Bed Preparation

 

The grant leaders came for a site visit today.  We weren’t sure what to expect.   Amanda, Wendy, Mike and Amy were very helpful and pleasant as well as being very knowledgeable about soils, plants shrubs and trees.  Our site right at this moment, is a sand pile left over from building our house last year that we surrounded with left over rocks from our foundation excavation.

We reviewed the plant list and they suggested possibly making 2 substitutions.  The Rose Milkweed and the Boneset plants like wetter soil than what we have, so they suggested we think about changing them  for plants that like drier soil.  The soil in Swanzey, where we live, is very sandy.  We will add more top soil and mix it in to improve the soil so they get a better start.

We also discussed the use of weed block cloth for the garden (there seems to be some controversy both for/against it)  and we have decided to not use weed block.  We will use natural cedar mulch instead.

Next we Contacted Bagley Pond Perennials in Warner NH.  The said that they will set aside the plants that we want so that they will be available when our site is ready.

Then we set up an appointment at Garden in the Woods to get the shrubs that we want for the garden.

We had a good discussion on plants that were already in the wooded area; Golden Alexander (Zizia aurea) , 3 Leaved Rattlesnake Root (Nabolus trifolatus), Hairy Solomon’s Seal ( Polygonatum pubescens) and Pagoda Dogwood (Cornus alternifolia).