Like Barbara, I'm "tired" of the conversation and I'm ready to "retire" it, but it is important. I'm with Libby, we use rubble at lot - just built a rubble labyrinth last year. Pics at www.urbanministrycenter.org, on my neglected blog. And I'm with Mike - tires stink, literally, and I wouldn't use them as planters. The ground tire "playground mulch" is gross, especially on a hot day.
However, to each their own, and in that spirit, the recognized tire planter authority is no doubt the amazing Southern gardener and writer, Felder Rushing, http://www.felderrushing.net/frontyard.htm I like Felder's bottle trees a lot, even if I disagree with him on tires. Maybe for a tree swing on a rope, but I like a board better. Recycling them in asphalt pavement? Why not? Burn 'em for energy? No worse than coal, probably. Structural material for walls, covered with mud or something? Maybe - we've got to do something constructive with all these tires. Sandels, anyone? But for framing veggie or flower gardens or beds? Give me a break. Why bother??? Frames are usually unnecessary anyway. If you have an incurable bed framing fettish, rubble or stone is much easier to work with and more flexible. If you absolutely feel compelled to use tires as planters for some reason (Car Guy Aesthetics? Terminal Recyclophilia? To stubbornly make your point and annoy Mike?), use Felder's methods and make real tire planters. Follow his instructions, and cut them like he says. If you don't, and try to just stuff soil in them, they are a huge pain to work with. Worse, in those little dips and curves, water has a funny way of collecting, just right for Aedes albopictus condos. Now, kudzu. I have a book from 1949, "Kudzu: The Plant That Will Save The South". USDA. It was imported to control soil erosion and provide fodder, then it got loose, went wild, and started behaving very badly. Not a good guest. Ken, we've got way too much here, I'd be glad to send you (and your goats) some. As invasive exotics go, it's a poster child, if not a bad as some (Purple loosestrife, English ivy, exotic fire ants, for instance). At least Ken's goats like it. Last - new thread. Garden Writers are having one of their online conferences, about growing food in community and home gardens. That's good, but I noticed that nobody from ACGA was included on the panel. That's not good. Don www.urbanministrycenter.org _______________________________________________ The American Community Gardening Association listserve is only one of ACGA's services to community gardeners. To learn more about the ACGA and to find out how to join, please go to http://www.communitygarden.org To post an e-mail to the list: [email protected] To subscribe, unsubscribe or change your subscription: http://list.communitygarden.org/mailman/listinfo/community_garden_list.communitygarden.org
