Establishing a new garden from lawn
Establishing a new garden from lawn
It's roughly 6 weeks till the final frost here in 7b.
I have a spot of grass and ivy that I want to turn into an annual veg garden. I'm waiting on soil nutrient results.
My current plan is to silage tarp all the grass and ivy for 3-4 weeks. Then cover with any needed amendments, 2 inches of compost, 4 inches of wood chips, then tarp again for the remaining 2-3 weeks. When the final frost passes, transplant out my annuals.
After the growing season I'll cover crop with peas, clover, vetch, oats. Repeat next year.
Does this make sense? Am I missing anything?
You're viewing a single thread.
Don't know what sillage tarp is; if it's not compostable, I wouldn't use it. I don't think just covering would kill the grass in time. Maybe it would, but it seems like if grass can survive a longer time under snow cover, it would survive under a tarp. I don't think anything would grow well just in compost and woodchips (I've heard some things do, but plants usually do need actual mineral soil). 4 inches of woodchips seems extreme for annual beds.
Could just till with a tiller or double-dig (hard work) and mix some compost in. Some grass will still probably come up, so will have to hoe every so often. After the first growing season, there'd be much less grass. And you can start using a no-till method.