Garden Anxiety

Me and the wife put in a substantial size garden. Here is the problem, I tilled under what had been a grass/weed field for years and it looked great nice black dirt. In no time at all the grass and weeds reclaimed my garden. I may be an expert at alot of things but this isn't one of them. So I need to know how to prepare a plot that is already grown up. This is some thick grass!

Had a similar mini wilderness in Scotland where I used to live. I'm afraid to say there's no easy or quick way to turn a wilderness into a garden. I lifted the turf(I use the term loosely) and then dug over the plot and pulled out any stray roots. I then left the plot for a few weeks to give the seeds chance to germinate and then got in there with a digging fork and shook out the weeds. I repeated this a few times and finally got a decent tilth. Then on went the manure and black plastic sheets over winter. The worms did their thing and the soil was fantastic the next spring and the bonus was the black plastic had warmed the soil so I could sow seed a bit earlier.
You can always use weedkiller, it will kill the weeds but you'll still have to dig them out and the weed seeds will still germinate. The other method is burning, but that will only get rid of the top growth. HTH

You, of all people, should have the perfect garden!!!!

You started out right but didn't follow through. I had a couple like that early on so no big deal. Wychwood did a nice write up. But take some of that horse poo and till into your garden. That's some greeeeaaaat fertilizer. Half a truck load in a 20 x 15 foot garden should give you an idea of how much. If you have a grass catcher on that mower then use the grass clippings for mulch. They will not only add nitrogen back you your garden but keep the weeds at bay. That's it! I use a bagging lawn mower and dump the grass in the garden and spread it out. I usually have a few (very few) stray weeds pop up but most of them are courtesy of chipmunks planting the seeds. And since they root in the grass instead of the ground they are easy peasy to pull out.

In the fall, turn all of it under. The grass will turn into compost enriching your garden and you'll be ready to plant again next spring. On Valentine's Day go out and sow leaf lettuce, radishes and spinach. Even if you have snow on the ground just spread the seed right on the snow. Once it melts the seeds will germinate and you'll have a very early crop of some very tinder lettuce.

OK I shoud've but didn't so now I am trying to get ready for next year. First I need to bushhawg and start over. I am thinking weed killer and black plastic now to be ready for spring...

Just to add, the reason I didn't dig in the manure in, is if you go down the black plastic route and leave it there over winter the worms will dig the manure in for you, wonderful little things, worms.

Well........You really don't need the plastic. It will serve as a barrier to prevent rain from soaking into the garden and will degrade in the sun leaving you with bits and pieces of plastic forever if you leave it on. Soil needs to breath.

All you need for weed control is mulch.

You can also start a compost pile to add into your garden next year. Rule of thumb is green and brown but no wood. Light moisture but don't soak it. If you follow those rules it will never smell. Some folks add stuff from their kitchen, which is okay except it can cause the pile to stink, depending on what you add, and wild animals get real curious about things like potato peels. Possums will eat just about anything organic so anything you add from the kitchen will most likely become possum food.

Start with a nice layer of compost like grass clippings, toss on a shovel full of garden dirt to add in the nice bacteria you want to work up your pile, add one can of beer generously poured over the pile to add in the yeast, then cover with more grass. Let the pile work for 5-6 weeks then turn the pile over once a week or once every two weeks and sprinkle with water.

The three things you need for the compost pile to break down are 1. air 2. moisture and 3. heat. All you are doing is speeding up the natural processes.

It's a little work but that stuff is gold in a garden

I really think I am gonna have to use some weed killer to stop the old growth first.

I never had the problem fof the pastic degrading Rick, admittedly it was only on there for 5 months but it did a great job to start with, then as you recommend mulch is the way to go to keep the weeds down, improve the soil and retain moisture.

If you pile on leaves, grass, manure etc to a depth of 3-5 inches you shouldn't have a problem with the weeds coming back.

And weed killer might give you a bit of a problem with your garden plants.

Herbicides will work if you want to use them. Had you mowed or burned the area the year before you would have had fewer weeds seeds germinating, but still would have weeds. When an alfalfa field isn't cut it will have more weeds seeds to germinate. For the no till method of farming herbicides are used because the ground isn't fixed prior to planting. The second year will better for you, but you will always have some weeds. For me, the easiest method is a rototiller and a hoe. Think of them as putting a layer of mulch made of dirt and air. The rototiller is self explanatory. The hoe is used for weeds closer to the plant. Sharpen it, carry the stone if you need to, chop the weeds away from the plant by pulling and then push the dirt around the plant to smother small weeds and create a moisture barrier. At first the hoe may seem clumsy. A good man with a hoe could easily hoe 5 to 10 times faster than you will go. Pull and push and create a rhythm. Right now it sounds like you need a lawn mower and a weed wacker.

Mulch is ok if you have a small garden. Keep in mind that if it turns brown it will rob the soil of some nitrogen. Tilling under while the mulch is still green will add nitrogen instead of subtract it. It serves a good purpose around the bases of some plants and in areas you have vine crops. Green manure crops are a good idea. Horse manure is great, but usually carries with it many seeds unlike pig, rabbit or chicken manure....depends on the hay and the graze. This is why some people are particular about using hay from someone else's weedy field on their own farm. Composting it will stop that, but is more work unless you do it out the barn door. Horse manure is not hot enough to damage plants and you can use a lot of it. In the end, you will always need to work the soil. You still need to put the food up. It would be a good idea to share the food with someone who knows how and will help you with the process.

This is a small garden in full sun?

Put black plastic over it right now. Do not cover the plastic with anything, do not poke air holes in it. This will bake the soil, killing any vegetation and baking any weed seeds, killing pathogens too actually.

Come next spring your soil should be good to go, remove the plastic, as Rick says, if you leave it it'll get annoying, then plant.

If you wanted to use raised beds instead, there are a bunch of options you can use for weed control, but it sounds like you don't want to do that.

Thanks for all the good advice! I think I will go with covering it untill next year along with preparing some compost, to till in when I get to start over. This is some serious mean grass. I don't know what it is but it is some hardy groundcover.

Burn the area first, then till and plant. And burn it right before spring gets here, when the grass is still dead from winter.

Horses do a good job of killing the grass as well. If you have a way to fence the area in, do so and put a couple of horses in there for a little while.

burning is good too, biochar can help improve the soil big time.

You have to be careful though of course, don't want to make a wild fire.

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