Projects, Projects, Projects
The beginning of the community gardening season comes with a pretty long to-do list. We clean and fill rental plots, refresh our paths with layers of mulch, order topsoil, turn on the water, and pick up a load of leaf mulch from the Ingleside facility in High Point.
Ongoing maintenance projects have more relaxed timelines and are scattered all over the property. Before we plant the first seed, we get busy collecting soil samples, cutting back wayward shrubs, hauling away last year’s broken tomato cages. We weed and rake, turn and sift the compost. Start thinking about signage and puzzling over new strategies for keeping weeds and plant diseases and produce thieves at bay. Last year we struggled with squash vine borers, so we’re researching the use of row covers as an organic control for insect pests. We’ve got slightly alkaline soil, so there are many discussions. What amendments might help?
In addition to offering a rental plot program, AGG is a community green space that we are striving to beautify with each passing year. So just when the early spring projects start feeling more manageable, site improvement projects begin! Past projects have included building a grape arbor, planting a Pollinator Garden and Shade Garden, and creating public beds full of culinary and medicinal herbs. This year we hope to increase the size of the Pollinator Garden, create an Elderberry patch and cut-flower beds, clear some more space for shade gardening (good-bye, English Ivy!) and possibly add a new picnic table. We’re also mulling over an experiment in permaculture that will hopefully take shape over the course of the spring.
So much on the agenda! Fortunately we have a great group of gardeners who provide the proverbial “many hands” for the “light work”. And an entire season to get things done.
Here are the “before” shots. Looking forward to seeing what develops this year!
We laid cardboard early in the winter to discourage the grass and clover. Plans are for 3-4 Elderberry bushes, American Elderberry and Black Elderberry.
In the foreground, a boggy spot in the Pollinator Garden expansion will be used for a “rain garden” planting of natives that don’t mind having damp roots, like Lobelia. On the far end, the foundation of a house that once stood here is under the soil, creating a shallow spot. To give our plants some room, we’ll add a brick planter, probably for annual flowers. And the middle bed? Hmmmmm…
The base of our water hydrant will be hiding under a layer of weeds fairly soon. To help the situation, we’re adding landscape fabric to the center section and laying down fresh gravel. And getting a jump on weed removal!
Folks from the hospital sometimes come by and ask if they can pick flowers for patients. We’ve decided it’s time to create special beds just for decorative flowers.
What’s going on here? Ewww, invasive vines! It will take a little while, but this year we’ll be pulling out English Ivy, Vinca, Privet, and probably some Poison Ivy too. Next year, maybe native Hydrangeas?