BCU - Earth
Garden Entrance
My Other Beds:
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Area 1
Area 2
Area 3
Area 4
Area 5
Area 6
Area 7
Area 8
Area 9
Area 10
Area 11
Area 12
Area 13
Area 14
Area 15
Contact B.Howe
Area 1: The Frog Pond
The Frog Pond was installed in the early spring of 2000, and did very little for the first few months. The soil was very heavy clay, requiring the use of a mattock to break up during the dry periods. About mid-summer I attempted my first lasagna bed on this spot. Temporarily removed the Bergenia, then built my layers and replanted the Bergenia directly into the new bed. The bed was 18" above the original ground level, and 6" above the lip of the concrete half-shell serving as the pond. Over a couple of weeks it settled back down to being about 3-4 inches below the lip of the pond. The bergenia settled perfectly with the pile. In the fall I checked the clay under the layers, and found that it was loose, dark, and moist. That is what won me over to the lasagna gardening idea.
Then: May 1998 ('ish)
Now: June 2001
June 10: The Bergenia have come back nicely after the winter. They have once again adopted the bright green which tells me that they are ecstatic with the soil. The wildlife are still enjoying this corner of the yard, and drainage is still an issue. I am considering Holly bushes as replacements for the dead Yews. That's about all for now.
Thanks for stopping by,
Brett
Previous Entries:
April 21: Looking at these two shots it's hard to tell if there has been any improvement. There is very little winter interest in my beds (something I'm trying to address), but this is how the bed looked a couple weeks ago. The Daffodils on either side of the frog pond are close to blooming now, more of the Bergenia has climbed out from under the mulch, one of the dead-looking yews is starting to show some green again, but the second is still looking too dried out. Not much to see yet, but the season hasn't started yet.
May 22: Things are moving along well back here. The bergenia is looking healthy and I expect it'll fill in nicely this year. The daffodils gave us a very nice show, along with a couple of (as yet) unidentified shrubs nearby. I am nearly 100% certain that I've lost two of the yews (they would be the brown ones in the photo). They did not look well at the beginning of last winter, and now they look pretty much dead. I'm not ready to replace them so they will have to stay there for a while. Any prayers you can offer for a bushy resurrection would be appreciated.