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 ...

Well, we're FINALLY getting fall here in Northern CA. This is my neighbor's pistachio tree that has just begun to turn yellow the last couple days. Usually it starts turning by early October, and is nearly defoliated by this time. It's been a weird fall... And this is one of my Japanese maples. I don't ever remember it getting THIS red before! It's so cool!

Denise, What you see there is ONE established McCartney rose (pink) and several Pope John Paul's in pots. I've been heeding Geof's advice and trying NOT to dead head or prune in order to slow/prevent thrips damage but these roses continue to grow despite my attempts, lol. Okay, your turn. What is in the vases? I love the orange ones. BTW, I took a trip to Nelson's this past weekend since I was in town for a wedding. Picked up ten roses. I'm about all out of space, lol. It's getting close to the time I'll be planting all these roses in the ground. Waiting for a slow down in weed growth. Great pics on the other thread of a similar title ;-)

I had to make a house for a project one time. It was an impossible house, but I even made floor plans from top to bottom of a three story house, down to the finishes and furnishings. The bottom floor housed a huge entry way with those double winding stairways to greet you. To the left was a study, warm and cozy with a window seat. Straightforward was into a rather large living room. There was a fireplace at the far end, shared (see-through) with the dining room large enough for at least a dozen at one table lay. On the right hand side of the dining room there were lanai doors that opened to a deck and just beyond it, a water inlet, and a garden (of course!). To the left of the dining room (and it could be accessed by the study on the other end), was the spacious kitchen with floor to ceiling windows that looked out over the west coast, high up on a cliff. The second floor was the laundry (huge!) and the master suite that had an amazing closet and bathroom. You should've seen the tub. Oh my. Obviously very spacious rooms and closet, since it took up an entire floor?! Seems like there was even an entire "closet" for purses. Wonder what that said about me since it was a house that was to be my mental retreat from the world? Hm. The third floor had two guest bedrooms with their own bathrooms and the rest of the floor was my son's area where he not only had a bedroom big enough for two queen beds (for sleep overs, he was really little then) and bath, he had a secret hideaway where he could lounge and play video games or watch movies. It had a spiral slide that he could ride all the way to the ground floor. What's really kind of cool is, he ended up with a bedroom a lot like my vision except far smaller (no kidding, since i live in a 1400 sq foot home and only has half a floor to himself ;) in reality. I still have the notebook with all the stuff in it. I should give that a look again. I guess I haven't needed to since I learned how to enjoy what I actually do have. Making this house into mine has been fun. I can't wait to get around to a more solid garden after a couple more years. I want to make wattle edging and that is going to take forever to do, but it's gonna fit me like a glove when I'm done.