Garden Chatroom Board

Hi all- hope it was a great Thanksgiving day for all. Today, the last of about a million leaves finally got cleaned up. We have a huge Sweet Gum that is the last in the neighborhood to let go. It's a little sad to see everything going dormant. I'm already thinking about spring.

Somebody asked about new beds. The first thing I do is add some kind of border to raise the planting level. I have used bricks and rocks mostly as they are permanent and don't wash out in heavy rain. Next I cover the area with a 10 sheet deep layer of newspaper and keep it watered so that it conforms to the ground. After about a month the grass is dead and I remove the newspaper and break up the turf, removing as much as possible( less and less as I get older). Compost and composted manure goes on top of that and I dig deep planting holes filling the bottom with good soil. I try to use a mulch that is fine enough to break down and further improve things. It gradually gets better every year. It takes 3-5 years to be where I want it to be. It's too back breaking and too expensive to get a great new bed all at once. The first year you can also add annuals in wide pots right on top of the ground to fill in empty spots. Nancyjean