasty spirea, 5 unkempt and gianormous pontentilla, and swaths of rock and landscape cloth that greeted me when we moved in. The perennials I planted are really coming into their own, and I beam with pride when people stop to ask me about plants or for advice in their own gardens. I almost typed that I had hardly planted anything at all this season... and then I realized that I've put at least 500 individual plants into the dirt, and have no clue how many seeds I've planted. I suppose that's "hardly anything at all" compared to what I've been doing the last few years though... I'll always have a bit of grass because the dogs (ours and the neighbors who come over daily to play) need space to poop and romp, but I'm using Steve's love affair with his ridiculously oversized riding mower to justify a nearly constant expansion of my planting beds. As much as I dislike that mower, I owe many a bed to its lousy cornering capability! ;o) I am well pleased with last year's rain barrel project, and would heartily recommend them to anyone who is struggling with feast and famine rains. I have a total of 220 gallons of capacity, and a half an hour's worth of rain will fill my barrels to the brim. The drip irrigation system I built for them last year made watering a couple beds completely effortless. I can't say enough nice things about them and am grateful to Leaveswave for the guidance. Of course my neighbor is laughing her butt off at me for my planting idiosyncrasies. I have a bad habit of "not wasting" seedlings. Who is she to say that 45 hot pepper plants is too many (for a woman with a low tolerance for "hot")? I think I showed restraint by not planting all 150 that I started! (She's also laughing because my labels washed off when I was hardening the plants off and I have both "Bulgarian Carrot" peppers and "Tequila Sunrise" peppers... they look nearly identical and now I don't know what's where, so I'll be playing Capsicum Roulette come harvest time!) And I "only" planted sixteen eggplants, ten tomatoes, and who-knows-how-many beans, peas, cukes, zucchini, cauliflower, broccoli, lettuces, spinach, radishes, and chard... I planted so much in my raised and expanded beds this year that I decided herbs can grow just fine in the flower beds. I'm not sure if that's a form of denial, or a nod to French Potagers... (I'll probably claim the latter, but know secretly it's due to my lack of horticultural restraint.) I have several plants each of rosemary, thyme, sweet marjoram, basil, parsley, oregano, cilantro, dill, and mint (the mint lives in strictly-policed holeless, sunken pots). But I hardly grow any vegetables and herbs at all. I'm mostly a flower gardener... (sigh... restraint is for sissies...)

I can only guess, but I think the first place has a staff, the second place was a two man show. Funny, one of the gardeners is a t.v. personality here and as he walked toward me, I thought, "hmm...I know him from somewhere..." and I almost asked him how we knew each other. Luckily I figured it out before I embarassed myself. He's a news anchor. The wisteria was very neat and tidy. It wrapped around the side of the house held away from the shingles by about a foot. Saucy

Hello everyone, I have a question regarding how successful I would be at bulk seeding an artifical wetland area with hardy hibiscus? The site itself is two main pools each about 300' square, with a walkway and observation deck leading out to the middle. It serves as the secondary runoff catch for our college parking lots, but marsh plants seem to love it. I have workstudy in the greenhouse/botany department at school and my advisor gave me the go ahead to plant pretty much anything worthwhile. The entire thing is progressively filling up with cattails (its only about 10 years old) and I'm trying to establish some other perennial plants along the walkway at least so that people can appreciate them. I've been having luck this season with Blue Flag, simply by collecting seeds last year and sowing them in the fall. I do the same with the more attractive native grasses as well. Would the same idea work with hardy hibiscus? If so, would I be best buying a bulk amount of seed and WSing them or to germinate and then plant some on site next spring? I want a more untouched look, so if broadcasting works, I'd be more interested in that. Thanks for any advice or help. Peace, Nate