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Dioclese · 24-05-2009, 08:37 PM posted to rec.gardens.edible,rec.gardens

"zxcvbob" wrote in message
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Dioclese wrote:
"zxcvbob" wrote in message
...
wrote:
On May 23, 1:25 pm, "brooklyn1" wrote:
"Suzanne D." wrote in message

...

"Frank" wrote in message
news:631b4004-3cc0-475c-acf5-
4 x 8 sheets of plywood laid over the plot to smother
the weeds would be effective -- and lay out perfect
garden beds at the same time.
_________________________
That's a GREAT idea for a new garden plot! I'd follow it up with
cardboard & mulch, though, to keep the most hardy weeds down during
the
growing season AND to add some organic stuff to the soil when it
decomposes.
Unless one already has the plywood exterior ply doesn't come cheap...
and a
4' X 8" plot is not much gardening space... I'd not bother with less
than
six sheets. And you still need to till, pick rocks, rake, amend, and
till
and rake again, and again. Killing the weeds by smothering or with
chemicals is a total waste of time, labor, and money... there is NO
labor
free gardening. A good deep rototilling will dispatch any
weeds/grass so
that those will never grow again... and NEW weeds are inevitable
forever.
I've been preparing my garden for planting for two days now, I hope to
finish tomorrow and I plan to plant this weekend. Gardening is always
work,
a lot of work.
It was always a lot of work for me too until I read Ruth Stout No-Work
Garden Book 30 years ago, what an eye opener. I just planted this
years crop, took about 5 minutes , just push aside the leaves and
planted the seed and covered it up. No tilling, fertilizing, I didn't
even bother to water, rain is expected soon. (for yield I get about 25
pounds of beans from a 4x8 size area, don't know if that is good or
not). I don't stake tomatoes either.

The secret is just to keep your soil covered with organic material 365
days a year like mother nature does, she'll take care of the rest
(weeding, fertilizing, watering etc)

If I was starting a new garden plot, I would spray one time with Roundup
(actually, probably a generic equivalent) in late spring when the weeds
and grass are growing good. Then that first year I would transplant in
warm season crops like tomatoes and peppers and eggplant, disturbing the
soil as little as possible. Mulch heavily with shredded paper and
leaves and other carbon-rich matter, supplying nitrogen as necessary
just to the plants (mostly in the form of diluted urine.) Keep adding
mulch as it disappears. Any weeds that come up will be starved for
nitrogen (by the decomposing mulch) until you get a chance to pull them
out. Just toss them on top to die and go back in the soil eventually.

Let the earthworms till the soil instead of you, and the dormant weed
seeds will stay dormant. You'll probably never have to use the Roundup
again. By the second year, you can probably grow beans and squash and
other direct-sown crops.

Bob

The original post was about Bermuda grass. This stuff is prolific and
grows around and through just about anything you throw at it. It laughs
at compost as an impediment. I've seen a clay pot full of pure, dry sand
with Bermuda sprouting out it. No, it was not rooting in the sand. The
Bermuda crept through the one drainaige hole at the bottom and worked its
way to the top. The pot was sitting on the edge of a concrete slab, the
Bermuda crept up 6" from the ground, then into the pot's bottom. In
another similar case, a pot sitting on a 4" thick flat rock. 16" tall
pot. The pot did have soil in it. Same thing.

I'm ignoring the newsgroup weblink police fanatic. If you look hard
enough on the internet, you will find that pigs can fly. Doesn't mean
that I believe it.

If you remember, in my first post in this thread I recommended moving :-)
(to get rid of Bermuda.) I used to live in Houston, and for a while in
Temple, TX, I know about the stuff. That's why I'd wait until late spring
and spray everything with Roundup one time -- to kill the perennial
grasses.

Bob

Along with Johnson grass, Bermuda grass is usually the first to reclaim soil
saturated with crude oil. At least that's what I've seen in some of the
old, used up oil fields.
--
Dave