Native Annuals revisited

The ubiquitous black-eyed Susan, Rubeckia hirta,
can bloom in its first season from seed
but may persist for up to 3 years.

A little over 10 years ago I kicked off this blog with an introduction to the idea of using native annuals in the home landscape.  I thought it was time to revisit this theme and add a little more detail with a focus on native annuals and biennials that can be used in the Mid-Atlantic garden.

While there is a growing interest in native trees, shrubs and herbaceous perennials there are very few native annuals promoted for landscape use in native landscape designs.  This lack of focus is due in large part because the longer-lived species can be counted on year after year to uphold the integrity of the design.  When included in a design, conventional annuals are often used as temporary accent pieces, just to add interest or fill a gap in the permanent landscape. 

In general, many of the annuals used in designed landscapes and home gardening are of exotic origin and have been further improved horticulturally for maximum visual affect.  These plants and methods are not bad or evil; they are just a several steps away from what would be considered natural to a given area.  While beautiful, these plants lack local character, certainly on a regional, if not continental scale.  To the extent that they are different from the local flora, they may not provide the same ecological value, such as food and shelter for wildlife in the area, as native species do. 

In contrast, native annuals may function more as perennials.  Those that are adapted to the local environment will die back after a season or two, but they will maintain a presence in the garden, by reseeding, though not necessarily in the same location.   For some people, this may be a problem since the plants will move around, disrupting the design.  Others would consider this as a natural phenomenon and appreciate how plants are able to find their proper niche.  The ideal native annual could be considered as a plant that develops quickly with more flowers, a longer flowering cycle than perennials, and that reseeds but is not invasive.

Plant Selection for the Mid-Atlantic

To generate my initial list of Mid-Atlantic annuals and biennials I used the USDA Plants database.  This database contains a listing of all plants identified as growing wild in the United States.  It does not, however, distinguish whether the plants in a location are indigenous or have escaped cultivation. Using the 'Advanced Search' function I first selected North American native species. Then I selected NJ, PA, MD, WV and VA as my Mid-Atlantic States.  For duration I selected annual and biennial and I selected 'forb' for plant type.  This resulted in a list of over 700 taxa.  This list of plant names included some duplication since varieties and sub-species are listed in addition to the species.  This database has since been revised but you can get similar results for your region using its new “Characteristics Search” feature.  Alternatively you can use the Wildflower Center’s combination plant search function on their database, but there you would be doing one state at a time.

Here are three short-lived Mid-Atlantic natives,
spotted beebalm over growing a patch of
American pennyroyal and
 backed up with black-eyed Susans.

Next, I scanned the list for species that I was familiar with that, in my opinion, had some garden value.  The attributes I considered included form, appearance of foliage or flower, scent of flower or foliage, or value to wildlife.  I came up with a list of over 40 species that I have or would like to have in my gardens.  These criteria are of course arbitrary in the sense that I am looking at features from a human perspective.  In reality each of these species has evolved to fill an ecological niche and, as such, has a real value in their natural home.  Most gardens, however, are created and curated by humans, and are not complete, natural ecosystems.  This is especially the case in urban and suburban settings where soils, water courses and wildlife corridors have been disrupted; although, we can aspire to create naturalistic areas where some semblance of a natural ecosystem can catch hold, particularly with the use of native plant species.

The Plants

Here’s a partial listing of the native annuals and biennials grouped according to their garden function.

Big Plants

Bearded beggarticks can grow from seed to about
5' tall in a season.  Bloom time is in late summer.

Despite their short life times some native annuals and particularly biennials can grow quite large, 4-6 feet tall.  These plants are best located in the background or in a larger format setting.

Bearded beggarticks (Bidens aristosa), American bellflower (Campanulastrum americanum), tall thistle (Cirsium altissimum), biennial gaura (Oenothera gaura, formerly Gaura biennis), jewelweed (Impatiens capensis), and evening primrose (Oenothera biennis).

Showy Plants

These species are of more manageable size and have good sized and/or showy flowers.

