Rank: Newbie
Joined: 2/14/2009
Posts: 1
Location: Utah
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Hi! I wil be starting a square foot vegetable garden in four foot square planter boxes. I have gardened before in northern Arizona and am new to this area. My dad use to garden in this yard but most of what he did is gone. I have to be careful of the amount of work required in the garden because I have kidney failure and spend fifteen hours a week hooked up to a dialysis machine and often don't feel very well. Right now the yard is covered in a rather course and hardy grass. That is under thr snow. I need to know how to get rid of this grass and how to prevent it from growing up in my garden boxes. Thanks ahead of time to anyone who has any ideas that might help.
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Rank: Member
Joined: 2/9/2009
Posts: 19
Location: Colorado
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Hi Loretta,
The last time I added raised beds I used a garden fork and broke up and removed the grass with its roots about 3” beyond the overall diameter of the bed and 6” deep. I built the beds over top of this site than after filling the beds with compost I cover the beds with a good geotextile weed fabric. Make sure it’s tucked in at the edges. I cut slits in the fabric were needed and do my plantings. The fabric will reduce evaporation and suppress weeds. You can use 6mil black plastic also as if you were planting strawberries but this makes watering a bit harder.
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Rank: Newbie
Joined: 3/3/2009
Posts: 1
Location: Utah
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I would suggest checking out www.squarefootgardening.com and the book All New Square Foot Gardening. The most difficult part will be building the beds (do not use pressure treated lumber or railroad ties). If you staple quality landscape fabric to the bottom of your boxes and then place them right on top of the grass you should be fine. For added protection you may want to place a layer of fabric right on the ground plus staple one to the bottom of each box. The book will tell you how to make your own mix so you don't have to dig up anything. I would recommend putting something in the pathways to kill off the grass to further reduce the chance of the grass spreading. You could also use landscape fabric there as long as you a few inches of something over it such as bark, hay, old carpet, bricks or gravel. Beuna www.herb-arium.com
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Rank: Newbie
Joined: 3/6/2009
Posts: 9
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I don't really know anything about square foot gardening, but in my regular garden I have realized that squash vines are a lot of work. I have to constantly fight off squash bugs and if you don't keep up with it, they can destroy all your plants very quickly. Zucchini is not as hard as other varieties to maintain. If you are going to try squash, I think waltham butternut and spaghetti squash are two varieties worth the work.
This is a tip I learned from my mother for cucumbers. She buys one bag of topsoil for each plant. She lays the bag flat on the ground and cuts and "X" in it about 2/3 the size of the bag. The cucumbers grow wonderfully. The soil contains fresh nutrients for the plant and the plastic holds in moisture. You very rarely have to pull weeds, but when you do they pull very easily. This method also allows you to cover the whole area with landscape fabric and prevents you from having to cut slits it it that allows weeds to grow through.
I've used hay a couple times as mulch. Sometimes you can get hay that is not a problem, but there have been many times the hay has started to grow from the weed seeds. When it takes root, it is very hard to pull out and you end up pulling a whole section of the hay out with it. Straw is not as much of a problem. Mulch is more expensive, but I think it works best.
Most other veggies don't require as much consistant work. Best wishes to you and your garden!
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