Re: Verbena Bonariensis

Barb, I have been vegetable gardening in a modified Ruth Stout method for
years.  I use hay, since straw is unavailable; seeds have not been a problem
except once when I got some really rough, seedy stuff.  My soil is very
sandy and droughty.  I have permanent beds about four feet wide, and mulch
the paths between them with wood chips.  The soil is barely mounded in the
beds.  In drought years they hold moisture well, and in wet years they still
drain immediately because despite 8 years of compost and soil improvement,
it's still basically sand.
Merri Morgan
zone 5b, WV
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Barb" <barp@idcnet.com>
To: <perennials@hort.net>
Sent: Thursday, August 05, 2004 8:44 PM
Subject: RE: Verbena Bonariensis


> My Verbena b. lined paths, which are in between 8-foot square beds, are
> dirt and barely covered with woodchip mulch from the city - in full sun.
> Not particularly well drained - just average. The woodchip mulch on the
> paths is thin because of all the downpours in the spring and early
> summer washed it away!  Maybe I should cultivate the paths and woodchip
> the beds!!  On this note, has anyone ever tried the Ruth Stout method of
> gardening? Straw covered beds - pushed aside for planting?
>
> One of the garden beds has herbs, 3 have vegetables (if the #$& rabbits
> leave me any carrots and beans, I'll be glad, and the tomatoes are
> losing all their leaves to disease), and  finally a large 4 x 10-foot
> area, a mixture of buddleias I started from seed two years ago, annual
> poppies that reseeded, a bird's-nest gourd that is taking over the
> world, a columnar apple, which has never bloomed, and another evil
> reseeder, Grampa Ott morning glory. This last patch is a chaotic
> nightmare, and I'm getting too old to get ruthless with it. But it's
> green and growing, and a jungle is better than winter.
>
> -Barb
>
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