There is little doubt we have too many gardens for most people but we love it. Our lake lot is on the corner and just the location makes it a bigger area. When we came here to live on Lake Canterbury you couldn't see the lake from the house. We first took down enough trees to see the water. After that we took down trees that were too old and posed a problem for our house. This year we took down scrubby trees that were making too much shade. We still have far too many trees but with each cutting we have improved the property and given ourselves more space to garden.
The soil in our gardens is laced with fine roots and composed mostly of clay and rock. With each layer of paper, cardboard and organic material our soil has improved. After four years of lasagna gardening there are large areas where I can dig up a tree or shrub and transplant them with little effort. Each year I plant large numbers of bulbs in my improved soil. That too is a real pleasure not a chore.
November is the time to tidy up all those leaves and add them to the gardens as a mulch to continue improving the soil. This year was no different even though there are over thirty less trees to deal with. It was just easier to gather the leaves and get them where they needed to be. We mowed leaves, gathering them in our mower bags. We vacumned and chopped leaves with our Shred n' Vac. We blew them with our electric blower onto the lawn for mowing and even used an old-fashiond leaf rake. One of my best tools were the ten big tubs our new trees came in. I used them to gather up debris that needed to be taken to the brush dump and I used them to carry chipped leaves to different gardens. Next year I will use them to plant my vegetables.
My plans for next years container vegetable gardens came after a trip to North Carolina and Duke Botanical Gardens. Due to water restrictions they had planted vegetables and flowers in large containers so they could use drip irrigation for the best use of water. They buryied pots halfway in the ground and filled them with good soil. I am going to do the same thing.
It was just another reason we should all visit local public gardens and botanical gardens; ideas for our own gardens and inspiration. You can never get enough inspiration.
Oh what a good idea with the pots for veggies. I interned on an organic farm this past growing seanson. After my internship, I have just gotten the veggie fever... All I want to do is grow more veggies. So this year, I have expanded our gardens with you lasagna garening method... thanks so much!
ReplyDeleteZach, So glad to hear you are lasagna gardening. Life in the garden just gets easier and easier when you layer instead of dig however, if you have to dig that too gets easier. Today we dug a weeping cherry and planted it then we dug eight shrubs and replanted them. I can't imagine how hard that would have been if I wasn't a lasagna gardener. My veggie pots once held ten large river birch trees and will hold tomatoes and peppers next year. I see these pots at the recycling center sometimes. Happy gardening, Pat
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