New garden beds with carpet!

J.R. Miller - Homemaking

Hello Ladies,

I just wonder, did the title of this post floor you! No pun intended.

Last summer at one of the few yard sales out here in the country, I met a woman who was 84 and has gardened here on the mesa her whole life.  For those who don't know about the mesa here in southern Colorado, well, it's flat, windy, and there is so many bindweed that it will make a gardener weep! and give up.

Which is what has happened to me through the few years we have lived here.

Until now. (so exciting!)

The lovely woman listened as I explained that I've given up gardening for now. That due to a health condition I manage that limits how much energy I can expend all in one swoop, I just can't keep up with the bindweed, dry conditions and garden.  She smiled and took me to her garden and showed me her secret to preserving her energy. 

Carpet!

Taking scrap carpet, remnants, or a piece you found on sale and lay it on the ground. Place your garden bed on top of it and the fill it. But most importantly:

DON'T DISTURB THE SOIL.  

Oh those words. If only someone would have told me that before we tilled, poked, planted and filled that amazing garden I designed when we moved here. I have heard those words from several folks including Nursery owners. 

You see, one bindweed seed can stay alive for almost 80 years. And the shoots of one seed go 20 feet horizontal and 30 feet down! Once they hit daylight, they sprout. With no water. With no invitation. 

And I can pull them out by the arm load and they will be fully regrown within 2 weeks. They grow up the cedar slats on the side of our house, they grow through concrete cracks, the grown through the screen door on the patio. 

So the amazing thing is - we did this. We found a large piece of carpet, the cheapest we could find, and put it down on the ground closer to the house rather than out near the pasture.

What's cool is the young man that helped me look for a cheap piece, after I explained why, he said "oh you must live on the mesa. I grew up out there and my dad used to do the same thing to all of our flower beds."  WOW!  

So I am not so weird after all. Just a way to learn to work with nature, rather than fight against it and burn too much energy.

Now, I like to be different, but carpet in the garden?...check it out:

This is the final creation, done by the fellows that help with the bindweed. They re-used everything from where the garden used to be in the pasture area, and moved it here. This is so much more elaborate than I expected. I was in the house as they worked, and it's just wonderful. Cozy little place for me to garden. Right by the hoses, and the back door.

Can  you see the carpet? It's one piece, just hiding under the mulch. There was so much mulch in the other garden , they were able to use it all and lightly cover the carpet.


Have a lovely day! I hope this inspires you to be creative and think outside the box :-)

If you want to see lovely blooms, please check out FlowerLadyLoraine's blog. I go there often to see color and blooms!