Climbing fumitory (Adlumia fungosa), partridge pea (Chamaecrista fasciculata and C. nictitans), plains coreopsis (Coreopsis tinctoria), Corydalis sempervirens, fleabanes (Erigeron annuus and E. philadelphicus), firewheel (Gaillardia pulchella), annual sunflower (Helianthus annus), cucmberleaf sunflower (Helianthus debilis), sneezeweed (Helenium amarum), standing cypress (Ipomosis rubra), spotted beebalm (Monarda punctata), sweet everlasting (Pseudognaphalium obtussifolium), black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia hirta), clasping Venus looking glass (Triodanis perfoliata), and blue vervain (Verbena hastata).

Partridge pea returns reliably from seed
each year if open soil is available

Philadelphia fleabane is a prolific reseeder and
can grow anywhere there is an opening, such as a thin
 lawn.  Commonly grows as a biennial in my yard.

 Fillers

These plants will fill in space and while each has some interesting features, will not steal the show.

Hog peanut (Amphicarpaea bracteata), yellow corydalis (Corydalis flavula), American pennyroyal (Hedeoma pulegioides), Indian tobacco (Lobelia inflata), clearweed (Pilea pumila), red-whisker clammyweed (Polanisia dodecandra), Pennsylvania smartweed (Polygonum pensylvanicum), field pansy (Viola bicolor), and common blue violet (V. sororia).

American pennyroyal has very small flowers
but produces a strong minty scent when disturbed. 
Its tiny seeds can find their way into the smallest cracks.

Special Requirements.  

Most native annuals owe their long-term success to being adapted to some form of disturbance which makes it difficult for long-lived plants to get established.  Some species are adapted to very special conditions.  One common example is jewelweed (Impatens capensis).  This annual can grow quite large and sports distinctive orange flowers but it needs very wet soils to survive. 

Some interesting native annuals are hemiparasitic, their roots tap into nearby plants to help them develop fully.  Two examples are the False foxgloves, such as fernleaf false foxglove (Aureolaria pedicularia), which are parasitic on oaks, and Scarlet Indian paintbrush, (Castilleja coccinea), which grows with assistance from the roots of grasses. 

Winter annuals are a group of plants that have adapted their life cycles to avoid the heat and dryness of summer, or competition for sun light in a wooded setting, by doing most of their growth from fall into springtime, when light and moisture are more plentiful.

Spring blue-eyed Mary germinates in the fall and
blooms in early spring.  It is often found growing
under deciduous trees.

Some winter annuals found in the Mid-Atlantic include: Spring blue-eyed Mary, (Collinsia verna), Yellow fumewort (Corydalis flavula), Old field Toadflax (Nuttallanthus canadensis), Fernleaf phacelia (Phacelia bipinnatifida), Miami mist (Phacelia purshii), and Field pansy (Viola bicolor).

One trick with growing winter annuals is that you need to avoid pulling them out while you are cleaning up flower beds in the early spring. 

This clasping Venus looking glass came up on its
 own and bloomed in early June.  To encourage its
 return I avoided mowing the area so that it could
 set seed, but it will need open soil the following
 year so that it can grow.

A few of these species are commercially available as potted plants right now.  Others may be had by getting seed from native plant suppliers.  For others, these plants may occur naturally on your site and one just needs to be observant when they show up and then to take care that they are able to develop and set seed to create a new generation.

 

Mid-Summer is Coneflower Time

Here's some orange conflower poking through a  mass of vines,
including virgin's bower, Clematis virginiana, and passion vine,
  Passiflora incarnata (the large palmate leaves at the top).

While the black-eyed Susans (Rudbeckia hirta) have been blooming since June its not until mid-summer that other members of the genus Rudbeckia kick into high gear.  Most folks are familiar with orange coneflower, R fulgida, particularly some of the cultivars like 'Goldstrum' and 'Viette's Little Suzy'.  But there are other species in the genus that are worthy additions to the home landscape.

These cutleaf conflowers are 5-6' tall and blooming in open shade.

One relatively new addition to my gardens is cutleaf coneflower, R. laciniata.  This is a tall  perennial that can grow up to 10' in height and can tolerate shade as well as full sun.  The reason I put some in was to add some color to the back of a planting partially shaded by pine trees.  They took 2 years to get established, but this year they are performing beautifully.  It's interesting that in those first years the deer nibbled them back as they got over 2' tall, but this year the plants seemed to be ignored by the deer and now they are standing 6' and in bloom.

Unlike many other Rudbeckias cutleaf coneflower has a green central cone.

