This spring we plan on putting in a mulch garden bed around the exterior of half our house. I am no gardener, though I want to get into gardening. Through research, this is my current plan:
Remove the top 6 inches of soil. Till the next 6 inches deep. Cover this tilled soil with cardboard for compost and to prevent weeds. Add back in 2 inches of the soil that was removed, mixed with 2 inches of compost. Add 2 inches of mulch on top.
Does that seem like overkill? Would you do anything different? Again, I’m no expert at this, I’m just trying to piece together the best way to start our garden bed (which will be home to flowers/bushes). We want to do it right so we don’t have to redo it years down the road. Thanks!
It sounds fine other that removing the 6″ (thats a lot of soil) of topsoil that is already there…not sure why you would do that. Just remove enough soil to get rid of the grass that is there. Don’t be too fussy since the cardboard will smother any that you miss. I’d also add Bio-Tone starter food to the area to jump start the biological life of the soil.