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#1
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Edging for mounded rose bed ...
I have a large rose bed on one side of the house that had tall plants (hts and Austins) in the
middle, medium-tall around them, shorter around them, and so on. I like to keep this bed well mulched--in fact, mulch is mounded high. Is there a fairly tall edging that is not ugly but will keep the mulch in? It needs to be 12 to 18 inches tall. I am using the black rubber interlocking stuff you pound in with a mallet and it is really ugly. TIA for any ideas! |
#2
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Edging for mounded rose bed ...
"Shiva" wrote: I have a large rose bed on one side of the house that had tall plants (hts and Austins) in the middle, medium-tall around them, shorter around them, and so on. I like to keep this bed well mulched--in fact, mulch is mounded high. Is there a fairly tall edging that is not ugly but will keep the mulch in? It needs to be 12 to 18 inches tall. I am using the black rubber interlocking stuff you pound in with a mallet and it is really ugly. I don't suppose you could use the "Zen edging" I'm using for my roses: none. I take it that your mulch will not just taper off over a foot or two of space around the edges, and remain more or less in place. Again, I have space to burn, and you probably haven't. If you live somewhere where a rot-resisting wood is available at reasonable prices (whether it be new-growth redwood, Western red-cedar, or new-growth baldcypress [as it is here in north Florida]), you could buy that. Pound heavy stakes into the ground and then nail a couple of 1 by 8s, one atop the other, into them. Not that cheap, but e.g. baldcypress weathers to a lovely gray. New-growth woods are not completely rotproof, but they can take some years of ground contact without apparent damage. (Interesting note: the mega-stores like Lowe's and Home Depot stock pricey (here) Western redcedar from British Columbia or wherever, but not second-growth cypress cut 20 miles away from town: go figure. One has to go to local mills.) Or you could use treated wood. Yeah, it's a ugly greenish color, and although the pressure-treaters swear up and down that it doesn't leach an appreciable amount of arsenic into the soil, you might not trust them. Douglasfir and such will have ugly little slots cut into the wood to ensure that the preservative penetrates; southern pine will not, as it is porous enough not to need them. Which wood you get depends on where you live: here, of course, it's southern pine. To reduce the ugliness, whitewash the treated wood. Yeah, real whitewash: hydrated quicklime and water, as used by Tom Sawyer, not the phony stuff sold to give a "whitewashed" look to furniture. I wrote to one of the wood-preserving industry groups and asked, and their resident expert said that whitewash will, if anything, SLOW any leaching of preservatives from the wood, and not react with them. Repeated coats may be necessary, though it's supposed to form a layer of "rock" over time. It'll sweeten the soil a little, which may or may not be a problem. Go to a good farm supply store and buy a bag of what I think they'll call "hydrated lime," not the ground-up limerock or dolomite sold for spreading on lawns. I suppose you could use cinderblocks, but they're bloody heavy and not that cheap, really. I don't find them ugly; you might. Just dry-stack them two high. Mark., just my 2 cents worth, and perhaps not worth that |
#3
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Edging for mounded rose bed ...
In Mark. Gooley wrote:
Mark., just my 2 cents worth, and perhaps not worth that I disagree, there were some great ideas amongst that lot! I've tried a few different forms of edging, including treated pine, but at the end of the day I'm won over to sandstone. Expensive, yes, but it will last longer than I do and I can get back to worrying about roses. |
#4
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Edging for mounded rose bed ...
My 'small' raised/mounded beds are built with 2"X6" redwood sides, 12" to
18" high as required by the contour and slope of my lot. These beds are approximately 10' X 20' My 'large' raised/mounded bed simply slopes away at the edges. This bed is approximatly 30'X50' The soil in my area is a very heavy and alkaline clay, growing in raised beds (12" to 15" deep) gives me complete control of the soil composition. ALL my roses are HEAVILY mulched with wood chips and the HT's get additional soil around the graft for winter. (Zone 5) I am a big believer in organic mulch, it provides insulation, retards moisture loss from evaportation and provides a continuous supply of new 'compost' at the soil/mulch boundry. The mulch requires replentisment after several years, a very small price to pay for the benefit it provides. Tim |
#5
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Edging for mounded rose bed ...