These plants prefer moist to wet soils and are not uncommon along river banks and in flood plains.  I've seen some good sized stands of these while walking on the C&O Canal trails along the Potomac River in Maryland.

These plants are growing on the edge of my vegetable garden,
a perfect disturbed habitat.  I will be pulling seedling out next year.

Another species of coneflower that is performing well this year is brown-eyed Susan, R. triloba.  This species has smaller, more rounded flowers than either orange coneflower or black-eyed Susans.  However, it does grow larger, 1.5-4.5', than those two. The Latin name 'triloba' refers to the 3-lobed leaves that tend to occur near the base of the plant (none of these are visible in this photo.)

This is a short-lived perennial that prefers average to dry soils and part to full sunshine.  It is usually found in disturbed habitats, on the edges of fields and paths.  It tends to get shaded out by longer lived perennials in less disturbed habitats.  The deer really ate this species up at first, now they browse on it occasionally.   Still, I need to protect mine in order to get a full set of blooms.


 Note:  all four of these species of Rudbeckia are native to the Chesapeake Bay watershed.

A Busy Spring

It's been awhile since I have taken some time out for blogging.  Besides getting the vegetable garden cleaned up and planted and pulling out garlic mustard, a major distraction this spring has been dealing with 'our' groundhog.

'Our' groundhog climbing a 3" diameter hackberry tree in one of our gardens.  

Last year I tried compromise, but that has been pointless, since we never actually entered into dialog. I tolerated it nipping down the New England aster and black-eyed susan seedlings and the occasional visits to the vegetable garden.  The tipping point was when it ate my newly planted Liatris and Amsonia plants.

My first approach was to use used cat litter and sudsy ammonia to stink up the burrows.  I think this was only slightly annoying and after a short time the ground hog returned.  Right now I am trying a castor oil solution.  This seems to be longer lasting, but I will need to keep up the treatments for a while longer to encourage a permanent move away from my garden.  In addition to using repellents in and around its burrows, I did complete a buried fence around the vegetable garden.  Hopefully this will remove another attraction from the area.

Securing the Garden Perimeter

Now that all sorts of plants are springing back to life any number of outdoor chores are available, some fun and interesting, others, not so much.  One of the major challenges in last year's vegetable garden was near daily incursions by a plump groundhog.  While we can hope that our resident fox does his/her job, I decided to take steps to modify the perimeter fence to make it more difficult to dig under.

Of course I had read that a good garden fence needs to go below the surface to keep out rabbits and groundhogs, I took the easy way out and only buried  few inches of the chicken wire fence under the mulch.  This was actually partially effective the first year, but last year there were several shallow entrances all around.  One article I read, says to dig a trench 2 feet deep and a foot wide and line the bottom and side closest the fence line with chicken wire.That sounds pretty impressive.  I got started, but hand digging a trench that size was beyond my limits of fun.  I backed off a little and when with 12-16" deep and 6" wide.

Here's some photos of my project:

First, dig a trench.  I used a narrow trenching shovel
to make a narrow hole with pretty straight walls.
This trench was only 14" deep and about 6" wide.

Push in the chicken wire and bend it outwards at the bottom
 so that about 6" covers the bottom of the trench.  This way
if the critter tries to go deeper, it will be frustrated.

Fill in the trench and compact the soil.  Connect the buried chicken wire
with the above ground fencing.  I bent about 6" of the above ground portion
outward to create another digging barrier.

Cover the base of the above ground wire with soil and then
 mulch the area between the inner and outer fence.

So with the inner fence secured against the small mammals I'll need to tighten up the outer wire fence to deflect the deer.  

One of the features of my garden is a pollinator border consisting mostly of native plant species. Since many of these plants are vigorous seeders, I have an abundance of seedlings to move from the garden out to the border.  Before I got started with trench digging I took a close look at the plants I would be digging up to determine with they were keepers or 'weeds'.  Here are some photos of the ones I encountered:

This is an over-wintered rosette of Black-eyed Susan.
It can be recognized, in part, by the soft fuzzy leaves

Black-eyed Susans produce a lot of seed and each plant lives only 2-3 years.  To keep a good supply of these in the border I have been transplanting them out from the inner garden.

At first glance the rosette of the weedy English plantain is similar to the Black-eyed Susan.  

