Beginner Gardening: Seeding for flowers, Suggest how against birds/weeds?, 3 by purpleinopp

purpleinopp wrote:
I would urge you to put a smother layer at this time, topped with mulch, chopped leaves, lawn clippings (as long as you've mowed before grass makes any seeds,) whatever organic matter (OM) you have available and let it sit until spring. This will smother the weeds, decompose somewhat to add some fertility and tilth to the soil, and be already in place as a barrier against spring-sprouting seeds currently on the surface now.

If you are interested in purchasing material, mixing some top soil with the OM on top of your smother would likely allow you to plant there without piercing the smother layer, so even more effective. If the OM you put on top is small enough particles, has some greens in it, and placed thickly enough, adding top soil may be unnecessary. You said it's lawn now where you want to garden, so if it's just grass that needs smothering, paper is fine, 10-12 sheets thick. I prefer paper when nothing really strong needs to be smothered. It conforms to the soil contours better. As it heats up next spring and plants get watered, any yet un-decomposed paper will quickly finish (but probably not a concern where you are, doubt the ground freezes,) giving plant roots free access to the soil below. Mow as low as your mower will go first, letting the clippings fall in place, then a solid, overlapping smother layer.. The dead grass leaves and roots are a great amendment to your new bed as they decompose.

Is your grass a creeping kind? If so, dig a line at least a few inches deep around the edges to separate any connections to the bed area from the lawn. No need to excavate anything, just sever stems and roots with a straight shovel. Then using some kind of border/barrier, even landscape timbers sitting on the surface, will make it SO much easier to keep the grass out of the bed permanently. (Always aim the mower chute away from beds if you suspect any seeds in the grass.)

Keeping the top covered with mulch, leaves, any layer of OM will prevent most weed seeds from being able to germinate, those that do are easy to pull in the loose stuff on top. This is how I've always started new beds, except rare occasions when I've too impatient to go lazy - or had help, digging up grass is not worth the effort, I'd rather wait for it to be smothered.

Just piling grass around the base of trees and shrubs is enough to prevent grass from growing there, eliminating a lot of trimming. (Like shrub pic below.)

Took the pic of flooding on 8/12 but it shows a new bed under construction. I started with some giant sheets of cardboard, outline by sitting timbers in place, then started putting any OM I could find, including some smaller branches from trimming some trees and shrubs. They were covered with green leaves but I didn't want to sit there and separate big sticks from perfectly good OM, so just put it in a pile, covered with more leaves, raked grass after mowing. This weekend I got in there with a pitchfork and it was really easy to move most of the material to other spots that need more 'mulch' and the sticks just fell right out. Last pic is from a few minutes ago. With the tenacious grass we have here, I'm going to let this sit undisturbed until spring. I did dig a little in the middle to add a tiny baby tree and some bulbs, but I knew there was a dead patch in the middle anyway (and why I chose this spot to start a new sunny bed.) I didn't buy anything but the timbers, just moved stuff around.

Giant cardboard: places that sell furniture, appliances, storage buildings, call around, you'll find it for free. Remove any tape/staples, good to go. Try to find plain brown, without glues.