STOWAWAYS - a story of survival

This past spring digging about in the front lasagna garden I came across live plants buried within on three separate occasions.  According to plan they should have composted over the winter but I have since realized that most articles written about lasagna gardens have not been written by zone 3 gardeners and not much composting happened for 5 frozen months.

The lone plant in the bottom right corner (above) was quite substantial and  healthy in a bed where I had not planted anything yet. Eventually I found a second one as well.

Then some lovely variegated Vinca started popping up as well.
Curious.


 What I had put into the bed however were the discarded plants I collected from the generous folks at Jensens' Nursery, where they allowed me to cart off loads of plant material they had pulled from their display gardens to use in the construction of my lasagna gardens.

 
I transplanted to the Moon Garden what turned out to be white Dianthus, where they fit in perfectly with the all-white theme (don't worry, those "Broadway Lights" Shasta Daisies above faded from yellow to white).

These stowaways had clearly not only survived the winter but had somehow 'hibernated', and with some warmth from the composting lasagna garden spent the winter without dying back.

Stowaways - who would have thought?

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MY FIRST TASTE OF LASAGNA - sublime

Sublime

  Digging into the lasagna garden last week for the first time was a welcome experience. The soil was amazing, better than I have ever gardened with before; my plants are going to be very happy.

A blend of compost, soil, clay, composting debris, peat; a bit stinky in fact.

Whomever described the garden as composting over the winter did not live with 5 months of frozen Winnipeg winter!

Above is a shot of what the south lasagna garden looks like after I removed the cedars, at least the taller cedars that is. I am going to leave the globe cedars there for the time being and see how they look. They may need to be moved if the soil is too high around them, but that is low on my priority list at the moment.  For now I just hope they appreciate the amazing soil.

MOVING DAY

Today was moving day.

About two thirds of the plants I had stored in my parent's garden over the winter came home with me tonight. I focussed just on plants for the south lasagna garden, where all of the oranges, reds and yellows will go.

I always place all of the plants first to give myself a chance to change my mind after I see them all out together. The big change I did at this phase was to move the Honeyberry bushes into the centre because I did not realize how much a 125 cm spread really was until I got out the tape measure - I don't want them hanging into the driveway.

Finally all ready to go, for today at least.  

Believe it or not I managed, with the help of my nephew, to get them all planted and watered before dark.  

Watch for a map in the coming week before I forget where everything has gone!

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THE ORIGINAL LASAGNA GARDEN

 While I have already written a few posts about my two new lasagna garden beds here in Winnipeg, I actually tried my first lasagna garden at the Ontario cottage last summer.  It was much smaller and I did not research it as thoroughly, meaning I hope the plants come back but I will not be surprised if I have to redo it. 

I rushed it and it may not have enough newspapers, is likely not deep enough and without layers of green and brown material.  But you have to start somewhere; live and learn.                                                                  

The white really pops between the taller Bugloss & trees as backdrop and the slightly smaller greens in front. The Yellow Loosestrife are in great contrast to the more numerous and more subtle blue Bugloss.

(When all of these are done blooming the daylilies take over.)

I wanted to extend the Lakefront Garden back to the Old Broken Tree. What use is that particular strip of grass in one of the sunnier locations I had (city or lake)? I love greens but I wanted more colour.

Step one, lay down newspaper. 

In hindsight probably not as thick as I should have laid it.

Steps 2 and 3, soil and plants. A proper lasagna garden would have alternating layers that would compost and help to break up the grass underneath, here I just have some paper and soil. 

In went Daisies and Chicory from the side of the road . Here they are being stored in water in the paddleboat until they are ready to be planted. Keeping their roots in water is very important, when there are so many to plant it can be a while before they are back in the ground. 

It was still missing some 'oomph' and some height so I brought in the Viper's Bugloss, which due to its long taproot was a poor choice to put into this rather shallow bed, but there you have it, one could almost say the same for the Chicory.

In the short term it looked amazing, then quite a bit of it died back, after all I was transplanting them in full bloom into a too-shallow bed. I got carried away.

I am thinking about finding a place for this trifecta in my new front yard garden: Viper's Bugloss, Chicory and Daisies. 

Beautiful.

Previous lasagna garden posts

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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

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

LASAGNA GARDEN - part 1

Digging up sod is hard.  Really hard in fact, when you also include the effort to make this compacted soil into something more usable.  Lasagna gardening is a way to avoid digging up the sod, though it still means bringing in soil amendments.

I started some lasagna gardens last week at our new Tuxedo place.  Sure there are already plenty of garden beds that need attention, but I if am going to eventually expand the gardens I may as well do it sooner than later-- and fall it the optimal time for getting started so the beds can compost all winter.

BEFORE

There is nothing wrong with a lawn, but I have always been a shade gardener and am willing to put in a great deal of work to create a sunny garden, expand my learning and give me more choices for bright summer colours.

This south-facing garden is already planned to be bright summer colours: oranges, red and yellows in plentiful combination.

Having just moved cross-country we had plenty of cardboard boxes at hand.  I put these down first to kill the grass and keep in the moisture which will help with decomposition and bring more earthworms into the mix.  I dug the leaves up from the gutter where they were nice and moist and partly decomposed already rather than raking dry leaves into a pile.  It looked like great stuff for this purpose, and all free for the taking.

It was about this point that I began to realize how much work this was and how ambitious my goals were.

 It takes a lot of mulch to cover this, a lot of wheelbarrows full. I cleaned in front of my house and many neighbours' houses in both directions.  

Of course they all think I am crazy.

At this point I changed my mind from turning this all into garden and decided to leave a strip of lawn down the middle so the garden can be walked through.  I decided based on how much work it was (I am making a second one out front!) and how much material it would take, but in the end I think it turned out to be the right aesthetic decision as well.

Shortly after taking this picture I pulled back the material from the far end so the lawn/path would loop back to the driveway.  It has now all been covered with a brown layer, a green layer and a bit of soil, but I need to purchase some compost and peat to layer in.  

There just isn't enough grass clippings around for the space I am staking out.

Tomorrow I will be back at it bright and early, even with a bit of snow on the ground.

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Original lasagna garden

NEIGHBOURS THINK I AM CRAZY

I am in the midst of creating two new garden beds at our Tuxedo home.

While there are plenty of existing beds that need attention, I

wanted a garden outside the south-facing living room window, and thought that grass between the sidewalk and front of the house seemed...well, unnecessary.  

I also wanted to try making them via the "lasagna garden"method vs. digging up the sod, which can be back-breaking work.  And the lasagna method is best done in the fall, so despite the mad rush I am taking on the challenge.

The beds I am making are big and require a lot of organic matter.  This means that I am putting on my rubber boots, grabbing my wheelbarrow & snow shovel and taking to the streets.

Before dropping their leaves the trees form a gorgeous connected arch over the road.

There are loads of wet, mushy leaves in the gutter at the side of the road and I am taking all I can get.  They may not be that rich in nutrients but they are plentiful and allow me to started.  

 I have "cleaned the streets" in front of my own house and those of my neighbours up and down the block.

And that is why they must think I am crazy.

Did I mention that by the time I am home from work and had dinner that I am "cleaning the streets" in the dark?  I know that if I didn't have the context and saw my neighbour doing the same, I would think they were obsessive-compulsive.  

Whereas I am just enthusiastic ;)

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