On 3/30/07 6:49 AM, in article ,
"FragileWarrior" wrote:

Jangchub wrote in
:

On Fri, 30 Mar 2007 00:09:10 GMT, Phisherman wrote:

On Thu, 29 Mar 2007 23:08:21 +0000 (UTC), FragileWarrior
wrote:

I was thinking of putting a checkerboard herb garden on an area of
"lawn"(right off the edge of our driveway) that is mostly hard-packed
rock/lime and a bit of grass. The blocks I will be using for the
checkerboard are 4" deep so the soil where the herbs will grow will
also be 4" deep. Do you think I can get an annual crop of herbs to
grow in that? Or is that just too shallow? I won't be watering them
since water costs a small fortune here.

That should work. Most herbs do not need much soil, little water but
plenty sun. Resist the temptation to fertilize, but if you must, feed
small amounts of diluted fish emulsion.

This is not really all the correct. Herbs have deep roots, shallow
roots, need fertilizer, don't need fertilizer, need water, don't need
water, need sun, don't need sun...all depends on what you plan to
grow. If it is Coriscan mint, it will work. If it's dill, it won't.
Roots need to have more room than that to stand upright and not be
dragged down by its own weight in rain, not in rain, wind, etc.


Hmmm. I was going to go for some low growers except for maybe the back
row which would face the west so they would block the wind. Maybe I can
just go for low growers overall.

Any suggestions for plantings? The whole garden is triangle shaped with a
checkerboard block pattern. I'll have nine, foot square openings to fill
and seven half foot (triangle shaped) openings on the edge. The edge
triangles can be used or not -- that doesn't matter so much.

Sounds like a great time to check out knot gardens variations

I might even bring in some herbs that aren't considered herbs as an
educational type experience for the folks who will be seeing it. Things
like plantain or self-heal (heal all) or even dandelion. I figure if
they get out of hand during this season, they'll be easy enough to clean
out and start over next year.

Thymes spring to mind. Maybe mints. Comfrey can bust through the hardest
soil (for the back of the bed)...

It's really the watering part that worries me most. If we get into some
sort of massive drought, I *might* be able to haul water from a
neighbor's well but it wouldn't be high on my list of things to do.

Any way to harvest gray water from the house? Wash the dishes in a tub and
use that?

C