Posted: 7/9/2014 7:41:59 AM EDT
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Just moved, new house has a 16x24 garden plot, but it's grown over with grass currently. Not a bermuda or zoysia thank goodness.
Should I just roundup it and burn the remains in 2 weeks, till it and cover with plastic until next spring or ??? Looking for suggestions. Next years plantings to include tomatoes, peppers, squash, zucchini, and cucumber and cold weather - arugula, lettuce and swiss chard. Zone 6- soil isn't bad, but does have a pretty significant clay content. |
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If it were me I'd cover it with cardboard, or several layers of newspaper, then about a foot of grass clippings/leaves/other organic mulch. Add a little more this fall as what you have breaks down, then yet another layer in spring. I'd plant that year's garden right through the mulch layer(s) without doing anything else to it, then at the end of the season next year till everything in (cardboard will have long since broken down), and add a new layer of mulch to break down over the next winter.
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16x24 isn't too large, so you could do a lot to prep without too much cost or time.
I'd consider cutting the sod out and tilling deep to loosen up the base... then dump in a few yards of compost and till again to mix it in. Soil test and amend as needed. Then I'd fence a dozen chickens on it over winter - they will keep it weed free and fertilized until you are ready to plant. |
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Quoted:
Don't use weed killer, there is speculation that even Round-up is not all that safe for humans. Have you thought about installing raised beds right now and getting your garden going this season? Why wait until next year? I could do raised beds I suppose. Just have a ton of projects to do yet inside (new house and all) and figured I could just prep for next year. What would still be a viable plant this late in the season? |
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Quoted:
I could do raised beds I suppose. Just have a ton of projects to do yet inside (new house and all) and figured I could just prep for next year. What would still be a viable plant this late in the season? Quoted:
Quoted:
Don't use weed killer, there is speculation that even Round-up is not all that safe for humans. Have you thought about installing raised beds right now and getting your garden going this season? Why wait until next year? I could do raised beds I suppose. Just have a ton of projects to do yet inside (new house and all) and figured I could just prep for next year. What would still be a viable plant this late in the season? veggieharvest.com/calendars/zone-6.html |
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Sheet Mulch it this year and by spring it will be ready to roll.
Start by tilling the sod under. Then, layer the following materials on the ground in the following order (so layer #1 is the first thing you put on the ground): 1st - soil amendments - lime, rock dust, whatever you need to neutralize your pH 2nd - thin layer of compost or manure 3rd - 1/4-1/2" layer of newpaper or cardboard 4th - 1/4"-1/2" layer of compost or other nitrogen rich material 5th - 8-12" layer (fluffy not compact) layer of hay, stable bedding from horses would be better since you get the added organics 6th - 1-2" of compost 7th - 2" wheat straw or wood mulch Give that stack a season to winter over and come spring time, your plantings will explode. |
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You can go a few ways
Turn/till, sample, amend per test results for desired crops, till in, and cover to keep the weeds down til planting. Load it down with organic soil amendments, ash/lime, composted manure, straw/paper/mulch, compost and/or good ol' topsoil, covered with a heavy layer of something to keep the weeds down, IME it takes a serious layer to stop weeds if it isn't landscape fabric or plastic, though cardboard should work as well. Amend with whatever, till in, and densely plant a winter cover crop/green manure, let it choke out the weeds then kill it and till it in come spring. This is my fall plan this year, lots of info on it out there. Or find an autumn crop, turn/till, amend, till, plant, and mulch or cloth between rows/plants to keep the weeds down. |