Unexpected success!

[ladyjanelly]

So last year when I was all pregnant and stuff, I started a gardening project.

I wanted to expand the 24"wide flowerbeds in front out by another yard and edge it with white blocks so we could replace lawn that we watered for either heat/dry resistant plants or edibles that we would water but get something out of.

I knew from experience that pulling up St. Augustine grass sod is a nightmare. It took hours and hours to pull up just a few square feet.

So I had the bright idea that I'd have the lawn guy cut it short, and then Kendra and Sam and I laid out the blocks and covered the short grass with layers of cardboard and then about 2" of cheap soft-wood mulch.

I went to work it in today, and I was expecting to scrape back the mulch, pull out the cardboard and then remove dead grass.

Imagine my surprise when I broke through the mulch and there was about 2" of completely decomposed cardboard and grass. Nothing to pull out. Just had to shovel it around and try to work it into the clay-heavy Texas dirt.

I almost want to start buying blocks and mulch and planning next year's sod-to-bed expansion (The goal is to have very little "lawn" left at the end).

I need suggestions though: are there any more-green ways to do this? I know the softwood mulch isn't the most ecological solution to the issue.

What would be the greenest way to improve the soil so it's less heavy and clumpy? I have a lot of compost, but when I mix it into the soil, even in a 50/50 mix to fill flowerpots or whatever, when it gets hot and dry it turns to a solid, unbreakable mass. Mass quantities of vermiculite?

Comments

[tobemeagain.livejournal.com]

We have a mix of St. Augustine and Bermuda grass... let me tell you Bermuda grass is the spawn of the devil it is. I need to ask Mom on the cultivating the soil because we've been gardening in our flower beds and back garden (with compost) for 8 years with great result (and most of soil started out that lovely TX clay too *grrr*). When she gets home from work I might have a website or advice.

[ladyjanelly.livejournal.com]

If you wanna take a lot of grass out, try the cover-for-a-year method. :) I highly recommend it.

Yeah, let me know what she suggests adding. Someone on an organic gardening thing says I have to add sand--which doesnt sound like it would make it better.

[tobemeagain.livejournal.com]

Well there is something called green sand that is one of the things she highly recommends... it helps to loosen the clay from packing up so much. Earth worms help to break up the clay as well. Though if you are not adding green sand you'll need a lot of worms. Most places that sell the worms will tell you how many per square foot you need. We got them for the front rose beds and they've helped tremendously.

Another thing you can add with the green sand and worms is peat moss. While it's moss, it's not as environmentally friendly due to how it is harvested. (It's not as renewable a resource as the name moss makes it sound.) But like the worms you really only need to add it once to help loosen the soil.

Also how do you compost? She says compost should be food scraps and leaves (about even mix) then use a composting agent (which is just a bacteria) Oh and red worms in compost makes it even better. We usually have a corner of the backyard where we are letting the compost do it's thing, then move it to the garden.

Hope that helps :)

Edit: whoops lj hook picked and the wrong icon... so I changed that.