My enclosed garden has been a bit of a bust this year. The beans were slow, the cukes didn't grow tall, the melons stay short with no fruits. The tomatoes and unproductive.
So I was reading an article in the Washignton Post magazine Local Living section. There are articles bout gardening and cooking included there. The gardening article today was about nurturing the soil and the various micobes, fungi, and insects that live in the soil.
And I realized that I had gone away from all that lately! I got casual the past few years. Bad move...
I used to pay attention to all that stuff. Time to start doing that again. "Feed the soil, not the plants". Grow cover crops in Winter, encourage worms. Don't fertilize the soil, grow the soil.
TGey say not to dig the soil, but after I rebuilt the framed beds, they had large amounts of bad soil in clumps and that's not good.
So at the end on this season, I'm double digging the framed bed soil to mix it up, adding worms, adding shredded leaves and some kitcken peelings, some healthy soil from the old compost bin (for microbes and minor insect life, and covering it with permeable landscape fabric (to let rain in).
Time to start re-building the soil...
Showing posts with label Framed Beds. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Framed Beds. Show all posts
Sunday, August 13, 2017
Friday, November 18, 2016
Getting Busy Again, Part 3
Tomorrow is Hosta Dividing and Moving Day! The deer have "loved" my front yard hostas too much; they have to be moved into the back yard where the deer don't go (good fence). I have 2 spaces for them.
The first is just under the edge of the deck. I planted coleus and impatiens there this year , but I stuck in 2 small hostas and they thrived. So it is a good place. I will add my fanciest hostas from the front, ('June' and "Paul's Glory' and a few 'Gold Drops'). The larger ones will go into a hosta bed I created years ago along the fence to replace some that have died and increase the number of them. I have decided having more in the bed is better than just having a few several feet apart. Well, the originals there didn't grow as big as I expected.
I also have a few dozen Japanese Painted Ferns. The deer never bothered them, but I would prefer most of them among the hostas. I love the combination.
However, there was 1 large LARGE hosta the deer never bothered. It is 'Blue Angel". It is HUGE! It is 3' across and 2' high with thick bluish crinkly leaves, slug-resistant and (apparently) deer resistant. It might get larger. But the important thing is that each is large enough to divide into 4ths. And I have 3 of them. That makes for 12.
3 of the divisions went back into nearby spots a little more spread out. Instead of 3 across (where they were overlapping), there will be 2 across and 1 centered behind. They were covering my paver path to the hose spigot, so they needed to be moved anyway.
The good part is that that leaves 9 divisions for the larger landscaping box to the other side of the front steps. They will fill that box mostly and I will put some of the volunteer Japanese Painted Ferns between them.
After removing all the existing deer-loved hostas first, of course. I will leave no plant behind. I stuck landscaping flags in the center of every existing hosta last month, so I know where to dig even if the leaves are all gone. I expect 90% will survive the transplanting. Hostas are tough!
I had 4 very common boring solid green hostas I removed before a landscaper scraped the soil off a ridge leaving it flat. I divided each one in 1/4s and stuck them under the stairs from the deck there it is really dim light. 15 of 16 thrived! I expect all the other hostas I divide and move will do as well.
The first is just under the edge of the deck. I planted coleus and impatiens there this year , but I stuck in 2 small hostas and they thrived. So it is a good place. I will add my fanciest hostas from the front, ('June' and "Paul's Glory' and a few 'Gold Drops'). The larger ones will go into a hosta bed I created years ago along the fence to replace some that have died and increase the number of them. I have decided having more in the bed is better than just having a few several feet apart. Well, the originals there didn't grow as big as I expected.
I also have a few dozen Japanese Painted Ferns. The deer never bothered them, but I would prefer most of them among the hostas. I love the combination.
However, there was 1 large LARGE hosta the deer never bothered. It is 'Blue Angel". It is HUGE! It is 3' across and 2' high with thick bluish crinkly leaves, slug-resistant and (apparently) deer resistant. It might get larger. But the important thing is that each is large enough to divide into 4ths. And I have 3 of them. That makes for 12.
3 of the divisions went back into nearby spots a little more spread out. Instead of 3 across (where they were overlapping), there will be 2 across and 1 centered behind. They were covering my paver path to the hose spigot, so they needed to be moved anyway.
The good part is that that leaves 9 divisions for the larger landscaping box to the other side of the front steps. They will fill that box mostly and I will put some of the volunteer Japanese Painted Ferns between them.
After removing all the existing deer-loved hostas first, of course. I will leave no plant behind. I stuck landscaping flags in the center of every existing hosta last month, so I know where to dig even if the leaves are all gone. I expect 90% will survive the transplanting. Hostas are tough!
I had 4 very common boring solid green hostas I removed before a landscaper scraped the soil off a ridge leaving it flat. I divided each one in 1/4s and stuck them under the stairs from the deck there it is really dim light. 15 of 16 thrived! I expect all the other hostas I divide and move will do as well.
Wednesday, October 19, 2016
Yardwork Again
I wasn't sure I was gong to be doing much yardwork the rest of the year. I usually try to do at least one useful thing each day. Sometimes I don't, but that is the goal anyway.
So when I twisted my right knee in early April, and it was difficult to walk the first couple of weeks, I grudgingly waited for it to heal. I do these sorts of injuries every so often but generally heal quickly enough. I'm used to it. You live on your own, you push yourself to do more than you should sometimes, and there is the occasional time your body says hey ease off on me a bit.
It has happened before. 10 years ago, I casually tossed a rock at a squirrel and strained my rotator cuff and I could barely raise my arm over my shoulder for 4 months! But it healed fine and I kind of expect that.
But this time, April rolled into May, and May into June and eventually September and it was better but not normal. Some projects got delayed. I had planned to repaint the bathrooms and kitchen, but crawling all around washing the walls, putting tape along all the edges and then doing the actual painting seemed too awkward. But it could wait.
