GARDEN Adventures In Gardening

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All I wanted was a new flower bed.

Nothing major, just a bed of daylilies. Silly me.

We have this area in front of the house where grass won't grow--measures about 20 X 15 feet, directly under the front windows. Faces east, ground is soft, should be a breeze, right?

Hubby gets out the tiller and goes to work. The tiller bounces wildly, hubby starts cussing..."It's hard as a rock!" he says. Finally the tiller stops--broken belt. So I get a spade and start poking around. I unearth a rock. Then another...and another...another...pretty soon I have a wheel barrow filled with rocks ranging from baseball- to basketball-sized.

After clearing a small patch, I discover that the entire area has only 4-6 inches of soil on top of a layer of loosely mortared field stone about a foot thick. You'll never guess what was under the rocks--don't even try.

Concrete. That's right, a nice, tidy, 20 X 15 foot slab of concrete. What the hell is this? I ask. Another buried sidewalk? A sunken patio? Another decommisioned cistern ? (we've found three so far) A fallout shelter? Buried treasure? Having heard all the stories about the original owner, anything is possible. Maybe I should have copied down all those cryptic notes written on the wall in the old shed before we burned it down...

I continued digging--carefully just in case it was a cistern, though I doubted that's what it was. Finally, most of the rocks were out--over a pick-up load of them. I found a break in the concrete and carefully pried up a chunk about two feet square and two inches thick. Definitely not a cistern--concrete is too thin.

Under the concrete I found...sand. About four inches of fine builders sand. And under the sand...

MORE FREAKIN ROCKS! ARGHHHH!!!!

There is, however, a light at the end of the tunnel, for under the rocks is good, black dirt. Unfortunately, we won't be able to use it because by the time we get all the crap dug out, we'll be at least two feet below grade. We'll have to get a couple of dump truck loads of dirt to fill it in again.

But at least we now have enough field stone to finish that retaining wall for the flower bed on the north side of the house.

-- Anonymous, July 29, 2001

Answers

You could just make a sunken garden or even a patio if you don't want to dig out the concrete. They were very popular in England at one time. You use the fieldstone to line the sides, so they don't collapse, and make a few steps down. You could even make a medieval type garden if you don't want the patio. Otherwise, leave the concrete in place and put potted plants here and there. Sounds like a LOT of work to dig out that much concrete and rocks!

-- Anonymous, July 29, 2001

I am a truly lazy gardener. After the tiller belt broke, I think I would've opted for raised beds.

-- Anonymous, July 29, 2001

I thought about a raised bed, but it would block access to a crawl space and cause snow build-up problems. Now that we know it's not something that can cave in, we can use the tractor loader to tear out the concrete.

But I do like the sunken garden idea, if I can work out the drainage. I've got a big pile of really nice weathered marble slabs I found out in the grove (result of an early treasure hunt) I could use as a floor...and it would make a nice cool spot for the dog to roost...must do more research.

-- Anonymous, July 29, 2001


Silk flowers and plants are fairly cheap these days. [for the truly lazy gardener] or even pictures downloaded from the internet. LOL

-- Anonymous, July 29, 2001

Ah. . . container gardens?? I know, they dry out quickly. During my first year at my present house, I planted several daylillies in a half-barrel because the ground was pure clay. Today, I've worked in enough organic matter to break up the soil, but that was the only way I could have some color that first summer.

-- Anonymous, July 29, 2001


Take the dirt out and make a koi pond. Is that possible where you are?

-- Anonymous, July 29, 2001

Here are some ideas:



-- Anonymous, July 29, 2001


Thanks for the pics, OG--I especially like the last one :)

I put a few Patriot hostas in pots this year. We have some at work in 20-gallon pots that are absolutely gorgeous. Hostas do really well in large containers. In this climate they have to be wintered in an unheated shed or garage. The large-leaved varieties, like Sum And Substance, are especially impressive in a container.

Cannas also work well in large containers, but our location is too windy for that.

I do have plans for a pond farther away from the house (but not for a year or two). It will have to be at least a two level affair, with a shallow pool for the dog. He's used to having a wading pool, so I think the only way to keep him out of the pond is too give him one of his own. Racoons seem to be fond of Koi--I know several people who lost all their fish to the 'coons--but my MIL raises Koi, so I would have a cheap supply.

The spot I'm digging up is right up against the house. Too close for a pond because of the critter factor.

Poly stock tanks (in gray or green) make excellent pond liners, if you don't mind rounds and ovals. Way cheaper and heavier than the preformed liners.

-- Anonymous, July 29, 2001


OG,

Those pictures make me want to get into my house something bad! I cannot wait. It may take years, but I am determined to have some beautiful gardens, maybe even a few suprise ones out in the woods. Imagine walking along a trail and greeted with a little garden and benches.

Tons of undergrowth to clean out first.

As far as the koi pond, I have seen people use small mesh chicken wire to cover the pond to keep the critters out. I fear it will be sometime down the long road.

-- Anonymous, July 29, 2001


There are available in this country books by John Brookes, an English gardener who puts more useful and practical information into his books than any other garden writer I've read. Except perhaps Vita Sackville-West. You might want to check the library or steal a good look at Brookes' books at a bookstore--I think you'll end up buying one.

You can believe, I'm sure, that I have almost as many gardening books as cook books and Brookes' big one (I forget the title!) is the one I reach for most--far and away the most. He covers all types of plantings from formal to wild, flowers to vegetables, shrubs to grasses, pathway materials, walls, on and on. He also shows how to make tufa containers. (Search for the word on the web!) My own garden teeters right on the edge of wild and the birds love it. VERY low maintenance.

-- Anonymous, July 29, 2001



Thanks for the recommondation, OG! I'll look up some books by John Brookes when I'm next at the library or bookstore.

-- Anonymous, July 30, 2001

Right now, day lilies are why large areas of my garden are a total mess. They're fine in early spring, then they grow out and flop over all their neighbors. One area was not too bad 7or 8 years ago, but now is too shady so the day lilies reach even farther and don't bloom well. I should move all of them. Ideally they need a really large bed all to themselves. My ground is glacial concrete. I have yet to receive the solar-powered jackhammer I keep requesting for XMAS. I do NOT want to prepare a separate bed for these guys. I do NOT want to toss them out, there are many lovely ones.

-- Anonymous, July 30, 2001

Almost all my daylilies are in pots. When they start to look tired, I simply move them over by the compost heap, where the other temporarily defunct plants are (daffs, chrysanths, etc.) I do like Happy Returns because it reblooms. When things are in flower, I can simply move the pots wherever I need a bit of color. Foliage from plants and shrubs in the ground usually hides the pots. Also, as my paulownia grows and spread sits shade, I can put the potted plants where there's more sun. But I do have to move a couple of roses :( I have one of those Ames carts to trundle things around and I use styro peanuts as drainage to help keep the pots light in weight.

I'd love to be able to afford some of those lovely, ornamental pots but haven't been able to justify the expense.

-- Anonymous, July 30, 2001


Amazon has The Garden Book by John Brookes for a great price--$16.80, or used for $12.50. Other titles by same author also available.

Link

Ach, seems the link won't work. But click on it anyway, it will get you to the Amazon site and you can search for the book.



-- Anonymous, July 30, 2001


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