A Gardeners Forum Forums Members History Forum Life 2005 My New Flower & Herb Bed

I decided 3 months ago that a 3 foot wide by 50 foot long flower/herb bed would look great along my veggie garden fence. My reasoning: I had recieved a rose bush for mother's day, I knew nothing about roses and still learning as I go, but have managed to keep it going and blooming (It is still blooming) Anyway it looked strange by its self next to the garden fence, So I started thinking, and came up with the bed idea. First I layed old shower curtains down on the ground where I wanted the bed (I'm a pack rat and save everything LOL)Then I had some old tin roofing which I laid on the plastic...This was to try and kill the grass/weeds etc. After about 2 months...I removed the plastic & tin and tilled it up rather deeply...Then placed plastic & tin back over it.

Well today I decided that there were a few plants that HAD to be moved NOW while there is still enough good weather left for the plants to re-establish them selves. I asked hubby how he thought I should proceed...Well I learned a lesson.... NEVER, NEVER ask your spouse when you are the gardener and they only pretend to be. Anyway tommarrow I will post what happened and how I proceeded and try to get a picture so you can see the progress as I get it planted.

Comfrey, I hope you know that garden beds are addicting, you start with one and you just have to have another. 50 ft, that's gonna be a lot of weeding. I have one 35 by 3ft in front of my house. Then others all over.

Comfrey what zone are you in?

I'm in zone 7b....This is the fourth flower bed I have put in since I have been here which is 3 yrs. But I had back surgery 2 yrs ago and couldn't do any outdoor work that year, and I already had those 3 beds planted, so you imagine what kind of work I have had to do to recover these beds from the weeds...LOL one of the reasons for the new bed, so I can relocate some plants from one that is way out of control, there are sapling trees coming up all over in the bed and bind weed everywhere, so going to relocate all of "my" plants from it...and try to revamp the bed for some sort of use????

Here sre some pictures of what I am doing, I'll post the rest of the story later tonight..having company for supper and still need to finish picking up the house LOL.... No time for house work. esp when you can still play in the dirt.

Have you tried the lasagna raised bed technique? It's explained up in organic real well and I think there is a fact sheet about it too maybe? I forget. Anyway it takes care of killing the grass/weeds for you and looks a bit better in the process I think. And the soil is nicely ammended and ready for planting after the technique has finished doing it's thing.

Just a thought I wanted to mention. I'm in zone 7a and it was way to hot out to be digging beds out of my clay soil this summer so I paid close attention to the process and tried it in one small place. The results were very good and I know have my hosta, peonies, and one misplaced miniature rose in that location.

Good luck with your new bed.

And now for the rest of the story: And yes the plants are wilted...they were worse when I dug them up..yes it was neglect on my part, But the plants will survive, they are very hardy! I bought this weed barrier stuff...At this point and time..I think it was waste of time, effort & money. Anyway hubby said I should dig the plants first, then prepare the bed..Reasoning being that way I would know how much space I needed to prepare...Ok it does make sense, BUT the wrong choice!!! First of all I have to say, I can not use a shovel, I think the reason behind that is I am just too short to use it properly, or maybe there is some mental block when it comes to using a shovel???? I had to shovel out a few inches of dirt for this part of the bed, I finally got 2/3 of it shoveled out, I have one of those short handled shovels with a small head..."Lady Gardener's Shovel" My arms felt they were going to drop off...Hubby did come to my rescue with a big shovel, when he seen how hard it had been for me. Ok this did help, but I am worn out and ready to quit for the day....Oh but no I can't quit...I have plants in that bucket over there. Sigh...Ok my plan was to dig a few inches out and mark the weed barrier for where my plants were going to be, cut it, and make a few holes...Easy wrong again...The wind had not blown all day...now the wind is blowing like mad and the weed barrier is flapping in the wind..Sigh again, finally I manage to gain enough strength to fight the wind...But the sissors I had...wouldn't cut this stuff, so off to the house to look for another pair of sissors, a box cutter etc. Finally after 15 minutes I found another pair of sissors and they work great. Next I put the weed barrier back into the bed and marked where I needed to dig my three holes in the ground...This should be a breeze...wrong again SIGH! Ok I live in Arkansas and we happened to have more then our share of rocks...first hole had 3 BIG rocks I couldn't get out, so ok..move on to the second hole, I had it almost the size I wanted and here is another rock...Sigh and I move to the place of the next hole....WOW it was easy to dig and turned out great. Now I have confidence to overcome the rocks in hole 1 & 2. Hole #1 required hubby to bring big shovel and a pick to get it finished and #2 required a shovel and more strength then I had. Ok finally I ready to do something...But I forgot I have to go to the shed and retrieve a bag of manure...The plants I was planting are comfrey plants, they love manure...So I fill all three holes with the manure and hollowed out a place to stick the plants, laid my weed barrier down and put the plants into the manure, added more manure, and now to shovel those few inches of dirt back ontop of the weed barrier. Finally I am finished...Oppps No I'm not, as I have to drag the hose out there and water, all the tools, rocks etc have to be picked up and put away. Hubby is now wanting to know what time dinner is going to be and what I plan to fix HIM to eat...I look at him and softly growl under my breathe LOL Anyway here it is the next day and the front of both shoulders hurt so bad...I hate to even lift my arms. The rest of the bed will be done differently and hopefully not as painful!!!

I'm with you all the way. I have compost elbow from the landlord's shovel. it definitely is not light even before I pick anything up with it lol.

I don't have a hubby so when I'm at the end of my rope it doesn't get done so I always need solutions that are pretty strength limited. I gardened in 15 minute increments when I started this spring because that was the most I could manage at one time. I'm up to about one and a half hours now which is pretty good for me. Hopefully it will continue to improve.

WHEW...glad to know I am not alone. I started out this year like you did 15-30 minutes at a time and I can do 2 hours now, but I am 51 yrs old and had back surgery 2 years ago, also have arthritis and need to have another back surgery. I do think gardening has helped me to be in better physical condition though. And I would never be able to "Not Be Able To Dig In the Dirt", some how, some way I will always figure a way to be able to dig in the dirt.

I am also killed when using a shovel. I came across a tool at my sisters house that I hadn't seen before that is a great help . I will try to explain what it is so bear with me . At the top of a long handle it has a cross bar and at it bottom there are 4 prongs bent at an angle. You push the prongs into the dirt and twist the a half turn and then pull the tool out of the dirt, and then just repeat the pushing and twisting to loosen the soil in your garden bed . It is a poor mans roota tiller I guess . I love it and wouldn't be with out one. After you have loosened all the soil you go back and lift and turn the soil will a shovel . Sure does save the back!

swin

hmmmm that sounds like something i need. i think they used to have something like that advertised on tv, called the "claw" or something like that?

I have this cultivator thing (for a lack of a better word for it) Which has points like a pitch fork, but are curved close the end, with a regular handle in it...I use it instead of a hoe in the garden and it works better then a hoe. Hubby promises...LOL to get me one of those small mantis type tillers for flower beds & rows before next gardening season...I am not holding my breath though, but it is a nice thought and would be VERY helpful.