This English plantain has lance-shaped, deeply veined leaves

This clump of common yarrow was dug out of the path of the new trench.

Common yarrow, Achellia millefolium, is a cosmopolitan plant, meaning is occurs in similar habitats on a global basis, not just a single region.  Though not always considered a native species it is very good at attracting pollinators and beneficial insects.

These leaves did not break ground until the last week of March.

Wild columbine, Aquilegia canadensis, is another short lived native perennial and is dependent on reseeding for its long term presence in the garden.  The new leaves are a dark, purplish green and can be difficult to spot until they open up some.  Before the leaves develop they could be mistaken for red clover.

There are a  number of native Cardamine sp.
around but they do not resemble this one

Hairy winter cress, Cardamine hirsuta, is a introduced winter annual.  It develops its foliage in late winter or early spring and is in full bloom by April here.





There are many wild garlics, both native and introduced out in the garden.  Since these have a tendency to deter small mammals, I have not been targeting them for removal.  I planted nodding onion, Allium cernuum, in the garden border a year and a half ago.  I have seen several resprouting, some are already about 6 inches tall.

The foliage of nodding onion is a flattened blade.  The
 weedy field garlic, Allium vineale, found in many lawns
 has darker green tubular leaves

Sheep sorrel spreads rapidly by shallow runners.

The last weed I was tossing out was sheep sorrel, Rumex acetosella.  The leaves of this plant can be used as a tart, lemony flavoring in soups and salads.  The plant concentrates oxalic acid giving them a tart flavor; however, it can be toxic in high concentrations.  I should probably consider trying it in a salad, in moderation.

  

Late Summer's Larger Blooms

Now that summer is nearly over I thought I would do a run down of some of the showier native plants that I have around the property.  Most of these are found naturally in Maryland.  A few are true wild flowers that have arrived on their own, though most of these have been introduced to this site.

The most common wildflower to this area is Wingstem, Verbesina alternifolia.  It is tall (4-6 ft) in full sun, though shorter in shadier locations.  The bright yellow compound blooms have been evident since the beginning of August.  In this area it is currently the dominant roadside wild flower.

This wildflower was just fading out at the beginning of October last year and I could not figure out what it was.  The northern edge of it range is in New York state, so it would be uncommon in the Boston area.  The form of the plant is similar to Sneezeweed (Helenium) but the shape and quantity of the petals are different.  Sneezeweed has wedge-shaped petals tightly arrayed around the center disk.

The arrows point out the winglike appendages
on the stems, hence the common name.  

Before the Wingstem was in full bloom, Common Evening Primrose, Oenothera biennis, was dominating the roadsides.  This is a true biennial.  It spends the first year as a low growing leafy rosette.  The second year the flower stalk shoots up to 6 ft or more with spikes of yellow blooms.  Each flower opens in the evening and only lasts a day (maybe a little longer if it is cloudy).  I have a bunch of these growing around our patio, while the flowers are nice and bright, they have unsightly lower stems.  For this reason I would banish them to the background.  The biennial lifecycle is well adapted to highly disturbed environments.  The seeds need an open sunny area to germinate and for the low-growing rosette to get plenty of sunlight.  So this is a good plant for open roadsides that get cleared once or twice a year.  But not so good for an area with an established dense undergrowth.

Evening Primrose gets way too leggy
to use near the front of a border.

I noticed that the Japanese beetles were eating a lot of the Evening Primrose leaves.  I collected quite a few in my soapy water jug (aka, Jug of Death).  Could these plants be used as a magnet to draw the beetles away from more desirable garden crops?




This next group of wildflowers are native to Maryland, although I am pretty sure they are not indigenous to our little valley.  New York Ironweed, Veronia noveboracensis, is scattered around our house, but I have not seen it growing in the woods or along the roadside.  The deep purple flowers are long lasting and provide a wonderful contrast to all of the yellow flowers that are dominating the gardens at this time.  In protected areas these wildflowers can get quite tall, more than 6 ft.  In open areas the deer have pruned them back to 2-3 ft tall, but they have still managed to bloom.  At this smaller size they actually fit in better to the garden scale.

This Ironweed was not eaten back by deer and
grew to about 5 ft in partial shade.