"Daniel Hanna" wrote in message home.com.au... In Mark. Gooley wrote: Mark., just my 2 cents worth, and perhaps not worth that I disagree, there were some great ideas amongst that lot! Thanks. I've tried a few different forms of edging, including treated pine, but at the end of the day I'm won over to sandstone. Expensive, yes, but it will last longer than I do and I can get back to worrying about roses. Yes, local rock that you can afford is definitely a good idea, if you don't mind having to handle heavy things -- or paying others to do that for you. Here it's either compact limestone from the quarries near Ocala (this is why Ocala is in thoroughbred country: limestone near the surface of the soil; Newmarket in England and the Kentucky Bluegrass area are two more of about half a dozen places in the world deemed superior for raising racehorses), or those weird irregular chert boulders found near Gainesville (southwest Gainesville to maybe Williston ). I suppose that one could buy a few tons of either, whack it into suitable shapes, and dry-fit it into low stone walls; if you own a few acres in the chert country you'll turn up plenty of them on your own, or I suppose you can swipe some on the weekends from a road-construction project. Last I heard, people are selling it; there are huge dumps of it near Kanapaha Botanical Gardens (I don't know if it's being stockpiled or whether people would thank you for removing it, honestly). Many boulders are surely in the multi-ton range: good luck with those. Some of the chert could certainly be sawn up and made into decorative tiles, if anyone were so inclined. Likewise bits of concrete slabs, if you don't mind the look, or stone or brick from wrecked buildings. Again, there's the weight. Mark. |
#6
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Edging for mounded rose bed ...
Mark. Gooley wrote:
"Shiva" wrote: I don't suppose you could use the "Zen edging" I'm using for my roses: none. I take it that your mulch will not just taper off over a foot or two of space around the edges, and remain more or less in place. G Actually, I started out with "Zen edging" (great way to put it, I am going to have to use that!) and found that too much mulch washes away due to the fact that we are on a hill with little hills *on* it, or "up on a hill down in a hole," as I once put it. Not a lot of level space. Again, I have space to burn, and you probably haven't. This is a 1/3rd acre city lot--not cramped, but certainly not "space to burn." If you live somewhere where a rot-resisting wood is available at reasonable prices (whether it be new-growth redwood, Western red-cedar, or new-growth baldcypress [as it is here in north Florida]), you could buy that. Pound heavy stakes into the ground Whoa, there, cowboy! It's just me here, and I'm not the stake-pounding type, unless it comes to vampires. and then nail a couple of 1 by 8s, one atop the other, into them. Not that cheap, but e.g. baldcypress weathers to a lovely gray. New-growth woods are not completely rotproof, but they can take some years of ground contact without apparent damage. (Interesting note: the mega-stores like Lowe's and Home Depot stock pricey (here) Western redcedar from British Columbia or wherever, but not second-growth cypress cut 20 miles away from town: go figure. One has to go to local mills.) Seriously, this all sounds good but I was hoping for something less labor intensive. Wood borders could be very attractive, though. Something to think about, and perhaps one day hire someone to do. [...] Which wood you get depends on where you live: here, of course, it's southern pine. I am in Raleigh, NC, so, you bet, it would be pine. To reduce the ugliness, whitewash the treated wood. Yeah, real whitewash: hydrated quicklime and water, as used by Tom Sawyer, not the phony stuff sold to give a "whitewashed" look to furniture. [snip other good ideas} Mark., just my 2 cents worth, and perhaps not worth that Thanks! |
#7
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Edging for mounded rose bed ...
Daniel Hanna wrote:
In Mark. Gooley wrote: Mark., just my 2 cents worth, and perhaps not worth that I disagree, there were some great ideas amongst that lot! I've tried a few different forms of edging, including treated pine, but at the end of the day I'm won over to sandstone. Expensive, yes, but it will last longer than I do and I can get back to worrying about roses. This sounds pretty and also like it takes a very strong back. Now then, what are you women rosers without manservants doing for edging? G |
#8
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Edging for mounded rose bed ...
Tim Tompkins wrote:
My 'small' raised/mounded beds are built with 2"X6" redwood sides, 12" to 18" high as required by the contour and slope of my lot. These beds are approximately 10' X 20' Sounds like our lots may be similar. Where did you get your wood? And you are saying it is 2" to 6" thick?? That is really thick. Do you stain them? My 'large' raised/mounded bed simply slopes away at the edges. This bed is approximatly 30'X50' That is bigger than any of mine. I take it this bed is on a more or less level piece of ground? The soil in my area is a very heavy and alkaline clay, growing in raised beds (12" to 15" deep) gives me complete control of the soil composition. Same here. That's the whole reason for the raising. I had a bed profesionally tilled, holes dug through the hardpan in to the sand for drainage--but every bare root placed in that bed died last spring. It does drain, so I have no idea what the problem is. (That is another thread ...) But needless to say, you can see why I am returning to my raised bed ways. I never lost one bare root that way. ALL my roses are HEAVILY mulched with wood chips and the HT's get additional soil around the graft for winter. (Zone 5) My zone is 7 and so no realy winter protection is needed, but I also use wood chips, and what they call "pine bark fines" or very fine aged bark with manure mixed in, which is bagged and sold as "soil conditioner." On top of that goes regular pine bark mulch or "nuggets" as it is sometimes called. I am a big believer in organic mulch, it provides insulation, retards moisture loss from evaportation and provides a continuous supply of new 'compost' at the soil/mulch boundry. The mulch requires replentisment after several years, a very small price to pay for the benefit it provides. Tim I believe in the benefits of this, too. I actually add a little to it each year, after I weed the beds and plant the new roses. |
#9
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Edging for mounded rose bed ...
