I want to make more flowerbeds in my back yard and i wanted to ask if yall had any advice before i start! I have st.augustine grass and a bit of bermuda mixed in. The second photo is the outline of the bed i want to put in.
My plan was to dig the grass up, slightly till, put down card board, add compost and top with mulch to prep for fall planting. I have heavy clay soil- im in houston but i find this sub to be more active/helpful.
Or could i just skip the digging/tilling and just throw down the cardboard etc?
Also does anyone have any recommendations on drip irrigation systems? Prefer ones super easy to install as ive never done anything like that before.
Thank you for your time!
by kailyn11
6 Comments
To avoid 311 and getting a survey, aka pipes in the ground. I would advise cardboard, water the cardboard and weigh down with some bricks or whatever. Then just raised garden beds.
Edit: my drip irrigation is a home depot tub with holes drilled into the side. The holes are filled with a cheap plastic water line.
That’s a pretty big bed. How’s your back? Perhaps scale it back and expand over time. That Houston gumbo is tough digging.
Bales of peat moss to add organic matter and losen the soil. Add just keep adding organic matter. Use leaves. I avoid compost from home depot… it is nothing more than partly degraded wood chips with a bit of sand.
Focus on getting rid of the Bermuda grass. It can quickly take over a bed if you don’t stay on top of it
You don’t need to dig all that up or till, just sheet mulch (cardboard then woody organic material (ie mulch and compost). You’ll save yourself backbreaking work and will put that existing organic material (grass) to work. I’ve done this several times. But I would let it sit for ~6 months; plant perennials in March or April this time around. If you’re doing trees you can dig spaces for them now, but otherwise let the bio process cook for a while.
[Here’s what mine looked like after 8 months.](https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZP8k7p7dG/)
For those saying not to dig, that grass looks too healthy not to. The St. Augustine will come up through cardboard and dirt in a raised bed. I think it’s been pretty rainy this summer in Houston so, you can’t just layer and kill it.
Your major utilities will be 18 inches deep at min. You may want to call 311 for your telecom.
I’d attempt to kill the grass first with plastic sheeting for a few weeks, then dig.
It’s probably not the best idea to have a dirt yard in Houston during hurricane season as it could turn into a mud pit. This sounds like a November-January project and even then I would leave some grass.
If you are building raised beds why even dig at all?
Maybe rent a sod cutter and cut the sod out? Seems easier than hand digging.
That said Houston and Austin have different climates and different soil types…. so take all things you see on this sub with a grain of salt