Fence, New Beds

On one hand, there is something funny and quirky about having a border of thick, lush, poison ivy growing beside our driveway. It reminds me of the mixed message I used to get at the end of the “Beverly Hillbillies”. I could have sworn there was a long list of “make-yourself-at-home” type phrases as they were smiling and waving from their front porch, only to finish with “Don't come back now, ya hear?” (Turns out it's actually “Y'all come back now,” but that isn't how I heard it.)
Ultimately, though, we decided the poison ivy had to go, so we've been working hard digging up roots and trying to smother what's there with layers of cardboard, paper, leaves, compost. At first, we were just going for the worst spot, but in an unusual burst of enthusiasm, brought on, no doubt, by the spring-like spell we are having, we extended the initial poison-ivy smothering bed all the way down the drive. If we are successful, we will no longer have to run out to meet our visitors with “get out on the right side of the car!” greeting.

Famous friend Steve brought us a load of cane last year, and we have found so many uses for this sturdy stuff. We built tomato tee-pees that worked beautifully. But still there was so much left, and I felt guilty every time I looked at the stack. At the same time, I was annoyed by the neighbors straight behind us. Their landlord decided to trim back all of the overhanging trees (grr! not like he was planning a garden in back, or that they were in danger of possibly breaking off onto the house, 300 feet away! He just doesn't like trees, obvious when you look into that barren back lot.) So now my flat-back, sheared trees cannot block the ugly that is the back of the the two houses on the other street. Poor trees.

But back to the cane... here is the last of it, serving to obscure the view through to the other side and to serve as a backdrop for what is sure to be a stunning naturalized understory garden. I am hoping to get some more cane from Steve so I can finish this thing. Eventually.

Making a fence by hand from cane gives me new appreciation for the workers in some distant land churning out those 6 foot panels. This is hard work.

New Year, New Bed

Here are some pictures of the new bed we are planning. This location is plagued with poison ivy. Shortly after we moved in,
we noticed the poison ivy hedge on that side of the driveway and avoided it. This year,we did our best to fight it by digging up all the sprouts as they emerged, but soon, we lost the battle. Someone suggested round-up, and the problem was so bad that we actually considered it. Depending on how this year's poison ivy battle goes, we may resort to it.

Since neither of us have much experience with gardens, we may not have done this correctly, but this is our attempt at a no-till garden, a-la Ruth Stout. (We used this method in our main garden as well, but were not as careful or deliberate with the layers.) We started with a layer of cardboard, to act as a barrier between the poison ivy and the plants. We covered this with several layers of newspaper, then watered it all down. On top of this, we put a thick layer of dried leaves.















Cardboard, newspaper and leaves (from friend, Steve. Thanks!)















I am pouring more water on the whole thing (cardboard, paper, leaves) to hold it in place.

On top of all of this, we brought in the top layer from our compost pile, the green stuff that hasn't decomposed much. On this, we put a thick layer of dark, finished compost.















Compost topping over thick layer of wetted leaves, newspaper and cardboard.

On top of all of this, we added a layer of topsoil, then a final layer of leaves as mulch. After this, we took the emptied leaf bags, cut them flat, and staked them into the bed. I was hoping the plastic would help the leaf mulch keep the weeds out, but I am not sure if this was a good move or not. I hope the plastic doesn't leach anything awful.















We trimmed the sides with small bits of sticks, which we hope will become mulch. In the Spring, we plan to plant a hedge of amaranth (from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds. It's called "Love Lies Bleeding, and Thomas Jefferson grew it in his Monticello garden too) and maybe something in front, preferably another food crop.

ADDENDUM: After some thought about the possibility of what might leach from the plastic, we removed the black plastic bags. The leaves are fairly mulched and should stay in place (mostly).