last year i tried some different method of watering to find the best method for our garden and more importantly for me to help my learning. So i'm going into 2012 with a solid watering plan. this year my plan is on weed control and water retention. we have sandy soil on clay which means the soil crusts easily and weeds grow particularly well and the raised beds lose water quickly. So I plan on using mulch as my main method of attack this year to keep the weeds down and hopefully aid my watering plan. My plan is the following and would appreciate views opinions and critiques Where i can I plan to put a base layer of single sheet of news paper, mainly for toms and plants i will be transplanting into the garden, not for my direct seeding plants. this is to act as a basic weed barrier. next a layer of compost then a layer of chopped leaves that have been composting over the winter. and finally over the summer a thin layer of grass cuttings. i hope that this layering keeps the weeds down, adds nutrients to the soil and keeps the moisture/air in the soil by stopping the crusting of the surface. come this time next year it will all get dug into the soil to improve it. Main crops i have slight concerns about with this method are toms, sweetcorn, beets and carrots, onions.
Dan, Use more than a single sheet of newspaper. better yet, gather cardboard (I go to the appliance store and take it out of the dumpster) to lay in the garden and continue on with the layers. Depending on where you plan to use the grass, heavy around the corn is okay, not if you use it for beans, if for beans, go lightly as it will mold in the thick layer, get slimy and the beans "taste" of the mold, if you have it really thick trying to suppress the weeds. You can put down paper in between the rows of beans before you put down the grass, too. This year I am going to plant the onions in black plastic...haven't done it this way before, but have seen it done. Lay the plastic, poke a hole drop in the plantlet and water it in. We couldn't keep up with the weeds last year due to the rain and now the patch (last years) looks great . they fell over and the tops literally disappeared, so I couldn't pull them. Maybe others will have more experience with the other crops you are planning. I realize you didn't ask about the beans, but that was our experience with the grass clippings. Make sure your grass clippings aren't weed seedy or sprayed with a chemical weed killer such as 2,4-d. This could kill your garden plants even though they weren't directly sprayed.
thanks carolyn, I got a big stash of paper saved up o will go with multiple layers. thanks for the beans advice i am growing them, but with the shade they produce don't plan on too much grass. will probably just use leaf mulch and compost. for my onions i'm tempted to do a few layers of paper then use a stake to form holes to plant the sets through it. do you think that would work?
I can't give you any real experience with the onions. I don't know why it won't work, but they like the heat and the mulch may keep the ground too cool for their needs. That is the reason we are trying the plastic this year, instead of trying to just keep it weeded.
