The more I read, the more confused I'm getting.. we have a grassy hill at our house, facing East. There are some native plants coming through, and some non-natives. however grass is dominant. I have already bought about 10 native seedlings from a local place and they need to be planted soon. Is our best bet to dig up a grassy area rather than using cardboard since we won't be planting from seed this time? So far we have mowed down the area to the right as our starting place.
by loco_coco-nut
3 Comments
Zone 4B
Cardboard (sheet mulching) has nothing to do with seed or planting plugs. Its just a way to smother out the grass. You could still use sheet mulching over the areas you want to plant, and then just dig holes through the cardboard to plant. Thats what I would do.
Lots of ways to do it. Since you only have 10 seedlings I would mark the areas just for those 10, dig out the grass for those areas, put the seedlings in, and then add mulch barrier extending in a 6in radius around the seedling.
The more soil you disturb the more you can invite invasive weeds to sprout out of nowhere or take hold.
Each year take out more grass, replace with natives, and repeat.
To do it all in one fell swoop to take out the grass I would do cardboard, mulch, and then cut out cardboard for the seedlings. But it’ll look like a bunch of mulch for awhile.