Santos D. Santiago wrote:
Oops! I should have put that in the thread. They are all rectangular
beds
the largest bed is about 7ft wide and 1ft long. The other two are 5ft
wide
and 1ft long. Another thing I should have mentioned is that I prefer
getting these beds ready and planted this summer (if it's possible of
course). Now, if pulling the weeds manually I'm assuming I would have
to
dig into the weed to get the whole root correct? How about the grass?

Only 1'? That's not very much room. What along side these beds?

If they're right next to a building, 1' is a good definition of the zone
not to plant in for a variety of reasons. If they're next to a lawn or a
fence or a sidewalk, there's not much you can plant that won't overlap
those areas.

Some weeds have very shallow roots. Some have very deep roots. Some
roots will become unproductive and die if all the top-growth is gone.
Others will regrow from small fragments of root left behind. You can
make removal much easier by watering the area before weeding, but keep
in mind that working wet soil will damage the structure, so don't plan
on digging immediately after.

And that watering brings us to the most important reason why you don't
want to do anything within 1' of a building's foundation. You're just
asking for trouble unless you're talking plants so hardy that they don't
even need watering to establish themselves.

When I lived in Milwaukee, I used to do some hole digging for the DPW,
and as I remember, soil conditions in much of the area consisted of a
lot of clay. This made for extremely difficult digging when dry, and
lots of run-off as the soil couldn't absorb watering or rain fast
enough. There were some areas that had more sandy soil, but I don't
recall many.


Ok, last question for now, I promise ). If I pull all this out
manually
is there a need for tilling afterwards?

Tilling isn't just to loosen the soil. It's your opportunity to
incorporate organic material (read: compost). This makes the soil both
more workable, and gives better drainage, and incorporates nutrients for
the plants.

I agree totally with Pam on putting down newspaper covered with compost.
You won't need to remove any of this when tilling.

By the way, if these 1' wide "beds" are up against anything like a
building or a fence, you're not going to be able to till it. If it's up
against a building foundation, I'd advise against digging, and if it's
up against a fence, be careful not to undermine any support. If it's
next to a sidewalk, you may find that there is over-pour from the
concrete, and the foundation on which the sidewalk was built on will
intrude. Standard sidewalks in the City of Milwaukee are 3" where there
is only pedestrian traffic, 5" where there is a driveway used by
automobiles, and 7" or more where there will be truck traffic crossing.
When they are poured, 6-12" is dug-out to make room for the forms. This
area is backfilled with anything handy, and usually only the top 2" is
decent soil. If you run a tiller in this area, you run the risk of
damaging the tines.

As far as planting for this summer, even in the frozen northlands we
know as the Milwaukee area, you've long passed the time for planting for
the summer. Your next chance will be in September when you can plant
some perennials and spring bulbs. My advice would be to let the
newspaper and compost there, cover it with some bark mulch to keep it
from washing away, and wait until spring to plant.

If you're interested in expanding the size of the beds to something
larger than 1' wide, now would be the time to remove some sod. I would
suggest at least going 2' wide, depending on what you plan to plant
there. Keep in mind the mature size of any shrubs or perennials, and
allow enough room so they don't overlap sidewalks or lawns, or grow
right against a building.

Once again to go back to the idea that this 1' might be next to a
building foundation, this would be the zone that you don't want to plant
anything in, including grass. Nothing that needs any watering. Remove
the weeds, and take out (off the top, not digging down) only enough to
make room for some weed barrier, and an inorganic mulch like pea gravel,
lava rocks, etc, and put some edging in to keep it from getting into an
abutting lawn.

--
Warren H.

==========
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