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Garden Club Pollinator Garden Beds

Welcome to Westside Gardeners’ Club › Forums › Community Events and News › Garden Club Pollinator Garden Beds

Tagged: Garden Club beds, pollinator plants

  • This topic has 12 replies, 6 voices, and was last updated 2 years, 10 months ago by Green Aline.
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    • April 4, 2020 at 12:21 pm #449
      Mikel
      Moderator

        @Cliff has been working hard weeding and prepping the Garden Club beds outside of the Community Center. After fully weeding around the edges of the beds, he dug it up and put down decomposed granite surrounding the beds to inhibit further weeds.

        If you have a chance, go check it out, and check on the composting progress.

        Post your photos and updates here! =)

      • April 4, 2020 at 2:23 pm #454
        Patti
        Moderator

          That looks great Cliff!!  Thank you so much!

           

        • April 4, 2020 at 7:12 pm #456
          Karen Andersen
          Participant

            Yay, my home garden doesn’t even look this good!!!

            Thanks Cliff

          • April 7, 2020 at 9:16 am #461
            mlillmt
            Participant

              Great job, Cliff!

            • April 11, 2020 at 10:10 am #538
              Patti
              Moderator

                I will help planting the beds when the time comes.  I will do a watering session too.

              • April 11, 2020 at 1:22 pm #618
                Mikel
                Moderator

                  Here are the notes from our meeting for executing the Pollinator Garden project:  Step 1 – Soil Prep and Weeding

                  • We agreed to split the soil prep up into 2 days: Sat April 25 & May 2.
                  • This doesn’t need a lot of coordination, just please take photos and let us know your progress, by posting here.
                  • Bring a tarp with you to pile the weeds on, so they can be easily disposed.
                  • Bring a small hand digging shovel and fork, a rake, gloves.
                  • @Aline will find a good youtube video on how to best prep the bed and post it here, so we can all be on the same page with what we are doing.
                  • We need to pickup 2 1/2 yards of soil from Lane Forest. Edie, Janine, Cliff, Becca have all volunteered to do this. This equals to 5 truck loads.
                  • Once the beds are prepped and weeded, we can coordinate the soil and plant pick up for Saturday May 9 planting. This will need to be much more coordinated.
                • April 18, 2020 at 2:39 pm #634
                  Edie Moro
                  Moderator

                    Once we have the weeds heaped on our tarp, what do we do with them?  Should I bring a couple of trash bags for noxious weeds?

                    Edie

                    • April 20, 2020 at 10:59 am #638
                      Mikel
                      Moderator

                        Hi Edie,

                        I was thinking we could all take a pile home and burn it.

                    • April 19, 2020 at 2:21 pm #635
                      Green Aline
                      Moderator

                        Hi @mikel @edie @cliff and all…

                        I stopped by the community center briefly on Tuesday.
                        Here’s my assessment of the current state of this garden.

                        • The sheet mulch is working to suppress the weed growth.
                        • The cold composting is unfinished and drying out.
                        • Under the cardboard we have 2-3 inches of soil laced with quack grass roots.
                        • New grass growth is emerging at the edges.

                        Here’s the minimum prep that is needed.

                        1. Roll back the cardboard/sheet mulch about a foot from the log border.
                        2. Try not to tear the cardboard, so this covering may be replaced fairly intact.
                        3. Removal of the remaining quack grass roots about a foot in from each log edge.Try to clear all roots close to the log.
                        4. Cover the section you have cleared of weeds with a new piece of cardboard tucked up to the log.
                        5. Replace the cardboard/ sheet mulch.

                        See how to clear weeds video at this link.

                        Here’s another short video just about the quack grass removal.

                        By adopting this plan, we will in effect be clearing 1/3 of the area of the remaining invasive grass roots (a foot in from each log edge).
                        I’m guessing that our fall prep had already removed the top 2-3″ of these roots, as they generally go down to a 4-6″ depth.
                        Keeping the sheet mulch in place is important for suppressing quack grass growth within the other 2/3 of the area.

                        Our plan to bring in 2 1/2 yards of planting soil will add about 6″ of height to this bed.

                        If we soak the sheet mulch before covering the bed with the purchased soil, worms living underneath the cardboard should be able to complete the composting.

                        The added soil on top of the sheet mulch should continue to suppress this invader, along with regular weeding after planting.

                        What do you think about this approach?

                        • This reply was modified 2 years, 11 months ago by Green Aline. Reason: add user names
                      • April 23, 2020 at 3:36 pm #648
                        Green Aline
                        Moderator

                          Thinking ahead to Saturday, April 25, I see a need to bring more cardboard with us (step 4 above).

                          The bed we are getting ready for planting is 35 feet long by 3 1/2 feet wide.

                          Suppose each of us were to remove the quack grass roots along the log edge, as I described above, for say 10-12 linear feet.  Seven club members would be needed to complete the task, each doing a modest amount of labor.

                          If only 2 or 3 of us show up at the same time, the length of this bed will allow us to keep physically distant.

                           

                        • May 5, 2020 at 4:50 pm #656
                          Mikel
                          Moderator

                            The weeding and compost soil amendment went well. We are on schedule to plant the pollinator garden this Saturday, May 9th @ 11 am. The weather should be beautiful, so bring a shovel, rake, gloves, and your mask! We will finish up the southern garden bed.

                          • May 9, 2020 at 1:14 pm #658
                            Mikel
                            Moderator

                              Great job to everyone who has helped weeding, prepping and planting the bed. It looks GREAT! 😁

                            • May 12, 2020 at 8:10 am #659
                              Green Aline
                              Moderator

                                I regret missing out on the planting, it sure looks great! And this looks to be a native Iris in bloom? Would you like to post a plant list here, @mikel, please?

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