bulbs & strawberries?

[Julia F N Altshuler]

In the front of our house there's an area that previously had some garden
fabric on it covered with a little clay soil and a lot of bark mulch.
It's on a slope so the fabric might have been put there to keep soil from
washing off it. Under the fabric there's typical New England rock and
more clay soil. For the last three years since we moved in, we've been
planting a hodge podge of odd bulbs and some perennials. An oregano
plant has done well. So we know that plants can grow there. This year
with the drought a lot of weeds sprang up. We've just finished clearing
away all the weeds, and now we need a master plan of what to put there.
We're not eager to plant grass for all the reasons people don't like
grass-- takes too much water, chemicals and maintenance. I am far more
interested in growing vegetables and other edibles than flowers so I'm
looking for something that will be nice enough looking so that my front
yard isn't the only eyesore in the neighborhood but is otherwise very
very easy.

I'm thinking of planting daffodil bulbs and strawberries all together.
Can anyone think of a problem with this plan that this novice hasn't
thought of? I'm figuring that the daffodils will give me color first
thing in the spring, and that the strawberries will act as a ground cover
that will come in as the daffodils die back. It's sunny enough there for
the strawberries to give me fruit, and if the neighbors want to pick
fresh berries, it's fine with me so I don't have to worry about hiding
that part of the garden from view.

--Lia

--

[Dianna Visek]

Daffodils can take a surprisingly long time to mature their foliage.
In the meantime they droop all over their neighbors. Since that would
occur during the time that strawberries are trying to bloom and set
fruit, they might object. How about smaller bulbs or ones that tend
to stay upright, like tulips?

[bollin]

Lia...I've got a small bed of daffodils and strawberries that does just fine
every year. There is also a daylily in the same bed that blooms late, so
it'llbe in flower soon. The daffs are lovely early each spring, the berries
fill-in and fruit in the early to mid-summer, then they are just a nice
ground cover and the daylily blooms. Works for me.
KR Bollin
Julia F N Altshuler wrote in message <7on3m4$e...@nntp.seflin.org>...