Saturday

I was out buying plants for my own garden on Saturday and I was bowled over by the beauty of this table of marigolds. Plants are so amazing.

Rant

I really don't like using landscape cloth. And I am going to show you why.

Many times once landscape mulch is installed it is covered with bark mulch. Then that mulch is never removed and more mulch is added to it. The mulch decomposes into beautiful compost which is a good thing. However, it stays on top of the landscape cloth. So then the roots of the plants start growing above the cloth into the lovely, rich compost as you can see in the picture below.

The next issue I have with landscape cloth is that many times it is not properly installed. The landscaper or gardener will just cut a hole big enough for the plant, forgetting that the plant will grow. It is what plants do. So then the plant isn't getting enough moisture to the roots and so the roots start growing above the landscape cloth into the rich compost caused by decomposing mulch.

Here you can see the landscape cloth and the dark compost that has been created by the decomposing mulch and how it stays on top of the landscape cloth.


Now, a lot of times someone comes along and wants to add a plant to their garden that has landscape cloth. For whatever reason, they don't cut a hole in the landscape cloth they just plant the plant in the mulch, which is what happened above. You can also see what happens to the soil underneath the landscape cloth.

Here is a better picture of just what happens to the soil underneath the landscape cloth. There is a severe interface. What water does come through the landscape cloth just forms a solid layer of clay. Nature has provided us with a great system for amending the soil. We can add organic matter when we prepare our garden beds. We can then top dress with mulch which, as we have seen, decomposes into compost. That compost is full of microbes and other decomposers that are beneficial to the soil and the life of your plants. Earthworms move in and start areating the soil and moving the composted mulch down into your soil. Your soil improves, the plants are happy and you didn't have to do a whole lot of work.

Putting down landscape cloth stops that whole cycle. The nutrients from the composted mulch do not go into the earth. The microbes stay on top of the mulch and what forms below is a very distinct interface. None of these things are good for plants.

In case you missed it in the last picture, here is another look at that interface caused by the landscape cloth.

Landscape cloth also doesn't work for me because I know some of my plants are going to grow, they will need to be moved or divided and I am going to have to compromise the landscape cloth by digging additional holes in it or leaving a hole where the plant was. I also am going to want to add plants and that means making more holes in the landscape cloth.

Landscape cloth may do a good job of keeping down the weeds but the same things that keep your weeds down are also going to hinder your plants and soil. Some weeds, such as bind weed, just laugh at landscape cloth. They will grow to where there is a hole in your landscape cloth and then come up there.

Weeds are not desirable but they are not necessarily the awful evil we think they are. You should be able hand weed your garden beds and that areates the soil. Some weeds are also nitrogen fixers, which means they will bring nitrogen into the soil, a very good thing. A little hand-weeding for the health of my soil is not a lot to ask.

If you install your irrigation system below the landscape cloth, any time that you have a leak or other issue you will need to cut through the landscape cloth and either replace it or patch it. If you install your irrigation system above the landscape cloth moisture will collect in your mulch. That can encourage weed growth as well as decomposition of your organic mulch.

I understand that landscape cloth is recommended for xeric gardens. If you are using a rock mulch it may be ok. You won't be composting the organic mulch on top of your landscape cloth. The weeds that grow in the rock mulch (yes, they will grow in the rock mulch) will need to be pulled. And you need to remember that your plants will grow laterally so you need to maintain your landscape cloth every year, widen it around your plants. Also, you need to remember to move your drip emitters out as your plants grow or they will grow around the emitter. This causes problems because the roots will eventually rot from the water going into the middle of the plant. It will also cause maintenance problems with your irrigation. So if you use landscape cloth remember it needs maintenance like everything else in your garden.

Friday

Hi Everybody,

Thursday I said I'd play in the dirt Friday and play in the dirt I did. I'll get to that in the next post though. Right now here are some pictures of the river rising.

Here is picture proof that beaver dams are tough. I don't know how fast the river is flowing but the beaver dam by the Watson Island bridge is holding.

Here is the water coming out from the west side of the bridge to Watson Island. Look. Whitewater!

Here is Clayton, me and Tyler marveling at the high water.

