Tips for making a raised bed for Shrubs
Roxana *** ZN 5 Indianapolis IN ***
5 years ago
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mad_gallica (z5 Eastern NY)
5 years agoken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
5 years agoRelated Discussions
mulch and shrubs for a raised bed
Comments (2)Hi BlueSmurf! I'm in the process of moving from the northeast right down the road from you. Last year I started on raised shrub beds with mulch. I put a link to some pics of my yard below. Not the greatest pics, and late in the season so the beds look kinda sparse. I'm on my way back home this week to try and finish up the beds. I went with shrubs and mulch because over the long haul that seemed lower maintenance to me than lawn or perrenials, especially given my limited space. In my case, limited space made the shrub choices difficult, since small shrubs are harder to come by. Where I am moving now there is room for lilacs and korean spice viburnum, which I am just loving right now! Couple of questions that might help you get more feedback - why don't you want the mulch to fade? Like saypoint said, all mulch fades, except for maybe rocks, but I don't think you want to go THERE! Not low maintenance. Also, what are your goals for your shrub beds? For example, besides somewhat low maintenance, my goals were nice things to smell, year round interest, privacy, and some things to eat. That was kind of a hard mix of goals to meet. Unfortunately I found out I was going to have to move in the middle of the job, so "things to eat" is going out of the goal-set because they also attract pests to the yard you have to work and keeping away unless you are totally into the idea. Also, now I'm searching for things that are more "ubiquitous" to make the house attractive to a potential buyer. Another thing is soil. My favorite shrubs tended towards liking acid soil, so shrubs that I added to the mix had to thrive in acid soil too. Then there was the color, shape and texture of the shrubs that had to be coordinated. It took me months and months of hemming and hawing. I'm still at it LOL! I'd make up my mind and then the season would change and I'd see something in the "off" season and decide I didn't like it, or I'd realize the fall foliage clashed, or I'd find out it had some awful trait, or for example I realized that it attracted bees and that would drive my close neighbors in this row house situation nuts, etc., etc. Anyway, hopefully this forum can help you with some of this, or if not try the shrubs forum. That said, here is a list of some of my shrub choices: Robusta Juniper Dwarf hemlock, I think a variety called "jeddeloh" or something like that. That plant didn't like this winter. Autumn raspberries - two died A small crab apple A rugusa rose A native blueberry bush A dwarf mt. laurel - they need shade and I'm worried about mine A small japanese maple Sweetfern - this is borderline between being a large perennial and a shrub. I guess it's actually more of a perennial. Ostrich ferns - ditto sweetfern Another nice shrub that we have here that I might plant is fothergilla. They look nice in the spring and have good fall color and are well behaved the rest of the year. If I didn't have such a bunny population I'd have planted winterberry holly. They are stunning in the very late fall early winter. When I get back I'm adding dwarf mugo pine to the mix, and I have to come up with something to replace the raspberries. I'm thinking maybe spirea or some type of dogwood. Now that "ubiquitous" had emerged as the main goal this whole thing is going to be a lot easier to get finished! Here is a link that might be useful: Pink's back yard...See MoreWhat's your experience in making a raised bed?
