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Message
new flowerbed prep
Posted on 4/20/20 at 3:57 pm
Posted on 4/20/20 at 3:57 pm
Hey guys. My wife has decided we need a new flowerbed in the backyard up against the house and side of the back porch. I have just manually removed the sod. What should be the remaining steps?
5
Posted on 4/20/20 at 4:06 pm to marinebioman
take a shovel and do about a 3-4 inch turn on the existing soil. Check it out good and see what you have. If it’s good black dirt you plant right in that but in most cases you’d be better off building a little perimeter (logs, lumber, firewood, whatever you have) and backfilling that with some good topsoil or garden soil with organics
Then, plant
Then, plant
Posted on 4/20/20 at 4:06 pm to marinebioman
What type of dirt is under the sod? Clay?
Posted on 4/20/20 at 4:14 pm to cgrand
quote:
take a shovel and do about a 3-4 inch turn on the existing soil.
Just to add a bit to this. Put down a couple layers of landscape fabric before planting.
Decide where the new plants will be going and then cut slits in the fabric and put in your plants then mulch heavily.
I did one layer of fabric a long time ago and within 3 or 4 months I had weeds coming through, mostly nut grass.
Posted on 4/20/20 at 4:15 pm to gumbo2176
Were the weeds coming up through the cloth or were they rooting in the mulch?
Posted on 4/20/20 at 4:22 pm to Huey Lewis
quote:
Were the weeds coming up through the cloth or were they rooting in the mulch?
It was nut grass and it came from the ground up. I've had nut grass come through a swimming pool bottom once. I dug up the sod, laid sand, leveled it, put 2 layers of roofing tarpaper down then put up the 3 ft. deep pool for my son when he was young. I filled the thing and about 4 months later I saw nut grass coming through the bottom of the pool.
That stuff is insane.
Posted on 4/20/20 at 4:27 pm to marinebioman
I build my landscape beds as “raised beds”, minimum of 6 inches in height, though I usually go 9 inches above ground level with “garden soil” or “garden mix”, which is just composed ground tree bark, limbs, mixed with sand, which I buy from retail plant nurseries. This is pretty much the same thing as so called bagged “top soil” at the big box stores. It will settle in height over time. This insures good drainage of the landscape bed.
Then plant. If planting shrubs, no great need to fertilize right away as the plant containers have fertilizer in them, or just a light sprinkling of fertilizer. If planting annual flowers or herbaceous perennials you’ll want to incorporate a general purpose fertilizer around those plants. Water - one good soaking weekly, in the absence of rain. Keep the soil moist - not wet.
I’ve used this approach re-landscaping my front yards, and new landscaping for side and backyards over the past 3 years. I have heavy clay soil that does not drain well. This approach has worked worked well for me.
ETA: After planting, mulch the beds well. I use pine straw, but whatever type of mulch you or the wife might prefer, definitely mulch, about 2 to 4 inches thick.
Then plant. If planting shrubs, no great need to fertilize right away as the plant containers have fertilizer in them, or just a light sprinkling of fertilizer. If planting annual flowers or herbaceous perennials you’ll want to incorporate a general purpose fertilizer around those plants. Water - one good soaking weekly, in the absence of rain. Keep the soil moist - not wet.
I’ve used this approach re-landscaping my front yards, and new landscaping for side and backyards over the past 3 years. I have heavy clay soil that does not drain well. This approach has worked worked well for me.
ETA: After planting, mulch the beds well. I use pine straw, but whatever type of mulch you or the wife might prefer, definitely mulch, about 2 to 4 inches thick.
This post was edited on 4/20/20 at 4:32 pm
Posted on 4/20/20 at 4:30 pm to gumbo2176
Thanks guys. The first couple of inches was dark but then it turns to red clay. I knew that was the case. I am going to make a perimter with two rows of landscaping stones. I figured I would need to add some topsoil but should I alo ad humous or anything else in with the top soil? Should I use a mini tiller or regular tiller to help turn everything up and then plant? If I go the landscape fabric I'm not sure how to do the tilling/mixing...maybe my plan is overkill. I'm certainly in favor of the least work possible!
