Dean / Dorian Ouer Garden PRA " unbelievable "

[edric]

Great work, and great thread, thanks, Ed

[Tassie_Troy1971]

Ah ha

I found the video on Dean's Mystery Ceroxylon !

[Mandrew968]

Dean, what's the prized palm we didn't see???

[waykoolplantz]

Dean, what's the prized palm we didn't see???

Andrew...hint...you'r holding yours

[Mandrew968]

Dean, what's the prized palm we didn't see???

Andrew...hint...you'r holding yours

Ahh--his progeny?

[spockvr6]

Beautiful! Question: In a garden like this.... in between the palms.... where are the weeds? How do you keep the "forest floor" so clean? Is it just that dry there? Does the shade do it?

The best kept secret of gardening - that I will share with just you.

A thick layer of mulch not only keeps weeds away, it retains moisture, moderated root temperature, promotes micro-organisms, and adds nutrients. With a thick layer of mulch new weeds are very few - only those that blow in or birds drop. So with a very very small amount of Round Up, a brief trip around the garden once a month, and it stays like that.

I understand the aversion some have to chemicals. I do too. But my philosophy is to use as few as you can. Use them to your advantage, in very small amounts, only when you have to. And by using mulch and spraying a very small amount regularly, weed free is easy. For me it is a beneficial trade off to letting things get out of hand and having to use more chemicals later, or spending time on weeding for something more beneficial to the garden - like bringing in more mulch.

You would be amazed at how little you use and how diluted you can make Round Up if you only have a very few young small weeds to attend to every month. And of course you could always use just your fingers.

I used the same approach in my last yard. I had some areas of the lot that (in about 8 years) were close to a foot thick of rich black soil loaded with earthworms . Considering the base "soil" is just sand, this was nice to see.

Of course, it took relatively large amounts of mulch for this to occur. On my very small lot (~6000 ft^2) I used to add mulch ~3 times a year and each time was ~200 ft^3 (about 100 of the 2 ft^2 bags). This starts adding up in $, but the results are legitimate.

[Mr Rare]

One of the gardens that initially inspired me .

Great job to Dean for his foresight and planting of some very cool palms and to Dorian to continue the legacy.

Fantastic job gentlemen!

[sbpalms]

Very beautiful, I really like that Cyphophoenix.

[BS Man about Palms]

I can't believe that I never replied in the original thread, but the recent trip to the Ouer garden and fantastic upkeep by Dorian prompted me to look this up for comparison.

I wish I could have made it to this most recent tour!