I had also planned to use my gas-powered weed-whacker with the steel cutters to eliminate the backyard brush and brambles that sprung up after I had a few trees removed several years ago. That didn't happen.
A few weeks ago, my right knee suddenly felt much better. Not perfect, but good enough, and I started some minor yard projects and felt ready to do more. I got some work done. Mostly de-clutterring the basement the computer room, and the cat room.
And then I went and did something to the left knee. No idea what I did. It felt like I had banged it against a door frame, but for 2 weeks, I had 2 bad knees. I was worried I was sufferring some serious problem (like Lyme Disease affects your joints, or longer term problems like arthritis).
But I woke up 2 days ago and the left knee was back to normal and the right knee wasn't bad. I could walk around pretty much normal.
So I had found a sealed bag of grass seed in the basement left over from last year . I mowed the front yard grass very short. Today I raked all the loose grass and dumped it where I plan to put a flowerbed island around a large rock and tree in order to smother the grass and weeds and leave some improved soil. Then I spread the grass weeds all around. And then I spent 90 minutes carefully spraying straight down onto the grass to beat the grass seeds onto the soil surface and give them enough water to germinate.
It is a bit late to do that. But I had the seeds and they won't last another year. And we are having a warm spell, so the seeds should germinate if they are still viable. There are 2 bare spots, so I will know if they germinate. At least that is SOMETHING done.
And both knees felt just fine after all that. So that's good.
The next things to do are planting Daffodils in mid November, tilling some dead areas of the flowerbeds, and eliminating weeds in the paths between the framed veggie beds.
Are you familiar with those long strips of brown paper used as packing material? I've been saving the longest strips for several years. The stuff comes all twisted and crinkled, but I untwist it and lay in on the basement floor and use a push broom to flatten it out. That works very well. Then I fold it up in 4' lengths and put a piece of plywood on it to flatten it further and keep it out of the way. I have several hundred linear feet of it now.
It seems like great stuff to put between the framed beds, on top of weedy dead sections of the flowerbeds, and on top of all the Spring bulbs to smother weeds (with shredded bark on top). It will probably decompose by Spring, and in not, it will certainly be easy to pull up at planting time.
It may not kill all the weeds, but it sure won't do them any good. I am reminded of a W C Fields vaudeville joke where he says he swallowed a few moths and said he swallowed a couple of mothballs to get rid of them. The sidekick asks if it did any good. Fields says "well it sure couldn't have helped them any". (Do not do this at home, mothballs are toxic).
My point is that the brown paper cover is worth trying. If it works, GREAT! If not, it is easy to remove and will make good compostable material after 5 months exposure to rain and melting snow all Winter and early Spring.
Gardeners might object that covers the soil gives voles safe space to run around under. I did cover part of my flowerbeds with black plastic 10 years ago, and they did love it. They ate every tulip bulb, safe from predators. But this time, there won't be anything for them to eat. Well, the weeds, and if they want to eat the roots of those, they are not welcome, I encourage them. Otherwise, they don't touch Daffodils or Daylilies (toxic to mammals), the Tulips and Hyacinths are in wire cages they can't get into, and the seeds from the birdfeeder will be on top of the paper where they waill actually have trouble getting to the spilled seeds. EVIL LOL!
So I am getting into the yardwork late, but not impossibly late. The last project, which is to plant specimen trees that won't grow tall enough to shade my garden and flowerbeds is still in reach. By "specimen trees", I mean Korean Dogwoods, Sourwoods, Wisteria shrubs, and Star Magnolias. Those will shade out the brush and brambles like the taller trees used to do, but not cause shade problems across the yard.
I will surround the new trees with used carpeting. That has really worked well for me over the years. Rain soaks right through, but weeds won't grow up through it. And it it is usually free. Just look for some place being renovated and ask for the old carpet. They will usually just give it away.
OK, I'm off to buy some specimen tree saplings...
Back, I ordered 3 Sourwood trees and 2 Korean Dogwoods. Sourwood trees are great in Fall. They have small grapelike clusters of yellow berries and burgundy leaves and grow to about 25'. The Korean Dogwoods are great in Springs, don't have the same disease problems as American Dogwoods, and spread sideways. I have one on the shady side of the house that has been happily existing for 25 years at 20 feet, and I will take some tip cuttings next June. It has pink flowers. The dogwoods I ordered have white flowers, so that will make a nice change.
I also filled in all the screw and nail holes in the main bathroom a week ago
So when I twisted my right knee in early April, and it was difficult to walk the first couple of weeks, I grudgingly waited for it to heal. I do these sorts of injuries every so often but generally heal quickly enough. I'm used to it. You live on your own, you push yourself to do more than you should sometimes, and there is the occasional time your body says hey ease off on me a bit.
It has happened before. 10 years ago, I casually tossed a rock at a squirrel and strained my rotator cuff and I could barely raise my arm over my shoulder for 4 months! But it healed fine and I kind of expect that.
But this time, April rolled into May, and May into June and eventually September and it was better but not normal. Some projects got delayed. I had planned to repaint the bathrooms and kitchen, but crawling all around washing the walls, putting tape along all the edges and then doing the actual painting seemed too awkward. But it could wait.
I had also planned to use my gas-powered weed-whacker with the steel cutters to eliminate the backyard brush and brambles that sprung up after I had a few trees removed several years ago. That didn't happen.
A few weeks ago, my right knee suddenly felt much better. Not perfect, but good enough, and I started some minor yard projects and felt ready to do more. I got some work done. Mostly de-clutterring the basement the computer room, and the cat room.
And then I went and did something to the left knee. No idea what I did. It felt like I had banged it against a door frame, but for 2 weeks, I had 2 bad knees. I was worried I was sufferring some serious problem (like Lyme Disease affects your joints, or longer term problems like arthritis).
