Wednesday, March 09, 2005

Compost for the Shade beds

After a lot of digging and rock removal I finally got to the stage where I could bring in the compost for the new beds. Here in Kenmore, WA, which is about 15 miles north of Seattle on the north shore of Lake Washington, we have what you call glacial till for soil. Put simply...at one time in the eons past, a glacier rumbled across and back, and possible across and back again at one time or another, leaving behind a very sandy fertile soil that is chock full of round river rocks. There are buckets of these babies all over the yard and the deeper you dig, the bigger they get.

Because the dirt is so sandy and well drained, it's important to incorporate a healthy dose of organic matter to help retain moisture and bulk up the soil a bit. I got mine from the nursery, it's aged material that started out as yard debris. Pretty much trees, grass, manure etc that's been processed and cooked. As you can see, it's just laying on top here, I still need to work it into the soil.



We are currently in discussion as to what kind of material to use for a border/edge to the future walk way. I found this really cool bamboo edging that is crazy expensive, but ultra cool. However, cedar stakes and bender board is ultra cost effective and since the plan is to fill the beds full with a lot of foliage, you won't see much of the edging after the fact. I'll be laying down landscape fabric between the beds and then using crushed gravel with fines (fines are the small particulates in the crushed gravel that enable it to pack firmly and not slip under foot) as the path material.

Well, that's the latest. I'm eager to begin planting soon. The weather is holding still, so I might get some things this weekend. I'll give you a planting list soon.