LASAGNA GARDEN - part 3

Here is the area in front that I also am turning into a lasagna garden, like the south facing garden. 

Also quite big.

When I needed organic matter for this garden I went to Starbucks for coffee grounds.  Their normal summer program was over but the managers at two locations were easy going and gave me what they had in their bins as long as I did not mind that the filters were mixed in, which of course I did not.

Before, with grass.

After, (with grass clippings).

The amount of grass clippings you see on the far right is from my father`s 75` x 120` lot which I think helps to put into perspective just how much plant matter I needed.

To finish it off I spread a soil & compost mix on top and then the snow came, so hopefully it is all brewing as I type.

Not that I do not like winter. I do.  

But I am excited for spring already so I can see the results of this grand experiment.

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Original lasagna garden

MACRO MONDAY - mulch

Sure it is just mulch, but there is a pleasing, haphazard symmetry in it.

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A TREE FOLLOWING - north

I discovered a site that aggregates blog content about trees.
TreeBlogging.com
Amazing.  I love trees.


One of the things that I found is that people "follow trees" by sharing photos of a tree throughout the year.  Interesting idea, and today is the first of a few of these posts that I am going to do this year as I get to know my new property and its trees.

This is the first one I am going to document because it is in desperate need of a trim.  

It looks like a very bushy shrub with some decent sized trees in the middle but should really be just a few of the bigger trees.  In fact it should probably just be one tree, but I like a clumping look.

I do not even know what kind of tree it is, but nonetheless I can tell it needs some pruning and have an idea on how I think it should look.   

As soon as I know what it is I will share, or if you know, fill me in.

Soon I will take my secateurs and cut back the smallest stuff and then share another photo.

Then I will get the loppers from the cottage and cut back the next size, and share another photo.

And then I will take out my hand saw and get rid of a few of the bigger trees, and share a photo.

It will be an interesting project, one that I can actually do in the winter and I look forward to sharing and getting feedback.

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LASAGNA GARDEN - part 2

It has been a few weeks since my first post about my lasagna gardens, but fear not I kept at it and got them done just before the snow arrived.

The biggest challenge was the amount of material required for the size of gardens I was staking out; I went to buy some peat moss at Jensen's nursery when I saw this:

 Piles of their season's annuals pulled out of the ground and waiting for disposal (behind the rock and in front of the raised beds).  I asked if I could take it and they obliged.  Fantastic.  I was really running short of green material, after all it was the end of October already.

The strange look I got from some people who slowed down to watch as I was cramming all this 'plant garbage' in to my truck made me chuckle.   Once again, people thinking I am crazy.

Thanks goodness I had laid down a tarp!

I put 2 bags (8 cubic feet) of peat in each garden.  Even with a truck full of green material I could have used more.  But it was a big help.  

Gives perspective why I needed so much material.

About two thirds of the way through the city came and cleaned our street.  Oh no. 

I was not done collecting material. 

So I had to start using the car instead of the wheelbarrow to go further afield.  Picture me driving slowly around the neighbourhood, throwing on the hazards then pulling out garbage cans which I quickly shovel full of dead leaves and a season's worth of accumulated soil and gunk, then driving off again.  I am sure people looking out their windows were curious.  I know I would  have been.

Friends asked "Why not just use the bags of leaves neighbours have lined up in the back lane?" and here is the difference. Those bags don't weigh very much since they are just full of dried leaves.  These garbage cans on the other hand got so heavy I could barely get them back into the truck sometimes.  Much more moisture, and some soil, overall a better, gunkier mix.

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Original lasagna garden

I BEAT THE SNOW - barely

In my last post I was in the middle of moving around 9 yards of soil and compost that had arrived on Thursday morning, with 30 centimeters of snow forecast for Friday night.

Talk about a deadline.

I worked from after work until 11:00 Thursday and again until 12:00 on Friday.  It gets dark here early now, so most of this was in the dark, and in fact the first night I wasn't sure which was soil and which was compost and ended up spreading soil where I wanted compost!  It won't be the end of the world, but once I tried the pile of compost I learned that there is an easy way to tell.

Smell.

The compost does not stink, but it does smell like, well, like it is composting.  

Oh yes it was also much heavier than the 4-way mix soil and it steamed when I dug down into its guts.  So next time there will be no mistaking it.

And this is what we had on the ground by the end of the weekend -- 30 centimeters as promised!

