TUESDAY JUNE 3, 2008
Creating Good Dirt
Of all the things that we as gardener's do, I think one of the most important challenges we have facing us is the creation of good dirt. And as my rocky hilly soil has shown me in the past few years, its not as easy as it seems. Since I first started my rose garden 3 years ago, I have spent spring time digging buckets of rocks out of the sunny hilly perch where I've placed my roses. Most have survived however I think they would have thrived more had the dirt been taken out by the dumptruck full and replaced with rich loamy soil that plants (and gardener's) dream of!
This year I've taken it easy, buying a few plants that I've placed in pots on the deck... Petunias, tomatoes, peppers and herbs. My deck is a virtual store of greenery this year. But that is not where my devotion as a gardener has plans for this season. This season, my purpose will be to baby the plants I have, the thick perennial border aside the driveway, the hosta shade garden, and the dirt...in the rose garden hill.
Each year I add bags of cocoa mulch into the hill. I'm not a fan of wood mulch myself. Although I've let my husband have reign over the 2 gardens in front which contain mostly bushes. I let him mulch them, but mulch in my perennial beds is a hindrance. Although it keeps the weeds out, it also keeps the reseeding perennials from coming back, and my heart sings when I see the occassional love in the mist pop out of a crack here or there. A little breath of excitement while I weed gently around it, and encourage it to flower and come back another year to come. With mulch I don't have that joy so I am no fan of mulch.
My rose garden is not planted as full as my perennial border so the cocoa shells are placed there with the sole purpose of adding organic matter to the beds. Yet still I find rocks at the surface of the bed each spring.
This year, I intend to work on this issue, to make my roses the happiest roses in the Midwest.