Interesting! thanks for the info. Ive wondered about doing a self watering with the rubbermaids and burying them below ground....

I think that's a great idea, Stomp. I'm letting the %^ voles have their way in some of my 'landscape' plantings and they've taught me that once summer starts any outdoor container, whether SWC, or old-fashioned pot, does better if it is shaded and insulated/.

I plant the 'important plants' in a gopher basket, but others grow in a sitting directly on the ground. Those get dug around and under until the whole pot is half embedded in a pile of fine, frothy, fresh-tilled earth.

Toots always go straight through those watering holes and into the ground. I should probably drill more and bigger holes in the pots before I set them out. Or not...

I have a 3-4 year old honeysuckle, in its original sunken 10" plastic pot has grown up and over the fence and started rooting in the bed on the other side... Wohoo, I have a xeric ground cover!

I know honeysuckle is a weed down south, but anything that WANTS to grow here is welcome in my garden.

Jan

Jan

I think that's a great idea, Stomp. I'm letting the %^ voles have their way in some of my 'landscape' plantings and they've taught me that once summer starts any outdoor container, whether SWC, or old-fashioned pot, does better if it is shaded and insulated/.

I plant the 'important plants' in a gopher basket, but others grow in a sitting directly on the ground. Those get dug around and under until the whole pot is half embedded in a pile of fine, frothy, fresh-tilled earth.

Toots always go straight through those watering holes and into the ground. I should probably drill more and bigger holes in the pots before I set them out. Or not...

I have a 3-4 year old honeysuckle, in its original sunken 10" plastic pot has grown up and over the fence and started rooting in the bed on the other side... Wohoo, I have a xeric ground cover!

I know honeysuckle is a weed down south, but anything that WANTS to grow here is welcome in my garden.

Jan

Gopher problem? Hmm, just yesterday my son captured this guy off my front porch and released him to the desert.... maybe you would want him? He was about 4 1/2' long and 2 1/2" around!!

{{gwi:28356}}

Wow, Stomp, he's a big 'un. Send him my way and he'll become the fattest snake you've ever seen. I've only seen red racers here, one of whom must hibernate somewhere on our property, as he shows up here every spring.

Re: Growboxes, etc.
Those are tricky to use in my area because of our high mineral water. In some areas we have issues with salts too. Since the water is "recycled" within the planter the minerals and salts just keep accumulating. The very thing that is so neat about these planters is the very thing that works against them here. Phooey.
But I'm glad they work for you!

Re: critter proof planters
I have a friend who "adopts" orphaned and abused shopping carts that have been lead astray and left their home. He removes the basket part, digs a hole the right size and uses the basket as a liner. He leaves at least a foot of it above ground and has a few double stacked for more height. He swears it keeps out all the critters, and it's easy to cover the top to keep out the rabbits, deer, dogs, etc. The hardest part is digging the hole.

Thanks, NMGirl.

I would definitely make use of the recycled shopping cart idea, if only the wandered off carts ever made it to our rural village!

I was concerned about the ph buildup problem, but the EB forum has a NM grower named Paul who advised starting with less than the recommended amount of dolomite lime to compensate. And someone else reminded me that sphagnum peat is very acidic, so I hope it will help to use more of it in my mix. But still I know that once it has been used over some seasons, the potting mix may not have the indefinite life span others report.

jan

Another way to increase acidity is to add some vinegar in the bottom of the grow box, and use Kelloggs planting mix and/or add soil sulfur.

I like the shopping cart idea!!

To make digging (hopefully) easier in the future and to add good stuff to my dirt, I have been doing all back filling with straight cow manure (lots and lots and lots of it). Im trenching for water lines and electrical lines right now and everywhere that passes thru an earmarked planting bed is just getting back filled with manure. Im saving the excess dirt, thinking I can make small hills with it to relieve the perpetual flatness of my land..

Here is a link that might be useful: Amendments for the desert

I love the idea of landscaping with swales and berms of your saved earth.

I'll bet you could also get some improved diggability, by laying cardboard under where you intend the berms to be, and near where you have put the manure, then piling some straw or mulch on top and then covering with your soil and another layer of mulch to keep the moisture in. You will surely have earthworm colonies soon.

Jan