[Hilary]

Daisy, in the thread on Climbing roses you said that you had been using cardboard boxes to plant them into.
Since my husband spent his working life making cardboard boxes we were interested in your use of them.
Are the boxes the corrugated kind or solid?
Are any of the ones you use printed and thus would seep ink into the earth?
Do you remove the base or is the donkey manure in the bottom of the box?
A friend of mine with a garden is intereted in this idea
I love the photos of your garden.
Hilary

[Daisy]

Hilary asked about my use of cardboard boxes for planting.
My top soil is only about one to one and a half spits deep, so any plant that likes richer conditions I have to give a decent start in life.
I simply dig (or rather my husband digs) a deep square hole.
I mix a load of donkey manure into the yellow subsoil, then place the cardboard box on top of that.
I simply then plant the rose, clematis, or whatever it is, in the box, using the topsoil that has been dug out.
I only put the donkey manure below the cardboard box, because although the donkey manure is supposed to be well rotted, it seems a bit too fresh for my liking.
By the time the cardboard box has rotted in the ground, the donkey manure should be as well.
As to the cardboard box, well it is whatever the local Lidl has available when the plants arrive. I just take off any sticky tape.
I don't do this for everything. Only those plants that are greedy guts.
It seems to work well.
Daisy

[Alice]

This sounds like a good idea, Daisy. Just a couple of questions: does the cardboard box ever dry out, rather than rot, and restrict the roots? How far below the surface is the top of the box?

[Hilary]

Daisy,
Thanks for your reply.
I will be passing this gem of information on to my friends who have gardens.
Hilary

[Daisy]

Alice, how far below the surface the top of the cardboard box is, depends on how deep my husband has been able to make the hole and how tall the box is.
On a couple of occasions, the hole has not been as deep as I would prefer, because of tree roots or rocks. If the top of the box is above the soil surface, I simply trim it back with a Stanley knife.
I have never known them to dry out.
Daisy

[Alice]

Thanks, Daisy.
Looks like we have both turned our husbands into heavy agricultural labourers!