But I woke up 2 days ago and the left knee was back to normal and the right knee wasn't bad. I could walk around pretty much normal.
So I had found a sealed bag of grass seed in the basement left over from last year . I mowed the front yard grass very short. Today I raked all the loose grass and dumped it where I plan to put a flowerbed island around a large rock and tree in order to smother the grass and weeds and leave some improved soil. Then I spread the grass weeds all around. And then I spent 90 minutes carefully spraying straight down onto the grass to beat the grass seeds onto the soil surface and give them enough water to germinate.
It is a bit late to do that. But I had the seeds and they won't last another year. And we are having a warm spell, so the seeds should germinate if they are still viable. There are 2 bare spots, so I will know if they germinate. At least that is SOMETHING done.
And both knees felt just fine after all that. So that's good.
The next things to do are planting Daffodils in mid November, tilling some dead areas of the flowerbeds, and eliminating weeds in the paths between the framed veggie beds.
Are you familiar with those long strips of brown paper used as packing material? I've been saving the longest strips for several years. The stuff comes all twisted and crinkled, but I untwist it and lay in on the basement floor and use a push broom to flatten it out. That works very well. Then I fold it up in 4' lengths and put a piece of plywood on it to flatten it further and keep it out of the way. I have several hundred linear feet of it now.
It seems like great stuff to put between the framed beds, on top of weedy dead sections of the flowerbeds, and on top of all the Spring bulbs to smother weeds (with shredded bark on top). It will probably decompose by Spring, and in not, it will certainly be easy to pull up at planting time.
It may not kill all the weeds, but it sure won't do them any good. I am reminded of a W C Fields vaudeville joke where he says he swallowed a few moths and said he swallowed a couple of mothballs to get rid of them. The sidekick asks if it did any good. Fields says "well it sure couldn't have helped them any". (Do not do this at home, mothballs are toxic).
My point is that the brown paper cover is worth trying. If it works, GREAT! If not, it is easy to remove and will make good compostable material after 5 months exposure to rain and melting snow all Winter and early Spring.
Gardeners might object that covers the soil gives voles safe space to run around under. I did cover part of my flowerbeds with black plastic 10 years ago, and they did love it. They ate every tulip bulb, safe from predators. But this time, there won't be anything for them to eat. Well, the weeds, and if they want to eat the roots of those, they are not welcome, I encourage them. Otherwise, they don't touch Daffodils or Daylilies (toxic to mammals), the Tulips and Hyacinths are in wire cages they can't get into, and the seeds from the birdfeeder will be on top of the paper where they waill actually have trouble getting to the spilled seeds. EVIL LOL!
So I am getting into the yardwork late, but not impossibly late. The last project, which is to plant specimen trees that won't grow tall enough to shade my garden and flowerbeds is still in reach. By "specimen trees", I mean Korean Dogwoods, Sourwoods, Wisteria shrubs, and Star Magnolias. Those will shade out the brush and brambles like the taller trees used to do, but not cause shade problems across the yard.
I will surround the new trees with used carpeting. That has really worked well for me over the years. Rain soaks right through, but weeds won't grow up through it. And it it is usually free. Just look for some place being renovated and ask for the old carpet. They will usually just give it away.
OK, I'm off to buy some specimen tree saplings...
Back, I ordered 3 Sourwood trees and 2 Korean Dogwoods. Sourwood trees are great in Fall. They have small grapelike clusters of yellow berries and burgundy leaves and grow to about 25'. The Korean Dogwoods are great in Springs, don't have the same disease problems as American Dogwoods, and spread sideways. I have one on the shady side of the house that has been happily existing for 25 years at 20 feet, and I will take some tip cuttings next June. It has pink flowers. The dogwoods I ordered have white flowers, so that will make a nice change.
I also filled in all the screw and nail holes in the main bathroom a week ago
Monday, November 24, 2014
A Little Computer And Some Garden Problems
COMPUTER: Well, first, I KNEW everything wouldn't be perfect on the new old laptop. The thrill of connectivity deceived me. Oh, it's not terrible news, but the "M" key came loose right away, and my feedly.com reader list keeps disappearing from the sidebar. It sticks on the desktop but not the laptop. I'm sure I'll find out how to stick it permanently, but haven't so far.
And there are other annoying problems. I'm sure most can be fixed, but some may just be part of using a laptop. I was expecting that since I was only using the laptop for reading blogs (at the moment), what did I care about security? There's nothing ON the laptop. But then I started getting unending, nearly constant ads. It was like "Whack-A-Mole"! Close one, another pops up. I went 15 minutes doing nothing but closing ads at one point, and even closing some of them seems to have generated some email responses to the ads even though I don't have any email set up tat I know about. Probably some basic gmail embedded in the computer.
I went into the system preferences and made some adjustments which reduced the ads but haven't eliminated them. I was hoping not to have to buy MacKeeper for the laptop (it can prevent pop-up ads among other things. I may find free software that does that. Apparently, I'm going to have to compare files on my desktop to the laptop, see what I can copy over, and maybe buy some simple versions of other software.
If anyone has Mac desktop and laptop equipment and some of those things sound familiar, please drop me an email with any useful advise, please! Reattaching the "M" key is actually a priority, but the other long term stuff is more vital.
GARDEN: We had an unusual 70+ day today, so I set about constructing the 5th of 6 framed beds. I thought it would go fast, but NOOOOO....
I mostly have to laugh at all the surprises a project can offer. Well, it doesn't help to complain. Not that I don't both laugh AND swear sometimes.
I got out in the garden at 1:30. First, I had to carry the precut boards (by me, not the Home Depot guy after the first bad experience). I carried one out to the garden, then decided to try using the dolly to carry 2 at a time. Didn't work, they were too tall and awkward. So I carried them all out one at a time. 2"x8"x7' preservative-treated boards are heavy, but on my shoulder one-at-a-time worked. That part was fairly expected.
