{"id":3524,"date":"2017-09-05T04:43:35","date_gmt":"2017-09-05T04:43:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/gardenescapades.com\/blog\/?p=3524"},"modified":"2017-09-05T04:43:35","modified_gmt":"2017-09-05T04:43:35","slug":"mt-chips-and-the-parking-strip-garden","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/gardenescapades.com\/blog\/2017\/09\/05\/mt-chips-and-the-parking-strip-garden\/","title":{"rendered":"Mt. Chips and the Parking Strip Garden"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>A large western hemlock tree died across the street (no surprise, since they built a new house there and compacted the soil and removed nearby trees that helped shade it). \u00a0We were sad to see it go, but happy when the tree cutters came and shredded it. \u00a0Leon had the foresight to ask if they would give us the chips from it, and they did. \u00a0On top of that wonderful gift, they offered to drop off more chips when they cut down other trees in the neighborhood.\n

Because the seedlings for the parking strip garden are doing so well, I decided it makes more sense to plant them this fall, rather than in the spring. \u00a0So, Leon is helping me kill the grass in the parking strip so it will be ready to plant come early November. \u00a0We put down tarps and landscape cloth in anticipation of the second batch of chips.<\/p>\n

And then this happened:<\/p>\n

$\"\"$ <\/a><\/p>\n

The tree cutters dropped off a huge pile of chips on Friday! \u00a0I called it Mt. Chips and this is Bodhi conquering it. \u00a0I estimate it was about four square yards of chips that smelled great\u2013we think it was a pine tree. \u00a0And it was all free!<\/p>\n

So, I spend a lot of the Labor Day holiday spreading it onto the parking strip and beyond\u2013because there was way more than we needed for just the parking strip. \u00a0We also mulched the woodland garden\u00a0and mulched over the too-thin mulch around the raised veggie beds. \u00a0Brother Tim helped out today and it went pretty fast with three of us!<\/p>\n

IMG_4771<\/a><\/p>\n

Click above to see Brother Tim and the final results.<\/p>\n

I also potted up six Streptocarpus leaf cuttings from eBay that I plan to root in my room on the heating cable in the humidity tray. \u00a0The cuttings arrived in wonderful shape and I\u2019m hopeful that all of them will root. \u00a0They include:<\/p>\n

UA Solar Eclypse<\/a><\/p>\n

Nina<\/a><\/p>\n

Midnight Thunder<\/a><\/p>\n

Leon<\/a><\/p>\n

Angelina Jolie<\/a><\/p>\n

Valor<\/a><\/p>\n

Some of the perennial seedlings are blooming already. \u00a0The Achillea ptarmica are blooming, as are the Santa Barbara daisies, and a few of the catmints, as well. \u00a0Most of the plants look pretty strong, but I\u2019m not sure exactly how I\u2019ll get them safely in the ground and mulched when they are still pretty small. \u00a0The soil in that strip will need some organic matter, manure, and fertilizer, too, to help them out. \u00a0I\u2019ll work on that in the coming weeks.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"