scalp first.. then round up ...

grass rots.. and turns into a gelatinous heap of goo ... that can make a baby diaper smell GOOD .... in summer anyway ....

what.. not enough fall leaves up in wonderland????

mix grass and leaves... tending toward more leaves.. it should work ... sorta lasagna layering ...

ken

Yeah, ideally, I'd love to do leaves, but don't want to wait.

Not interested in the smelly goo though.

Guess I need to wait.

'Lasagna Gardening'! Google it or even check it out on this forum! I've done it and it IS instant!!!

Oh, heck--I'll look for it myself--it's a slow night! :o)

Here is a link that might be useful: Lasagna Garden method!

you want to plant in spring.. yes ...

do the round up now ....

move things into the bed in sept or so ... plant an inch high or so ... yeah.. some extra digging in the planting holes.. but ignore the rest ...

then add about 6 inches of leaves in nov .... to the rest of the bed ... they will be 3 to 4 inches in spring ... and about level with the plantings ...

and gone by next fall .... add more leaves next fall ...

NEVER walk over the roundup.. until it has totally dried.. or even better ... the next day ...

ken

Here's another helpful 'how to do it'!

Here is a link that might be useful: Another link on Lasagna Gardening!

I've done my own such beds, right on top of the grass, (no scalping) layer with newspaper, paper grocery bags, cardboard, water very well
making sure they are sopping wet, then piling on sod, (turned upside down--roots up); mulch--composted horse manure with yardwaste ground in,
more sod, etc. however much of the stuff I can get, then I've planted right into it! Works great!!

Here's a couple of beds I did that way a last year, including the timber raised one at the back of this area:

and here's the results now:

And, out front:

oh hey j

that little bed with celestial.. earth angel ... diva ... and blue mammoth ...

you better start thinking what to do with the 3 you need to move.. lol

ken

Ken--I'm thinking you're 'oh so very right' sir!!! :o) I'm thinking......where?

How about Lakeville MN, eh Janice?

LOLOL, Melissa!! That's tooo funny!!! I MAY need to relocate everything to a bigger place--why not there!!!ROFLMHO

Janice,

As always, beautiful!!! Your gardens show me what might be in mine some day.

Cynthia

Janice, you did good! : )

christine

Ahhh, thank you Cynthia and Christine---it wasn't really that hard, the way I did it!!

You've made it look like it was easy Janice! It is gorgeous! I like those raised in the whiskey barrels. I see you are in OH, could I do that kinda thing here in WI as well?

Post pics anytime please, that is very inspiring!

florabundance...

your question:
I like those raised in the whiskey barrels. I see you are in OH, could I do that kinda thing here in WI as well?

NO! You cannot. Our winters are too cold and the root ball freezes too much. I put a Royal Standard in a whiskey barrel last year and lost it. But now I wonder if I lost it as a result of the freeze-thaw-turn-to-mush thing.

Of course, if you wanted to remove it from the pot, put it into the ground for the winter, then that could work.

Anyway, I won't be doing it anymore. My whiskey barrel is going to be for annuals.

Flora and Melissa, I think the problem was PROBABLY a freeze/thaw/mush thing! I've had mine in barrels
for several years and the ONLY time I lost any in them was the Spring '07 'fake-out' Spring in March!
A couple of weeks of warm temps got the barreled hosta all excited, they sprung up to face 'reality'
with a resulting re-freezing which did result in 'mush' by the time the 'real deal' came to play!

I'd say, experiment with a division of something you wouldn't be devastated to lose, this winter.
If it works--go for it in winter 2010, with something you would love to see 'elevated' and
*showcased* in your garden!

Janice, that is what I was thinking too, one I can split and if I lose it, I'm not devastated. One thing for sure, you never know how the winter is going to start, end or be in the middle these days!

I was reading from a local vendor last night on their website. I was surprised to find that they say just because they can grow it in MN or OH doesn't translate to WI. It's been observed by them, that if it does well here... it can do well elsewhere, but the reverse isn't the case. I thought... what the .... NOT FAIR! This is a place that does daylilies and peony primarily tho. I don't know if that would translate to hosta as well, but I'm guessing more than likely.

Now my take on that is; I'm still gonna try! I just know I need to be ready to accept the possible negative outcomes. I need to dig out some barrels I have that have been taken over by the wild. I'll give it a shot and let ya all know how things go.

On another concept; I like the idea of using leaves. I have so blasted many, I don't know which way to turn in the fall. Now I have a 'green' way to use them. One question tho, it gets very windy out here (in the country) how do you keep them from blowing all over the place once you have your site selected and placed them?

I have some of those large foam -insulated (looks like the real thing) pots. I planted a clematis, a lily and a Frances Williams Hosta in one three years ago. Every fall I lay the pot on its side, the open part sort of downhill.

The other one had a hosta and a lily, it did not get tipped, every year. Both look the same. They have to be tough, 3 winters here in Nova Scotia, hosta growing like crazy, lilies blooming, clematis still growing.

Had two large hosta that had to be moved, did not get them planted last year, stayed on top of the ground all winter and are still there. You would never know they were not planted, actually still aren't.

My experience (experiments)

Betty

Florabundance: last year I used leaves on my beds, I'll admit it wasn't VERY windy, but not calm either. This is what I did:

Mowed the leaves with the mulcher and bag on back of mower, just mowed over the ones on the lawn, raked the ones on the beds onto the lawn so I could mow over those too.

Put all these cut up leaves in a big pile

Then I took my blower/mulcher (a Toro electric one - very excellent, lightweight and easy to use) and I sucked up and mulched the leaves again. This made them very small.

Took each filled bag of leaves and spread where I wanted them.

If I didn't use the pile all in one day, it was there when I needed it.

Because the leaves were cut so small they didn't blow like a full-sized leaf would.

Jakki

I do pretty much the same as 'Jakki' with my leaves except I do blow them into a big pile,
then I run them through our wood-chipper and then spread them around or put them on my compost
piles! I LOVE my WOOD CHIPPER!!! But, man is it noisy--I have to pick a time that won't disturb
my neighbors and I HAVE TO wear ear plugs!!!