top soil with grass roots

Hello Gardeners, I just scraped 5000 sqft of soil with grass roots to build my shop. I went 8 inches deep so I have a nice pile. The location used to be a cattle corral for many years so the soil is full of nutrient and it looks good. It is mixed with the grass roots, what should I do to turn this into good soil for my garden? Thanks for your help.

It already is good soil. Your problem may be that this soil will also contain millions (billions?) of seeds that are probably not what you want to inoculate your garden with.

There are more than a few ways that gardeners deal with a situation like this, but it is always best to start from a point of knowledge - that excess weed seeds will be present, which are worse (in my estimation) than the grass roots.

**Fumigation works. It can be done at any time, but requires some strong chemicals. It also is non-selective, and will eliminate any biotic organism - not just seeds.

**Spreading the soil to the preferred depth, allowing weed seeds to germinate, and then spraying with non-selective herbicide (glyphosate, for one). This can be done at any time, but can sometimes require multiple applications since weed seeds will germinate over a period of time. Some people do not wish to use these types of chemicals in garden soils.

**Solarization can work. Spread the soils, allow germination to begin, then cover the area with plastic. Opinions vary on whether clear or black plastic is best. I suggest that you look for waste material for reuse, rather than buying new.

**Smothering works. Same methods as solarization, but cover germinated weeds with some other kind of impermeable opaque materials. Newspapers, old cardboard boxes broken down and laid flat, and other organic/decomposable materials are a nifty way to recycle otherwise waste products and perform multiple valuable tasks. Other waste items like old rugs, old towels, old sheets, old bedspreads will work but will need to be taken up since they won't fully decompose.

There are many more ways. Others will chime in.

When you say garden do you mean food garden? If so and you are trying to manage the areas organically, I would stay away from glyphosate among others. If you are building up areas for woody plantings - shrubs, trees etc. build the beds allow for partial germination cover with cardboard( consider pulling the tape off as it will stick around for a while) and top with woodchips 6 inches or so. You may want to look into corn gluten for use in stopping or slowing germination of weed seeds. You should be able to get woodchips for free in your area just call local arborist companies if Davey tree is in your area I have had great luck with them in the Seattle area. People also use flame to hit all the weeds when they germinate however that may not be practical in your case as you should have around 120 cubic yards or so

Good luck

This message was edited Mar 10, 2018 8:59 AM

5000 sq feet x 8" = 3,333 cubic feet / 27 = 123 cu yards of soil. That is a lot to manage - like 12 cement trucks worth. The questions I would ask are:

How big is the garden?

Do you have equipment to work the soil once a week so it composts itself? Make a row and then use a blade to turn it once a month for a year? If you live in a state where green waste is composted you can take a tour of a compost yard to see how they are doing it and set up a similar operation yourself.

Another possibility is as someone else suggested, spread it out 8" deep over 5000 sq feet and throw clear plastic over it all summer. That will sterilize it.

Were it me in the sense of simplicty, I would send a sample off to A&L (Waypoint) in Memphis For about $20 you can do a soil test. See what you actually have an then calculate what it will take to make it into good soil. Figure the cost and hassle, then make a plan. If the soil is as good as you think it is then just till it into the garden and let it lay fallow one year. You can turn it a couple times as the weeds come up and smother them. Our old ancestors didn't spend years composting soil and neutralizing it before they planted. They girdled trees, tilled under them when the leaves dropped and just hoed the weeds down as they came up. Even if you had 5000 sq feet of perfect sterile soil, as the duck, geese, other birds fly overhead, sometimes thousands of feet high over your garden, their poo filled with weed seed rains down on you.

I have a small 20 x 20 garden that has been tilled for 20 years. It has been sterilized, It has been tested and perfect amendments added. Trust me, the weeds come regardless as the birds fly overhead. There is nothing near it where weeds can come from except the wind and birds overhead, yet they come every year - and each year it is a different weed. :)


This message was edited Mar 10, 2018 2:53 PM

This message was edited Mar 10, 2018 2:54 PM

Thank you all for your precious advice.