Speaking of yellow flowers, there are lot of Yellow Cone Flowers, Rudbeckia fulgida, growing in the neighborhood.  Probably most are the 'Goldstrum' cultivar.  They all grow to the same height and bloom at the same time, making a definite statement in the garden.  As a advocate for native annuals and biennials (i.e. short lived, freely seeding plants) I have been using more of the Black-eyed Susans, Rudbeckia hirta.  These have a more relaxed habit and a longer blooming cycle than the more common cone flower cultivars.  (note some variation to the flower shape).

These Black-eyed Susans were raised from seed this year.
They are not all identical, note the double-side blossom on the right.

In the shadier areas of the garden I have added them more demure Brown-eyed Susan, R. triloba, and the shade tolerant Elm-leaved Goldenrod, Solidago ulmifolia.  This is the first year that this goldenrod has bloomed.  It is an early bloomer and really brightened up the shady area, but the color only lasted a couple of weeks.  I just planted in some Bluestemmed Goldenrod, S. caesia, to beef up the appearance.  I just read that these two species can hybridize - so I guess that the bloom times will be similar.

This plant was eaten back once.  If unpruned
it would reach 304 ft tall.

This is an early blooming species of Goldenrod
that does well in shadier locations.

I found that I had problems with the deer and possibly rabbits eating back both the Rudbekia and Solidago.  I gave these plants a little assistance with some hot pepper spray (cayenne pepper) and some scent-based deterrents like 'Repels-All.'  I need to get on a regular application schedule with products because waiting for the plants to be eaten is usually too late.  I have also gone too far with over application on new plants resulting in killing much of the tender foliage with the liquid sprays.  For these plants I am favoring the pelleted products.

Partridge pea, Chamaecrista fasciculata, is a true native annual that I planted this spring.  I had better results with plants started indoors than outdoors, but much of this was due to grazing by unwelcome animals.  After a little hot pepper spray I was rewarded with stems full of loose yellow blooms.  These open blossoms were visited primarily by larger bees.  These peas need a specific symbiotic bacterium to assist with nitrogen fixation.  This was supplied with the seeds I bought.

The leaves of the Partridge Pea will fold up when it is dark or particularly windy.

In the vegetable garden I'm growing the 'Stampede' cultivar of Jerusalem Artichoke, Helianthus tuberosus.  Now that they have reached 10-12 ft they are just starting to bloom.  I selected this cultivar for its more easily harvested tubers.  I've seen Jerusalem artichokes recommended for use in edible landscaping; however, to be effective a shorter earlier maturing selection would be more appropriate.  Before I put up the deer fence around the garden these plants were being grazed down to the ground on a regular basis.

These towering blooms are supposed to have a chocolaty scent.
I will need to pull some down to find out.

The color of the bracts ranges from pale green to pink.
On close examination  you can see the black dots
on the yellow flowers between the leafy bracts.

Among the deer resistant plants I put in around the garden were two native species of Bee Balm.  The Wild Bergamot, Monarda fistulosa, has been growing larger but has not bloomed this year.  However, the Spotted Bee Balm, M. punctata, has grown and flowered in the first year from seed.  These two plants have been untouched by the deer while the nearby Rudbeckia have been routinely munched.


While not native to the east coast the midwestern Blue Giant Hyssop, Agastache foeniculum, has been an excellent garden plant.  It is long blooming, attractive to pollinators, nicely textured and untouched by deer.  The biggest concern with this plant is its tendency to set a lot a seed.  We'll see what happens over the next couple of years.

There were lots of bluish spikes at the end of July.
These have faded to a mauve color in September,
but have maintained their shape.

In addition to these plants I have observed a number of truly wild flowers including Heal-all (Prunella vulgaris), Maryland Hawkweed (Heiracium marianum), Spanish Needles (Bidens bipinnata) and several goldenrods that I still need to ID.

As we transition into Fall there are a number of asters coming into bloom as well as a variety of goldenrods.  As I walk through the woods I will keep an eye on the ground for anything new

Co-existing with Nature

There is a conflict between nature and designed human space.  We like to have our nature neatened up and easily readable with beautiful plants arranged just so.  Nature is just do what it needs to survive, with each of its members seeking out their basic needs: food, shelter and reproduction.  Conflict arises when our focal plantings become a meal or natures breeding habitat becomes a lawn.