Comments (25)Last year I tackled a problem of slowly diminishing David Austin Roses, as well as a cutting garden that sloped to the north end so that the cutting flowers there did not get enough sunshine in late fall or early spring, Since this was for producing roses rather then as a landscape feature I used thin cement blocks raised 3 blocks high. I had this bed built to the same pattern recommended in "The Cinderblock Garden", (Can't remember the author and I am traveling right now" but its what I used for my vegetable garden. For this bed I laid down really good landscape cloth to cover the area wide enough for two beds with 4' pathways around them. My husband roto-tilled the beds to even the ground, sine the beds are crosswise to the rows we were cultivating. I can't remember the exact dimensions of the cinder blocks but only that they are maybe 6" wide. We made the bed 4 1/2 blocks wide or about 4' wide (interior). I used a base layer of 3-way organic garden mix soil purchased, and topped with a thick layer of organic compost which was purchased from our local supplier. Each bed is about 20' long. I Moved 12 English roses into each bed, planted in alternating rows . About half of these were rescued dwindling roses from a bed that was succumbing to advancing shade and tree growth, voles and soil that no additive seemed to "fix". The new roses were bands from Heirloom that had been growing through the summer in very large raised pots. Now, one year later, I would call the experiment a success, though it could soon become a jungle if I am not careful with my pruning! After one of the coldest, greyest summers in the Pacific Northwest that is known for them, the rose bushes are taking off, and I just went through and tied them to bamboo teepees. I have been able to save all but one of the moved roses and that one will be replaced (a grafted William Shakespeare 2000 that was down to root stock) Jude the Osscure, Jubilee Cellebration, Charles Darwin, Christopher Marlow, all are growing like they never did before! I have had to do very little weeding, my 4 garden hens love to pop up to the top and keep the soil turned, whilc eating any bugs that exist, though I do have to go through and scoot the soil back over the rose roots occasionally, I do not like drip irrigation and this is about an acre away from the house supply, but I found a great little sprinkler that can be set to long narrow beds and needs little water pressure. I use it early in the day and let the leaves dry before the shade comes down. It sprays a fine mist that does not move the soil around. By the way, my new this spring "Claire Austin" Rose is just starting to produce and it is lovely! Benjamin Britton is the only rose that has not recovered well, but it still gets a bit too much shade from huge maples, It is putting out a lot of new canes so I think next year it may do better. I find myself gravitating to this bed after picking my dahlias every day to simply enjoy what is happening in it, and have a word with my pretty chickens, and the ducks who wander around on the ground level. Next year I can again sell English Roses in my mixed bouquets in my cut flower business, for the customers who love them for what they are! I also grow the Freelander roses in a bed that is a single cinderblock high, but that has been less successful since it is hard with spinal arthritis to keep it weeded so low down. The roses do fine but I can not keep them weeded, and in that bed I used no landscape fabric, Those roses share the bed with daffodils and hyacinths, and other bulbs for spring cutting....See MoreTips for Making Beds aka Killing Grass
Comments (12)i'm a big mulch gardener, and like ricky, i've basically stopped digging holes. now's the time to start! all over my neighborhood are conveniently bagged oak leaves, waiting to be dumped upon newspaper and cardboard. a couple of things if you go this route: 1) it takes A LOT OF NEWSPAPERS. way more than you'd think. a minimum of 3 layers, five is better. overlap them at least 4 inches. 2) water the ground thoroughly before you begin 3) layers are great -- green brown green brown. but i often just do brown, with a liberal scoop of cottonseed meal to get things going. 4) cardboard for areas that you won't be planting in for a while, or areas that you want to be low maintenance. the cardboard can block water, so be careful (tho the whole blocking water is a good thing if you want a low maintenance, just-mulch bed) 5) if you want a more homogenized look, get a few bales of pine straw and strew it on top. but i'm satisfied with just brown leaves and/or tree trimmings from the utility co (i've grown really fond of utility cuttings, since they have lot of young branches and leaves, which is great material) 6) consider running an emitter spray irrigation system beneath the mulch. easier when you're just getting started. i love these systems (available from the bigbox stores). 7) if you have a LOT of leaves, consider mulching with your lawnmower. it'll speed things up a lot....See MoreMaking raised bed for Japanese maple?
Comments (8)have you perked your native soil ... i had an area that was under water for about a week if the snow thawed before the ground thawed... and NO PLANT at all cared ... as seconds after the water warmed.. and the ground thawed... the water was gone ... the only real problem with it.. was the 100 pound dog who loved to frolic in it ... giving a dog that size a bath every evening gets old fast .. luckily the ground thawed fast .. ken https://duckduckgo.com/?q=perk+test+garden+soil&t=ffab&iar=videos&iax=videos&ia=videos...See MoreNHBabs z4b-5a NH
5 years agoRoxana *** ZN 5 Indianapolis IN ***
5 years agoRoxana *** ZN 5 Indianapolis IN ***
5 years agomad_gallica (z5 Eastern NY)
5 years agoRoxana *** ZN 5 Indianapolis IN *** thanked mad_gallica (z5 Eastern NY)Roxana *** ZN 5 Indianapolis IN ***
5 years agofloral_uk z.8/9 SW UK
5 years agoRoxana *** ZN 5 Indianapolis IN ***
5 years agomad_gallica (z5 Eastern NY)
5 years agoken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
5 years agoRoxana *** ZN 5 Indianapolis IN ***
5 years ago
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