We've been working on improving the entrance area to the Victory Gardens. I think its getting there.
Our vision is to create a nice flat grassy area so we can have gatherings for the gardeners now and then. Also an area that looks tended and inviting as people enter the community garden plots.
The challenge is that the area has had 10 foot weeds and lots of branches, bushes and debris in past years. Also many undesirable invasives, like bittersweet, Japanese hops, burdock and Black Swallow-wort (also called Dog-strangling Vine).
Early this spring this area was cleaned up by gardeners at the garden work day. We did a fantastic job and cleared all the brush and debris. Also we trimmed the big shade tree to the right.
This week I spent several hours weed whacking the area. I have been admiring my work and looking forward to the growth of more grasses. The cool thing about grass is that its growth is stimulated by mowing, whereas other plants are inhibited. Over time, simply mowing a wild area will produce a grassy meadow.
Belmont Victory Gardens
It is looking nice and clean now. The small trees frame the entrance nicely too. A rock edged garden planted below the sign would look great with a mix of plants that attract beneficial insects. Monarda, Butterfly bush, Butterfly weed, Dill, St John's wort, Joepie Weed etc. A twig bench, I could go on for ages :-)
ReplyDeletewell, good luck skippy :)
ReplyDeleteNeed some Adirondack chairs to invite people to sit and chat and admire the gardens after working in them.
ReplyDeleteImpressive community garden; enjoyed your slide show as well. I've heard that I really need to check out the Belmont garden; are visitors allowed?
ReplyDeleteThe plots look huge in comparison to ours... I guess that's usually the story with urban gardens, though my 9' by 14' seems to be a good size for me.
We have an huge amount of grassy areas in our garden that need mowing; I would predict about 6-7 hours every two weeks.
Have a great season, some visit me at http://mydirtblog.blogspot.com/.
Sally, Visitors are welcome! I enjoyed looking at your blog and will add it to my links as soon as I get some more time.
ReplyDeleteWe've been thinking about a planting under the sign. First, we want to get the Town to dump the compost on the other side of the path.
ReplyDeleteAdirondack chairs sound awesome! I wonder if some company would like to donate that??? Or maybe I'll find one in the trash somewhere and give it a nice coat of paint.
The past three Memorial Day Weekend sales at Ace hardware have had a special on you-assemble adirondack chairs - $29.00 each - once you figure out how the first one gets put together, the rest are a piece of cake. I did four of them three years, painted each one a different color, we leave them out all year round and they are still holding up very well. PLUS - the arms are the perfect size to set your drink on!
ReplyDeleteKaren in DE
Sounds great!
ReplyDeleteI just found your blog and love it. It's getting me so motivated to get out there today and work on the garden while the kiddos are napping.
ReplyDeletehttp://meangreenrecyclingmachine.blogspot.com/
This will look amazing!
ReplyDeleteI've been following your blog for a few weeks! Your blog is a delight to read! It inspired me to move my garden posts from my regular blog to just a garden blog! :)
http://lilmissplannersfarm.blogspot.com
I love the idea of having a community compost area, where the neighborhoods can dump stuff for you guys to compost!
The compost is from the Town's yard waste pick-up program. People leave their yard waste out, the Town collects it and dumps it in big piles at their Transfer Station. They let it "compost" here. Then several years later, they bring us gardeners the aged compost. Its a great deal for us and I suppose the reduced trash disposal costs less for the Town.
ReplyDeleteI'm just looking ...and I love the light in this photo
ReplyDelete