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| I've been trying to read up on my best ways to prep my soil for a new flower bed and wanted to post my thoughts after reading to get some feedback. We built a new house and this is our first spring in it. In the fall we had edging placed around the house where we want our flower beds.
During the build the excavators set aside all of the top soil they scraped from where they dug and this is what is currently placed in the flower beds. It appears that in most areas where the beds will be we have around 6+ inches of topsoil, corn was planted in this soil for approx 2 years prior to our building. Under the 6 inches of top soil is clay although it does not seem overly dense. We have some small weeds starting in the beds but not too bad and they pretty small right now. I dropped preen in the fall and again once this spring to try to stop some seeds from sprouting in the beds. My current plans are to take and lay down around 10 layers of newspaper over the soil and then cover it with composted leaves I can get from the city. According to what they've told me about the leaves they are from curbside pickup last year and they chopped them and put ashes in them and they've sat since last fall and are supposed to be used for exactly what I've planned here. I'm thinking to lay down 3-4 inches of composted leaves and then either planting, or layering bark on top of the leaves and then planting. I can also get the bark from the city although want to check the quality of this prior to doing so. Does this plan sound like it will serve me well for starting my flower beds out right?
Please let me know if I'm setting myself up for success with this or if I should adjust my plans. I'm planning to put mostly Perennials and shrubs in the flower beds. |
Follow-Up Postings:
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- Posted by gardengal48 PNW zone 8 (My Page) on Tue, Apr 10, 12 at 17:40
| Personally, I think you are overcomplicating the process. If the weeds are not yet significant, then I'd just do a quick hoe for removal and go ahead and start planting. Use the leaf mulch as a topdressing - this will help to smother any remaining weed seeds and gradually release nutrients into the soil as it continues to decompose. It will also help to conserve soil moisture as the season progresses. Layering the newspaper or cardboard is good to smother a lot of undesirable undergrowth/weeds but if just a few weeds here and there, easier and more efficient just to do manual removal. The vast majority of perennials and shrubs don't really require very high octane soils :-) Good drainage combined with moisture retention is far more critical. |
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- Posted by toxcrusadr (My Page) on Tue, Apr 10, 12 at 18:05
| I agree with gardengal's advice. I'm morbidly curious where the ash came from that they added and why. That sounds unusual for a yard waste mulching operation. |
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- Posted by purpleinopp 8b AL (My Page) on Wed, Apr 11, 12 at 11:10
| Agreed, paper layer unnecessary. As long as you pull little weeds when you first see them, you shouldn't have weeds in such copious amounts that you need to smother them. I'm sure the prior corn farming operation had very few weeds going to seed in the field. They spray as much and as many chemicals as necessary to make sure of that. So you're starting with as clean of a slate as possible. Birds & wind will bring weed seeds, but it's a lot easier to spend a minute here, a minute there, then wait until it's "time to do some weeding." The leaf mulch will do a lot for preventing weeds from being able to start growing at all. I find it a lot easier to push aside where you want to plant than to try to not cover plants with leaf/mulch. Some prefer the opposite though. Consider what you would prefer before you start. If you're going to do a bark mulch, I would do it on top of the leaves. It will keep them from blowing or washing away, and that's what the worms and microbes are going to eat first anyway. |
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| Thanks everyone for your thoughts. I think I would prefer to lay the leaf/mulch and then push it aside to plant. I've had to do it the other way in the past and try to mulch around plants and I think it's easier this way for me. Another question. I picked up a load of the compost from the city last night they gave me the choice of 1 or 2 year old compost. I chose the 2 year although I wasn't sure which is better. The compost that I got looks pretty broken down, don't see much for leaves in it anymore it's a dark, almost soil type look with some chips of wood in it. I think it's good overall but wanted to check in to make sure I'm ok with it being this broken down already. I know that it originated as leaves with some twigs. |
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- Posted by toxcrusadr (My Page) on Wed, Apr 11, 12 at 18:10
| It sounds fine. If they started with a lot of wood, a year might not be enough anyway. The only way to know would be to get a load of the other stuff to compare! |
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| How much organic matter is in that "topsoil"? Where did the "ash" used on those leaves come from, and why was it added? What did the compost, either one, smell like? |
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| Hi there! I am an absolute (and a very unsuccessful so far) beginner! I actually have a question and it seems this is the most relevant thread to post it. I built a raised bed (about 4 feet by 20 feet) and filled it with top soil and hummus mix, about 60% top soil and 40% hummus. I planted some seeds and some already started seedlings, and they just refuse to grow. I have been watering once daily, in the evenings. Even worse, I planted marigold seeds and as soon as they came out, the little baby leaves disappeared - something ate them, I suppose? To add to my surprise, I also planted some marigolds in the front of the house by the driveway, in soil I did not amend, and they have been growing like crazy! Which makes me think something with my soil mix in the raised bed is seriously wrong. Please advise -did I go wrong by mixing topsoil and hummus? Should I take it all out and start over? Thank you very, very much! Desperate wannabe gardener, |
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| What brand of top soil did you use? I've been victim of some really bad bagged top soil in the past. Was nothing but sand and pieces of wood and junk. It was horrible and not fit for anything to grow in. I have to ask, why are you watering yor plants everyday? They could be getting over watered. If the roots are water logged they can't take in nourishment to make the plant grow. I'm sorry you're having all these problems. Hopefully this forum can help you find out what the problem is. What else specifically are you trying to grow? Is the bed in the sun, shade or both? |
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| @JBartley - sorry for taking over your post :) I appreciate all help! Thanks a lot, HIWTHI! You are so right! I bought it from (this is where I lower my head in utter embarrassment!) Walmart! I should have known better! It is exactly the way you describe it - all sand and a lot of big chunks of wood. I went cheap when I should have gone to my local nursery or soil store. |
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| Martolana, sorry you have to start over. Yes, the soil is the most important ingredient to get thing growing. Once you have the right soil and mulch it well with cypress or some other organice product, your plants will take off. Keep us posted and good luck. |
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