Always remember - I AM NO EXPERT
So I left you off with my discovery of the term and idea of Lasagna Beds.
Now I had a plan. I had a map of my yard with an outline of the house and where the trees were and how much area they would cover. All I had to do was find the perfect spot.
At first I thought I had it. With our lot on a slope I was steering away from the obvious spots. The only other flattish area was perfect, except WE would not really be able to see the garden. That is one of the major things you would like out of a garden. The ability to actually SEE it.
So my only choice was to put the 14x8 foot garden in the other perfect spot. Dead center (left to right) of the yard 2/3rds of the way down THE SLOPE.
DJ saw me pacing back and forth, muttering and drawing and hemming and hawing and walking up the slope and down the slope and scratching my head and then I just started staring.
I spent a few days with this little problem always in the back of my mind, always there but never really showing itself, just tumbling around like socks in a dryer, waiting from some moment of spontaneous inspiration.
Then, it came. I WILL BUILD A WALL!!
Well - when it comes to some major terra forming of my backyard I'd like to have some help (also known as a scapegoat) so I called my buddy Elwood who has been virtual gardening for years. He also has this streak of perfectness which might come in handy.
Neither one of us have ever done anything like this before which makes DJ a little apprehensive, but I tell her that there is little chance for death from cave ins or anything and WHAT CAN POSSIBLY GO WRONG!!
I have the area already strung out and we go look for some field stone from Madison Brick and Block. After deciding on some Copper Mountain 8" Wall stone ($14 per 100 pounds) we put a bunch in the car and make some trips back and forth with 30 pound blocks of stone.
Laying then down in a curved pattern we start to dig a little to make sure they are level and it's all going smooth . . . until we see that the left side of the down hill is higher then the right side of the downhill. Hmmmm . . .start over, we must account for up/down AND left/right!
I have a string level and much to my surprise the 8 foot width slopes down a good 18 inchs. WOW - WHO KNEW it sloped that much. This means I' have to dig out the top and put that dirt on the bottom to make the garden somewhat level.
BRILLIANT!
We keep adding and taking away dirt to level the bottom, most important layer. I'm not too concerned with the next two layers, it's not like we are holding back a wall, just a garden. Well, I guess we will see.
donn from the Garden Web suggested we use some landscape fabric behind the wall to stop erosion. This sounds like a great idea, not that I will do it but it SOUNDS like a great idea! The train is rolling now and we can not change. (As I stress, learn from our mistakes)
We worked a few hour's and when we were finished this is what it looked like.
Not very exciting but it was a start! In fact looking at it today as I write this I say to myself - "THAT'S IT?" But we were pretty proud at the time and a few Guinness were hoisted for our efforts!A few days later I purchased seven more stones (another 240 pounds) and plopped them on the wall to get an idea on height and did more dirt work. I had a pile of grass clippings that was starting to attract flies and smell and I HAD to do something with it before DJ realized it was my doing and not the "countryside" air.
So I started to really lasagna-ize the garden. First I put down newspaper.
Then I put some Peat Moss on top of the paper - not much - just about 1/2 and inch. Peat Moss is actually becoming a little more scarce, it is thing that happens before it becomes coal you know. It's not a renewable resource, at least in OUR life time.Then a layer of grass.
And last - top soil. I don't have access to top soil (weird to say that isn't it - I can't find dirt). So I have 40 pound bags of it. This section took two 40lb bags. I figure it takes ten bags per level.
And then I put about twn pounds of Star Bucks coffee grounds on top. Say what you want about Star Bucks. They, 1. have the highest caffeine of all coffee and, 2. give away all of their used grounds for gardens!So now I have 1/4 of my first layer (or what I call one layer, mulch/dirt = 1 layer).
Over the next week we added more stone and more layers so now 4/5th of the future garden is covered. I ran out of mulch, no grass clippings and so forth, thus, the project came to a screeching halt.
One thing no one mentioned is that while Lasagna Beds make better gardens, they also cost $$. Dirt that is already in the ground is pretty cheap. But adding top soil above the ground costs money. Not much but it does add up a little. Along with The Wall costing a little. One thousand pounds worth (that is pounds in weight for you Europeans not Pounds Sterling)
So here is where we are at the moment, well, before the layer was put in but after most of the wall has been put in place.
The plan is to used thicker stone on the right side to account for the slope left to right of the yard.My next blogs will be when we get the entire wall up and I can start filling in the bed in earnest. Plus I'll go into the HUGE process of WHAT TO PLANT.
At the moment I'm thinking of making a combination Butterfly Garden with normal Sun plants! The process of design is interesting and I have some pretty nice ideas of how to do it in a logical, non-hap hazard way!
Until then.
remember - comments are ALWAYS appreciated.
Cheers
Rod