So the 5th frame was to go 2' from the last and since there had been old beds there before (full of good soil), I only shoveled soil enough to lay down the new boards (different sizes from the old and 90 degrees in rotation).
Dragged out all the usual tools from the shed, connected the 150' of electrical cord, set up the radio on Classical, and started to dig some trenches where the new frame would set level. There are invading vines from a neighbor, and I have been digging them out as I go. Dig, pull, toss, dig, pull, toss... Only one looked odd out of the corner of my eye, so I looked at it. A poison ivy plant! Sure, why not? I haven't seen a poison ivy plant in the garden for several years and I was holding it in my bare hands. Might as well find one now.
So I dropped it in a remote corner where it could die peacefully and went into the house at once to wash my hand. Holding the hand up so that I wouldn't touch anything in the house with it, I got safely to the bathroom and washed with soap for 5 minutes (hurray for pump soap). Then I washed again with rubbing alcohol. If I'm not complaining of poison ivy in 5 days, you'll know it worked.
So I was back out at the garden and set out the corners for the 5th bed. Which meant clamping a long straight board to the end on the previous bed so that they all stay even with each other. Naturally, I had brought the small clamps back to the house for a different project, so back to the house I went. That 150' of walking back and forth adds up! So I clamped the "straight-edge board" and set some corner bricks to support the lower lever of the frame. Yes, I've developed a routine after the first 4 beds. Experience accumulates.
The distance to the far end of the 5th bed was farther than I eyeballed it, so I had to rip out more of the old frame boards and dig off more old garden soil into the existing beds than I had expected. More time gone. And then I hit a 3" tree root from my neighbor's junk trees. And I mean "junk". He just let whatever grew, grow. None of them are good trees, just invasive ones that grow thickly and unhealthfully. Someday, I may ask him if we can just cut them down and plant nicer smaller ones like dogwoods and crabapples or whatever he likes.
But it meant I had to find my ax to cut the invasive root, which was back in the house, of course (for a perfectly good reason). Then I remembered that the ax was a bit dull, so I had to sharpen it. And the bench grinder on a stand was behind a bunch of stuff moved when the insulation guys worked in the basement, and by the time I got access to it and sharpened the ax to "OK" that was another quarter hour gone. And of course, the root was loose in the ground so chopping it with the ax took some time.
An hour and a half and I still hadn't gotten the first board in place for the 5th bed... I used some bad words.
But I was finally able to start with the frame. Previous frames, I leveled first and constructed later. I tried constructing first this time. If you place bricks angled at all the corners, you can get all the board corners to match. That worked pretty well. I got the lower layer of the frame attached in only 30 minutes. That sounds long, but I am obsessed with getting all the corners matching as perfectly as possible. These beds should last 20 years and I'll be looking at them a lot, so why not go for the best appearance?
To construct each layer of the framed bed, I set the long boards on a brick at the corners. The brick also holds the short end boards at the same level. After that, I can use long clamps to loosely hold the 4 boards together. After that, I tap the boards until the square ends match up. Sometimes the boards are not exactly the same width, so I wedge one up to match the next. I used little twigs on the first few beds but realized the axe blade was very good for that.
I have 2 drills for the project. One is a standard electric drill for drilling pilot holes for the long screws that go though both boards at the corner. The second drill is a cordless drill with a screw setting (has a slower speed and a torque control to not overdrive the screws in). But most importantly, it means I don't have to keep changing the drill bit for the screwdriver bit. And I'm using lubricated star-drive screws designed for preservative-treated boards. Those resist the P-T board chemicals AND go in easier. They are worth the very slight extra cost.
I got the lowever level of the framed bed finished and saw bad news. The sun was on the horizon! It was only 4:15! But my horizon is not flat horizon. The land slopes up radically on my west side. But I had all the tools out, the 2nd level of boards ready, and I wanted to finish the 2nd level today. It supposed to rain tomorrow and get colder.
And wouldn't you know it, my box of screws was empty. Back to the house... I thought, and correctly, that I had another box of them "somewhere". Took only 15 minutes to find them. Yes, they were in an obvious place, but not obvious to ME today... LOL!
So back outside in the fading light. Fortunately, the 2nd level of boards is WAY easier than the first. And I found a few quick tips to make that easier. I had used a square piece of 4"x4" to establish square corners on the first couple of 4' wide framed beds. I found that using 4" bar clamps on the 3' wide 3rd and 4th beds was easier. I tightened them loosely, tapped all the corners flush, then tightened the claps more and drilled the holes. Worked great.
Except the 5th and 6th beds (like the 1st and 2nd beds) are actually 4'3" wide and the 4" clamps are JUST too short. Well, guess what, you can hook 2 clamps together! So I attached a 4' clamp and a 12" clamp across the beds at both ends and locked all the corners tight after making them flush in all directions*.
After that, and with the sun over the local elevated horizon, I got the last of the screws in! The framed bed isn't complete. The 2 levels are not attached to each other. I uses a 1"x6"x6' P-T board for THAT. I attach it on the inside of the long boards. Half the width above the seam between the frame boards and screw it on. Then attaching screws in that 1" board below, draws the 2 levels together beautifully!
Tomorrow isn't going to be as nice as today. 50 degrees vs 75. But 50 is OK I might get the last LAST, LAST LAST framed built finished tomorrow. If it doesn't rain...
So close to the end, and chasing the decent weather to the finish, LOL!
But you know, if there weren't surprises all the time in a project, it probably wouldn't be worth writing about it. Seriously, how exciting would it be to just write "I built 6 framed beds this year"?
