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weed cloth and other questions
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Posted by phantom_white Z6 (ruckus1837@yahoo.com) on Tue, Aug 17, 10 at 16:56
This year was my first sfg and I'm completely hooked on doing it this way from now on. Because I have so many weeds and grasses that come up I laid down heavy weed cloth under the bed then added 6 inches of compost, dirt, and other soily stuff. Since it's been there since June, should I pull it up this winter when nothing is growing and add more amendments? I don't think my plants are getting their roots deep enough to really take advantage of the dirt. I was super rushed so there's patches of this-and-that where it all wasn't mixed in well. There's toms, peppers, corn, a some bean plants there now and I planted spinach, mustard, and silverbeet yesterday.
Does anyone here plant cover crops in their raised beds? I planted clover once (not sfg) and it took over. It's still growing in huge clumps despite being ran over with the tiller a few times.
What about growing potatoes? Can you do that with a sfg? I've never grown potatoes before but would like to try and grow as much produce as I can knowing what goes on and in the stuff in the supermarket.
Do I have to move crops around like I would in a normal garden to avoid disease? I'll be moving all the dirt around once my season is over so is there something I can mix in to prevent disease and to keep grubs and other unwanted critters from overwintering?
Anything I shouldn't use/do?
Thanks for any help!
Abby |
Follow-Up Postings:
RE: weed cloth and other questions
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Abby; Slow down take a deep breath and have a drink of a non caffeinated beverage. You have asked enough questions for a book? Have you read Square Foot Garden or New square foot Garden by Mel Bartholomew? If not do so, most of your answers are in there. Then come here and ask more specific questions. We will find it easier to help. I do understand the excitement I love square foot gardens I am a lifer on casual gardening but only on my second year of square foot.
adding your state to your zone can be helpful as well. So glad you are gardening into the fall. I will only comment on the cover crop. If you garden up to and after frost, when will the cover crop grow? Were you thinking of a square at a time after frost? Curt |
RE: weed cloth and other questions
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Lol. I tend to get carried away with things I like. I've read the book you mentioned, but got conflicting info from others who've put the methods to practice. Most said they followed the directions but ended up not having good results. I'm pretty happy with my bed, I just wish I could've gotten it in sooner. I'm in zone 6b in TN and should've begun planting in February. Thanks to numerous issues it just didn't happen though.
I planted some kind of grass as a cover last year and it grew through the winter despite heavy snowfall. I just didn't know if people did that in SFG. I want to keep as many weeds as I can out of my beds. That's one reason I've doing SF; I'm tired of the garden and all my hard work being choked mid season by morning glories and other junk. I've had very little weeds in my bed this year and I'm SOOOOO happy! Abby |
RE: weed cloth and other questions
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Abby I would suggest a crop like peas for a cover crop. But to tell you the truth I put compost in the finishing stage, over the squares for winter about 6 inches deep if I have it and removed some and worked some of it into the soil. I do wonder would it be better to leave it bare to freeze/cycle for insect control?
On the weed cloth I have never used it. Sorry my bed is on tilled up lawn with no barrier as my lawn is excellent soil, and I want the plants to have access to it. I just weed as I go. After the plants fill the square there is no sun for the weeds. I did go to square foot garden for the same reason as you "weeds" My row garden was always covered with them and so damn much work I gave up on it. Square foot gave me a whole new outlook and gardening is fun again. Lol I wait for weeds to grow just so I can pull them for old times sake I love my S.F.G.
Curt |
RE: weed cloth and other questions
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I'm still working out kinks in my composting method. Right now I've got a big old trash can that I dump kitchen and yard scraps into but I've got no way to turn it other than a shovel and a lot of straining.
For insect control, I thought I'd just mix some DE with Pyrethrum into the soil. It seemed to put the bean beetles to death quickly so I'm hoping it will work over the winter.
The original soil in the yard was a nice, rich sandy loam soil, but the city came through about 20 years ago and destroyed every bit of it. Didn't bother to fix any of it, so now I only have heavy red clay (that's chock full of morning glory seeds) to work with. |
RE: weed cloth and other questions
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| Does the weed cloth go under the planter bed or not? Thanks. Carytom |
RE: weed cloth and other questions
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| Well, the cloth *was* under the frame, but I removed it. I don't think the roots had the room they needed to supply the plants with the nutrients for proper growth. A lot of my stuff didn't do squat this season. Abby |
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