In article
aHlwYXRpYQ==.7a4212c93fde7e1f03ed55d52dfbdc42@106 9018692.cotse.net, Shiva wrote: Daniel Hanna wrote: In Mark. Gooley wrote: Mark., just my 2 cents worth, and perhaps not worth that I disagree, there were some great ideas amongst that lot! I've tried a few different forms of edging, including treated pine, but at the end of the day I'm won over to sandstone. Expensive, yes, but it will last longer than I do and I can get back to worrying about roses. This sounds pretty and also like it takes a very strong back. Now then, what are you women rosers without manservants doing for edging? G Saving to hire some. |
#10
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Edging for mounded rose bed ...
In Mark. Gooley wrote:
Likewise bits of concrete slabs, if you don't mind the look, or stone or brick from wrecked buildings. Again, there's the weight. One trick I've heard of for purpose built concrete edging is to paint it with a mix of yoghurt and water soon after it's laid. It will stop looking like new ugly concrete and start looking like aged mossy stone in next to no time, according to the tale. Hmm, not sure. I'd avoid using fruit yoghurt :-) |
#11
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Edging for mounded rose bed ...
Now then, what are you women rosers without manservants doing for
edging? G Doing it myself. All of my beds are edged with Tennessee fieldstone as is my pond. I just like doing the work myself. This way the perfectionist in me gets it the way "she" wants it or keeps her damned mouth shut and learns ot live with it. *grin* Susan shsimko at duke(dot)edu |
#12
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Edging for mounded rose bed ...
Susan H. Simko wrote:
Now then, what are you women rosers without manservants doing for edging? G Doing it myself. All of my beds are edged with Tennessee fieldstone as is my pond. This sounds really beautiful. Where do you get it? I have seen different sorts of rocks at garden centers, but the prospect of hauling it dampens my enthusiasm. I imagine they would haul it and put it down if paid enough. I just like doing the work myself. This way the perfectionist in me gets it the way "she" wants it or keeps her damned mouth shut and learns ot live with it. *grin* I admire that. And I wish I had your back. Post pics! The stones, not your back. Unless you really want to post your back ... g |
#13
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Edging for mounded rose bed ...
Shiva wrote:
This sounds really beautiful. Where do you get it? I have seen different sorts of rocks at garden centers, but the prospect of hauling it dampens my enthusiasm. I imagine they would haul it and put it down if paid enough. I can't remember the name of the place. It's "around the corner" from where I live (about a mile) so I just drive over there and pick out the palette of stone I want and usually it's delivered the same day. Since I'm so close, it's only $25 to deliver it. (It's on Stallings Road in Durham. I'll check on it and post the name for you later.) I admire that. And I wish I had your back. Actually, I have arthritis in my lower back due to having ulcerative colitis. *laugh* I just pick up one stone at a time and take some aspirin *before* I start working. Sometimes I'm too stubborn for my own good. In the interest of fairness the s.o. would highly question the use of the word sometimes. *grin* Post pics! The stones, not your back. Here's a pic of the pond in the spring right after I finished it: http://152.3.63.1/pond2_sm.jpg I have newer photos but nothing online right now. Unfortunately, I will have no chance to add them to the site until next week as I will be out of my office attending a Python programming in Zope class for the next three days. Unless you really want to post your back ... g http://www.duke.edu/~shsimko/dragoncon/dc99/shs5.jpg *laugh* Susan shsimko(at)dukedotedu |
#14
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Edging for mounded rose bed ...
"Shiva" wrote: I have a large rose bed on one side of the house that had tall plants (hts and Austins) in the middle, medium-tall around them, shorter around them, and so on. I like to keep this bed well mulched--in fact, mulch is mounded high. Is there a fairly tall edging that is not ugly but will keep the mulch in? It needs to be 12 to 18 inches tall. I am using the black rubber interlocking stuff you pound in with a mallet and it is really ugly. Another idea: why not a short fence of hardware cloth? That's yard-wide quarter-inch galvanized steel mesh, cut in half with tin shears. The mulch piled up against it should render it not too visible, and a stake every few feet would hold it in place... Mark., but then, I like the look of the stuff; your mileage may vary |
#15
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Edging for mounded rose bed ...
"Susan H. Simko" wrote:
Shiva wrote: Unless you really want to post your back ... g http://www.duke.edu/~shsimko/dragoncon/dc99/shs5.jpg *laugh* Back looks just fine to me, at least from the outside. And what an impressive-looking woman it's attached to. Mark., I don't look impressive enough to intimidate my roses into good behavior: it's the PHOSPHATE in the soil makes them bloom, even when moribund |
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