Just Vegetating
I spent last weekend (pre-Memorial Day cookout, of course) working on cleaning out a roughly 2' x 5' weed-filled mess next to the garage patio. Worse than weeds, though, was all the buried 'weed blocker' fabric that the previous owners had installed. Aside from not being a permanent weed blocker, when removed, it rips and tears and is impossible to remove in one piece - and then it has to be pulled apart from the weeds so you can put it in the trash can instead of the yard waste bucket.
So, basically, weed blocker fabric is a big pain anywhere you plan to grow your plants, and your best alternate options are to simply practice your weeding skills, or use mulch, or put down some sort of paper weed blocker which is biodegradable. You can buy the latter, but I just used a one-sheet-thick layer of newspaper. We'll see how it goes, but since toddler Zoe likes to spend hours "owside," at least I'll have plenty of opportunities to weed if necessary.
After cleaning that out, I needed to surround the area with stone to keep the dirt from spilling through the north fence and out the east/west sides. Fortunately, I had a small stack of concrete blocks in the garage, so when Zoe and I went to Lowe's to buy some extra dirt and some plants, I only needed to get four more. I couldn't find an exact match to the stone I already had, but I think what I got works well enough. For the front (south side), there was wooden edging already sitting on top of the patio, so I just left that there.
The plants chosen were tomato, basil (x2), strawberry, and mint. (The latter ended up in one of four empty planters, since I read that it should be grown in one.) I think I'll probably add another couple of strawberry plants to the ground, and another mint and a couple more herbs to the remaining planters.
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| Weeds also grow through it! |
So, basically, weed blocker fabric is a big pain anywhere you plan to grow your plants, and your best alternate options are to simply practice your weeding skills, or use mulch, or put down some sort of paper weed blocker which is biodegradable. You can buy the latter, but I just used a one-sheet-thick layer of newspaper. We'll see how it goes, but since toddler Zoe likes to spend hours "owside," at least I'll have plenty of opportunities to weed if necessary.
After cleaning that out, I needed to surround the area with stone to keep the dirt from spilling through the north fence and out the east/west sides. Fortunately, I had a small stack of concrete blocks in the garage, so when Zoe and I went to Lowe's to buy some extra dirt and some plants, I only needed to get four more. I couldn't find an exact match to the stone I already had, but I think what I got works well enough. For the front (south side), there was wooden edging already sitting on top of the patio, so I just left that there.
The plants chosen were tomato, basil (x2), strawberry, and mint. (The latter ended up in one of four empty planters, since I read that it should be grown in one.) I think I'll probably add another couple of strawberry plants to the ground, and another mint and a couple more herbs to the remaining planters.
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| Finished and watered! |
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