That is the question. I have a tiller, so that's not a factor. My soil is SO bad!!! Builders took up every single solitary tree and filled holes with building debris and sand. I'm planning on having some chickens back there to do their thing, and I'm composting and building raised beds, but some things are just hopeless!
So one thought is to till this fall and again in the spring. I'm concerned about what I will interrupt -- and what I NEED to interrupt. Any experts? Or experiences? Or sources of information that would get me started? I have to redo most of my back yard (which I'm looking forward to, really) but I want to do it right.
TIA!
To till or not to till...
Brigidlily, I had a similar experience at my previous home. I bought it new and it had the "builder landscaping" in front. I added some perennials and annuals to the bed and they died. I replanted and they died. I changed to different species and they died. I finally starting digging in the bed a little more and found rocks, sheetrock pieces and end cuts of lumber and plywood. I finally had to dig the whole bed up, clear all the debris and add some decent soil for a raised bed. Things worked fine from that point on. I think some of the glue and chemicals in the building materials were poisioning the plants. If I were you and you know the area isn't too large, I'd have someone come in and fork or till the whole area to a depth of at least one foot, remove the "extras", then add improved soil or compost and till in again. Good luck.
It is so sad that builders play this dirty trick and bury all their junk in people's yards to avoid having it taken away, just trying to save the fee, it makes me really angry.
This is how i solved my problem, maybe it will help you;
http://davesgarden.com/articles/view/26/
Josephine.
Hmmm... it just gets bigger and bigger, doesn't it? That may be what I have to do.
Earth boxes are sounding pretty good right now. And I could install astroturf...
;}
Thanks for that link, Josephine. I dread doing that much work, but I have to do something! Maybe I'll just take smaller bites of the elephant for a while. Or enlist one of my sons.
You can do it one bed at a time and before you know it you will have a large area done, Rome wasn't built in one day.
In that first layer to be dug up, do I pull the grasses and weeds out of it, maybe compost it? Or just let the different depth it will get to be the demise of the undesirable bits?
Yes, pull all the grasses and weeds and compost them, especially the Bermuda grass, don't let one bit of it escape.
Hi Brigid, I thought about your situation all yesterday. I know it's difficult to find enough materials to compost when starting out. One quick method that worked well for me was to layer shredded leaves and alfala pellets into a compost (let set over winter). If your neighbors bag their leaves, it's even better, they have done the raking for you. We looked into purchasing a leaf shredder and found it just wasn't worth the investment. We use an old mower from a garage sale as the dedicated shredder.
Frostweed is right, it takes time and is seasonal. But one day you will look around and be prouder of your soil than of you flowers! You can do it!!
I do still use a tiller on larger areas but double digging is definitely the correct way to go. Recent articles (and I will have to search for them) indicate that tilling will destroy the "glue" (for lack of the correct term) in the soil and cause it to be less efficient.
I do agree ~ it takes determination, one bite at a time but my eyes are bigger than my stomach too!
Good luck BL and keep us updated please. We will cheer you on!
Thanks so much, y'all! I'm getting the Right Plan in my head.
and what kind of chickens are in the Right Plan? : )
Whatever chickens I can get! I'm actually thinking maybe ducks instead. I don't know. I've been in Missouri for a week and am VERY busy picking my thought threads back up!
So... you must have read the thread where the ducks eat the bad grasses...
That's why I subscribe -- so someone else can make the mistakes for me! Although I'm making plenty of my own, thank you!