* I still had to tap boards around in all the corners until the matched up evenly horizontally AND vertically. THEN I tightened the clamps hard and drilled pilot holes for the screws.
Pictures in a few days when I finish...
And there are other annoying problems. I'm sure most can be fixed, but some may just be part of using a laptop. I was expecting that since I was only using the laptop for reading blogs (at the moment), what did I care about security? There's nothing ON the laptop. But then I started getting unending, nearly constant ads. It was like "Whack-A-Mole"! Close one, another pops up. I went 15 minutes doing nothing but closing ads at one point, and even closing some of them seems to have generated some email responses to the ads even though I don't have any email set up tat I know about. Probably some basic gmail embedded in the computer.
I went into the system preferences and made some adjustments which reduced the ads but haven't eliminated them. I was hoping not to have to buy MacKeeper for the laptop (it can prevent pop-up ads among other things. I may find free software that does that. Apparently, I'm going to have to compare files on my desktop to the laptop, see what I can copy over, and maybe buy some simple versions of other software.
If anyone has Mac desktop and laptop equipment and some of those things sound familiar, please drop me an email with any useful advise, please! Reattaching the "M" key is actually a priority, but the other long term stuff is more vital.
GARDEN: We had an unusual 70+ day today, so I set about constructing the 5th of 6 framed beds. I thought it would go fast, but NOOOOO....
I mostly have to laugh at all the surprises a project can offer. Well, it doesn't help to complain. Not that I don't both laugh AND swear sometimes.
I got out in the garden at 1:30. First, I had to carry the precut boards (by me, not the Home Depot guy after the first bad experience). I carried one out to the garden, then decided to try using the dolly to carry 2 at a time. Didn't work, they were too tall and awkward. So I carried them all out one at a time. 2"x8"x7' preservative-treated boards are heavy, but on my shoulder one-at-a-time worked. That part was fairly expected.
So the 5th frame was to go 2' from the last and since there had been old beds there before (full of good soil), I only shoveled soil enough to lay down the new boards (different sizes from the old and 90 degrees in rotation).
Dragged out all the usual tools from the shed, connected the 150' of electrical cord, set up the radio on Classical, and started to dig some trenches where the new frame would set level. There are invading vines from a neighbor, and I have been digging them out as I go. Dig, pull, toss, dig, pull, toss... Only one looked odd out of the corner of my eye, so I looked at it. A poison ivy plant! Sure, why not? I haven't seen a poison ivy plant in the garden for several years and I was holding it in my bare hands. Might as well find one now.
So I dropped it in a remote corner where it could die peacefully and went into the house at once to wash my hand. Holding the hand up so that I wouldn't touch anything in the house with it, I got safely to the bathroom and washed with soap for 5 minutes (hurray for pump soap). Then I washed again with rubbing alcohol. If I'm not complaining of poison ivy in 5 days, you'll know it worked.
So I was back out at the garden and set out the corners for the 5th bed. Which meant clamping a long straight board to the end on the previous bed so that they all stay even with each other. Naturally, I had brought the small clamps back to the house for a different project, so back to the house I went. That 150' of walking back and forth adds up! So I clamped the "straight-edge board" and set some corner bricks to support the lower lever of the frame. Yes, I've developed a routine after the first 4 beds. Experience accumulates.
The distance to the far end of the 5th bed was farther than I eyeballed it, so I had to rip out more of the old frame boards and dig off more old garden soil into the existing beds than I had expected. More time gone. And then I hit a 3" tree root from my neighbor's junk trees. And I mean "junk". He just let whatever grew, grow. None of them are good trees, just invasive ones that grow thickly and unhealthfully. Someday, I may ask him if we can just cut them down and plant nicer smaller ones like dogwoods and crabapples or whatever he likes.
But it meant I had to find my ax to cut the invasive root, which was back in the house, of course (for a perfectly good reason). Then I remembered that the ax was a bit dull, so I had to sharpen it. And the bench grinder on a stand was behind a bunch of stuff moved when the insulation guys worked in the basement, and by the time I got access to it and sharpened the ax to "OK" that was another quarter hour gone. And of course, the root was loose in the ground so chopping it with the ax took some time.
An hour and a half and I still hadn't gotten the first board in place for the 5th bed... I used some bad words.
But I was finally able to start with the frame. Previous frames, I leveled first and constructed later. I tried constructing first this time. If you place bricks angled at all the corners, you can get all the board corners to match. That worked pretty well. I got the lower layer of the frame attached in only 30 minutes. That sounds long, but I am obsessed with getting all the corners matching as perfectly as possible. These beds should last 20 years and I'll be looking at them a lot, so why not go for the best appearance?
To construct each layer of the framed bed, I set the long boards on a brick at the corners. The brick also holds the short end boards at the same level. After that, I can use long clamps to loosely hold the 4 boards together. After that, I tap the boards until the square ends match up. Sometimes the boards are not exactly the same width, so I wedge one up to match the next. I used little twigs on the first few beds but realized the axe blade was very good for that.
I have 2 drills for the project. One is a standard electric drill for drilling pilot holes for the long screws that go though both boards at the corner. The second drill is a cordless drill with a screw setting (has a slower speed and a torque control to not overdrive the screws in). But most importantly, it means I don't have to keep changing the drill bit for the screwdriver bit. And I'm using lubricated star-drive screws designed for preservative-treated boards. Those resist the P-T board chemicals AND go in easier. They are worth the very slight extra cost.
I got the lowever level of the framed bed finished and saw bad news. The sun was on the horizon! It was only 4:15! But my horizon is not flat horizon. The land slopes up radically on my west side. But I had all the tools out, the 2nd level of boards ready, and I wanted to finish the 2nd level today. It supposed to rain tomorrow and get colder.
And wouldn't you know it, my box of screws was empty. Back to the house... I thought, and correctly, that I had another box of them "somewhere". Took only 15 minutes to find them. Yes, they were in an obvious place, but not obvious to ME today... LOL!
