In article , "Dr. Rev. Chuck, M.D.
P.A." wrote:

GSHATTERHAND wrote:

I need help with a very basic project. Our new cedar fence was finally
finished
Saturday, nine weeks after we ordered it and 4 weeks past passed the
promised
completion date. This has created a perfect spot for a flower bed along the
fence.

But how do I turn the strip along the fence, which is now grass, into the
nicely cultivated soil of a flower bed?

I have to use basic garden tools, no power tools. Can I just turn the
soil over
with a shovel, burying the grass, and then break up the soil? Will the grass
die under the soil or grow back? (The grass that was under the piles of soil
from the fence post holes sure seems dead after only a week.)

Or must I somehow kill or remove the grass first, before turning the soil?
Removing the grass without also taking a lot of top soil seems almost
impossible. Any advice on this would be appreciated.

Scalp the bed with a mower. Cover with newspapers and mulch. Dig in
a few perennials now if you like. Wait.

I use the newspaper method myself, but I do flip sod upside-down first, so
that the roots have even less chance of surviving long enough to grow any
grass back when the newpaper has composted, & even more so that the ground
will be "worked" & loosened under the newspaper thus better prepped for
shrub & flower plantings. It's also a chance to work in some nitrogen
fertilizer, which hastens the speed of the barriered grass's composting, &
enriches the whole soil area for future planting.

When sod is not upturned first, I've found it can sometimes out-last the
paper & return in spots. On the roadside, though, when I didn't want to
suffer the work of upturning a long stretch of weeds & grass, I laid down
cardboard instead of paper, which takes a bit longer to decay & does in
everything it barriers very nicely. The resulting soil is unworked though,
so more work is needed at the time of planting.

It takes about seven layers of paper to last long enough to kill all sod,
& covering the newspaper with a thin layer of dark well composted steer
manure makes it look tidy & loamy, while waiting for the grass to be done
in. Though well-composted steer manure looks like rich dark topsoil, it is
not; weeds don't grow in sterile compost very well, so a topcoating
functions as a surface weed retardant.

Rolls of butcher paper can be purchased for the same purpose, & don't
require so many layers, & there's a heavy grade of "gardening paper" just
for this purpose sold in some garden catalogs, but obviously newspapers
saved for this use incur no additional cost.

Once I used plastic garden fabric instead of paper, I don't know why I
stupidly thought the barrier needed to last longer than paper does. I
planted some things in holes cut in the fabric barrier. A year later it
was such a hassle getting that plastic out, when had it just been
newspaper it would've been pure compost demanding no tearing at a new
garden to get rid of it. I hope whoever was the inventor of garden fabric
died a horrible violent death.

Sometimes I can't wait for the grass to be killed & the paper to fully
compost before I plant stuff, so I spade right through the newspaper to
dig a hole for whatever plantings. This gives a spot where the grass's
roots can survive & regrow, so the hole has to be extra wide, then paper
laid anew around the the edges of the new planting & again covered with
compost. Any paper that is exposed takes a long time to break down (or
never does), but underneath compost, the worms eat up the paper in just
about exactly the amount of time it takes all the upturned sod to itself
compost into fertile loam.

I tried all sorts of methods in the past but this paper barriering method
is the big winner. If one is in no hurry to plant an area, extensive areas
can be prepped by building up with filldirt mixed with unfinished compost.
This year I built a long raised bed behind stackable stones, filling the
area up with weedy sod, miscellaneous clippings & stems. A nice mix of
dirt with "greens & browns" not at all composted will compost right there
in place. This would obviously become a weed-patch if just left, but I
covered it over with unfolded & flattened cardboard boxes & newspaper
layers, put composted manure on top just so it looked like topsoil, & I
will plant that area next year after the dirt & sod & clippings are all
fully composted. Might need a bit more dirt & finished compost on top
merely because it'll shrink down behind the stacked-stone barrier as the
organic component decays, but will otherwise not even need stirring to be
exceptionally rich soil for next spring.

-paghat the ratgirl

--
"Of what are you afraid, my child?" inquired the kindly teacher.
"Oh, sir! The flowers, they are wild," replied the timid creature.
-from Peter Newell's "Wild Flowers"
See the Garden of Paghat the Ratgirl: http://www.paghat.com/