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Coming Home to the Land:  My Garden  |
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Jen
Expedition Leader
1384 Posts
Jennifer
Calico Rock
AR
USA
1384 Posts |
 Posted - Aug 27 2007 : 11:51:02 AM
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Me too!! Only, I've got a weed-killing solution you'll like better: vinegar! It's a known weed killer, but I didn't discover it till I was using it to bathe my old dog a few years ago & noticed the grass was dying where I bathed him. Voila! So, now I use it around the porch & in the rock-scaping, etc. I wonder if it would affect the acidity of the soil enough to hurt your garden plants next year, though? You could compensate with lime maybe. Hmmmm....any thoughts from the forum??
The View From My Boots: www.bovesboots.blogspot.com
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Elizaray
outspoken
680 Posts
Elizaray
680 Posts |
Posted - Aug 28 2007 : 9:20:29 PM
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Oh yes- I will certainly try the vinegar. I am just afraid that it won't be strong enough. I have some pernicious weeds that are going to be a bear to get out of the soil!
Elizaray |
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Jen
Expedition Leader
1384 Posts
Jennifer
Calico Rock
AR
USA
1384 Posts |
Posted - Aug 29 2007 : 12:16:53 PM
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I promise you, it'll work. Try it out! Not sure how big an area you're planning, but just sprinkle it around generously & watch them shrivel. Also, I read the Lasagna Gardening book (have you read it?), and she says that the newspapers will do the trick all by themselves. I was thinking I'd go a step further & use cardboard boxes (I've become a pro at scavenging them from dumpsters & stores). They're free, big, and heavy-duty.
The View From My Boots: www.bovesboots.blogspot.com
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Elizaray
outspoken
680 Posts
Elizaray
680 Posts |
Posted - Aug 29 2007 : 12:40:47 PM
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I am not sure if cardboard would compost in just one winter would it? I haven't read the Lasagna Gardening book yet.
I am trying to combat common mallow and burdock. Burdock can have a root up to 3 foot deep and creates horrible burrs that carry seeds far and wide. And the common mallow can live through a nuclear explosion I think.... ;)
Elizaray |
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Jen
Expedition Leader
1384 Posts
Jennifer
Calico Rock
AR
USA
1384 Posts |
Posted - Aug 29 2007 : 4:02:15 PM
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Well, I don't know.....I was looking at it as a weed barrier, and by wetting it, I think it would be soft enough to let garden roots grow through by springtime. I'll look it up in the book again & see what I can find.
I've got a maddening diversity of weeds - I think the worst are bermuda grass, which is wildly prolific & roots all over the place (horrid to try & pull out); and horse nettle (I think), which is thorny & attracts potato bugs.
The View From My Boots: www.bovesboots.blogspot.com
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blueberries in alaska
outstepping
109 Posts
Jo
hillsides of the Chugach
AK
USA
109 Posts |
Posted - Aug 31 2007 : 10:15:21 AM
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Jen, I can't imagine, I thought the coolness was more of a problem, now I don't know. I have a little garden of lupine that I have outside my front door, I take handfuls of seeds and just fling them in there and see what survives. I have carrots and lettuce in there! don't know if you can see from the photo below. I also like my salmon to climb my pansy ladder. First frost isn't far away now and my dahlia's might, I say might! bloom today. The variety is called "Summer's End", it couldn't be more true. I'm going to chronicle fall moving down the mountain here in an every other day blog. It's so dramatic to watch the color creep down the hillside.... jo
there's no place like home....
http://web.mac.com/thomja
http://homepage.mac.com/thomja/PhotoAlbum22.html |
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Jen
Expedition Leader
1384 Posts
Jennifer
Calico Rock
AR
USA
1384 Posts |
Posted - Aug 31 2007 : 1:50:23 PM
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Jo, your lupine scattering reminds me of a kids' book called Ms. Rumphius by Barbara Cooney. It's about a woman who's contribution to the world's beauty is planting lupines everywhere! Love the garden salmon. Hope we get a bunch of rain soon to bring on the October color...
The View From My Boots: www.bovesboots.blogspot.com
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Coming Home to the Land: My Garden |
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My Garden
