I joined our local garden club last month, and volunteered to help maintain the landscaping at the library. Yesterday we met at 8:00 am to get a start on it. The first thing we did was discover that the landscape fabric, which has been in place for somewhere around 10 years, had strangled the living daylights out of everything in the landscape. All of the bushes have roots that have grown over the top of the fabric and were spreading out all over under the mulch. There are groups of Stella d'Oro daylillies that are heaving out of the ground, and a planting of Palace Purple heuchera that was growing almost completely on top of the fabric. There were 4 of us there, and we made an 'executive' decision to remove the fabric and reset the plants. Under the fabric the soil was rather like the jello we got at the school cafeteria in high school. It jiggled when you dug into it, a wet, slimy, goppy mess. If we had thrown a clump at the building, it would have stuck. It was really too wet to be working it, but we had to get the plants into some dirt after we peeled them off the fabric. I brought a number of the excess plants home with me to grow on in case some of these don't make it. We only got through two beds yesterday, but will have to go back and finish the rest. I cannot imagine WHY they put the fabric right up against the small plants when they installed them, but that is apparantly what they did. In all the years it's been there, no one had pulled the mulch aside to investigate.
I went over to a corner bed to cut back the russian sage, and discovered that the gold mound spirea were also growing over the fabric and wherever the roots went, there were new plants growing up. Ack!!! All three clumps of russian sage had been invaded by suckering spireas. The russian sage, in return, had suckered through and there were some plants growing up on the other side of the spireas.
The mulch hasn't been replaced in years so there were many spots where the fabric was showing. Not a good look at all! So, instead of a simple raking and pruning, we ended up launching a big makeover. Without it, the plants would soon all be gone, choked to death by the landscape fabric.
We also pruned several trees that hadnt' been touched in years. One beautiful crabapple was planted about 9 feet too close to the corner of the building, and was damaging the flashing and the roof. Someone had chopped branches off the crabapples in the 'hell strip', and left stubs sticking out about 2 inches, so my trusty Fiskars saw and I went on a stub patrol and got all that mess cleaned up. Even though we were far from finished, it looked so much better when we left!
Well, there's my rant against landscape fabric, improper placement of plants, and sloppy pruning!
Linda P
My garden club 'initiation'
Moderator: Chris_W
My garden club 'initiation'
And time remembered is grief forgotten,
And frosts are slain and flowers begotten.....
Algernon Charles Swinburne
Latitude: 41° 51' 12.1572"
My Hosta List
And frosts are slain and flowers begotten.....
Algernon Charles Swinburne
Latitude: 41° 51' 12.1572"
My Hosta List
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eastwood2007
- Posts: 3517
- Joined: Jan 25, 2007 12:51 pm
- Location: kansas, usa zone 5b
Linda, better be careful about doing too good of a job...you may find yourself "volunteered" at all the libraries in town!!! 
Just kidding! I understand your frustration with plants being strangled...it seems so unfair...they don't ask for much! 
Just kidding! I understand your frustration with plants being strangled...it seems so unfair...they don't ask for much! Charla
Latitude 38.57N; Longitude -94.89W (Elev. 886 ft.)
Latitude 38.57N; Longitude -94.89W (Elev. 886 ft.)
Linda, you girls done good for your library landscaping. I'm going to ramble here . . . .
About those stubs . . . .older garden books say to trim branches flush to the trunk and brush on a sealer. More recently they are recommending leaving a small stub and no coating to make the wound heal faster.
Those same books said to plant trees at the same depth as they were originally growing. Now I see landscapers leaving 1/3 of the rootball above the soil line.
I guess we need to consult a lot of books and sort out what sounds logical. The greatest positive change I've seen in the last 30 years is the widespread use of mulching.
It seems the only good place for landscape fabric is under paths and stone walkways where you never want anything to grow.
About those stubs . . . .older garden books say to trim branches flush to the trunk and brush on a sealer. More recently they are recommending leaving a small stub and no coating to make the wound heal faster.
Those same books said to plant trees at the same depth as they were originally growing. Now I see landscapers leaving 1/3 of the rootball above the soil line.
I guess we need to consult a lot of books and sort out what sounds logical. The greatest positive change I've seen in the last 30 years is the widespread use of mulching.It seems the only good place for landscape fabric is under paths and stone walkways where you never want anything to grow.
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toomanyanimals
- Posts: 732
- Joined: Jan 15, 2004 5:52 pm
- USDA Zone: 6a
- Location: Michigan Zone 6a
It sounds like your garden club has adopted a worthwhile project! Bravo!
In public planting where there is not a gardener doing regular weed patrol, landscape fabric can serve a purpose! I have been to a gardener's yard (I am using the term gardener very loosely!!!) where she actually put down a tarp... A PLASTIC TARP!...and then cut tiny Xs for the plants...ugh...
