Raised bed gardeners: How many beds do you have?
mxk3 z5b_MI
5 months ago
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How do you fill raised beds?
Comments (14)I get my mulch from a local tree trimmer who lives around the corner from me. He told me he'd bring me all I want, for free. Saves him about $10 a load at the city landfill. One year he brought me about 15 loads in two weeks! I was crying "uncle"! I still have one load left to use and now it's deteriorate almost to soil. Perfect for raised beds. I line the bottom of my raised beds with several layers of newspaper and/or cardboard. It helps the recycle center clear some of it out and it helps smother out any weeds I might have missed. Over time, it biodegrades and enriches my soil. And of course, it's free--one of the best words in the English language. LOL Call some tree trimmers. They work all over the county or state. And if they're trimming trees out your way, they'll be happy to drop you a load when they're done, probably for free. Be sure to ask them in their blades are sharp. If they haven't sharpened them recently, they spit out shredded stuff that is too big to use as mulch. Asplundh dumped a load here last year that was totally unuseable. I couldnt' even get a pitchfork in it. My tree trimmer knows what I use it for, and he won't bring me diseased stuff or anything that's not properly chipped....See MoreHow do you rejuvenate soil in a raised bed?
Comments (50)I had Mamey Sapote for the first time just this Autumn. Oddly, my local supermarket had a bin full of them. I knew what it was because I bought this book -- eventually, I'd like to be one of your neighbors, Maria, if you're down in Redland -- but hadn't yet tasted one. The texture was somewhat like avocado, but water-based rather than oil-based, and slightly stringy. The flesh tasted like a mix of cold steamed sweet potato, muskmelon, and had a dark cherry finish with a bit of tannin. They're ready to pick when scratching the skin reveals colored flesh -- depending on variety, since they vary with regards to depth of color -- and are ready to eat a few days later, when soft enough to allow some give when pressed. I cut them in half, popped out the one large seed, and ate it by scooping the flesh from the skin with a spoon. :-) ~Christopher...See Morehow many in this raised bed?
Comments (3)Ijsemar, In Texas roses generally get bigger than the sizes listed in print. Almost everyone knows how big a, say Red Knock Out, gets. Three bushes in a row, would fill that bed nicely at maturity. Alternately: A narrow, column hybrid tea like Firefighter, four bushes evenly spaced at the bed's back, end bushes 1.5' from the side edge and back edge, the other two spaced in line. In the front of the bed a second row of three floribundas like Julia Child. One in the center 1.5' in from the front edge, and the other two, 2' to the left and right of the center floribunda. 1.5' in from each front corner plant a Drift rose like Apricot Drift, two of these Drifts will do. 4 Firefighters + 3 Julia Childs + 2 Apricot Drifts = 9 rose bushes total. This is my 10¢ worth. Moses...See MoreHow do you properly remove raised garden beds to replace with grass...
Comments (2)Matthew Siebert, I removed two raised beds when I moved into my house on the north shore of Boston 17 years ago. I just took a shovel and did it. Everything surrounding the beds was weeds. I shoveled the weeds up and piled them into a compost pile somewhere out of sight. Then spread the dirt that I removed from the raised beds into the just created mess. There was no mulch to deal with. I seeded the area. Things went wrong, so I seeded again. More things went wrong and again I seeded. It took years to figure out what was needed. I now have good grass in most areas. Deciduous trees that drop leaves do damage, both from shade and from rotting leaves that don't get raked up in a timely manner. Good looking grass is hard to grow if you have trees. I am speaking from experience. It can also be difficult in full sun if you are a picky person and want PERFECT grass. I know someone like that, and have followed his progress on his yard. We should talk grass. In New England, the turf grass that will grow is "cool season" grass. That's because it grows in the two cool seasons, spring and fall. You can seed cool season grass right now, or in the fall, or both if you like. I just seeded two sections of my yard, and will overseed another in a few days. This grass seed will grow until it gets hot, then stop, then start again in the fall. But you can't put down weed killer at the same time as you put grass seed; it will kill the seedlings. Do you want to kill weeds now and wait all summer to seed the grass? Cool season grass won't grow in the heat. You can eliminate the weeds now with weed killer, wait 6 weeks for the poison to wear off, then seed with an annual grass that will grow in the heat. It will not come up next year because it's annual, but it will look good this summer. Contractors often do this.. Then in the fall you can seed with your permanent choice of cool season grass. OR... You can shovel up the weeds now (no poison) and seed as soon as you're done with a cool season grass that will be there forever. That will work. It's still cold, so you have time to get rid of weeds if you have them. You can safely seed up till Memorial day. What's your weed situation right now? That will have an impact on whether you seed just the spot where the raised beds are or everywhere. There are a number of types of cool-season turf grass that will grow here. The big differences between them have to do with three things: sun needs, traffic tolerance, and growth habit. Some grow in deep shade (sort of, with a lot of TLC), some flourish in full sun (4-6 undiluted hours), others are in between. Some are willing to be walked on repeatedly without complaining; others aren't. And some spread, which is good if you want fast results, but horrid if you don't want the grass reaching into beds of annuals or perennials. You'll need to constantly cut the runners out. Clump grass does not spread. Let's talk sun first. What's your sun situation? How many trees are there on and immediately around your property? Are they deciduous or evergreen? Then growth habit and your plans for your yard. Do you anticipate having sections of your yard where you want grass to stop abruptly, on its own, without a significant retaining wall stopping it? Are you willing to put in such retaining structures to stop it from spreading? Traffic last. Will your family be walking on this grass, playing frisbee or football on it? Or the expensive and quick solution is remove the raised beds and put in sod where they were. Water every day. Don't buy it from a big box store that sells it cheap. Buy it from a local garden center on the day it's delivered to them. The manager can give you a call. Pay for it over the phone and have it delivered. This way you will know that you are getting live grass, not sod that's been allowed to sit out in the heat unwatered for days. Read up ahead of time on how to keep sod alive; it's tricky, but delivers immediate gratification....See Moreotcay
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