In putting in our new garden and new plantings I have been trying to work with nature to achieve my design goals and keep our vegetables ‘safe’ without destroying too much habitat or employing chemical weaponry. 

The double fence has been keeping the deer at bay.  The outer border has been planted with seedlings of
pollinator-friendly perennials.  I may not get too many flowers this year as these plants get established.

To help control garden insects I have left some meadow areas intact that provide habitat for predatory insects.  I have also planted a border around the garden with pollinator friendly plants.  In selecting these plants I chose ones that are listed as deer-resistant.  To combat the beetle population I have a jug of soapy water.  This works well on some of the bugs whose escape strategy is to drop to the ground.  I just hold the jug under them and they drop in when nudged.

Here are some photos of predatory insects that are in the yard.  In addition to these I have seen the 6-spotted Tiger Beetle, very cool!

This nymph of a Wheel Bug looks like something from
the movie, Starship Troopers.

This 2-inch mantid was hopping from stem to stem in a patch of
moss phlox as I was looking for a Tiger Beetle.

Compared to the green sweat flies, Long-legged flies are aptly named.  
This 1/2 inch fly is a general insect predator.

Most of the landscape plantings I have selected are not deer favorites.  For those plants that are on the deer’s menu I have been using repellents that are either scent-based (putrescent eggs) or taste-based (capsaicin/hot pepper).  The hot pepper spray seems to be effective at getting the deer or rabbits to stop feeding on a plant even after they have gotten a first taste. 

You can tell deer damage by the ragged edges they leave where they tear off leaves and stems (deer don't have upper incisors).  Rabbits have sharp teeth and will leave a clean cut, or they will consume a plant right to the ground.  

The following are lists of plants that have I have put in that are 1, deer candy; 2, occasionally browsed; 3, not bothered by deer.  It is still early in the season and these comments are based on how they treat the foliage.  Flowers will be another subject (see some comments).  While it is risky to proclaim a plant to be deer proof, I have not seen any damage to the plants on this list (yet).

The buds on this Magnolia were being eaten off
until I put on the chicken wire cage 

1.  Heavily Browsed

Apios americana 
Helianthus tuberosus 

Magnolia virginiana 

Rudbekia triloba 

Campanulastrum americanum* 

Zizia aurea* 

*These were very small and eaten to the ground so rabbits or some other critters were responsible for this damage. 

The pinnate leaves of the ground nut have been
chewed off in more exposed locations

This Jerusalem Artichoke was being browsed to the ground until the fences went up.
Now (June 27) these are 6-7 feet tall.

This Filipendula was nearly ready to bloom when the deer
ate off most of the upper growth.  Note the rough edge
where the deer ripped off the tip of the plant.

2.  Occasionally Browsed

Achillea millefolium (flowers were removed, the foliage was left behind)
Aronia melanocarpa 

Hibiscus moscheutos (just once)
Filipendula rubra (just once leaves and flower buds, not after hot pepper spray) 

Lobelia siphilitica 

Physostegia virginiana 

This Hibiscus had the tips chewed off, but no more
damage since I applied some hot pepper spray.

Rudbeckia hirta 

(The Lobelia had been untouched until yesterday.)













3.  Resistant, so far

Aquilegia canadensis 

Asclepias tuberosa 

Asclepias incarnata 
Ceoanthus americanus 

Chamaecrista fasciculata  
Chelone glabra 
Dicentra eximia 
Hedeoma pulegiodes 
Iris versicolor 
Monarda didyma 

Monarda fistulosa 

Monarda punctata 

Spiraea alba 

As far as keeping the critters out of the garden, the double fence method is still working.  I’ve been able to harvest snap peas, lettuce, chard and collards, so far.

I did notice some evidence of moles digging around the property.  For these I put down a perimeter treatment of MoleMax, a castor oil based product that moles and other burrowing species do not like. 

Putting in the Garden

Turf in garden area 'weed whacked' to less than 1/2 inch tall.

As I mentioned a few posts back, I am putting in a new vegetable garden over an area that was previously 'lawn'.  I am using a technique described in Lee Reich's 'Weedless Gardening', where soil disturbance is minimized, by working from the top down.  This method uses a layer of grass smothering material to kill the existing vegetation and then a layer of soil or mulch on top of that layer to do the planting in.  By not turning over the soil, no new weed seeds are brought to the surface and the original soil structure is preserved.  (This method may not work so well on compacted soil or where there are some major soil chemistry problems.)


