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Lawn Guy-Land and smashing the image

Square Foot Gardening List - http://www.flinet.com/~gallus/sqft.html

Hi Katherirne,

I live in East Meadow, on Long Island in the middle of Nassau County,
smack dab in iconic suburbia (Levittown is right next door, and though I
don't live in a Levitt house now I grew up in a Levitt division called
Westbury Gardens)

The first thing I did to annoy the neighbors was put two flower gardens
out in the hellstrips when I had the town remove the dying maples. One
neighbor pointedly remarked that "We all have grass and trees
(pronounced Tree-ees) in front of our homes" I told her I had just come
back from living for thirteen years in the upper Catskills and we all
had flowers in front of our homes there.........okay, this actually
turned out well because the flowers grew in and now everyone wants to
know what I am planting this year (annuals) and what food do I
use....yadda yadda yadda

The next thing I did to annoy this same neighbor was to stop using lawn
chemicals, my lawn is now a beautiful lush carpet of healthy
green....some grass, clover, and absolutely fabulous DANDY LIONS! I also
am the only one on the block that gets robins to come to the lawn, I
stopped killing the grubs when I bought the house, 3 years ago, and so I
also stopped killing the worms..this is the first Spring we have had
robins so I guess the worms have come back, yay!

I do have a fence enclosing my backyard, but if I didn't I still would
have my mulch pile.....despite curbside collection every Wed. AM of yard
wastes, I use a mulch pile. Originally the pile was simply an easy
catch-all for the yard wastes. 

This year I discovered the simple idea of lasagna beds and broke down
last years pile and used it as a layering element in the construction of
the beds. I had always grown a few tomatoes and a zucchini ( my idea of
a veggie patch), but with the new beds, I can grow lots of veggies and
melons. I do trade for the majority of my seeds so I can grow a lot of
varieties, I am not constricted or limited by catalogue availability or price.

This years pile almost is done, it's a huge thing and I built it up
lasagna style, layering my greens and browns. I will be able to plant in
it by mid April, probably can put the maters and peppers out now , after
hardening off, but I will wait just a few more weeks for them to get a
bit bigger and let the pile cook just a bit more during the next two weeks.

Composting is good, if you don't think the neighbors would like it then
build a nice screen around it. Go to home depot and get some lattice, or
plant some tall growing plant or bush to screen it, BTW......piles do
best in the shade so the bush idea is good. Also, the main thing to
remember is that it's your piece of property and that your neighbors
aren't paying your mortgage and taxes.......it's your name on the deed,
not theirs..

Good luck on your pile........build it high!

Here's a few really good sites:

Soil, Compost, and Mulch Forum
http://www.gardenweb.com/forums/soil/

Seed Exchange
http://www.gardenweb.com/forums/exseed/

Complete list of Garden Web Forums
http://www.gardenweb.com/forums/


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