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.

Winter Field Trip

So after writing about the 'Winter Weeds' around my house for a couple of weeks I decided to take a walk through a nearby meadow to see what's still standing.  For me the closest meadow is Rock Meadow, in Belmont, MA.  This erstwhile farm has been conservation land for the town of Belmont since 1969.  With decreasing maintenance budgets over the years this area was undergoing succession with open meadows being closed up with a variety of native and non-native, invasive species.  This severely  degraded its value as a bird nesting habitat and reduced it general value as a recreational space.  In 2005 the Friends of Rock Meadow worked with the town in securing funds to do a renovation.  Most of this work was completed between 2007 and 2009, with the removal of many invasive plants, clearing shrubbery from the meadow and improving trails.  So with map in hand I set out to see what interesting plants I could find...

The burrs on this Burdock catch the afternoon sun
as easily as they do to a passing hiker.

The first plant I came across was Burdock.  This old world introduction is a common weed of waste spaces, but its strong structure helps it persist in the winter landscape.  The burs on the seed pod are hooked which help them attach to passing animals, thus dispersing the seed to a wider area.







Next I walked by a thicket rich with Red Twig Dogwood.  I am assuming these are the native Cornus sericea (formerly, C. stolonifera), even with leaves and flowers some of these species are difficult to tell apart.

The Red-twig Dogwood was easily identified among
all the other brown branches in the thicket.

Large sections of Rock Meadow are consistently wet.  These areas are easily identified by their large populations of Cattails.  There are two common species in the Northeast, one with broad leaves and one with narrow (Typha latifolia and T. angustifolia, respectively).  I did not investigate which was present, or if both were there.

One of the wet areas in Rock Meadow that is home to Cattails

Steeple Bush, just upstream
of a wet meadow.

Steeple Bush (Spiraea tomentosa) is another native spirea.  Unlike the Meadowsweet I have growing at home, the flowers of Steeple Bush are held in tightly erect panicles.  Also I found it here, Steeple Bush prefers moister soils.

While not a true pre-Colombian native species, Queen Anne's Lace has become naturalized throughout North America.  Even without its flower petals, this plant still has a presence in the winter landscape.  

The bare bones of Queen Anne's Lace

The few remaining seeds on this Little Bluestem
still catch the  winter sunlight.

Little Bluestem is a widespread native grass.  It seems to look its best growing on really poor soils and is often seen growing along the highway.  In richer soils it gets tall and floppy.  In the fall and winter it can be picked out by its orangy appearance and the way that the fuzzy seeds catch the light.



One plant I almost passed right by was this Tower Mustard.  It just looked like some sticks poking out of the ground.  On closer examination I noticed the dimpled membranes that once held the seed in an alternating pattern.  I didn't know this plant at first, but I looked in my copy of  'Weeds in Winter' and it led me to the mustard family.  After that, I was able to locate the species by referring to my copy of Newcomb's.

The seed pods of Tower Mustard still show
the impressions of the seeds they held.

The opened seed pods of Evening Primrose
 look like dried flowers.

Evening Primrose is a plant that is easy to recognize in its dried form.  When I walked by I realized that I knew this plant, I just could not remember its name.  The stiff, four-parted seed capsules on the tall, upright stems are unique and hard to forget.  I quickly flipped through the field guide until I found a drawing that matched this plant dead on.

I'm pretty sure this is Sweet Everlasting.
Had I used my nose as well as my eyes I would no for sure.

After returning to the path I looked down and saw another familiar plant.  There was a single stem of what I believe was Sweet Everlasting (Pseudognaphalium obtussifolium).  However, it could also have been Pearly Everlasting (Anaphalis margaritacea) which also has woolly stems and leaves and persistent papery bracts.  Crushing a flower would have told me which, Sweet Everlasting has a sweet, tobaccoy scent, while Pearly Everlasting has no smell.  Also, the bracts of Sweet Everlasting have a dingy tone, while those of Pearly Everlasting are reported to stay white (forever?).

As I moved into a shadier area, a large patch of Raspberry vines became evident.  These stood out as a purple mass of branches against an otherwise dull brown background.  Closer examination showed the little red thorns on the purple branches.  A couple of years ago I attempted to ID some raspberries but was quickly overwhelmed by the possibilities.  Right now I will just appreciate their contrast to the shades of brown.

Raspberries of some sort; the thorns are too small to be Blackberry

When I first saw these berries I thought this might be an Arailia of some sort.
A little research indicated that this was actually Carrion-Flower.

Carrion-flower was a surprise find as I was heading back to the parking lot.  Most of the members of the genus Smilax are rather unpleasant to deal with, like Catbriar (Smilax rotundifolia), with its tangle of thorny branches.  Carrion-flower, S. herbacea, on the other hand, has few, if any, thorns and only grows to about 8' in length.  As its common name indicates, the flowers have an unpleasant scent.




While Rock Meadow has been cleaned up of many of its  invasive species, some still remain.  In the winter months Winged Euonymus is easily recognized by the little wing-like projections along its stems.  Another common invasive is Black Swallowwort.  It can be recognized by the remains of its seed pod that looks like a dried leaf.  This vine is very hard to eradicate since it will resprout from small fragments of roots left behind after pulling or digging.

The arrow in the photo points to some of the wings
on this Winged Euonymus.

The old seed pods on this Black Swallowwort looks kind of like those of Milkweed.  In fact these are both members of the Asclepiadaceae family.