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Gardening is a great passion with me. Five years ago, we moved into a house that had absolutely no landscaping. I created the front and side gardens the way my mother did: by digging out the grass, shaking soil off of the roots, and then turning over the soil. By the time I was ready to start on the backyard, I was running out of places to put the leftover sod. It was then that I heard about the no-dig garden. The method is simple. In the fall, you mark out where you want the garden. Then lay down newspapers six to eight pages thick. After that, you could put down leaves or mulch- whatever you have on hand. Just make sure that it is about four to six inches thick. Finally, you water everything, making sure that the papers and mulch are thoroughly saturated. As winter takes its course, the papers will decompose, leaving only the mulch. Any grass or weeds under the paper dies. When spring arrives, all you need to do is dig a hole, and put your plant in. If you want edging, you have the choice of doing it before or after you lay the mulch, but I do recommend before. I did two large flower gardens using the paper and mulch method. However, when it came to my vegetable garden, I chose newspaper and leaves. That way, when spring came, It was very easy to roto-till the soil. Any leaves on top were mixed into the soil for compost. I do like to try new things, especially if it means less work. This is one method I highly recommend, both for convenience and efficiency. Besides, think of the satisfaction you will have when you finish laying the last of the mulch, look back on your work, and imagine how far along you would be if you were digging out the garden the old-fashioned way.  |
