New house new garden
TillyFliss
Posts: 22
in Plants
I am keen to follow the no dig system in my new garden but not sure what I need to do to get going on the first flower bed
The house is built on what was the back garden to a house but most of it was land that was simply left to trees and grass. The builder has rotovated part of our land and added top soil to the top though I understand the amount varies from very little to not a lot, However the surface looks quite fine with some small stones
i am keen to get shrubs and flowers into this part as quick as possible and leave the vege plot for the time being. what do you suggest i need to do before i start planting the shrubs and flowers. Do you think it may be enough to add compost to the top?
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First you need to know a bit about the local geology and what type of soil you have, otherwise you can waste time and money on plants that haven't a hope. Look at what grows well in your neighbours gardens, and think about where the sun rises and sets so you don't put sun lovers in shade or vice versa. Rotovating is a mixed blessing - a quick and easy way to clear a site, but if there are perennial weeds, it chops up the roots and all the bits grow. I sympathise with your eagerness to get growing, but it might be worth waiting a while for the weeds to appear, and eliminate as many as possible. You don't want to put in shrubs, then find docks or bindweed growing through them, and you can't dig them out without damaging the shrubs.
As you mentioned the no dig process then it would be best to contain the soil is a raised bed. This means you can select all types of plants as you can then select what soil condition you want ie; acid, alkaline or neautral. Obviously, you can then position the raised beds based on the what type of sun levels you receive and adapt what plants you want to have
I agree with Steve!
Even though I am a novice gardener, I am trying the no-dig method for my veggies this year.
I was given 4 pallet collars, which I stained and then lined with old pond liner. I filled them with very mature compost and everything is thriving.
Good luck! :-)
I fully understand your excitement and eagerness to start planting asap. I was the same when I moved here 4 years ago, in the long run it has meant a lot of unecessary work, plant moving, soil amending etc, as joshua above says, I didn't have the patience to wait and watch where the sun rises and sets, which parts of the garden are in shade and for how long, as it differs throughout the seasons. My advice is to put lots of annuals down, enjoy them for this year, and just get to know your new space.