This week presented an unexpected and welcome acquisition, a large stack of rustic bricks (shown above,) I plan to use for garden paving. A neighbor removed them in a re-landscaping project and offered them along with some other landscaping materials he anticipates removing. I accepted and he graciously helped load them and then unload them onto my carport, where I can organize them, remove some extra mortar, and prepare them for placement. I even have a use for the chipped chunks of mortar, as a splash guard on the ground to intercept rainwater and prevent it from splattering mud on the house as it flows off the roof. (Note: Having a white brick house is a little like wearing white linen pants to a picnic… no matter how careful you are, something gets on it.) This entire reclamation process fits in completely with my gardening philosophy: to use, reuse and adapt what is available if at all possible, and to only spend money when absolutely required. So, for a little sweat equity I have free rustic brick pavers, we’ve recycled material that otherwise would have been hauled away, and I’ve strengthened a neighborly friendship to boot. Thanks Emma and Matt!
This week in the garden I began work on the “Dewberry Vineyard” bed. My Native Dewberry vines grew more than expected and ran out of control. It was time for an intervention. I started by untangled the vines as much as possible, lifting them so they could be redirected and placed on a trellis I will be installing in the upcoming weeks. To get the vines themselves under control, I need to encourage them to grow along two controlled rows, and eliminate them everywhere else. To accomplish this I laid heavy corrugated cardboard on either side of a line of vines to form two rows, then placed wood chips to weigh the cardboard down.
Why wood chips? I had saved three 32 gallon trash bins of wood chips from the removal of overgrown hedges and fallen tree branches. The wood chips will eventually compost and form a rich mulch, but for now I need them to perform a couple of other functions. One, to provide weight to hold down the cardboard against the stubborn and tenacious dewberry vines, and second, to help exclude light and encourage the vines to shift and grow only along the two rows. I also have several vines in containers that I’ll reintroduce to the bed. As the vines shift to their new locations, I will fill in around them with richer garden soil and compost later to strengthen them along the trellis lines. Dewberry vines root quickly, so they should adapt to the new locations easily.
As you might see in the pictures, after the third bin I ran out of wood chips, so I’ll need to finish filling in with cheap garden soil. I have several bags in reserve, enough to finish the job. As for the supports, I have metal fence stakes, wire, and a roll of wire fencing that I will install in the upcoming weeks to form two vineyard trellises. Keep in mind this is an experiment, and I hold no illusions that this will work as expected. Native Dewberries are stubborn, tough and tenacious, and even though they root easily, they may not take well to my intended training. For all I know they may put out underground runners and come up in the front yard. We shall see. When I finish work in the Dewberry Vineyard I’ll post pictures of the outcome.
