On 04/17/2016 08:25 PM, songbird wrote:
T wrote:
songbird wrote:
if you
got time to go around dumping or spraying you got time
to pull it or smother it IMO.

Hi Songbird,

Some blabbing and a question on the bottom for you.

Since I let my back lawn go to seed last year in hope of replacing it
with a garden, I now have weeds I never knew existed.

weeds are free organic matter, if they will grow
where nothing else will they can then be chopped
and used for other things, like building mulch or
topsoil fertility.


On of them looks like a small shade tree and it pulls really easily.
The rest suck to the ground, like the dandelions that won't die.
I have to dig these up with a shovel, which is no easy task
considering you can make some really awesome bricks out of
my soil.

My soil isn't soil anyway. I know the guy who graded my property.
My back yard is 20 feet down from top soil. It is basically
rocks and decomposed sandstone (like decomposed granite,
only way, way uglier). If you strike the ground to hard with
a shovel, it literally sparks.

How some of these weeks managed to bore their roots down in the
stuff, I will never know. And, you can only cut their tops off.
Then they grow right back and back and back. So vinegar and
soap it is, less the salt. Cussing at them doesn't work either.

The back yard is too big to cover in cardboard or plastic,
especially with the high winds we have. (Two category one
hurricane force winds last January.) Rock gardens work
with visqueen.

rock gardens are just fine ways to cover an area.
we have plenty of those here ourselves.

also, if you do not need it for anything is there
any reason to do anything with it at all? we have
some land here on the other side of the large drainage
ditch. i'd like to put some fruit trees back there
but it's so far back there and hard to get to right
now that it's just growing small shrubs and trees
now. i'll need to cut it all back in the next few
years if i don't want it to turn into woodland/trees.


Also, this is one for you. My blue garlic comes out pink.
I was told that this is because my soil is very alkaline
(verified by the local nursery lady.) I little vinegar
may help. Your thoughts?

if you are just going to grow a few plants, i would
bring in some good topsoil add some composted cow manure
and any other organic materials i could scrounge up.

make sure the area is leveled and drainage is good
and also make sure there is a wind break to protect
against the drying winds.

that will solve the poor soil problem and your
pH will be corrected.

for the rest of the area as you can scrounge free
organic materials and chop and drop whatever weeds
that grow to get your topsoil developing environment
going. as most of the processes of forming topsoil
involve moisture it is better to have things piled
deep enough to preserve moisture than to scatter
your efforts widely. you might also be able to
scrounge free fill that is better than what you
have. even if you have to do it a few yards at a
time...

as you get an area covered and able to absorb and
store moisture then it will support worm and other
soil community creatures (you may need to innoculate
the area with soil from a healthy area). these build
topsoil and support plant life. your pH will change
as more organic matter is added.

it's just a matter of scale, what you want to put
into it, how much money you want to spend, and how
much you're willing to be patient while nature does
some work for you.


songbird


Thank you. I am wondering where to get some cow poop.
We have lots of cows about, but I haven't seen anyone
selling it.

I got in late last night. I put my headset on and cut
a four foot wide swath through the weeds. When I am done
picking them and they dry out a bit, I am planning on
digging them into holes that I will eventually
plant zukes in.

Here is an interesting observation. I think the weeds
were always there in my lawn. When the grass dies,
the weeds stayed.