*NEWBIE NEEDS HELP!!*

Hello, I am starting my first flower bed. After research, I have determined that I have to dig up the grass, take out dirt, place newspaper down, put in new soil, till, and mulch... is this correct? What type of soil do I get? Do I get what they call Garden Soil? After I put down the newspaper, can I start putting my flowers in that day? Do I have to use food or anything on my flowers once they're in the ground to keep them blooming? Could really use all the help I can get!! Thanks in advance!! ;)

First, you don't necessarily have to dig out your current soil and replace it. What type of soil do you have--clay, sandy, loam, or something else? Whatever you have, it can be amended with garden soil, peat moss, compost, whatever it needs. You can add the amendments, till them in and plant your flowers the same day, if you have that much energy :-} Fertilizer containing nitrogen isn't good to add to newly planted flowers as it can burn the roots. I add Miracle Grow Quick Start to the water that I use to water my plants in--it helps them put down a good strong root system (no nitrogen in it). Dig your planting hole, set the plant in, water with the solution of water and Quick Start, cover the roots, and add a little more solution to water it in good. Be sure to gently tamp the soil around the plant to eliminate air pockets around the roots. When you've finished planting all your flowers, you can mulch them (some folks do like to lay down a layer of newspaper and mulch on top of it). The mulch will help hold in moisture as well as help keep weeds down.

Hi, Peaches - Welcome!

You sound like you've already read many of the responses to similar questions and you're still nervous...LOL! That's understandable. There are so many different ways to approach every single garden project - you just pick the method that's right for you and do your best.

NatureLover1950 has given you a good blueprint for your new garden; I just want to expand on her first sentence, "...you don't necessarily have to dig out your current soil...". Google the phrases 'Lasagna Gardening' or 'Strip Composting' and you'll see what we mean.

Here's THE key question we need to know before we can tell you our best advice: What type of grass do you have? Some grasses are terrible and should be completely removed - Bermuda, Bermuda, and Bermuda. (you can tell I hate Bermuda, right?). I think all of us with our many different methods would agree that you need to dig all Bermuda grass out of a new garden bed before doing anything else. You won't be able to get it all, but try.

Many other grasses are far less evil and you can build up a planting bed right on top of them by strip composting (lasagna gardening) right on top of it. You would not need to till IF you build the bed up about 24" and let it settle back down over the first few months. If you don't want a temporarily raised garden, you will need to till first, then follow the steps outlined by NatureLover1950 and you'll do fine. Pay special attention to her advice to add compost as well as garden soil to your bed - no matter what type of soil you have, compost will help get your bed off to a good start.

Lastly - mulch. Mulch is your best friend in the garden. It keeps moisture in and weeds out - if you follow NL's suggestion about newpaper first, then mulch, you can use less mulch. If not, plan on about a 3" or 4" thick layer of mulch in your area of the country.

Good luck - ask lots of questions - have fun!

I read this post shortly after it was posted, but decided not to post myself until I saw some other responses. Yes, everyone has their own technique for preparing a gardening space.

Personally, I'd just till it, then pull out as much of the grass as I could, plant and then mulch. The newspaper under the mulch would help considerably since it would be a new planting bed and tilling will pull up more seeds that were too deep to germinate before.

I was listening to a gardening program on the radio last week, that was discussing how worms were the very best "fertilizer" available. They leave worm castings and loosen the soil by tunneling. When you have a mulch (dried grass clipping, shredded leaves, etc) that is a few inches thick, as MoCat stated, it will keep down weeds and keep the soil below kind of moist, and worms are really attracted to that kind of environment. I've been using mulch like that since we started both our big vegetable garden and flower beds 7 years ago and it has a made a huge difference in the quality of our soil.

Happy gardening!

MsRobin - I spray molasses and water on cardboard or newspaper as the first layer of any new bed - supposed to really encourage earthworm activity. I don't know whether or not it really enhances their interest in the new area, but it annoys my husband so I keep doing it religiously!

Mocat: That just ain't right! Another real cheap earth worm magnet is oat meal. The cheapest most tasteless brand you can find. Worms love the stuff. As kids we would put it on moms flower beds the evening before an early morning trip to the lake to fish. By morning (4am) we just picked em up and put em the old coffee can. Mom always wondered who was eatin the stuff cause me and the brothers couldn't stand it and dad never ate it either. I don't think dad had the heart to tell her it was just fish bait bait.