Here is the mighty Colorado.

And here she is again.

And just a quick update on our bananas. Don't they look cool?

Paperwork

No pictures today. It was a day of meetings and paperwork and phone calls. It is a good thing it was kinda crummy out today and I didn't get tempted to go out into the gardens and just get "one little thing done" and then I'll get back to the paperwork. I did get a lot done though. And that means I can go back to playing in the dirt tomorrow!

I Knew I Was Forgetting Something, Thursday

There is this day that comes after Wednesday and before Thursday and it was pretty momentous this week. Scott and Monte got the fountain in Celebration Plaza going. Some folks think it is beautiful, some think it is ugly. Sigh. Everyone has an opinion. And now everyone can look at this lovely picture of it.

I know the river keeps rising but it doesn't really look like it from this view.

Or this one.

But just look at the wisteria. Isn't it majestic?

On second thought, maybe it is a little wild and crazy. The daphne was in full bloom today too and the fragrance was amazing. I took a picture of it earlier when it was first starting to bloom. Little did I know how good it smells.

Finally!

My computer is up and running. Hooray! Now, that my computer processor is doing it's thing can my mental processor do the same?

Friday:

Here is the latest graffiti to grace our walls. Kathleen of the Chinle Cactus Club is threatening to put a super spiny cactus in that bed to deter the delinquents. I'm with her on that one. This is the 5th time the Gardens has been hit since January. If I get my hands on them I'll have them pulling weeds until they are begging to be incarcerated. Uh, I mean, if you have any information regarding this incident call the Grand Junction Police Department.

I liked these clouds.

Lovely tulips in the Sensory Garden. The rest of Friday was a blur. Too many people with too many questions and too much to do. I was so discombobulated I actually left on time.

Monday:

The river is a'rising.

Although it still looks pretty peaceful from this angle and I haven't seen any of the beaver dams dislodged yet. And speaking of varmints...

Here is the home of the Garden's newest resident. Can you believe a ground squirrel can move that much dirt. It does make me laugh that it made its home in the more "naturalistic" garden. Native plants, rocks and habitat. It worked! Rick came back out and set a trap but when I checked it this morning the clever little rodent took the bait but stayed out of the trap. I didn't know for sure what was living under that rock but Kathleen gave an eyeball confirmation that yes, indeed, it is a ground squirrel.

And here is Kathleen and the rest of the Cactus Club working in the cactus garden. It is one of my favorite gardens. They got signs identifying the plants and started placing them today. They look great. There were a bunch of volunteers out today but I was playing in the sprinklers, I mean checking the irrigation system, so I left my camera at my desk. I'm sorry I didn't get photos of everybody. I have my usuals from the Career Center come out. They did a fantastic job of helping out the volunteers in the International Garden. It was a very serendipitous and synergistic thing. I have a lot of moments like that, where there is this task that seems just impossible for me to do and then all of a sudden out of nowhere I get just the help I need. It is one of the things I love about working here.

Look at this crazy bloom. I'm not sure what the plant is, all I can tell you is that it is in the Rainforest Greenhouse. I like how the poinsettas (yes, I've kept them alive since Christmas!) provide a nice backdrop for the leaf.

Let's see, I know I'm forgetting some things. Oh yeah, how could I forget the boyscouts? There was this really great group of boyscouts that came out and repotted our Arbor Day trees. We have 28 trees and I'm trying to grow them a little before they go into the ground. The guys did a great job.

I hear Blooming Deals was a great success. I'll check with Shirley and see if she got any good shots I can post.

I continue to work on the irrigation system. I've almost got all the maxipaws adjusted. Now I have to get to work on the spray heads and drips. And see what on the list I can get done.

Bob was on KAFM today. He talked about all the things we have coming up, the first concert of the summer, the Garden Tour, Hike In a Bottle and the new gardens that are in construction.

I think that wraps it up for the wrap up. I'll check in with you all tomorrow!

Technical Difficulties

Hi Everybody,

My computer crashed last Friday. It should be fixed by tomorrow. Don't worry, I've been taking plenty of pictures and so you won't a miss a thing.

Happy Gardening!