HI Everyone, We recently bought a house and the yard was/is dog proofed. One third of our back yard was covered in several inches of gravel over black plastic. I am in the process of removing the gravel, but have not pulled up the black tarp yet...I'd like to put some raised veggie beds and herbs in its place, but am only a weekend gardener, so it will be sometime/months before the project is completed. So, I was wondering if anyone had some suggestions as what do in the interim...? If I remove the tarp...what should I put on the soil for the winter? Should I put mulch...beauty bark..? compost? hay? I'd like something organic so that when I do start working the soil, it could be something that would be OK when I start turning the soil over. If anyone has any ideas, shoot me a line!! Thanks!! Lisa Sid
I would mulch it up as deep as I could afford. Use an organic mulch like pine straw. That will start decomposing and by spring will be ready to be worked in the soil.
I would do the same as Jan suggests if it were me Lisa. In spring you can add some organic fertilizer to your soil along with the composted mulch and everything you plant will have a great start.
Well, I'm a big one for working with what's there- leave the gravel & plastic, build yourself some raised beds. Line the bottoms of the beds with landscape fabric to hold in the soil, then pile in some good quality soil. You'll be able to walk among your beds on the gravel, no worries about weeds, and the strips of gravel between the beds will be nice tidy paths.
I was going to suggest what Critter Painter just did. You'll have great gravel paths between your raised beds. That will eliminate the complaining about MUD. We all know how wet it NORMALLY is in this area. Muddy
Another vote for the raised beds on the gravel here - exactly what I was thinking too, especially if you want to splurge a little on a good irrigation system for the beds while you're building them.
If you leave the plastic, be sure to poke holes in it under your raised beds or you will have lots of little ponds full of mud because you will have no drainage. I made that mistake once. What a mess.
If you do eventually need irrigation let me know. Ron has been doing that for years and has recently started a small business. muddy
I would do what Critter Painter ,Muddy Bob,Bethie And Primsong said.I am a firm believer in black Plastic and gravel and or bark.I'm not crazy about grass .
You guys are great! Hi Everyone, Ok, I love this forum thing already! How cool to get everyone's ideas. P and I just read them and it got our brains churning. I have moved most of the gravel in that area out already to our planting strip at the alley, but no fear...there is more in a lower spot that I can bring over. I like the idea of using the gravel for the paths. Thats great, hadnt thought what we going to put there. I'm contemplating the raised beds idea...I'll post my sketch of this area in few days so you all can see my thoughts. thanks for the ideas!! OH, and yes good thought about irrigation. We'll need that eventually for the whole yard, so yes, I'll have to chat with Muddy about that sometime. Thanks!!!
