Re: McClements Raised Beds
- Subject: Re: McClements Raised Beds
- From: B*@aol.com
- Date: Sat, 4 Oct 2003 08:36:01 EDT
In a message dated 10/4/2003 12:57:41 AM Eastern Standard Time,
mtalt@hort.net writes:
> As an aside, I visited the marvelous garden of Jim McClements in
> Delaware this spring. He has been making raised beds of sand and
> chopped leaves (many of them oak leaves from his big trees) for some
> time now and those beds grow amazing plants. The beds start out a
> couple of feet tall and end up maybe 6" tall after a year or so. He
> layers chopped leaves, sand, manure and peat. The originator of this
> method made the beds in fall and let them sit over winter before
> planting, but Jim has planted straight into the freshly made beds on
> occasion and had no real problems doing so.
Sounds like a good recipe for new beds, Marge. However, I'd let them sit for
a year before planting bulbs in it, especially daffodils. The manure until
well composted will promote bulb loss.
As for shredding, for years I used one of those electric shredders that you
sit on top of a garbage can. The going is slow, but it shreds well. Now I have
a heavy duty shredder designed for branches up to 3" diameter. The back hopper
is great for raking leaves into and it shreds them magnificently--it's also
much much faster than the electric shredder.
Another great tool is the lawn sweeper. I always looked at them with
reservations, but I have enough land and leaves that investing in one made sense. This
is the model that is nothing more than brushes mounted on an axle--when
pulled behind the tractor it sweeps leaves (and grass clippings) into the bin
behind it and makes short work of cleaning up. Then I can dump the leaves next to
the shredder and rake 'em in. With all the rain we've had in this area this
summer, I used it for grass clippings as well--periods between mowing were
extended enough that there was way too much grass clippings to just leave on the
lawn, which you woulld normally due to help feed the lawn.
Bill Lee
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