Garden Bed Tip: Cardboard

Use cardboard to start an organic garden bed. This bed is in the back of my yard (more neglected part which doesn't get watered during drought). It has gone underdeveloped for several years.

There's a hidden clue in this picture.
Check back to find out what it is.

Now that I am on the "Butterfly Garden Path" I wanted to prepare more beds in addition to the Curbside Butterfly Garden in my front yard.

I saw a Pinterest post with a photo of this same principle and it was reiterated when speaking with Plant-A-Habitat Owner, Kim Ellis.

After weeding the bed on a Saturday, leaving behind the "Rain Lily" leaves that come back during the right combination of heat and rain in the summer, I let the bed stand for a day.

I was putting some boxes into the recycling bin Sunday and remembered the Pinterest Post and Kim's advice.

I flattened the boxes and spread them out. I laid them out on the bed and placed some bricks to keep them from flying away. A few days later I added another cardboard and newspaper to fill gaps. It doesn't have to look pretty (obviously), it just needs to block out the sun and eventually decompose.

Kim's advice is the tip that will make your bed successful. She says to bring in organic soil (that can be mixed with some mulch) and add 2-3 inches of soil on top of the cardboard. Done. You can wait a couple of weeks before you add the soil and weed again (optional) before you cover everything up. Tamp down the soil and your organic soil bed is ready for plants.

Since April is getting late in the 2-inch pot planting season, choose plants that are a bit larger or transplant from another (maybe a little neglected bed in your yard) so you don't have to wait too long for gratification, or before the summer sun wilts tender, tiny plants.

I've mention my front yard butterfly garden often. Check back for photos of it now as it is blooming and butterflies have found it!

Below are the magical rain lilies I referred to. They border the bed and look like a Fairy Ring when they are blooming. Last year I counted 60 when the elements came together. Delightful.

  

Check out my Pinterest
Backyard Living and Curb Appeal pages
for great ideas and inspiration

Casa Zamora on Pinterest

It's been a while since I worked on this blog. Honestly, I felt out of my element until I learned a few things and could share useful information.

I am proud to announce that since our neighborhood started single-stream #recycling we have increased our recycling by 100 percent and reduced our trash by about a two-thirds. We recycle every piece of paper, cardboard, tin can, glass, paper roll, etc., that I don't use for crafting.

There has been lots of activity in the #garden. Our biggest investment was purchasing about $200 of #moss stone as borders. I dug out the old concrete scallops (sure wish I had the hubby to help with the first section - it took me two weekend afternoons while he was out of town). I tested some of those border bricks that were so popular a few years ago and look good around trees and the azalea bed, but not in front of the porch bed. They were just too bulky-looking.

I dug down a few inches and placed newspaper down. I covered with playground #sand to prevent #weeds, and then the stones.

We broke down and bought the stones and they look great. I will post photos soon.
There's so much more to catch up on, I can't finish today, but will continue to update you. For now here is an #instagram photo from the #hibiscus in the back yard.

Celeste Goes Green - how to bring back a bougainvillea

As I attempt to improve a hobby - gardening - and learn to incorporate eco-friendly practices in my yard. The big project will be to build a composting system. The smaller projects will include an herb garden and landscaping various beds. First on the list is bringing back a bougainvillea that took the worst of the winter. My 86-year-old mother-in-law told me to cut it down to the trunk before I uprooted it - it might come back. Sure enough, this week I saw the signature leaves at the trunk of the plant. She's a green gardener from way back so I am sure I will be bringing her up as the weeks go by.

The plant is coming back: you can see the small reddish leaves at the trunk.

From plant-care.comThis site talks about container bougainvillea but mine have been in the ground for about three years. For about a year, I have been putting coffee grounds and unbleached coffee filters around the root. I'd like to think this helped preserve or fortify the plant and helped it survive the tough Houston winter of 2010. My job now is to cut back the dead wood and let it begin to grow again. When I bought the plant it was probably about a foot tall. I wanted one after seeing a "hedge" of bougainvillea in California, at a home near the ocean. I believe it likes that kind of climate, but the site says it's a tropical and native to Brazil.

The plant was overgrown and the manicuring was neglected.
It's a good "fencing" plant because of the thorns, but can also be hazardous.

I normally water bed plants about once a week but need to do that twice a week during the summer when it's hotter and drier. The site says to watch for wilting. During the summer I shower in our downstairs walk-in shower (recently renovated) and reclaim the runoff in two five-gallon pails. I use it on the container plants, especially in the summer when we go through dry spells. I came up with this after Hurricane Ike when water was even more precious. (eco-friendly point)

The freeze actually gives me a chance to reshape the bougainvillea because it had grown out of hand - thus the tough job of trimming it back, not to mention the thorny vines. I will try and pile the dead wood or use it in our fire pit for the next evening on the deck, since I haven't started my mulch project.
Another thing I will try is to trim it more often. I think I will get more flowers during the hot, sunny months when it thrives (as long as it gets enough water). I always wondered why a couple of other bougainvilleas along a nearby main street were always blooming. I learned this by trimming back the Wisteria in the front yard (that the girls wanted to cut down - more on them in another post). We trimmed it while clearing out all the winter deadness and it bloomed fully for the first time in years - duh.

The plant had overgrown on the house. I was trying to train it to the balcony
but neglected it during fast-growing times and an unruly plant was the result.

What I like about bougainvilleas are the bright pink blooms, especially during the summer, when everything else is stressed. I think keeping it shaped will help the manicured look as well.

This is what I hope my bougainvillea will look like one day.

Good luck to me. Remind me to write about the confederate jasmine. See you next time!