Pots vs Free Range

Mary Sue Ittner via pbs pbs@lists.pacificbulbsociety.net
Mon, 29 Aug 2022 11:23:31 PDT
This does not keep redwood roots out. They go around the sides and in my 
compost pile right through it. Concrete doesn't work either as we tried 
that with one raised bed. The only thing that works is a large gap of 
air between the bottom of your bed and the soil. My husband was not 
willing to start over to do that after I had created a number of beds so 
most of mine still require pulling the pots out to check. If I can't 
easily pull out the pot, I can be sure that the redwoods have gotten 
into the pot.

Since I can't attach photos to the list anymore I have added an early 
photo of one of my first raised beds to my wiki contributor's page. I 
added wood chips to the top so the pots and the gravel/sand aren't so 
noticeable and also because when I first started we were having 
significant rainfall and the wood chips soaked up some of it. I put tags 
under the first pot as well in case the birds pull out the tags in the 
upper pots. And I also added a photo for this discussion of a nest of 
roots I removed from either a 10 or 11 inch deep pot. You can see there 
wouldn't be room for much else. I'll remove that photo later.
https://pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/index.php/…

Mary Sue

On 8/29/2022 10:49 AM, Jane McGary via pbs wrote:
> To exclude invasive roots, I lined my raised beds with heavy-duty 
> woven groundcloth (the kind used in nurseries, not what they sell in 
> garden centers). Water passes through it. Like redwoods, the Pacific 
> native "red cedar" (Thuja plicata, not a cedar, nor what they call 
> "cedar" in the east) has endless moisture-seeking roots. Such trees 
> can be helpful with a bulb collection in that they reduce summer 
> moisture.
>

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