Re: wild fescue.............
- To: pumpkins@mallorn.com
- Subject: Re: wild fescue.............
- From: V* G*
- Date: Mon, 28 Dec 1998 16:29:31 PST
Nic's plan sounds really good! However, if you can wait until the
season after this to grow a really huge pumpkin (which isn't likely --
who wants to wait?) here's an alternative plan.
Get the soil tested now. While you wait for result, spread a thick
layer (1/2 inch plus) of newspaper (non-glossy only) on the area you
want to use as garden. Then, as thickly as possible (I find 6-12 inches
is good) spread as much manure, wood chips, & grass clippings & leaves
(hard to get in N. America now!) as you can find all over the paper.
This keeps the paper from blowing away & helps enrich the bed. The
rain, etc., helps break down the paper, & the grass dies from lack of
sun. A fancy touch (and quite helpful, actually) is to dig a narrow
pit, about an inch wide and a few inches deep, past the grass root
depth, as edging along the borders of the new plot. This keeps the
uncovered grass from getting at the good stuff. I've put actual edging
in a past bed's trough, and it looks very nice. Throughout the growing
season, keep adding grass clippings & leaves & so forth; you'll keep the
weeds down & by the following year, you'll have a fantastic garden bed.
I wouldn't leave the patch bare, though. In the spring, you can cut
through the newspaper & sod & plant in the patch, although you will have
to dig out a bit of the sod so it won't grow through the hole you've
made for the plant stem. You won't get a record-size pumpkin, but
you'll get a decent harvest with relatively little work & no major cash
outlay. I did initially try tearing out the sod & turning it green side
down, but my lawn was basically the same sort of thing your friend has,
& anyway, it was too much like work.
Good luck!!
(And happy new year to all!)
Vicki
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