When I moved into my house 2 years ago, I had plans to eventually turn my front lawn into a shade garden. Unfortunately, nature had other plans and we lost 2 trees in a tornado (you can still see one stump in the background, waiting for the city to deal with that), turning our front yard from full shade to full sun.
So, pivot to a new plan.
Once I removed the dogwood stump in the middle, I seeded with cover crops (buckwheat and clover) to try to improve the soil. The soil was mostly bare previously, and was so compacted the only way I could dig it was with a pick or mattock.
A couple of weeks ago I tilled everything in and leveled it out. I know tilling is controversial but I really couldn’t work the soil and even the cover crops were struggling. The tiller also helped me remove the plastic netting from old sod some previous owners had put down years ago (so frustrating!)
I’m currently watering it to try to get resurfaced weed seeds to germinate — going to kill those as they arise, then this winter I will put a layer of paper and compost/soil on top to start sowing seeds.
by onaygem
3 Comments
This lights up my brain and makes me crave the smell & feel of fresh soil!
you can jumpstart the weed-seed removal by solarizing it. you can do it now, as the plastic will create a greenhouse effect and will allow seeds to germinate, then they will get fucked up by your first hard freeze.
Best of luck! At least with full sun you have a bigger selection of plants to choose from.
I am also amused by the five or so stalks of sunflower (?) barely hanging on at the far edge. They survived the great tilling!