Johnny Shea

Whats wrong with filling a trench? I have built some nice lazy beds with soil and manure but now im thinking of turning them into hugel beds. Should I just place wood on top of current raised bed and cover with soil. My main goal is to increase moisture retention. This summer has been hot and dry here.

Ants definitely deserve to be respected. They embody strenght and resliance. Personally I have never observed ant damage in the gardens I work in although some have a high amount of ant activity.  It always amazes me sometimes when planting new ornamentals into ant heavy soil.  You would imagine the ants would attack the new addition into their territory but they don't.  One garden for example has a bed on a slope that if you disturb the soil by digging or weeding it is immediately covered in ants scrambling to investigate the disturbance.  I have never seen any damage to plants in this garden.  I have observed and it is just my opinion ants move in to sites where the space underground contains large open spaces or has been filled with material such as rubble creating a habitat for ants. So they definitely prefer certain environments and if they move in their presence is best accepted where possible.

David Eyk wrote:I bought a hybrid white strawberry—trade name "Hula berry", often called pineberry—off the clearance rack at Home Depot a decade ago. Three plants originally, and I'll never lack for it again. In zone 8b mediterranean climate, this thing is a honey badger: I've seen it choke out mint. It's a great ground cover, tolerates sun or shade, and with a regular strawberry somewhere in bee range to cross-pollinate, you get tasty white berries that look like they're from Mars and taste like pineapple.

Would you believe I bought same variety off a sale rack earlier this year. They are growing well so far looking forward to berries next year 😁

Over here in temperate Ireland we have a plant known as wild garlic which I've been told is actually a leek . It grows from underground bulbs and reproduces by seed freely. The leaves are long strap shaped and smell strongly of garlic. It has beautiful white flowers in the spring and all parts are edible.
It is known as an invasive weed and most gardeners look their noses down on it but I've given it free reign in a corner of my garden. It is fully frost hardly and once established is practically impossible to get rid of . It is a particularly nuisance of a plant when it gets into beds with other plants as it will intermingle and become endemic. In the right place though it is beautiful, good for pollinators and super reliable