And it will stay now until spring, so it was definitely worth the overtime so my neighbours don't have to stare at a big pile of frozen compost on my lawn all winter.

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Sharing with Garden Bloggers Bloom Day and Garden Tuesday, Outdoor Wednesday.  There may not be blooms but there is still gardening!

I NEED A HEADLAMP

Today I had 6 yards of compost and 3 yards of soil delivered.  

12 cm of snow is forecast on the weekend and it just might be the start of the snowy season and stick around.  So I need to take advantage of all the time I have before things freeze.   

And that means gardening at night.  

It is not the first time I have thought how handy a headlamp would be to extend the time I can spend in the garden.  I will be sure to add it to my Christmas list.

SPRING BULBS - Allium

In a previous post I talked about the Crocus and Allium I bought, but it wasn't until recently that I finally got around to planting them all.  Late in the season, so we will see how they do next year.  

The ground was not frozen, so they should survive, right?

Let us hope so.

I planted the purple Allium in front of the house on the North side.

(The white Allium that were part of the purple and white collections I bought have been planted in the South garden, more on that later.)

I started digging individual holes, but with 39 Allium to plant I quickly realized how much wrist-busting work this was going to be.

So I put aside the trowel and grabbed a shovel and a tarp. (I previously learned not to put soil directly on the lawn to avoid a mess.  I dug a big trench in front of the hedge, deep enough for the smaller Allium (Atropurpureum and Purple Sensation), and then I used the trowel again to make 9 deeper holes for the larger Allium (3 Globemaster and 6 His Excellency).

I took the 10" apart direction seriously.  In the picture above I already planted the larger bulbs. Having dug the trench allowed me to place the bulbs first then shift them around before covering them with soil.

After covering them I put down some bone meal and then another light layer of soil.  

And then I put down 80 Mixed Crocus.  

It is the first time I have ever layered bulbs like this and I have to say that digging the trench in the end was much easier than trying to plant all of the Allium and then the Crocus in the same small area.  

A highly recommended strategy.

Stay tuned for a colourful update in June.

OLD STUMP - new life

Back before we had digital photography, one actually had to have multiple shots developed in order to see what a shot would look like from different angles.  I know it sounds crazy to you young folks.

 New life from a burned out log.

The new Cedar is oblivious to how precarious its place is, perched in the middle of a river.

I thought it would be appropriate to share these here since I have already written a number of posts about old stumps and have even been using them as planters.

These shots are from 1992; their symbolization of the circle of life has clearly appealed to me for a long time.

MACRO MONDAY - uprooted tree

Have you ever wondered what tree roots look like under the ground?  

Thought "What exactly is holding that thing in place?"

Now you know.

 I took these canoeing in Northwestern Ontario in 1994.  Slightly out of focus but fascinating.

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SPRUCE AND MOSS GARDEN - part 1

At the Manitoba cottage there has been a space between the screened porch and the road that has been empty of trees ever since a very large evergreen died a few years ago.  

Empty space?

An invitation!

 Over the years Spruce have sprouted up too close to the cottage to let them grow to any significant height.

So once again here I am doing what served me so well landscaping the Ontario cottage                                   - moving around existing plants.

Is it a conundrum that I want my natural looking yard to be "perfect"?  Not at all, I want each tree to have a good chance to grow and be healthy so when they are not growing in an optimal spot and an optimal spot is empty...well, wouldn't you do the same?

Step one was to prune the dead lower branches getting rid of the 'scraggly' look on the surrounding trees.

 I just love pruning; removing  the dead stuff leaves it looking that much cleaner. And by cleaner, I mean I got rid of that pile later that same day.

I often forget to take 'before" pictures before I start working, and this was once again the case here, so I have highlighted the trees I added before taking the shot to illustrate how barren it was to begin with.

Seedlings at the front, saplings further on and the biggest trees I can reasonably transplant with my own 2 hands and a spade (about 4 feet tall), at the back toward the road.  A nice steady progression which should look natural to the untrained eye but in fact would be a grand coincidence were it to happen naturally.

While 8 trees was not a lot for one day considering their size, I was just getting warmed up with what I actually wanted the spot to look like. 

With the season coming to a close I targeted the area above to be included and filled with trees this year.  And the area highlighted below to follow next year.

How far did I get before the end of year?

Stay tuned.

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