A few years back, I was the president of a garden club that had taken over the landscaping for a community crisis center. It was a great group project, we were able to garden to gether and share our different expertises while saving the center the nominal amount they would have minimally spent and could then use on more important services for womrn in need. As a group project it was wonderful, but it really showcased our gardening experience.
One member, Sheila Mukite, who was the chair person of this committee, had wonderful organization and follow-through on this project. It not only enhanced and greatly beautified a property in a blighted neighborhood, but was instrumental in setting the stage for other community organizations to launch their own service projects in this neighborhood, literally changing for the much better an entire neighborhood.
Maybe your library project will serve to similarly focus community involvement and encourage other projects.
By the way, as the club I was in was in NW IL, we had applied and were given a grant to underwrite our efforts one year by the Shell Oil company. I think the grants range up to $3,000 if I remember correctly. One of the stipulations then was a certain percentage of club matching funds, somewhere in the neighborhood of 40% to 60%. The grant can be any amount up to the total available. Fiskars also does a grant of some sort, I think that one involves getting young people involved in gardening.
In public planting where there is not a gardener doing regular weed patrol, landscape fabric can serve a purpose! I have been to a gardener's yard (I am using the term gardener very loosely!!!) where she actually put down a tarp... A PLASTIC TARP!...and then cut tiny Xs for the plants...ugh...
A few years back, I was the president of a garden club that had taken over the landscaping for a community crisis center. It was a great group project, we were able to garden to gether and share our different expertises while saving the center the nominal amount they would have minimally spent and could then use on more important services for womrn in need. As a group project it was wonderful, but it really showcased our gardening experience.
One member, Sheila Mukite, who was the chair person of this committee, had wonderful organization and follow-through on this project. It not only enhanced and greatly beautified a property in a blighted neighborhood, but was instrumental in setting the stage for other community organizations to launch their own service projects in this neighborhood, literally changing for the much better an entire neighborhood.
Maybe your library project will serve to similarly focus community involvement and encourage other projects.
By the way, as the club I was in was in NW IL, we had applied and were given a grant to underwrite our efforts one year by the Shell Oil company. I think the grants range up to $3,000 if I remember correctly. One of the stipulations then was a certain percentage of club matching funds, somewhere in the neighborhood of 40% to 60%. The grant can be any amount up to the total available. Fiskars also does a grant of some sort, I think that one involves getting young people involved in gardening.
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eastwood2007
- Posts: 3517
- Joined: Jan 25, 2007 12:51 pm
- Location: kansas, usa zone 5b
I hope you get an opportunity to develop some new garden friendships!John, John....are you suggesting that we help those poor Stellas into the dumpster? Acutally, they were a good choice for that spot. They're right along the sidewalk to the front door, and anything growing there has to be practically bulletproof. The kids have a tendency to stray from the intended walkway!
We didn't do any before photos. The club took on this project last year, but did mostly weeding and tidying. There is a small group of the library visitors who tend to toss candy wrappers, etc, around.
The big push this year will be to renew the mulch.
Drygulch, I agree..the landscape fabric served its' purpose for a long time.
Mary Ann, these stubs were somewhere near 3 inches long for the most part, and looked like they'd been hacked off with a table knife, the bark shredded and left hanging. I left about half an inch or so, definitely did not cut into the collar.
My dad taught me to prune that way years and years ago, leaving just a very scant stub. He never subscribed to the 'paint the wound' theory. In his decades of experience with trees, he never found it necessary.
Reldon, Here is the mission statement: "The objective of this club shall be to encourage the advancement of gardening, the development of home grounds, civic beautification, and the protection of forests, wild flowers and birds." This club was organized in 1948. Two of my "oldest and bestest" friend are officers, and I know several other members. I've already made some new friends, and expect this group will continue to enrich my life. There are 3 garden projects in town; a pocket park on Route 30, and a bigger project in helping to landscape a new park on the south edge of town on Route 78. I volunteered for the library committee, as I visit the library once a week anyway. We are to weed and water once a week or as needed. The group has also helped with a nature planting at the gradeschool.
Linda P
We didn't do any before photos. The club took on this project last year, but did mostly weeding and tidying. There is a small group of the library visitors who tend to toss candy wrappers, etc, around.
The big push this year will be to renew the mulch.
Drygulch, I agree..the landscape fabric served its' purpose for a long time.
Mary Ann, these stubs were somewhere near 3 inches long for the most part, and looked like they'd been hacked off with a table knife, the bark shredded and left hanging. I left about half an inch or so, definitely did not cut into the collar.
My dad taught me to prune that way years and years ago, leaving just a very scant stub. He never subscribed to the 'paint the wound' theory. In his decades of experience with trees, he never found it necessary.
