It’s roughly 6 weeks till the final frost here in 7b.
I have a spot of grass and ivy that I want to turn into an annual veg garden. I’m waiting on soil nutrient results.
My current plan is to silage tarp all the grass and ivy for 3-4 weeks. Then cover with any needed amendments, 2 inches of compost, 4 inches of wood chips, then tarp again for the remaining 2-3 weeks. When the final frost passes, transplant out my annuals.
After the growing season I’ll cover crop with peas, clover, vetch, oats. Repeat next year.
Does this make sense? Am I missing anything?
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I’ve done something similar just not with a nicely maintained lawn but an overgrown meadow. And I did half an acre at once because I’m a glutton for punishment. Random notes/observations:
- get soil tested ASAP. It’s cheap and it will tell you what you are missing. Small amounts of targeted fertilizer (a single 10kg/22lbs bag for half an acre in my case) of missing microelements pretty much doubled my yields in second year. I wish I’ve done it earlier.
- grass is very resilient and will consider 6 weeks under a tarp a friendly challenge. You will be weeding it constantly for the first year. The only areas that ended up grass-free for me were covered with a tarp for a full year after being tilled. Tarp outside of vegetation season does nothing.
- it might be too late for wood chips this year, especially if you are adding 4 inches of them - it’s best to add them at the same time as cover crop
- raised beds are an easier option for a small area. Despite all the space I have I still have half a dozen large ones for herbs and plants that aren’t very compatible with the heavy clay I have here
Don’t know what sillage tarp is; if it’s not compostable, I wouldn’t use it. I don’t think just covering would kill the grass in time. Maybe it would, but it seems like if grass can survive a longer time under snow cover, it would survive under a tarp. I don’t think anything would grow well just in compost and woodchips (I’ve heard some things do, but plants usually do need actual mineral soil). 4 inches of woodchips seems extreme for annual beds.
Could just till with a tiller or double-dig (hard work) and mix some compost in. Some grass will still probably come up, so will have to hoe every so often. After the first growing season, there’d be much less grass. And you can start using a no-till method.
Some questions to think about:
- What are the common animals in your area (rabbits, gophers, moles, squirrels, deer)?
- Is your yard fenced in?
- Are you against raised beds?
As for your general plan if you want to go in-ground, the process would be:
- Till to 4-6" depth
- Cover 2 weeks
- Amended
- Plant
This could be simplified a bit with Raised Beds.
Do have all of those, yard is fenced 6’ fence with 1.5" gap between the bars.
Why till before amendmenting, I would’ve thought you’d till after to mix it in?
With in-ground soil you need to do an initial till to disrupt the roots of whatever is growing on top and soften the depth of the soil to allow roots to take hold easier. You amend it after to ensure that all of the existing top soil is refreshed with nutrients, and allow that compost to help stop it from compacting again. After doing it the first year, it shouldn’t be necessary for many years after and you can just add top soil or whatever amendments you want for awhile until it compacts again.
Depending on the kind of soil, you may even want to till a second time after adding amendment to really mix it all together.