You go, Girl! Gotta keep those DHs on their toes! LOL!

Hadn't heard that about molasses and water. I'll have to try that the next time I start a new bed.

GCorrier, hadn't heard that either. Cute story!

Coffee grounds will entice worms, too, if the plants can stand the extra acid.

This message was edited May 17, 2009 8:36 AM

Gosh mocat, how did I miss that bit about Bermuda? No excuse since I live in Bermuda country! Thanks for picking up on that :-} Maybe Ohio is blessed with a less aggressive type of grass.

Mocatmom: I love your style! Bermuda grass is the bane of my existence. We have a hate/hate relationship and I have pulled the stuff out until my hands were actually bleeding from the wiry stems. Hateful stuff!!

Good advice to get rid of as much as possible before planting. It'll be there, but maybe easier to control if you try to get it all out first.

NatureLover - I don't think you forgot about Bermuda - I think you blocked it from your memory bank in self-defense. Hopefully it's too cold in Ohio for Bermuda to thrive.

Hemophobic - don't you just love it when someone advises a new homeowner to plant Bermuda for water-conservation and inexpensive turf coverage? Makes me want to go postal....

At least postal!!! I don't even call it grass; I call it the weed from hell. Arrrgggh!

I try to pull bunches of it right after a good rain because it comes up relatively "easily" then, but I think the whole world has BG lurking just under the top surface of soil/mulch/pavement, what have you, just waiting to pop through! It must have been here when dinosaurs roamed the earth.

Angie

And will be here with the coackroaches when we are nuked out of existance!

Yep, just waiting to torture the next species!

*Thank you all very much for your responses!! :) I am going to start in the morning!! Yeaa can't wait!! Anyways, I'm not sure the type of grass I have but I live in Northeast Ohio. My boyfriend has a tiller so can I just till up all the grass in the areas I want the beds to be? I'm guessing there will still be a little bit of grass in it but can I just mix my soil with the grass in it now with the little bit of grass still in it? And do I put the newspaper down before the soil and then plant flowers in the soil or do I put the soil down first then newspaper and plant?? Thank you all!!* ;)

Till up your peat moss and/or manure (Black Kow) or compost with your dirt after you've removed as much of the grass as you can. Then rake, plant and use the newspaper and mulch after you've planted.

PchesNCrm157 - here's a comment that ought to make you feel pretty good .... you're already doing much more than most folks to ensure that your new garden gets a good start in life. Keep thinking about the importance of preparation and research BEFORE you stick anything in the ground and you're going to end up being a great gardener. We're all cheering for you and we're here if/when you need some more tips and tricks. Now go get dirty and enjoy yourself! Anne

If you are planting seeds, annuals, and/or perennials then I'd remove as much grass as possible but if you are planting trees/shrubs/large perennials then this is a much easier approach to getting rid of grass including bermuda which is what we have.

For just starting a new bed, dig the holes and plant the trees/shrubs (amend soil as needed). Then lay down weed cloth (huge rolls of it can be bought at Sam's Club or other type stores). If you are putting a drip irrigation or micro irrigation system in then this would be a good time to lay it on top of the cloth. Mulch the weed cloth with your preferred material (we use pine straw).

For future plants, scrape away the mulch where you want the plant to go, cut a cross in the weed cloth and fold back the edges, dig out the dead grass (if enough time has passed it should be dead and very easy to dig out), dig the hole and amend if need be, plant your new plant, pull the folded edges of the weed cloth back around the plant, pull the mulch back on top, and add new drip emitters or misters if you have micro irrigation.

Digging bermuda (even with a tiller) was too much work so now we do all our new planting beds this way.

I thank you all sooo much for your responses! I have finished my flower bed and this is what it looks like...

Very nice. Congarts on job well done!

Looking good, Peach!

Super! Doesn't it feel great to be done? I'll bet you enjoy looking out the window four or five times a day and exclaiming about how much nicer it looks....that's the way I act, anyway, after such a tough job is done. It looks very, very nice and you did a great job!