4/26 new gardens we are building

let's give a big round of applause for all of the wonderful volunteers who came out again this past saturday to help build the rain garden!!!  it is almost finished, the plants are in and we are busy finishing it off with some mulch.  after a few more sedums are added, we will be done with the basin and all we will need to do is finish the stream bed.

a view of the stream bed as it leads to the basin.  there are a lot of beautiful plants in the basin.  sweet spire, beauty bush, siberian iris, rudbeckia, false indigo and joe pye weed are only some of the plants now residing in the basin.  on the berm you will find different sedums and some switch grasses.

a close up of the berm

a close up of the basin

cherri and david finished planting our vegetable garden.  there is space left over for the container gardens that david wants to use to showcase small scale vegetable production in containers for people that do not have the space or desire to plant a full scale garden.

another new addition to the composting system-the green cone.  it is a garden digester that is specifically for meat, bones, fat and other biodegradable things that cannot go into compost piles or bins.  it was christened with two dead possums that were found near the demo garden.

isn't the shade garden beautiful?  it is one of my favorite places at the demo garden.  the plants in the beds are doing wonderfully.  there are many hosta, heucheras, tiarellas, columbines, wild ginger, lily of the valley and so much more.  stop by and admire the many colors and textures of this lovely little garden!

we will be out again on saturday as early as 7:30 to begin working on other projects related to the horticulture for homeowners field day as well as routine garden maintenance.  please join us.

***reminder-Saturday, May 9th will be another official work day, please plan on coming out and giving us a hand from 9am till whenever...

we're building a rain garden

just like the optimist who tells you to make lemonade with your lemons, gardeners can make gardens with all of the rain that falls.  sounds odd but it is actually the best thing you can do for the environment.  it holds the water where it falls and prevents contamination from entering the water shed.  even if you practice organic gardening, your house can still contaminate the environment.  when rain washes off the rooftop and down the driveway into the street, it takes things with it that will contaminate the water supply.  for more information on this, check out the website for the cumberland river compact.

david cook decided he wanted to build a rain garden right in the middle of our demo garden for a very good reason.  the water pours off the roof of the building and washes down the walkway and into the center of the demo garden.  after every heavy rain, you could follow the wash pattern easily.  so, we are now going to harvest that water, keep it where it falls and prevent pollution as well as  have a vital tool to educate visitors to the garden on the importance of rain gardens.

the roof above the steps allows the water to pour into the garden via the walkway.  the path was lined with liriope on both sides so the first step was removing the liriope and digging a gully that meanders down the path; it forms a simple manmade stream bed.  david, along with my husband darry, used a tiller and shovels to do the digging.  they dug out a shallow path for the water; it is only about 6 inches deep  and it will be lined with a vinyl strip to prevent thebuildup of silt.  all of the liriope that was removed will be available for purchase during the field day event, at cheap prices too!  (and if you come help dig it up and pot it, you may even get some for free...)

a view of the water way, it is less than 40 feet from the steps to the basin that will catch and retain the water.

the view of the basin.  it is a bit deeper than the "stream bed" but not so deep that any heavy equipment was necessary.  the only thing used was a small tiller and shovels.  the soil that was removed was used to build the berm behind the basin.  this was done by 2 people in a couple hours.

another view of the basin

and still another view, slighly more close up

finally, here is david tilling what will be the vegetable garden.  not pictured is jim miles planting the bee nectar garden with fresh herb plants from the herb society's big annual spring sale which was held yesterday, 4/18.

***if you are interested in learning more about building a rain garden, david will be out at the demo garden on saturday, 4/25 to do more work and this will include adding the liner and plants.  the rest of the liriope will need to be removed and potted too.  the hours for this informal work session will be from 7:30am til...possibly noon.  see you there!

thanks for all of the help!!!

a big round of applause please for everyone that came out to help clean up the demo garden.

on the 11th, we had a work day and we owe a big thanks to:  turner simons, chuck hutsell, donna haggitt, edie crane and tamra simmons.  if you don't see your name on that list, you didn't sign in so be sure you send me an email with your name and the hours that you worked so i can record them, garden4groceries@bellsouth.net and also so i can add your name to the list above!  because it was the day before easter and i happen to work in a very busy restaurant, i couldn't be there on saturday but darry and i did come back out on sunday.   

the blueberries in the old experimental garden are in full bloom and since darry pruned them, maybe we will get a better crop this summer.

darry and i spent sunday cleaning out the junior master gardener's beds so that they will be ready for a load of new soil.

david cook has redesigned the colorwheel garden and the beds have been moved to make space for a rain garden.  we hope to get that built on our next scheduled work day, stay tuned in for details on that date.

all of the raised beds are cleaned out and ready for this years theme, a kitchen herb garden.

the little hibiscus bed has been cleaned, mulched and some perennials were relocated to it.

the old wild flower garden will be relocated and the space allowed to go back to being part of the lawn.  plants in here will be relocated and some will be split and sold during the field day event.

the little buckeye will stay in it's space and hopefully grow up to be big and beautiful.

a close up of the buckeye in bloom.

the butterfly garden was cut back and weeded, it now looks like a butterfly!

the bee nectar garden was weeded and the dead plants were removed.

the perennial bed was cleaned out and weeded, it is ready for new plants.

the old fruit orchard has been pruned and it looks wonderful.  i can't wait for the peaches and apples!

the grass garden was cut back and weeded.

the ajuga in the shade garden is in full bloom!

this little guy needed some hair, he is now ready for the 80's with wild liriope hair.

jacob's ladder in bloom in the shade garden.  we still have much to do if we will be ready for the horticulture for homeowners field day in june.  please come out on our next work day or any other day and help us get ready.  thanks again to everyone who helped make this work day a success!

work day reminder, 4/11

keep your fingers crossed that the weather forecast doesn't change!  we desparately need to get out and work in this little garden.  please bring your favorite tools and a bottle of water and let's get busy with this garden!  spring has sprung and we need to get this garden party started.

weathering the storms

forecasts for this coming sunday, 4/5 are rather dismal.  unless there are changes and the predicted storms will miss us, we will work in the garden on saturday, 4/4.  if you are available, join us from 1-3pm.  see you there!  in the meantime, keep your weather radio close by!