RE: Bed preparation

Hi Lynn,  What I want to know is - where did you take him to dinner? :)
	Here is a non-roundup, lazy woman's way to start a new perennial bed:
Cover the area you have marked out with sheets of cardboard or thick
newspaper.  Toss a little dirt on there and begin using the area for a
compost heap.  Let the stuff pile up and cook.  You can turn it or not.
Next spring, turn it all over with a fork and plant right into it.  You will
be amazed at the vigor of the plants you set in.  The grass & cardboard will
have composted too by the way and the soil/compost will be soft and friable.
Marilyn Dube'
Natural Designs Nursery
Portland, Oregon


-----Original Message-----
From:	owner-perennials@hort.net [o*@hort.net] On Behalf
Of Lynn Lamb
Sent:	Thursday, August 29, 2002 5:24 PM
To:	perennials@hort.net
Subject:	Bed preparation

Hello all,
     We have enjoyed many days of coolness and rain, so naturally my mind
has
been working overtime thinking about and planning an enlarged perennial bed.
What I would like to know from you--do you always kill the grass first
before
tilling the soil?  What is the general thinking about this?  Any good
websites
you know of?  I am adverse to using chemicals, but husband thinks we should
kill grass first with Round-Up.  Marge, I am printing out your articles on
Planting Basics now...have not read them yet.  I was fortunate enough to
entice the Head Gardener of Daniel Stowe Botanical Garden, Douglas Ruhren,
to
let me buy his dinner if he would give me advice for my garden.  So, for 2
1/2
hrs. he and I discussed and came up with a rough plan to improve and enlarge
what I already have.  Hubby and I went out and marked it off with neon
orange
paint this afternoon.  I will be using alot more shade plants than I have in
the past and am excited about the posssiblity of growing plants that are new
to me.  So, please give me some advice about the Round-Up.   Thanks in
advance.
Lynn Lamb
NC Zone 7b

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