Jan said:Stilldew, funny you should mention JoAnn's 'artistic' eye for color and design. She is a watercolorist beyond compare. Even her photo collages are wonderful to look at and picture in my own garden. Due to her success with lasagna beds she has been my inspiration to set a few up last fall for veggies this spring. They should be JUST right in about a week when I put in peas. Thanks, JoAnn, for showing us to be persistent in our passions as we age.

Did either of you happen to take photos along the with the preparation of the lasagna garden? I would love to have a thread about this over in the Learning Center forum.

I wish I had more picks of the process for the big one I did last spring.
I only have befores and Laters. I will be happy to post those with a promise of more complete pictures of the little one I'm doing now.
I am in the process of extending a garden about 2 feet and have stakes in the ground where the outline is.
If the snow ever melts I will go back to it.
I put the stakes out in January when it was mild and then winter came back with avengence.
I plan to lay newspapers and compost down in a couple of weeks.
I think there is information on this process on Google or Daves Garden.
This is an album of what I could find in my files. Its not bad as I thought.
http://picasaweb.google.com/jg...

Sorry, Evey, no pics here. I just used cardboard, shredded leaves and compost from the pile. Thinking about maybe some mushroom soil.

Thats great. I believe any medium will do when working in poor soil.The key is the barrier above the grass.

Just remember mushroom soil has added lime, so you don't want to use it if you want to plant anything that likes acidic soil.

Thanks, Polly. I'll have to check that out.

Hi Jo Ann,

You explained how you made the hole. I like the idea of the garden fork for stability. Do you just take the plant out of the pot and drop it into the hole?

I like tools with long handles. I have a trowel that looks like a shovel. The brand is 'Lady'. I like it since it is light. My shovel is heavy so I only use that for planting shrubs. I use my Lady 'shovel' for planting perennials. No more getting on my knees and digging with a trowel to create a hole. (My tool is a Lady Gardener floral shovel by Union Tools.)

www.waresdirect.com/products/Commercial-Products/UnionTools/Lady-Gardener250030

But still I drop down to my knees for the final stage of putting the plant in the hole. I am intrigued on how you stand up and get the plant in the hole!?

NancyBee

I have to flex my knees a bit.If I ever knealed I would never get up.
I try to buy plants in 5 inch pots so I can manage them.
I planted a Veronica in a quart size and had a terrible time .No mor quarte or gallons.
I slap the pot until the plant loosens and then take it out,toss the pot in a bucket and place the plnt in the hole.

JoAnn, I love your gardens and pots. Great job. I know all about the bending over thing. I saw this tool on the net. I think I will order myself one. It looks like it's strong enough to tap the pot, turn it on it's side and pick up the plant and set it in the hole. All standing up. The video shows a man picking up good sized logs with it. http://www.radiusgarden.com/ca...

Oops, here is the video of the man and the logs . http://radiusgarden.com/blog/?...

Thanks for the info Debbi
I havnt posted here in awhile.
http://picasaweb.google.com/jg...
http://picasaweb.google.com/jg...
http://picasaweb.google.com/jg...

OK I have been remiss about keeping up here.
These are the clems that bloomed.


The large Lasagna garden in May 8 2010

Lasagna June

Lasagna July

Lasagna Aug

love seeing the progress pics ... you did an amazing job

It is just so satisfying to see it. The 10 foot cosmose is in there too.Next to the spike. It is 78 inches tall so I can judge the height of the plant after I can no longer measure and Pix.
You can see the spike in the July photo.

I see it... very cool

All the work you put into that lasagna garden certainly paid off, JoAnn. It's amazing how it fills in during the year.

The NOID in your collage looks a lot like Clematis florida 'Alba Plena.'

Thanks Zuzu. I believe it could be.
I ordered Florida Sieboldi.Its the first year for this really small plant.

I got to see Jo Anns gardens in person. They are beautiful, fabulously maintained, and I was surprised at how huge they were. Much larger than they look in the photos.

She doesn't think she can squeeze another plant in, but I found room where she could stick a heuchera or two. It's amazing how they have filled in, in just one year.

Jo Ann is a wonderful gardener!

WOW Polly thanks. I am indebted to many DG'ers for their encouragment and plants.
It's a great way to release the inner creator in me.

So glad you shared your pictures at least, next best thing to being there!