Help with raised beds and preventing weeds/bermuda grass...

[Ima Googler]

I'm thinking of building some raised garden beds, about 12 inches deep. Does anyone know if that is deep enough to discourage the bermuda grass and other weeds from creeping in?

I plan on putting down a few layers of brown paper bags and newspaper so hopefully that will help too. Any other suggestions on keeping the invasive grass out of my raised beds? (Or is it a lost cause and I just need to get used to pulling the bermuda runners?)

[JoeSpareBedroom]

Doesn't really matter if you get rid of one weed because there will always be another. Always. Maybe you don't really want to garden?

[LT]

I have raised beds but mine are 24" high. I put down layers of newspaper. I think eight pages is enough. Around the outside on the ground I did spray some crabgrass killer.

-Laura

Ima Googler wrote:

[George.com]

300 mills should be fine to stop stuff poking through. Anything that does make it up from ground level will take a long time and have a struggle. The very odd weed may come through but I think it highly unlikely. More likely you will have problems with growth coming in from the side.

rob

[gardenlen]

g'day ima googler,

lay newspaper down first then the medium and mulch. the newspaper can be laid as thick as you like generally i use between say 24 sheets to

40 sheets depending on type of grass i need to control.

we my site on the building a garden page for ideas on how i do it, and also visit the blog section of this site for pics and ideas of my latest project:

snipped With peace and brightest of blessings,

len

-- "Be Content With What You Have And May You Find Serenity and Tranquillity In A World That You May Not Understand."

[Ima Googler]

Thanks for the replies everyone! (well, almost everyone ;-)

I got my four 4X4 beds built today... I started digging out all the grass and never realized how much work that was going to be. LOL Does the grass have to be dug out or can I just place my brown paper bags and newspaper directly over the grass? If digging it out will help prevent weeds/grass from coming up then I'll do it, but I think some people just leave it the way it is.

If it matters, the beds are 12" deep.

[George.com]

A good pictorial website for building a raised garden is here

will note they tip any old 'rubbish' in and are quite happy doing so. I myself would not worry about peat moss or lime. I basically get what I can for free and use that. Whether you want to add fertiliser or not is your call, I prefer using free animal poop. If you put the garden together over a day or 2 you will need a top layer of soil or good compost. If you throw things in over a space of months don't bother as the stuff will break down and likely create a good growing medium when it comes time to plant. If you go scavaging you need not spend a $ at all. Call by your local green grocer and grab their cast of veges. Scour local fields for spoiled hay (some bastard nabbed my supply I had been slowly whittling away so be quick). Hit up local cafes for their waste coffee grounds. Start a compost bin at work for left over lunches and shredded paper. Asked neighbours for grass clippings or dead leaves. Over here local stables put their stable scrapings in bags on the road side, free to take and full of horse poop. Local mushroom farms may give away mushroom compost. By the time you have bunged all of that in a 300 mill garden the grass will likely give up, especially if you cover it with thick cardboard (sourced free from an appliance store cardboard bin) rather than newspaper.

rob

cheap and proud

[George.com]

Len

on your blog (building the garden part 2) you noted "now that i have been told not to use that recycled stuff from the dump" what did you get from the dump and what was wrong with it?

I note you planted your garden (the small craters) after mulching it. It seems you transplant pre grown plants rather than seed into the mushroom compost? If seeds, I take it you have not mulched over the seeds.

Are you able to post a close up of the planting itself?

rob

ps I made the mistake of stumbling over your picture on your website. Don't worry mind, I am feeling better now. You look a little like John Howard with hair and a beard.

[gardenlen]

i don't do any digging just cover the grass with a good layer of newspaper and away you go.

snipped With peace and brightest of blessings,

len

-- "Be Content With What You Have And May You Find Serenity and Tranquillity In A World That You May Not Understand."