So back outside in the fading light. Fortunately, the 2nd level of boards is WAY easier than the first. And I found a few quick tips to make that easier. I had used a square piece of 4"x4" to establish square corners on the first couple of 4' wide framed beds. I found that using 4" bar clamps on the 3' wide 3rd and 4th beds was easier. I tightened them loosely, tapped all the corners flush, then tightened the claps more and drilled the holes. Worked great.
Except the 5th and 6th beds (like the 1st and 2nd beds) are actually 4'3" wide and the 4" clamps are JUST too short. Well, guess what, you can hook 2 clamps together! So I attached a 4' clamp and a 12" clamp across the beds at both ends and locked all the corners tight after making them flush in all directions*.
After that, and with the sun over the local elevated horizon, I got the last of the screws in! The framed bed isn't complete. The 2 levels are not attached to each other. I uses a 1"x6"x6' P-T board for THAT. I attach it on the inside of the long boards. Half the width above the seam between the frame boards and screw it on. Then attaching screws in that 1" board below, draws the 2 levels together beautifully!
Tomorrow isn't going to be as nice as today. 50 degrees vs 75. But 50 is OK I might get the last LAST, LAST LAST framed built finished tomorrow. If it doesn't rain...
So close to the end, and chasing the decent weather to the finish, LOL!
But you know, if there weren't surprises all the time in a project, it probably wouldn't be worth writing about it. Seriously, how exciting would it be to just write "I built 6 framed beds this year"?
* I still had to tap boards around in all the corners until the matched up evenly horizontally AND vertically. THEN I tightened the clamps hard and drilled pilot holes for the screws.
Pictures in a few days when I finish...
Tuesday, September 23, 2014
Garden Enclosure Restart
Well, I decided I had to make some greater allowance for moving around the beds. I kind of forgot there would be a wall of chicken wire all around the edge... So the paths around the outside edges will be 2' wide and the inner ones more like 20". That's enough to get around.
So... I took the first big step and went to the Home Depot to buy twelve 2"x8"x8' boards. A few years ago, they wouldn't cut pressure-treated boards, but now they do. So I selected 12 decent boards (had to look at 20 boards to find 12 straight ones) and had them cut 8 of them 7' long and 4 of them in half.
That gives me enough boards to make two 7'x4' beds two 8' boards high.
Here's the plan... I have enough space cleared of the old rotting beds to build the 2 new beds. I can then move the soil from the existing old beds to fill the new 2. Then I can knock apart 2 more old ones and build 2 new ones, etc.
Why not just rebuild all the old beds you ask? Well, the paths between them were too wide (wasting space) and they faced the wrong direction. When you have limited sunlight, that matters. And odd as it may seem, six 7'x4' beds with narrower paths give me more gardening space than the four 8'x3' beds in the same area.
Trust me on this...
So over the next couple days I'll dig a shallow trench to set the new frames in level (a flaw to correct about the old beds which were more unlevel than you would think sitting on what looks like flat ground) and construct them more sturdier (sturdily?) And I will be adding compost to the new beds, which should get them off to a good start next Spring. And the new beds will be higher, so there will be more decent soil for roots to grow.
It's a lot of work, but it will be worth it. especially since I will be able to cover 1 bed each year with black plastic to kill the weeds and nematodes and such. Sometimes half the battle to grow good crops is to manage the soil. Healthy soil means healthy crops.
I'll take pictures as I go.
So... I took the first big step and went to the Home Depot to buy twelve 2"x8"x8' boards. A few years ago, they wouldn't cut pressure-treated boards, but now they do. So I selected 12 decent boards (had to look at 20 boards to find 12 straight ones) and had them cut 8 of them 7' long and 4 of them in half.
That gives me enough boards to make two 7'x4' beds two 8' boards high.
Here's the plan... I have enough space cleared of the old rotting beds to build the 2 new beds. I can then move the soil from the existing old beds to fill the new 2. Then I can knock apart 2 more old ones and build 2 new ones, etc.
Why not just rebuild all the old beds you ask? Well, the paths between them were too wide (wasting space) and they faced the wrong direction. When you have limited sunlight, that matters. And odd as it may seem, six 7'x4' beds with narrower paths give me more gardening space than the four 8'x3' beds in the same area.
Trust me on this...
So over the next couple days I'll dig a shallow trench to set the new frames in level (a flaw to correct about the old beds which were more unlevel than you would think sitting on what looks like flat ground) and construct them more sturdier (sturdily?) And I will be adding compost to the new beds, which should get them off to a good start next Spring. And the new beds will be higher, so there will be more decent soil for roots to grow.
It's a lot of work, but it will be worth it. especially since I will be able to cover 1 bed each year with black plastic to kill the weeds and nematodes and such. Sometimes half the battle to grow good crops is to manage the soil. Healthy soil means healthy crops.
I'll take pictures as I go.
Friday, August 15, 2014
Deck Box Again, Part 2
Well, I changed plans and saw I needed about 6" more soil. I raked the poor soil level level and used 4 wheelbarrows full from the existing garden out back. The lawn-level digging at the sunken patio edge will wait another day ( have a tiller and think that is needed for the patio drainage problem).
So I took care of the deck framed bed. This morning. After staying up all night... I'm crazy sometimes.
When I had it filled a bit more, I planted. I had a flat of impatiens and a flat of coleus (about 36 each). And a lot of the coleus were doubles. So I teased the coleus apart and planted them at one end and all the impatiens at the other. I don't expect much from them, they only have 3 months to grow. But I had them (from seed) since February, and I figured they deserved a chance to grow. Next year, the whole bed will be hostas moved from the front yard so the deer won't eat them.
So the impatiens and coleus are just for this year.
Coleus...
