The Wrong Lilies

The Wrong Lilies

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Some ideas just sound crazy

So some ideas really do sound crazy, particularly when it comes to gardening and the environment and all that.  So here's where it's important to stop, look, and listen.  For instance, being a staunch American, I'm very much a non-monarchist.  I mean, we went to a lot of trouble to not be a monarchy in this country.  You know, 1776 and all that.  On the other hand, should we disregard an individual's opinions just because they're held as a royal somewhere?  I cite as an example the writings of HRH Prince Charles of Great Britain concerning the environment.  He either co-authored or simply sponsored a very interesting book entitled The Elements of Organic Gardening with Stephanie Donaldson.  I read about this book and then ordered a copy and have found a great deal of it to be not only interesting in the way that someone with lots of resources has chosen to garden, but also in ways that can be applicable to little old us and our little old bit of garden.  We actually borrowed the idea of using old carpet to smother grass before developing a planting area and it worked very well.  We inadvertently had access to some old carpet and while at first my husband thought I needed professional help (and I'm not talking gardening) because of my crazy borrowed idea, when we had placed the carpet down and blocked out the quadrants and then covered them with mulch for ascetics, he reconsidered.  Parenthetically, we found it worked much better if we put the pile downward.  We ended up, when we removed the carpet after several months of Texas spring and summer heat, with a lot of dead grass and soil ready to be turned into lovely beds.  We left some carpet in place for the paths of our foursquare garden, and no grass has ever invaded there.  For those who bother to read the book, they'll get interesting suggestions on lawns, water conservation, and a number of other topics that are becoming critically topical on our swiftly-warming planet.  And I say, without a shred of disrespect, "Good for you, HRH."

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