Reldon, Here is the mission statement: "The objective of this club shall be to encourage the advancement of gardening, the development of home grounds, civic beautification, and the protection of forests, wild flowers and birds." This club was organized in 1948. Two of my "oldest and bestest" friend are officers, and I know several other members. I've already made some new friends, and expect this group will continue to enrich my life. There are 3 garden projects in town; a pocket park on Route 30, and a bigger project in helping to landscape a new park on the south edge of town on Route 78. I volunteered for the library committee, as I visit the library once a week anyway. We are to weed and water once a week or as needed. The group has also helped with a nature planting at the gradeschool.
Linda P
And time remembered is grief forgotten,
And frosts are slain and flowers begotten.....
Algernon Charles Swinburne
Latitude: 41° 51' 12.1572"
My Hosta List
And frosts are slain and flowers begotten.....
Algernon Charles Swinburne
Latitude: 41° 51' 12.1572"
My Hosta List
Good question! Too many other commitments, I suppose. I've rather given up trying to take care of my the yard at my parent's house, so that freed me up to take on something else. I'm one of those strange people who feels a need to actually participate in things when I join a group.renaldo75 wrote:Sounds like a good group. So what took you so long to join??
I've also gone back to my hosta group this year. There are plenty of opportunities to work there, as we're hosting Midwest Regional this year!
My own garden takes up oodles of time, which you'll see someday when you can actually trust your van to take you this far!
Linda P
And time remembered is grief forgotten,
And frosts are slain and flowers begotten.....
Algernon Charles Swinburne
Latitude: 41° 51' 12.1572"
My Hosta List
And frosts are slain and flowers begotten.....
Algernon Charles Swinburne
Latitude: 41° 51' 12.1572"
My Hosta List
Well it's fixed at the moment. The travelling funds are in short supply though. 
I have bursts of needing to participate in groups, but I generally get it out of my system pretty quickly.
LOL That's kinda what happened with the local group. I tried to line up speakers for the 1st Backyard Conservation Conference [affiliated with the NRCS] with all kinds of problems due to the group starting too late on it. There were 2 of us doing it, but I ended up doing most of the calling & emailing, etc. Then one group member who wasn't even involved with that committee to begin with told me in so many words that I wasn't doing the job very well. [I think he's doing it now.] I didn't need the stress. I've just been to one conference since then. I'd go if they have enough of the classes that would interest me [6-8 to choose from & 3 different sessions], but usually there's just 1 class that really does interest me, and I wasn't too thrilled with a couple of the speakers the last time I went. So I just stay home & save my $20. I can get my club fix from my 2 hosta clubs & maybe buy a hosta or 2.
Just thinking about that experience has caused me not to need to be involved for at least 2-3 more years.
And Marlys & I were on the committee to find new officers for the ROHS last year. That was an interesting experience too. I even volunteered to be Vice President at one point when everyone we'd asked had turned the job down.
Thankfully someone else decided they wanted the job!!
I have bursts of needing to participate in groups, but I generally get it out of my system pretty quickly.
LOL That's kinda what happened with the local group. I tried to line up speakers for the 1st Backyard Conservation Conference [affiliated with the NRCS] with all kinds of problems due to the group starting too late on it. There were 2 of us doing it, but I ended up doing most of the calling & emailing, etc. Then one group member who wasn't even involved with that committee to begin with told me in so many words that I wasn't doing the job very well. [I think he's doing it now.] I didn't need the stress. I've just been to one conference since then. I'd go if they have enough of the classes that would interest me [6-8 to choose from & 3 different sessions], but usually there's just 1 class that really does interest me, and I wasn't too thrilled with a couple of the speakers the last time I went. So I just stay home & save my $20. I can get my club fix from my 2 hosta clubs & maybe buy a hosta or 2. Just thinking about that experience has caused me not to need to be involved for at least 2-3 more years.
And Marlys & I were on the committee to find new officers for the ROHS last year. That was an interesting experience too. I even volunteered to be Vice President at one point when everyone we'd asked had turned the job down.
Thankfully someone else decided they wanted the job!!Don't you just love it when you volunteer to do something, and then someone who couldn't be bothered to actually do the job tells you you're doing it wrong? BTDT.
Glad you're sticking with the hosta groups! The hosta world needs you.
Linda P
Glad you're sticking with the hosta groups! The hosta world needs you.
Linda P
And time remembered is grief forgotten,
And frosts are slain and flowers begotten.....
Algernon Charles Swinburne
Latitude: 41° 51' 12.1572"
My Hosta List
And frosts are slain and flowers begotten.....
Algernon Charles Swinburne
Latitude: 41° 51' 12.1572"
My Hosta List