RE: weeds/

**t*@vt.edu**

Jack Hale is indeed older and wiser.......

Cheers to experience!

Tom Tyler

>From: "Honigman, Adam" <Adam.Honigman@BowCh>Subject: RE: [cg] weeds/
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>Comrades:
>Jack does this for a living and,  it shows. 
>What a splendid, informative note. Hats off!
>
>Adam
>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From:	Jack N. Hale [SMTP:jackh@knoxparks.org]
>> Sent:	Tuesday, August 22, 2000 10:50 AM
>> To:	Linda Schroeder; community_garden@mallorn.com
>> Subject:	RE: [cg] weeds
>> 
>> There is a wonderful community garden that is on the grounds of the
>> Montreal
>> Botanic Garden.
>> Weeds are often a design issue.  For instance:
>> 1. If fence fabric extends all the way to the ground, it is often
>> difficult
>> to keep the fence line free of weeds.  Keep the fabric 3-4 inches above
>> the
>> ground.  This allows a weed whacker to handle the problem quite nicely.
>> Mulch or boards under the fence also create a clean appearance.
>> 2. Keep pathways to a minimum.  No wider than necessary - some gardens
>> have
>> wide central utility paths and narrow paths that lead to individual
>> gardens.
>> In some of our gardens, gardeners have eliminated paths that they
>> considered
>> to be unnecessary - provides more gardening space and eliminates the weedy
>> path.
>> 3. Consider mowed paths, just the width of a lawnmower.  With a board or
>> brick edge they can look very neat.
>> 4. In one small, but sensitive garden, the landowner, a major insurance
>> company, paved the paths with asphalt, including curbs.
>> 
>> From a non-design standpoint,  perhaps people need to be introduced to the
>> ordinary hoe.  In our gardens, the neatest plots invariably belong to
>> 90-year-old women who are skilled in the use of that tool.  People who end
>> up pulling weeds are  the ones who don't use their hoes.  Cultivators work
>> pretty well, too.
>> 
>> From the standpoint of building community, the problem belongs to
>> everybody,
>> not just the few sloppy ones and the overworked coordinator.  What if you
>> had a meeting of all the gardeners, or all the ones who would come
>> (provide
>> cookies) and told them that the botanic garden was dissatisfied with the
>> appearance of the garden and might want to close it.  That might get their
>> attention.  Ask them to brainstorm solutions and then decide what steps to
>> take.  Sometimes that is the best source of "justice" for people who let
>> their garden go - and you don't end up having to be the judge and
>> executioner.  It is also a good way to set standards and to make sure
>> everyone has a way to pitch in and improve the situation.  Perhaps the
>> botanic garden would like to offer awards (green flags?) to the examplary
>> gardens - neatest, most imaginative, most diverse, etc.
>> 
>> Good luck
>> 
>> Jack Hale
>> 
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From:	community_garden-admin@mallorn.com
>> [community_garden-admin@mallorn.com] On Behalf Of Linda Schroeder
>> Sent:	Monday, August 21, 2000 5:04 PM
>> To:	community_garden@mallorn.com
>> Subject:	[cg] weeds
>> 
>> I am helping to coordinate a community garden project as an intern at
>> Denver
>> Botanic Gardens this year.  I am interested in knowing of other community
>> gardens that are part of a Botanic Garden.  I would greatly appreciate any
>> suggestions.
>> Also, I am wondering how to deal with the overwhelming weed problem we are
>> having in the gardens.  The administration of the Botanic Gardens has a
>> high
>> expectation of how the community gardens should look aesthetically, and I
>> would love some suggestions of ways to encourage gardeners to keep their
>> individual plots less weedy, as well as common areas and pathways in the
>> garden.  In past years, the coordinator would "red flag" individual's
>> plots
>> that were really out of control, and if the problem was not remedied
>> within
>> ten days, he or she would lose gardening priveleges for the following
>> year.
>> I don't like such an authoritarian system, but some of the plots and
>> pathways are becoming a nuisance to other gardeners, especially due to all
>> of the bindweed we have.  It is an organic garden, and I would like ot
>> avoid
>> herbicides as well.  Any ideas?
>> 
>> Thank you,
>> 
>> Linda Schroeder
>> Community Gardens Intern
>> Denver Botanic Gardens
>> 
>> 
>> 
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