Preparing a flower bed for next spring

15 years ago

We worked so hard on the back yard this spring that we ran out of time, money and energy before we got to the beds in front of the house. We did till a couple of times, and although that loosened the dirt, it did nothing to kill the weeds. In fact, I think it encouraged them. I would like to prepare the beds now for planting in the spring, but am confused about what to do. Since this is the front of the house, I would like the beds to not be too unsightly over the next nine months. We bought a bunch of native hardwood mulch that was on sale, so I am wondering if I can just lay down newspaper and cover with hardwood mulch to kil the weeds. What I am confused about is whether the mulch will be ok in the dirt when it comes time to plant in the spring or if I will have to scrape it all up then. Any thoughts?

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Comments (6)

susan75023
15 years ago
Hi, I think your plan is a good one. If your mulch is not the nugget type (takes longer to break down), the whole works may break down enough so you can till it in. If you have an especially thick layer of newspaper, you may have to remove some of it but that should be relatively easy.
shebear
15 years ago
If it was me, I'd till it again (after shuffle hoeing the weeds), add and till in all the amendments I wanted added, then put a 6" deep layer of mulch down. In the spring pull back the mulch where you want to plant and plant. Then put down more mulch.

Unless you're doing annuals, you will only need to add fertilizer or maybe compost a couple of times a year and keep 6" of mulch down.

If a weed pops up, pull it and put mulch on the spot.
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JaG, I don't have any specific cites to support this, only a compendium of experience and info gathered from readings over the years :-) As a hobby gardener I would have assumed much the same theories as you, however my experience working with professional growers has lead me to conclude otherwise. Dormancy in plants can be delayed, sometimes eliminated or cut short early by the timing of fertilizer applications. Growers do it all the time to get plants to market ahead of season or even in the off season. Sometimes it involves other greenhouse conditions (manipulations of heat and light) but it also happens with other hardy plants in unheated, unlighted greenhouse conditions. It is also well documented that plant roots will continue to assimilate nutrients until the soil is too cold for them to do so. Dirk Muntean, a biology consultant for Soil and Plant Laboratory, Inc. in Bellevue, WA, explains it this way: "Those roots are taking up nutrients in the soil throughout the fall until the soil temperatures drop low enough to inhibit root function." And that doesn't happen until quite late into the winter season. That's why along with all the recommendations one sees for fall fertilizing, there is also the caution to utilize low nitrogen formulations - the emphasis is on root growth, not top growth. Even fall and winter blends of lawn fertilizers have lower nitrogen concentrations than do spring and summer blends. FWIW, dormancy in plants is relative.....in some cases, plants will continue to grow and photosynthesize throughout the winter months or what we think of as the dormant period - broadleaf evergreens, conifers, many groundcovers, cool season grasses (I've had to mow my lawn in midwinter!), any winter blooming plant, etc. The growth may not be nearly as apparent as it would be during the typical growing season but it is still taking place. Obviously, much of this will be highly dependent on the specific plant and the specific growing conditions, but in many areas fall is plenty warm enough and soil temps remain high enough to prolong the growing season or even encourage a rapid, nitrogen-infused flush of new growth that will be vulnerable when cold weather finally does set in. I wouldn't be overly concerned about this with most organic sources of nitrogen.....they are just too slow acting to have a significant impact - but alfalfa meal (and blood meal) are extremely fast acting as far as organics go and IMO, are better utilized in spring or during the primary growing season. Excess nitrogen applications - and alfalfa meal is pretty much all nitrogen - can also inhibit root growth, which is the entire purpose of fertilizing in fall
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You could leave them in place and work around them. The leaves and compost will only add a temporary increase in height to the soil level. Once they decompose, they will shrink significantly in volume and you won't even notice any increase in height. Alternately, if it's just a few plants involved, you can lift them out temporarily while you prepare the beds and then replant. It's really your choice :-) I can sympathize with you re: the arthritis. I also have arthritic knees and it does complicate gardening somewhat. If I kneel, they seize up and lock and I can't get back up easily so I do all my gardening bending over. And that's not helping my aging back much, either :-) Ahhhh, the many joys of getting older!!
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As long as the Alfalfa pellets are kept dry, no moisture is allowed in, they would be all right stored all winter. But far better is to put them into the soil where the nutrients they hold will be worked on by your soil bacteria so those nutrients will be available for your plants when they start to grow next spring. There is much evidence that applying synthetic fertilizers will stimulate late season plant growth, but many studies I've seen using organic nutrient sources do not show the same thing happening, unless those nutrients are very water soluble and readily available.
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Hi liv2learn - So you are looking for fall and winter gardening info, right? If so then your best bet for specific info on that issue is likely the Soil, Compost and Mulch forum as they have discussions currently running on mulch contamination from plant diseases as well as how to prepare/repair and amend your soil. It can be confusing I know to pick the right forum sometimes but the focus on this forum is how to grow from seed in containers using a special technique called Winter Sowing. ;) (See the front page.) But there is also a related discussion going on fall gardening - how and what and when to plant - over on the Vegetable Gardening forum you'll want to check out. And there are some discussions there too on crop rotation. Only certain viral diseases can cause you a problem with contamination - the normal composting/decomposing process takes care of most anything else so I really don't think you have anything to worry about. I'd just apply fresh mulch and compost on top of the old and move on. Hope this helps. Dave PS: if you are going to be using tunnels check out the growing under cover tips on the Greenhouse & Garden Structures forum. PSS: there is also a Winter Gardening forum if you are interested.
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austinwildflower
15 years ago
That kind of mulch is nice, even to till in with dirt. I do it all the time now. (Assuming you're talking about the shredded hardwood mulch.) You'd be surprised, next spring, how much that mulch has composted anyway! Add some compost along with it. Another idea--I've also tried putting cardboard underneath mulch and compost, and even under a couple of inches, the cardboard is gone in about 3 months--worms love it, it just composts away. That would help the weeds.

Other people can probably help with bed-making but also have you considered planting something in the fall that grows through the winter? If you're thinking of veggies, you can do some kind of green-cover or if it's ornamentals, there are lots that look great all winter and don't need much care.
alley
15 years ago
If the bed is mostly ready, you can finish it and start planting some stuff in the fall (around October). That is a great time to plant some perenials (and seeds too I think)
lisatx04
15 years ago
If you need to get the bed ready, I suggest lasagna gardening. I tried it this summer, and it is working great!! My basil is huge and bushy. You can google lasagna gardening, or go on over to the composting forum, and enter it into the search box.

Like I said, I have basil in mine, along with tomato plants. Next spring, I will plant a crape myrtle there, and the dirt will be nice and airy!!
freshair2townsquare
15 years ago
romandub ~

a) Depending on how large an area you're working on, cover it with black plastic (or trash bags) and let it "cook" in this heat. Put the triple digit weather to work for you. This will go a long way in killing anything that's left over from the tilling work that you may or may not be able to do in this heat.

b) After that, lasagna. I love it. I've done it a couple of times in my front beds. Like lisatx04 said, it's great, and you can google for info. The basics are alternating your greens and browns with a thick layer of newspaper on bottom, all to a height of 6-18". Then cover all that with the mulch you have - no one will know that you have decomposing yuck underneath. By spring it'll be more than ready to dig into.

Preparing a flower bed for next spring

Comments (6)

susan75023

shebear

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