JoeSpareBedroom wrote:
"Joseph Byrns" wrote in message
k...
I am considering starting a vegetable garden (I am completely new to
gardening). I was thinking of starting with a 10'x10' one. The patch I
have selected gets the most sun but it is currently a lawn, so I need to
know what I should do here?
Do I remove the lawn in the section in question and put new topsoil down
(this seems like an expensive option)
Do I plough the lawn into the soil?
Or is there something else I should do?
Also I live in the North of England and summer is over, is there a
preferred time of year to prepare the patch?
Thanks.
Forget topsoil. If the lawn's healthy in that spot, you will be amazed at
the quality of the soil underneath. Unless you steal the top 1 foot of
someone else's established garden, there's no way you'll find topsoil like
that.
View at least the first one or two pictures in this Powerpoint presentation:
http://nesoil.com/properties/horizons/
It shows how the soil exists in definite layers. It's best not to disturb
the arrangement. If, in a perfect world, you suddenly had a vegetable garden
that had been properly worked for several years, and you didn't compress the
soil by walking all over it (stay on the foot paths), you'd find that you
could drag a cultivating tool through it easily, and this would be the only
work needed to fluff up the top few inches. Weeds would come out easily,
too.
Because I'm crazy, I like to use a spade to cut the grass into manageable
squares, slice under them with the spade, hold the square off the ground and
whack the soil away from the roots. The idea is to save that nice soil. If
you do the job a day or two after a good rain, you can slide a fork under
the square and lift them, instead of the spade. You'll know you removed as
much soil as possible when the square (which was killing your arm & back) is
now just a light chunk of grass, which you can compost or discard.
Others here swear by a method involving thick layers of newspaper left on
the area for a while (don't know how long) to kill the grass. The method
might also involve laying clear plastic on top of the newspaper - someone
else can fill you in on this. Clear shower curtain liners are perfect for
this - they're more rugged than trash bags. The only reason I didn't use
this method is that I wanted the grass gone in one weekend.
Good post. The technique you refer too is usually called 'lasagna
gardening' and exists in several different forms. The layers can be as
simmple as cardboard or 7-10 layers of newsprint (no
waxed/plasticized/slick paper or cardboard) layed over the area and
wetted down occasionally. Most sites recommend starting in the fall to
prepare for the spring. If you plan to wait til spring, think about the
following and adapt as you want;
1. cut the sod as described BUT flip it over and cover with a few layers
of newspring and a little soil or compost.
2. spray the lawn with Roundup or msma .
3. put down some compost/kitchen scraps for the fall, then cover with
newspringt or cardboad and put topsoil on top.
4. and edging can be put down before or after. It will help in keeping
gras from invading.
Also, it can sometimes be better to layout vegetable gardens think about
sun direction, plant spacing requirements and footpaths, etc.
In addition to searching the net. perhaps someoen can recommend a good
book or 2 .
Here is a link to a daylily bed I am experimenting with - though I will
be planting next week - you can see what I did at least.
http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/651950/
Carl
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