I took some junk to the landfill on Cove Rd. (Off of Pulaski Hwy) last week--
and, as I was exiting, -I swear i saw a small "mountain" of compost.
They usually do this and, I believe, it is free to County residents.
You bring the bags and trashcans to put it in. You shovel....

You could call them and ask....Baltimore County Solid Waste Mgmt.
I tried to find the phone # but could not.

Gita

@EvergreenMike a 'local' place (at least for me) that has a wide variety of herbs (I saw thyme on your list) is DeBaggio's Herbs 43494 Mountain View Dr, Chantilly, VA 20152 http://www.debaggioherbs.com/

Stop and ask a landscape contractor about local bulk mulch suppliers, most carry bulk compost now days and deliver at affordable rates if your place is not too far afield.

Yep -- Bussard Bros delivers very nice compost to me for somewhere around $20 (maybe $22) per cubic yard. If you're getting a lot (10-20 yards), you can probably talk them into sending the kid with the bobcat to move it around. Their cubic yard "scoops" are quite generous, too.

Free is great, if you can shovel it and haul enough to make it worthwhile. Also, handle "free" compost and mulch with gloves if you're sensitive to poison ivy, because you don't know what went into it.

'Reugan' is a very nice variety, Mike! It may violate your single-species plan, but alpine strawberries make a nice border, too. They don't runner, so they are well behaved. Give them room for best growth/fruiting, once they're planted out.

Here's a great set of growing tips for alpine strawberries: http://thestrawberrystore.com/...

If you ordered a 120 plant tray, they will be fairly small "plugs." I wouldn't put them straight into the garden. Instead, I'd pot them into 4" (quart) pots... maybe even start them in 2" pots (or 36 count sheet pot trays) and then up-pot again. Just had the thought that quart size yogurt containers with a couple holes in the bottom would make fabulous pots -- the light color will be a plus. 120 of them would be a lot of yogurt or cottage cheese, but you might be able to "dive" at the recycling center. Hoe a trench or two in your strawberry bed and line the pots up in the trench so they're at least half below the soil surface. That lets them soak up water from the surrounding soil and also helps keep the roots cool. Putting the pots in continuous rows means easier weeding while the plants are little, too.

When the roots fill the 4" pot, you can plant them out or even up-pot again into trade gallon pots. If you wait until fall (good time for transplanting with minimal shock), the roots may have grown out the bottom of the pot, but no biggie if some break off in the process.

Speaking of thyme... the rest of my plugs came today!!


Tags in the same order as plants.



All five have completely different fragrance/flavor and leaves, but the same growth habit and average height. They'll make such a beautiful mixed groundcover!!! I'm so excited!!

edited as it was a duplicate post. G.

Just found this thread this morning. Great topic and I absolutely love the planning you are putting in to the whole landscape design!!! Back deck container garden looks fantastic too.

Found a new tree! Castanopsis cuspidata (Japanese Chinquapin) is a large 50-75' tree. Reliably hard zone 7, marginal in 6. Seeds are like chestnuts and edible boiled or roasted.

I'm on a roll today: new shrub! Rhamnus Crocea Illicifolia (Holly Leafed Redberry) grows as a small shrub 3-7' and produced bright red edible berries. Careful not to mix this one up with actually Holly (Ilex species) as their berries are toxic. http://honest-food.net/2012/07... This forager describes the berries as sweet with hints of cherry and cinnamon. Sounds great to me!!

Check out Castanopsis chrysophylla, edible nuts, evergreen, native to west coast NA.

Added Mahonia and Kousa Dogwood. Most Mahonia species have edible berries, though flavor varies. Noted for being a particularly good variety is Oregon Grape Holly (Mahonia Aquifolium). Kousa Dogwood (Cornus Angustata) grows as a small 20-30' tree and produces red one inch fruits that are said to be very sweet with a jelly like texture.

I've heard edible quality of Kousa is variable. (And not evergreen.)
I can try a Mahonia bealei and let you know. But don't hold your breath- they don't look very tempting, lol

There's a kousa Dogwood at the national arboretum in DC. I visited in late winter, just before things started leafing out, and it was still covered in leaves. From what I've read, the trick is to give it a shaded site. The winter sun will dessicates it's leaves.

well, thanks for the correction, I'm astounded. I will say though, they have some kind of Fatsia/Aralia outside the bonsai exhibit, looks well established and bloomed too, so they do have a mild zone there.

Oh! I love their fatsia! They have it in that little microclimate with the high wall and all that shade. Their temps really aren't any different than where I am in Baltimore... maybe a degree or two. The trick with these marginally hardy evergreens is wind and sun protection: the two biggest factor in winter dessication.

So I just looked up 'Kousa Dogwood' and I found the source of the confusion. We're talking about two different plants, same common name.. that's why I always add the Latin as well. Cornus Kousa, obviously the original kousa Dogwood, is deciduous. The Dogwood I'm referring to has quite a bit of confusion surrounding it's naming. http://depts.washington.edu/uw... This article gives a lot more detail as well as the 8 different Latin names this plant goes by

Maybe that is also the source of inconsistent comments about fruit quality too.

I've never heard of C. elliptica before. Very interesting!

http://www.pfaf.org/user/Plant...

Edible and medicinal uses of C. Elliptica, which the National Arboretum referred to as C. Angustata. 4/5 is a very high rating. Anything 3 or higher is generally desirable to eat, less than that is forage and famine food.


Sadly, I didn't think to take a pic of the foliage. But I do remember it being thick and glossy dark green, not like many semi-evergreens that hold onto a few dessicated, miscolored leaves (think Japanese honeysuckle).

Pfaf.org is my go to for obscure edibles, though I always double check their information as their database is so big it's bound to have some discrepancies.

I've read some on PFF, cool site, so much information