Three new borders - when can I start planting?

Good morning GC,

Three weeks ago I decided to put my spade and fork to good use and dig out three borders in our back garden. We moved in 8 months ago and apart from the space around a small camellia and a dead climbing rose the garden was just grass, decking and patio.

I was told that it would be fine to just flip the grass over in situ to create the new beds - the grass adding nutrients to the soil as it breaks down.

I'm keeping an eye on the beds, pulling the odd weed or two that have found their way out, but I'm wondering when I can start planting?

Should I plant now? It would be nice to install some kind of structure for Winter. Or is it better to look after the soil over the winter, let the grass fully break down and start fresh in Spring?

 

Hi Iain,

I suspect it is best to wait, but I don`t know if I could stop myself, at least from putting some bulbs in to welcome you to the job next year.

 

"I was told that it would be fine to just flip the grass over in situ to create the new beds"

best to bury it at the bottom o the "spit" - i.e. one spade's depth.

I would normally wait until October - although it looks unlikely, and the soil is already wet from this summer, September can be a dry month.

 

Thanks for that - I'll give it this month and the grass should have broken down nicely. Is there anything I can add to the open soil at the moment that would be beneficial? Is covering them completely a good idea?

 

Compost / Muck / Mushroom compost / Spent hops worked into the soil would all help.

Digging the soil is pretty important - the new plants will need more than just a couple of inches of worked-soil to grow into.

Not sure if I would put any fertiliser on until the spring, but generally one works something into the soil before planting (its just that I can't remember the correct procedure for Autumn planting! something to help the roots establish perhaps, but with low Nitrogen that doens't encourage leafy growth - which will then be too lush to survive the winter)

 

I would wait for spring, without a doubt. SPend the time until then improving the soil. If you moved in eight months ago and only had grass it meansthat:
1)The house is new, as is the garden, and you may have some pretty raw soil under the grass
2) the house is old and the lawn was already there, which means the soil was probably rather old and depleted, and possibly compacted.

Any time you "waste" in improving your soil you will regain, with interest, when the plants grow in it: they grow faster, larger, happier and healthier in good soil.

Put anything you can in it, manure, compost, old leaves. If you have time (patience) you can even sow one crop of green manure before beginning for real. It will all pay back, trust me and you can use the time in between to grow on some plants in pots from seeds or cuttings, which mean that when you finally plant you can plant lavishly.

 

Hi Iain I'm afraid I'm one of those 'can't wait' people but some advice I would give you is maybe wait and see what style of garden you wish to have and do the design work now at least that way you will not make any costly mistakes. The internet has millions of garden designs I'm sure there will be one that suits you and your needs.

If you like you don't have to rush out and buy plants to put in your borders etc. you can always get some charming pots and plant them up with spring bulbs like Tulips, Daffodils, Grape Hyacinth or maybe you would like to plant some winter flowering Pansies or some Polyanthus all of which will grow quite happily in tubs and once you have decided what design you want to have in your garden you can replant them out of the pots into your borders although you will have to collect the pansy seeds to regrow year after year.

Good luck and happy gardening but be warned once you are addicted to gardening it's almost impossible to give it up!:D Hel.xxx.

 

Depends on what sort of borders you are planning. Surprisingly (or not) there is a season for everything. With the exception of bulbs, as a rule smaller, softer plants that die down in winter are best planted in the spring. Larger woody things are best planted in late autumn/early winter. You sort of plant most bulbs at the opposite end of the year from where they flower.

If you are planting woody stuff (roses, fruit, shrubs and so on) the plants are much cheaper if you buy them bare root. If you do, the planting season starts in November. We get our hedging and other stuff from Ashridge Trees who are pretty good.

Right now, when the rain has let up a bit, I would spread as much well rotted compost or well rotted manure (if it smells unpleasant it is not well rotted) on your ground and dig it over really thoroughly. That gives it time to settle and for you to get any more weeds out before you plant. Don't be in too much of a hurry - preparation is almost everything and your plants will be in there for a long time.

Good luck

 

Spring it is then - I'll dig the beds over before applying some kind of enrichment before Winter.

As I'm going to wait, is it worth me glyphosating the beds to destroy remaining weeds and tufts of lawn? Maybe then covering the beds with some kind of material after diggin through some compost or manure?

In the meantime...

Bulbs and containers, here I come!

 

Ian, you really are Mr Mischeif.

3 women advise you to wait, one man tells you to do it-and you take his advice, THEN another MAN tells you to wait and you take HIS advice.

I`m not saying you are sexist or anything.LOL

 

As I'm going to wait, is it worth me glyphosating the beds to destroy remaining weeds and tufts of lawn? Maybe then covering the beds with some kind of material after diggin through some compost or manure

Yes.

But wait for the weeds to turn yellow before you cover them, glyphosate is taken up by photosynthesis.

 

Lollipop, it was the line "preparation is almost everything and your plants will be in there for a long time" that sold me on it. I'm really not sexist at all... I love women...