Gardening: Sometimes you've just got to break the rules

Gardening has as many rules as the Bible and some consider those rules as set in stone as those taken from the mountain by Moses.

Unlike those in the Bible, gardening is a human sport and many rules beg to be broken.

A rather elderly (meaning older than me) woman has been laying huge hunks of cardboard and layers of newspaper on her garden for many years. She then proceeds to put 8 inches of mulch on top of that. When she plants something, she simply digs out a hole. She never has to weed or fertilize.

Over and over for a couple of decades, this rule breaker has made the perfect garden soil. Mind you this was before the words “green and organic” were popular.

In our Zone 5, always dig tender cannas and gladiolus in the fall – it’s the rule. This year I have volunteer glads and cannas in many locations. One is the area where our foundation had been torn out and the soil returned. They’re rule-breaking little beauties.

For more of this column by Diane Gibson, see the Aug. 13 Galva News.