Dirt Dawg Nursery & Lasagna Iris Bed

A corner of Dirt Dawg Nursery's Garden of Eden.

This afternoon we visited Dirt Dawg Nursery, just over the line in Watertown. Owned by two Wilson County Master Gardener friends, Jennifer and Jeff, Dirt Dawg Nursery is a little piece of heaven. Indeed, so Edenic is the site that they're hosting a wedding later this spring. When a friend visited, she dubbed it "The Garden of Eden" and declared that this is the site where she wants to be married; her wish shall be granted.

We went for the iris sale. As the nursery is only open on weekends and by appointment, when we learned they would be featuring iris that afternoon, why, we hopped into the car and tooled on over there. Do we need iris? No, but they are beautiful plants--and I learned something new today, too. I never realized that iris flowers have a fragrance. Jennifer introduced my nose to a heavenly lemon-scented flower and I fell for it, hard. Even though we're on a strict budget, I still managed to bring home six new plants.

Molly-dog supervises plant placement.

Before sundown I had made a "lasagna bed"for them, planted them, and even fenced them off from our oh-so-helpful chickens that turn every new bed and fresh pile they can find. Lasagna beds come in different flavors, but mine are generally a variation of the following recipe:

1) Line the ground with several empty Edwards Feeds bags to smother what's already growing on the site.

2) Layer on some corrugated cardboard (aka haute cuisine for redworms--the magic is in the glue, pure protien!)

3) Layer on some inches of used bedding; add some manure (it can be fresh because it's below root level); consider maybe a sprinkle of "water saving" crystals; then add a handful of worm castings, worm cocoons, or plain old worms; and, of course, a layer of fresh soil. If you have clippings or leaves--composted or not--layer these beneath the soil topping, too. The more layers, the deeper (and richer) the bed.

4) Add plants and put the bed to bed.

"Poultry fencing" (aka chicken wire) ensures plant safety.

If you prefer to keep the soil unturned--although the chickens do a mean job of turning gardens, I must say--it would be wise to add some obstruction to keep marauding chickens away. They're just trying to help (themselves to the food you set out for plants).

Then, pat yourself on the back and walk away. Tomorrow perhaps I'll add a splash of raw milk (we're sure to have some about to go bad); that'll help the mix considerably.

Thanks, Jeff and Jennifer! We had a delightful afternoon and we love our new plants!