Dwarf Hostas...
Impatiens...
Looking at the bed...
The hostas along the other side of the patio. When the deck-builders came in late June, I had one old hosta in the way, so I divided it into about 12 pieces. I bet they all survive and thrive!
And as they grow, I will divide them more and fill the entire under-stair area with them. They aren't fancy ones, but they will fill up all the under-stairs in a few years.
And a nice thing I thought of... Each winter, the wind blows tree leaves into the patio and I am forever shoveling them back out. Well, now all I have to do is shovel them onto the hosta beds. Decaying leaves are like fertilizer to the hostas.
So I took care of the deck framed bed. This morning. After staying up all night... I'm crazy sometimes.
When I had it filled a bit more, I planted. I had a flat of impatiens and a flat of coleus (about 36 each). And a lot of the coleus were doubles. So I teased the coleus apart and planted them at one end and all the impatiens at the other. I don't expect much from them, they only have 3 months to grow. But I had them (from seed) since February, and I figured they deserved a chance to grow. Next year, the whole bed will be hostas moved from the front yard so the deer won't eat them.
So the impatiens and coleus are just for this year.
Coleus...
And a nice thing I thought of... Each winter, the wind blows tree leaves into the patio and I am forever shoveling them back out. Well, now all I have to do is shovel them onto the hosta beds. Decaying leaves are like fertilizer to the hostas.
Sunday, August 10, 2014
Deck Box, Part 2
One of the nice things about just posting pictures of projects is that the mistakes don't show up much. But there always are some. For example...
The tall framed part at the lower end had 2 metal rods pounded down through holes I drilled. It worked well. However, when I went to attach the first of the long boards along the side, I discovered a surprise. Attaching "2x" boards (which are actually only 1.5") usually requires 3" screws. Well, when I put the first one in, it went about 2" and stopped dead (actually stripping the hole). Baffled, I stopped and looked at it for a couple minutes.
Oh no! I had placed the metal rod too close to the end of the board and the screw was reaching it. I measured carefully and decided a 2.25" screw wouldn't reach the metal rod. Not as much holding power, so I used extras. And exterior wood adhesive. If that doesn't hold, I'll have to fashion an angled metal fastener on the outside of the corner to reinforce it. Which will remind me of my error forever, LOL!
You can JUST see the little dot of the metal bar on the top right of the picture. All I had to do was drill the holes 1" further from the end of the boards...
But I did make some more progress on the box today. The box has existing soil level at the high end and none at the bottom. Since the soil is poor, I decided to dig it deeper at the top and move it to the lower end. That will leave me with about 6" to fill with better soil, and the hostas I intend to plant there don't have deep roots, so that should work fine.
Unfortunately, that poor soil is also rock-hard. So I soaked the upper soil for an hour (yesterday) and attacked it today with my leverage fork. What fun! It was both still hard AND muddy. I was able to dig up about 4" of it and move it to the lower area, but what a MESS! And I need to do more digging tomorrow. No point in leaving bad soil near the surface.
Then I can fill it with topsoil and plant some leftover annual coleus and impatiens there for what's left of this season. I'll move the hostas from the front to this new box in October when the annuals die back.
Then I can get back to that chicken-wire garden enclosure to use next year.
The tall framed part at the lower end had 2 metal rods pounded down through holes I drilled. It worked well. However, when I went to attach the first of the long boards along the side, I discovered a surprise. Attaching "2x" boards (which are actually only 1.5") usually requires 3" screws. Well, when I put the first one in, it went about 2" and stopped dead (actually stripping the hole). Baffled, I stopped and looked at it for a couple minutes.
You can JUST see the little dot of the metal bar on the top right of the picture. All I had to do was drill the holes 1" further from the end of the boards...
But I did make some more progress on the box today. The box has existing soil level at the high end and none at the bottom. Since the soil is poor, I decided to dig it deeper at the top and move it to the lower end. That will leave me with about 6" to fill with better soil, and the hostas I intend to plant there don't have deep roots, so that should work fine.
Unfortunately, that poor soil is also rock-hard. So I soaked the upper soil for an hour (yesterday) and attacked it today with my leverage fork. What fun! It was both still hard AND muddy. I was able to dig up about 4" of it and move it to the lower area, but what a MESS! And I need to do more digging tomorrow. No point in leaving bad soil near the surface.
Then I can get back to that chicken-wire garden enclosure to use next year.
Wednesday, July 30, 2014
Next Project, Part 2
Made some progress on framing in the area around the sunken patio wall and deck posts the past to days. It's a bit awkward using just the deck leftovers, but I think I have them arranged so that I don't have to dig really deep trenches to set the boards into the ground.
The lower end needs a 2"x12" board and a 2"x10" board to reach the top on the cinder block wall, but the far end is almost level with the wall, so I only need a 2"x4" board. The in-between part will have a couple of stacked boards to complete the frame and make it level on the top of the boards. And I can attach those directly to the deck posts, so it will be very sturdy.
I had some problems figuring out how to attach the lower end boards firmly, until I thought of drilling holes down the width at both ends. I can put a 3' remesh bar through both and pound them into the ground with a sledgehammer. That will have the remesh bars 1' into the ground. Plus I will use some exterior caulking cement to attach the boards to the cinder block for some extra stability. It's not epoxy or resin, just like really thick toothpaste. I'm not sure what that stuff is actually called, but I've used it before to attach wood and cinder block in the basement and it holds like bolts!
Drilling the holes through the width of the 12 and 10" boards took 2 hours today! Fortunately, I have a large drill press (generic image). With some clamps and a speed square, I was able to get most on the holes drilled straight.
But it won't go all the way through a 12' board (8" depth only). So I had to finish the drilling manually. Fortunately, having the 8 inch holes drilled straight allowed me to use a manual drill for the rest. The drilled holes allowed me to stay straight for the final work. But I couldn't have done THAT without the extra long drill bit.
