Help with establishing planting bed

[kinkytoes]

I did the same thing but I didn't use weed killer. The truth is that whether or not you use weed killer, the grass/weeds will come back anyway. Hopefully you'll kill off enough at the beginning to make your weeding easier. To support the inefficacy of roundup and other weedkillers, I can verify that all of the areas where my previous owner used roundup/glychophospate currently have weeds and grass growing in them. I still have to weed every year.

The only thing that will kill weeds is...regular weeding. It seems to me that the only things that grow well in areas treated with "weedkiller" is more weeds the next year. I'm not sure, but I suspect some of the common weeds have probably built up a tolerance by now.

I can give you a tip to create your bed that works. I got it from my mom and gardeners on CD and Dave's garden.
1. Cut the grass in the area to a low level.

2. Dig a trench around the area. You can edge it with something, if you'd like. The point is to make the trench kind of like a V shape all around the bed. A Kidney shape looks nice. Something asymmetrical.

3. Cover the entire area with cardboard. You can get boxes from the supermarket and flatten them. Put on several layers and overlap them several inches to keep the grass from growing through. I used the boxes from my furniture.

4. Cover the cardboard with topsoil (if you'd like) in about a 3 inch depth.

5. Cover the topsoil with about 3 inches of mulch.

6. Wait. I guarantee the grass will be dead in a couple of months, and once you start putting in the plants (I suggest doing this in Fall when the weather's cooler and you can get away with watering less often) you will notice WORMS and rich soil under the cardboard. The cardboard itself may have decayed by then.

I think you can call that method is also referred to as lasagne gardening and it's worked for gardeners for at least decades. I believe it is an idea we borrowed from Japan...and you know how dedicated Japanese are to having beautiful gardens.

My mom is also an AWESOME gardener and she uses the same technique. I also use it on my two-year old garden, and two landscaping guys just complimented me within the last month. That's just background so you don't think I'm full of it.

Once you're ready to plant, move the mulch and soil out of the way, and dig your planting holes. Water the plants etc as directed and move the mulch back into place, leaving a little space around the trunk of each plant.

[beachmel]

Originally Posted by kinkytoes

I did the same thing but I didn't use weed killer. The truth is that whether or not you use weed killer, the grass/weeds will come back anyway. Hopefully you'll kill off enough at the beginning to make your weeding easier. To support the inefficacy of roundup and other weedkillers, I can verify that all of the areas where my previous owner used roundup/glychophospate currently have weeds and grass growing in them. I still have to weed every year.

The only thing that will kill weeds is...regular weeding. It seems to me that the only things that grow well in areas treated with "weedkiller" is more weeds the next year. I'm not sure, but I suspect some of the common weeds have probably built up a tolerance by now.

I can give you a tip to create your bed that works. I got it from my mom and gardeners on CD and Dave's garden.
1. Cut the grass in the area to a low level.

2. Dig a trench around the area. You can edge it with something, if you'd like. The point is to make the trench kind of like a V shape all around the bed. A Kidney shape looks nice. Something asymmetrical.

3. Cover the entire area with cardboard. You can get boxes from the supermarket and flatten them. Put on several layers and overlap them several inches to keep the grass from growing through. I used the boxes from my furniture.

4. Cover the cardboard with topsoil (if you'd like) in about a 3 inch depth.

5. Cover the topsoil with about 3 inches of mulch.

6. Wait. I guarantee the grass will be dead in a couple of months, and once you start putting in the plants (I suggest doing this in Fall when the weather's cooler and you can get away with watering less often) you will notice WORMS and rich soil under the cardboard. The cardboard itself may have decayed by then.

I think you can call that method is also referred to as lasagne gardening and it's worked for gardeners for at least decades. I believe it is an idea we borrowed from Japan...and you know how dedicated Japanese are to having beautiful gardens.

My mom is also an AWESOME gardener and she uses the same technique. I also use it on my two-year old garden, and two landscaping guys just complimented me within the last month. That's just background so you don't think I'm full of it.

Once you're ready to plant, move the mulch and soil out of the way, and dig your planting holes. Water the plants etc as directed and move the mulch back into place, leaving a little space around the trunk of each plant.

While I do understand what you're saying about "more weeds coming up after roundup", what you're generally seeing are the weed seeds which have germinated, after killing off all of their competition. When dealing with something which has an aggressive root system such as crab grass, bermuda grass, quack grass, morning glory, blackberry, etc., weed killers which attack the roots are IMPO, the only way to go. Most of the annual weed seeds need light to germinate..this is not a problem if you kill off the roots of the obnoxious, aggressive weeds.

You are right though in the excessive seedlings appearing after applying weed killer. If that ground is left bare, it will grow weeds like crazy. After all, the "competition" has been removed...leave it bare and exposed to light and you can bet seedlings are going to germinate.