Posted on 4/20/20 at 4:46 pm to marinebioman
depends on what you are planting
for flowers just dump the storebought soil in there and start planting.
for trees and shrubs you’ll want to do some deeper prep
for flowers just dump the storebought soil in there and start planting.
for trees and shrubs you’ll want to do some deeper prep
Posted on 4/20/20 at 5:14 pm to marinebioman
When I made my flower beds in the front yard I broke out my tiller and cut about 10 inches deep since I have heavy clay soil and removed any grass and roots.
Then I added topsoil and turned that in with the clay, built my borders in place and put in my landscape fabric, planted and then mulched.
Then I added topsoil and turned that in with the clay, built my borders in place and put in my landscape fabric, planted and then mulched.
Posted on 4/20/20 at 5:40 pm to gumbo2176
So I’m understanding you to say that there should only be mulch above the landscape fabric?
And I’m planting some shrubs and perennials so I’m thinking it might be best to till and mix some topsoil. Thanks guys!
And I’m planting some shrubs and perennials so I’m thinking it might be best to till and mix some topsoil. Thanks guys!
This post was edited on 4/20/20 at 5:47 pm
Posted on 4/20/20 at 5:42 pm to marinebioman
quote:
So I’m understanding you to say that there should only be mulch above the landscape fabric?
Yes, above the fabric. It hides the ugly fabric and helps preserve some of the moisture in the soil by keeping the sun from beating directly on the soil.
Posted on 4/20/20 at 9:33 pm to marinebioman
Do Not build your beds with top soil. Top soil is full of grass seed and you will have beds infested with grass before long. Go to a landscape materials supplier and ask for ‘bed builder’ or what landscapers use to build beds. It is a mix of what the plants are grown in at nurseries. It drains well, has no grass “hidden” in it and when you do get the inevitable weeds, they are easily removed. Do some searches on the internet for building beds...lots of good information out there.
Posted on 4/20/20 at 10:08 pm to yccsmf
Worth putting a rock bed along the back like along the house?
Posted on 4/21/20 at 7:17 am to marinebioman
I did this exact project about a month ago. Removed existing grass to build a bed from scratch. Here's what I did:
Removed grass
Rented tiller from Home Depot, tilled top 3-4 inches.
There was mostly red clay under a few inches of topsoil, so I added several bags of garden mix. Tilled that in, repeated until bed height was 4-6 inches above existing yard.
Take a garden trowel to dig out holes for plants, mix in some potting mix and osmocote in the hole. Put plant in the hole and pat down soil around it.
Before mulching I sprinkled some pre-emergent that I had to prevent weeds from starting.
Mulched 2-4 inches deep with Vigoro mulch from HD.
I added a rubber border around the front, and filled the back in with decorative rocks about 6 inches away from the house.
Pics are on the wife's phone, will get her to send me some to post later.
Removed grass
Rented tiller from Home Depot, tilled top 3-4 inches.
There was mostly red clay under a few inches of topsoil, so I added several bags of garden mix. Tilled that in, repeated until bed height was 4-6 inches above existing yard.
Take a garden trowel to dig out holes for plants, mix in some potting mix and osmocote in the hole. Put plant in the hole and pat down soil around it.
Before mulching I sprinkled some pre-emergent that I had to prevent weeds from starting.
Mulched 2-4 inches deep with Vigoro mulch from HD.
I added a rubber border around the front, and filled the back in with decorative rocks about 6 inches away from the house.
Pics are on the wife's phone, will get her to send me some to post later.
Posted on 4/21/20 at 10:25 am to slinger1317
So the last two people mentioned a rock bed along the house...is this a decorative suggestion or a necessary suggestion for a reason I'm not understanding? Also a photo of what you are suggesting would be helpful. Thanks!
Posted on 4/21/20 at 11:16 am to marinebioman
quote:
a rock bed along the house...is this a decorative suggestion or a necessary suggestion for a reason I'm not understanding?
It can do both. Decorative as in it looks nice and clean, necessary in that it keeps the soil/mulch away from your slab. Termites have been known to live in mulch, and there is a chance they could work their way through the weepholes in your brick if the mulch is too close.
This is a pic of the bed we built about a month ago. We tilled in probably 10 bags or so of garden mix, and could have put more. It settles quite a bit. You can see the rock border along the back.
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