Dave Hill wrote:

On Mar 24, 9:49*am, "John Price" wrote:
Greetings - I have a patch of land that has been just lawned for
several years, and I'm planning on turning some of it into a vegt
patch. Never grown veg before.


I take it you are going to keep the paths as grass, if so how wil you
cut them?
How wide is your mower? This could decide on the path width.
Are you going to have a path around the outside?
If not then the 2 outside beds should be narrower if you don't want to
walk on them.
I am asuming you are ghoing to have the beds run the lenght.
Why not put 1 bed accross the garden instead this year, as a trial,
then if it goes OK next year you can add a second, then in year 3 the
third bed this way you will be setting up your rotation, and if you
find after year 1 you don't like the idea you havn't lost to much of
your lawn.
David at the sun drenched end of Swansea Bay.

Thanks for this - yes will leave the paths as grass at first - you
prompted me to go measure the lawnmower - it has a 60cm wheel base at
the rear end, so that's what I'll make the paths.

Yes the strips will run North-South - I saw that recommended elsewhere.

Losing lawn space doesn't matter too much - this is an extra plot,
behind my main rear garden. Used to be a wonderful, secluded play area
when the kids lived here (on the sunny side of Birmingham!!!) but now
they have all left the nest, the land is really hardly used - except I
have a few fruit trees, much to the delight of the squirrels and birds!

I've had a look at the soil beneath the lawn - pH is 7 and it seems to
be a nice, dark, crumbly structure, not compacted at all.

I've been reading about double-digging as a first step to preparing the
ground, but not sure if that is something that should always be done
regardless, or whether it depends on some aspect of how the soil is.
Any thoughts?

JIP

--