"Emil" wrote

Hi guys,
I posted this on rec.gardens but nobody responded. :-(
I hope my fellow rose people can help!

Hello Emil,

I took a look at your photo and I would like to suggest
something a bit different for that area. Indeed the first
thing to do is to get rid of the weeds, apply some pre-
emergent weed killer afterwards to make sure the
weeds don't come back and try to level the area to
the best of your ability. Instead of newspapers get
thee to an appliance store and ask if they would like
you to recycle for them their big cardboard boxes
where the appliances come in.

They are easier to work with, and a bit more rigid
than newspapers, you don't need to put any landscape
fabric -horrible stuff by the way, stay away from it -
and they will give you a better base for using pea
gravel, quarter minus to be precise which you can
order from any fuel company in your area or from
some construction supply place at very reasonable
price. Here in Oregon it is actually about the same
price as bark dust, better drainage and you can
make the place look a lot better without having
to worry about what kind of critters may make
a home in your barbecue area.

I was looking at the April issue of Sunset - I
don't normally buy it because their advertisement
is bigger than anything else but the cottage garden
cover got my eye. In page 104 there is a great
area designed by a Portland landscape designer
which shows raised beds framed with pine lumber.
Take a look at it. It may give you some idea so
you don't need to put the stone wall - everyone
and their godmother has one of those anyway -
and you can make some nifty raised beds where
to grow herbs and cutting flowers around the area
you are trying to improve.

You can make lasagna beds by actually extending
the cardboard all the way to where you want the
beds to go. Get a can of landscape paint and instead
of making it a square, go for a bit of a curve, or maybe
make two or three separate beds to surround the area
with the gravel in between, and mark them with the
landscape paint, that way it is easier to see what it
is going to look like in the future. Gravel is very clean
easy to hose down, if any stray weed finds its
way around, a shot of boiling water usually takes
care of business, and it is not an earwig motel
in the summer, or a lodge for them in the winter.

Hope this helps. You can get the staples that
are used to attach that horrible landscape fabric
to the ground and use those to steady your boards
before spreading the gravel. You would end finding
that it is easier to maintain and easier to live with
than barkdust.

Allegra