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@Cliff has been working hard weeding and prepping the Garden Club beds outside of the Community Center. After fully weeding around the edges of the beds, he dug it up and put down decomposed granite surrounding the beds to inhibit further weeds.
If you have a chance, go check it out, and check on the composting progress.
Post your photos and updates here! =)
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Here are the notes from our meeting for executing the Pollinator Garden project: Step 1 – Soil Prep and Weeding
- We agreed to split the soil prep up into 2 days: Sat April 25 & May 2.
- This doesn’t need a lot of coordination, just please take photos and let us know your progress, by posting here.
- Bring a tarp with you to pile the weeds on, so they can be easily disposed.
- Bring a small hand digging shovel and fork, a rake, gloves.
- @Aline will find a good youtube video on how to best prep the bed and post it here, so we can all be on the same page with what we are doing.
- We need to pickup 2 1/2 yards of soil from Lane Forest. Edie, Janine, Cliff, Becca have all volunteered to do this. This equals to 5 truck loads.
- Once the beds are prepped and weeded, we can coordinate the soil and plant pick up for Saturday May 9 planting. This will need to be much more coordinated.
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Once we have the weeds heaped on our tarp, what do we do with them? Should I bring a couple of trash bags for noxious weeds?
Edie
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Hi @mikel @edie @cliff and all…
I stopped by the community center briefly on Tuesday.
Here’s my assessment of the current state of this garden.- The sheet mulch is working to suppress the weed growth.
- The cold composting is unfinished and drying out.
- Under the cardboard we have 2-3 inches of soil laced with quack grass roots.
- New grass growth is emerging at the edges.
Here’s the minimum prep that is needed.
- Roll back the cardboard/sheet mulch about a foot from the log border.
- Try not to tear the cardboard, so this covering may be replaced fairly intact.
- Removal of the remaining quack grass roots about a foot in from each log edge.Try to clear all roots close to the log.
- Cover the section you have cleared of weeds with a new piece of cardboard tucked up to the log.
- Replace the cardboard/ sheet mulch.
See how to clear weeds video at this link.
Here’s another short video just about the quack grass removal.
By adopting this plan, we will in effect be clearing 1/3 of the area of the remaining invasive grass roots (a foot in from each log edge).
I’m guessing that our fall prep had already removed the top 2-3″ of these roots, as they generally go down to a 4-6″ depth.
Keeping the sheet mulch in place is important for suppressing quack grass growth within the other 2/3 of the area.Our plan to bring in 2 1/2 yards of planting soil will add about 6″ of height to this bed.
If we soak the sheet mulch before covering the bed with the purchased soil, worms living underneath the cardboard should be able to complete the composting.
The added soil on top of the sheet mulch should continue to suppress this invader, along with regular weeding after planting.
What do you think about this approach?
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Thinking ahead to Saturday, April 25, I see a need to bring more cardboard with us (step 4 above).
The bed we are getting ready for planting is 35 feet long by 3 1/2 feet wide.
Suppose each of us were to remove the quack grass roots along the log edge, as I described above, for say 10-12 linear feet. Seven club members would be needed to complete the task, each doing a modest amount of labor.
If only 2 or 3 of us show up at the same time, the length of this bed will allow us to keep physically distant.
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I regret missing out on the planting, it sure looks great! And this looks to be a native Iris in bloom? Would you like to post a plant list here, @mikel, please?
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Greetings Gardeners!
This is a discussion specifically about our persistent grass pest.
I’m always grateful to the time and energy that went into preparing these two in-ground beds for pollinators and people in the community.
Since the crabby grass (technical species unknown) has pissed us all off so much, it was posed at a recent meeting that the club hire somebody specifically to weed back the grass and allow our plantings to flourish.
Other possible solutions include replanting our perennials after removing the weeds with larger equipment, or smothering the weeds and re-layering cardboard and landscape fabric.
We would like to hear your alternative suggestions and feedback. How would you approach?
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I suggest we replant after setting aside the perennials, digging out the grass, smothering with cardboard & building a raised bed Then, fill with new dirt and replant the perennials. We may also want to have some sort of edging along the outside of the new raised bed that would allow us to weed out any encroaching grass.
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I’m suggesting that we remove all the plants from each bed, dig down until we get all the grass out, then spread something to keep it from coming back at the bottom, and building raised beds – maybe only a foot??? – then replanting the plants. It would probably be a good idea to dig out a little ways away from each bed (?? 6″?) and lay down gravel or chips to make getting grass out easier, so we have a protective edging.
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