Re: Garden maintenance know-how

No tips nor techniques.  I know the day will come when I can't take
care of all this.  Hopefully, they'll haul me out in a box about that
time.  Plan is to keep on truckin' until I am forced to change and
deal with it as and when:-)

Well....one sort of tip...I have learned over the years that if you
allow ground covering plants to completely cover ground, you have
virtually no maintenance of that ground.  Sure, there's the odd woody
weedy tree seedling to pull and the odd this and that to yank out and
you need to water when it's really dry.  But, when ground is
completely covered there is no mulching - the plants and fallen
leaves take care of that - and virtually no weeding.  If you select
plants who are self-cleaning, there is no deadheading.  If plants
cover the ground thickly, you don't see the odd dead or discolored
leaf so there's no tidying to do.  Groundcovers save a whale of a lot
of labor.

Marge Talt, zone 7 Maryland
mtalt@clark.net
Editor:  Gardening in Shade
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> From: Diann Barbee Thoma <diannthoma@EARTHLINK.NET>
> Date: Thursday, August 03, 2000 6:24 PM
>
> Fellow Gardeners,
>
> Well, I at least am old enough to see that maintaining my shade
gardens (I'm
> still in development mode)is going to be harder and harder as I get
older. I
> am wondering what tips and techniques other gardeners in this list
have
> developed or emulated to cut down the work of shade garden
maintenance?
>
> There is a book out called "The Well-Tended Perennial Garden,
Planting and
> Pruning Techniques" by T. DiSabato-Aust which I found useful and
> interesting. Good reference book too. Very practical.
>
> I'm also personally convinced that tons of mulch will be required
to keep up
> with the water requirements of shade plants and keep out the weeds.
>
> What do ya'll know, and what do ya'll do?
>
> Diann
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