I bought a 6-piece set of extra long drill bits many years ago thinking "I'll need those some day". They're not the best quality either. Not titanium or even high-speed steel, but how often do you need something like those? So they were cheap and they work well enough. Just using a couple of the cheap drill bits a couple of times has been well worth the cost.
It took some work though! Every inch deep, I had to pull the drill bit out and remove sawdust packed in the drill spirals. Could I have simply turned the boards over on the drill press and drilled from both sides? Yeah. But experience has taught me that no matter how carefully you measure, holes drilled from 2 sides will NEVER meet in the middle. Sad but true. You need factory precision tools to do that.
But that part is now done. Tomorrow, I will attach the bottom pieces by pounding rebar through the holes and gluing the ends to the cinder block. Then it will be a lot easier to trench the long side boards and attach them to the deck posts.
Filling in the framed box will be easy. Why? Well, the yard is made of dirt; I can steal it from almost anywhere, LOL! I'm going to move the front yard hostas to the new box, and hostas don't even LIKE really good soil.
One interesting thing is that the hostas will be almost at eye level when I'm out on the sunken patio. I used to park at a city garage that had an arrangement like that, and it was really different seeing the plants that way. It was always calming. So I'm hoping for the same effect here.
Surprise discovery... The new deck posts are set precisely 14' away from the house. But the distance from the sunken patio cinder block wall varies by 6". The cinder block wall is NOT square to the house! Every project I do reminds me that the builder did a slipshod job in all aspects. So the framed box is not going to be a nice rectangle.
But it was either make the framed box a 90 degree rectangle (in which case the deck posts would have been variably farther inside the frame, or use the deck posts as the guide for the frame and the frame gets 6" narrower toward the high end. I decided that using the deck posts as a guide made a more logical appearance.
If any of my friends ever decide to measure it, I will rap their knuckles with a ruler! LOL!
Some notes from the first picture... 1) At the far side of the sunken patio, there are some hostas already planted. I had one common green hosta planted near the old deck stairs for 20 years and it spread some. I was able to divide it into 12 pieces and transplanted them there. All seem to be recovering well in that really terrible clay soil. Well, its what they were growing in before, so I assume they liked it.
2) That object in the upper right is a mailbox. Of course, I don't get my mail delivered in the back yard. But it makes a great place to store all my various garden hose nozzles and plumbers tape*. I have another out in the garden where I store all my small hand tools. Great idea to keep track of small items...
* Plumbers tape is thin plastic that wraps around the threads of hoses and attachments.
It does a great job of stopping water leaks around hose and nozzle connections. Leaky connections? Give it a try. $1 at most hardware stores.
The lower end needs a 2"x12" board and a 2"x10" board to reach the top on the cinder block wall, but the far end is almost level with the wall, so I only need a 2"x4" board. The in-between part will have a couple of stacked boards to complete the frame and make it level on the top of the boards. And I can attach those directly to the deck posts, so it will be very sturdy.
Drilling the holes through the width of the 12 and 10" boards took 2 hours today! Fortunately, I have a large drill press (generic image). With some clamps and a speed square, I was able to get most on the holes drilled straight.
But it won't go all the way through a 12' board (8" depth only). So I had to finish the drilling manually. Fortunately, having the 8 inch holes drilled straight allowed me to use a manual drill for the rest. The drilled holes allowed me to stay straight for the final work. But I couldn't have done THAT without the extra long drill bit.
It took some work though! Every inch deep, I had to pull the drill bit out and remove sawdust packed in the drill spirals. Could I have simply turned the boards over on the drill press and drilled from both sides? Yeah. But experience has taught me that no matter how carefully you measure, holes drilled from 2 sides will NEVER meet in the middle. Sad but true. You need factory precision tools to do that.
But that part is now done. Tomorrow, I will attach the bottom pieces by pounding rebar through the holes and gluing the ends to the cinder block. Then it will be a lot easier to trench the long side boards and attach them to the deck posts.
Filling in the framed box will be easy. Why? Well, the yard is made of dirt; I can steal it from almost anywhere, LOL! I'm going to move the front yard hostas to the new box, and hostas don't even LIKE really good soil.
One interesting thing is that the hostas will be almost at eye level when I'm out on the sunken patio. I used to park at a city garage that had an arrangement like that, and it was really different seeing the plants that way. It was always calming. So I'm hoping for the same effect here.
Surprise discovery... The new deck posts are set precisely 14' away from the house. But the distance from the sunken patio cinder block wall varies by 6". The cinder block wall is NOT square to the house! Every project I do reminds me that the builder did a slipshod job in all aspects. So the framed box is not going to be a nice rectangle.
But it was either make the framed box a 90 degree rectangle (in which case the deck posts would have been variably farther inside the frame, or use the deck posts as the guide for the frame and the frame gets 6" narrower toward the high end. I decided that using the deck posts as a guide made a more logical appearance.
If any of my friends ever decide to measure it, I will rap their knuckles with a ruler! LOL!
Some notes from the first picture... 1) At the far side of the sunken patio, there are some hostas already planted. I had one common green hosta planted near the old deck stairs for 20 years and it spread some. I was able to divide it into 12 pieces and transplanted them there. All seem to be recovering well in that really terrible clay soil. Well, its what they were growing in before, so I assume they liked it.
2) That object in the upper right is a mailbox. Of course, I don't get my mail delivered in the back yard. But it makes a great place to store all my various garden hose nozzles and plumbers tape*. I have another out in the garden where I store all my small hand tools. Great idea to keep track of small items...
* Plumbers tape is thin plastic that wraps around the threads of hoses and attachments.
It does a great job of stopping water leaks around hose and nozzle connections. Leaky connections? Give it a try. $1 at most hardware stores.
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