Help with creating new border
Sue6
Posts: 37
Hi, I moved house 3 years ago and the garden is rectangular and completely laid to lawn, with the exception of an apple tree at one side. So far I've been too frightened to do any proper planting as I've got no idea what I'm doing!! Anyway now I want to plant some shrubs along the boundary fence to provide some privacy from our neighbours... but I need to first create a border to put these in as I don't want difficulty mowing etc... I read the best way to stop grass growing through is to layer cardboard & newspaper over the selected area then cover with 4 inches of compost and then 4 inches of mulch. My question is will cats and foxes dig in this 'border' if I leave it for a month or so? I don't want it scattered around the garden, they already dig in my pots and planters. How can I stop this? Also it will take a long time to fill as I am on a budget so can only add 1 or 2 large shrubs a month 
Any advice would be welcome!
Any advice would be welcome! 0
Posts
Sounds like a lot of effort to create a border by raising the ground level by 8 inches?
Is there any reason why you cannot remove the turf and dig over the area- that is the usual method.then add compost to enrich the soil
As to shrubs go for smaller specimens they establish quicker and are cheaper.
Did you actually remove the turf or just dig it in?
Creating a border is not difficult but you have to pull out any weeds and keep on top of it
The method you describe just sounds like to much hard work and it will be higher than the lawn by 8 inches_ can't see that working
Grass does grow back if you don't do anything to stop it. Gardening involves a lot of stopping plants doing what they do naturally.
In the sticks near Peterborough
You really need to slice that turf off, dig and compost/manure the soil before you plant. If you can, don't plant immediately, as that gives you a chance to keep removing weeds before they take hold. When you have planted your shrubs and are weed free you can then lay a mulch (a covering) of bark about 2-3 ins deep will help comtrol the weeds. Weeds do need to be removed reguarly until your shrubs are established.
For cheap shrubs go to somewhere like Morrisons or a cheap shop they may be small but establish just as well as more pricey GC ones.
Word of warning though don't make your borders too narrow, shrubs can grow quite bushy!
Aldi have in previous years sold packs of three shrubs for about £5. They usually go on sale in March/April time.
You might find it easier to use landscape fabric to suppress the grass abd any weeds growing amongst it. Nothing will grow through that and you can cut slits into the fabric and put in shrubs or other plants (provided the soil is warm enough) and they will thus have a head start over the weeds. It is important to tuck the fabric back around the plant you have put in the hole and peg it in place with pieces of bent wire/ stones etc. Water can get in but plants cannot grow through it.
Covering the area you plan to plant with your new border with polythene can help to warm and dry out the soil to get it ready for seed sowing later. It's certainly cold and wet around this area and seeds will not germinate till the soil warms up.
Chiltern Seeds and Thompson and Morgan sell a great range of hardy annual and shrub seeds, some of which need the frost to break the dormancy so now can bee a good time to sow them and it can be fun to see what comes up. A great advantage is it's also cheaper!
and once planted - there is no way to avoid regular weeding !