The first step in this process was to do a soil test to learn if there were any serious deficiencies or pH problems.  Turns out that the pH was good (6.9) and the nutrient levels were about right, save for a low phosphorous level.  Step two was to cut the existing vegetation down as low as possible.  I did this with the weed whacker.  Where there were vigorous clumps of grass I really scalped them down to the ground.

After flattening the cut vegetation, apply a fertilizer at a rate of 6 cups of a 5% nitrogen fertilizer for every 100 sq feet.  I had some Espoma Organic Lawn fertilizer with 17% Nitrogen (17-0-3), so doing the math, I only needed 2 cups of this per 100 sq. feet.  The soil test results indicated that I needed 1/4 phosphorous per 100 sq feet, so I was able to formulate that in with some triple phosphate that I had on hand.  Since over use of phosphorous in fertilizers is a major contributor to water pollution, having a soil test done and using only the required amount of phosphorous was the responsible way to go.

Now comes the new trick.  Rather than tilling the new garden, you just cover the garden space with cardboard or four layers of newspaper.  This will starve the existing vegetation of light and prevent germination of new weeds.  Since we had plenty of boxes and packing paper from our recent move, we were in great shape for this.  I chose to use paper to cover over the areas that would be the new planting beds, and cardboard for the paths since it would take longer to break down.

Cardboard was laid out for the paths.  Landscape staples held it in place.
My new Weed Wrench was handy for holding down the stack of packing paper.

After getting the paper and cardboard down on the ground with the help of some landscape staples, the paper was wetted to get it to conform to the ground.  The beds were covered with a layer of soil, and the paths were covered with a couple of inches of mulch.  This installation would have been easier on a calm day, however it was kind of blustery the day I was working.  The stables really came in handy to hold things down until I could lay down the initial layers of soil.

The planting beds in this garden are 3 feet wide and 12 feet long.  The width was chosen so the entire row could be easily accessed from the path.  By not stepping on the planting beds soil compaction is minimized and good soil structure is preserved (and no digging!).

I had 3 yards of screened top soil/leaf compost blend delivered...

and carted it down to the garden to build up the planting beds.

Now I just needed to make a 'few' trips to move the soil onto the new beds.  It would have been much easier if I could have had the soil delivered closer to the new garden, but alas that did not work out.  So about 16 trips with the wheelbarrow later, I brought down enough soil to cover the beds 3-4 inches deep.

In addition to the vegetable beds I am also preparing perimeter beds where I will put in some pollinator friendly natives.  These include Aquilegia canadensis, Asclepias tuberosa, Monarda fistulosa and Rudbeckia hirta and R. triloba.  These plants are also listed as deer resistant.  As such they are serving as part of my multi-layer deer defense scheme.  In addition to these deer resistant plants, I will plant some of the annual False Pennyroyal, Hedeoma pulegioides.  This is not listed as a deer deterrent, but it packs a pretty sharp minty odor when touched.  I'll watch to see how the deer treat this plant.

Again, I used paper under the perimeter beds, so that root penetration will be easier.

You may have noticed the double set of fence posts.  The outer set are from an electric fence that the previous owners had used for some sort of corral.  The inner set will be for a plastic mesh netting fence that will be partially buried.  That should keep out the rabbits and ground hogs.  The double fence method is supposed to deter the deer because they are not able to judge the width of the double fence and will be uncertain about making a safe landing on the other side.  I'm not planning on turning on the juice to the electric fence unless I have to.

The main beds and paths are all done.
Just need to prep the back edge for planting the Pennyroyal.

The final step was to cover the cardboard paths with a layer of mulch.  We had this on hand from some trees that we had taken down last fall.  The mulch will hold down the cardboard and suppress weed growth from both above and below.

It's really strange to be working in the garden in early March.  Back in Boston I wouldn't come out to the garden until late April.  I wanted to get an early start putting this garden in so that the layers of paper had a chance to suppress the old vegetation and then begin breaking down to let the roots of the new plants through.  Once the fencing goes up in a couple of weeks I will do an update.