New Shade Garden - Advice

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Author Message   Treehugger  My Garden Posted on Wednesday, April 09, 2008 - 11:09 am EST :    Hi guys - I plan on starting a new shade garden this spring. Turned out that last winter was quicker than me and I didn't get to put newspaper down to start the new bed for this spring. What is your best advice for digging up the grass? Is there still time for newspaper to work now? There's still snow on the ground but I could get at it if I really wanted to. Treehugger - NW Ontario, Zone "3a"   Oldiebutgoodie  Posted on Wednesday, April 09, 2008 - 11:24 am EST :    It's too late for newspapers now, Caroline, if you want a bed this spring. I generally take a spade and lift the top couple of inches of soil. I turn it roots up in the sun and wait for mother nature to do her magic, before chopping it up and returning it to the garden. In the interim, I double dig the garden and amend the soil with lots of compost during that process. Oldiebutgoodie - Ontario, Zone "5"   Treehugger  My Garden Posted on Wednesday, April 09, 2008 - 04:31 pm EST :    I kind of thought it was too late. That doesn't sound too bad though. I can always make it a bit smaller than I planned and do the newspaper this fall to make it bigger. That way it's not too expensivethis year because it will be fairly big when I'm done with the my plan. I like the idea of returning the old sod to the garden as well. Thanks! Treehugger - NW Ontario, Zone "3a"   Missgarden  Supporting Member My Garden Posted on Thursday, April 10, 2008 - 10:58 am EST :    I've used the newspaper/cardboard on top of grass followed by layers of garden waste and soil in various locations of my garden. I planted right away and it was always a great success. Missgarden - Ontario, Zone "5b"   Treehugger  My Garden Posted on Thursday, April 10, 2008 - 01:27 pm EST :    The only thing I'd worry about is if the plants' roots are going to grow deep enough. I won't have much garden waste unless I can use the remnants of perennials that still need to be cleaned up from over the winter. How deep is this mixture? Can I add aged manure as well if I don't have compost yet? Treehugger - NW Ontario, Zone "3a"   Karma  Supporting Member My Garden Posted on Friday, April 18, 2008 - 04:14 pm EST :    treehugger I would spray the grass with roundup twice and then dig your new garden bed. Go to our website and see how we did the back beds in the fall but you can do the spring too, just skip the paper but make sure you spay the round up twice to get all the grass. Till it up, add compost and added dirt. Karma - PNW, Zone "Z-Denial "   Missgarden  Supporting Member My Garden Posted on Friday, April 18, 2008 - 05:24 pm EST :    You can build up the soil high since it will settle down over time. You can probably use some manure but it should be well mixed with the soil so that it dosn't 'burn' your plants. Missgarden - Ontario, Zone "5b"

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