We decided a few years ago to
have a free design plan for our yard done by a local garden shop. It was free if we bought any of the plants
from them, and since I was not the best at getting creative with a piece of
plain green grass side yard, I thought this was an awesome plan.
When I saw the plan and the
numerous flower beds, I realized that a lot of this grass would have to come up
which to me is more work than planting.
Not only do you have more back breaking labour, but you tend to lose a
lot of decent soil in the sod you dig up, and then you have to get rid of it,
and it is heavy. Plus the idea of
renting a sod remover was not appealing either.
Newspaper Trick – This Works!!
Step 1 – Newspapers. That is
when she taught me the newspaper trick.
First step is save lots of newspapers; get some from your neighbours, or
even the recycling guy. Just get a good stack
of newspapers. Cut the grass super short
where your garden is to be, as short as possible.
Step 2 – Plant your Shrubs or
Flowers by digging your holes right in the grass. If you have laid out an area for your shrubs
that will eventually grow close together, (this designer was all about planting
in 3s) you still need to allow the room between them for spreading. But this means that first couple of years
there will be gaps to weed if you don’t use this method.
Dig
your holes for the plants and use your soils and whatever fertilizers you
prefer and then plant them and give them a good drink.
Black Gold 1302040 8-Quart All Organic Potting Soil
Now Let’s Deal with the Grass
Between Your New Shrubs
Step 3 – Lay out newspapers
about 6 layers thick over grass between your shrubs. Try and get as close as possible to the base
of the shrubs. This is one great way to
use up those newspapers. They will
decompose into the ground and also kill off the grass.
Mighty 109 Natural Cedar Mulch
Step 4 – Mulch. Have lots of mulch on hand, you can get bags
on sale at many places now, or get a load dumped on your driveway and use a
wheel barrow, you can even get deals online.
If it is a windy day, you will want to throw a handful of mulch on the
newspapers as you go to keep them down or get them wet.
Step 5 – Spread the Mulch at
least 4 inches thick. Create your edges
of the garden and tuck the newspapers edges right into the edge and spread your
mulch. That is! Just make sure the grass between your shrubs
is covered with the newspaper layers and then the mulch.
Has Worked for Me Now for
about 10 years.
Just keep it thick with mulch
and the grass underneath will die off.
You may get the odd weed trying to come through but if you get at it
quickly you will not be inundated with weeds.
This is also a great method
to use on existing beds where there are some spaces between shrubs that can be
hard to weed or get to. You will also be
surprised at how well your shrubs and plants do when they are not competing
with grasses and it makes the beds look good.
Stops Erosion
If you are planting on a
slope, this is the perfect method, since taking the grass off will cause the
soils to run off in a rain storm. This
method will keep the integrity of the slope.
I save my newspapers most of
the winter just so I can add to some existing gardens or start new ones.
As the Shrubs Grow I need less
and less Mulch each year but the grass has never tried to grow back. I add a fresh layer of mulch each spring, and
as the shrubs and trees spread, less is needed.
This saves huge back breaking
work. If you just put the mulch directly
on the grass you may suffocate some but it will still grow through, I find the
little bit of time it takes to spread out the newspapers is worth the effort.
Your new shrub or flower bed
is quick to produce. You can start it
and be admiring it the same day as long as you have your supplies.
Skipping the step of “digging
up the grass” is a huge time saver as well as disposal. Give it a try!
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