How To Create A Garden Bed Over Grass | Step 1 - Stale Seed Bed

[@sekb1975]

After 2 years of living here we were cleaning out behind the carport to build an asparagus bed and we found a huge role of garden tarp, that black plastic stuff and it was like brand new!!!!! Like finding gold.

[@CountryLivingExperience]

Awesome!

[@miraleatardiff8543]

Thank you for sharing. I have been battling common (and extremeely invasive) tansy on my farm for over 14 years. This looks like it may do the trick. 🙂

[@TakeTheRide]

Yeah I'd like to see you start going back there in that tree line because I got thousands of small trees that have grown 15 to 20 ft tall and I have no idea how to take all those smaller trees out by myself.

[@tinabinsc7822]

I have the same issue, the forest constantly encroaching. I just steadily go out and cut back as far as I can, as often as I can. Having goats and mobile fencing is also a great way to help maintain the property. Pigs are too damaging IMO.

[@armondeushon7892]

Great video, just loved your family and dogs and time lapse and information, all round great video, well done. I'm probably going to use this on a small scale backyard project, not a fan of manicured lawns really.

[@CountryLivingExperience]

Thank you. I appreciate it.

[@LaTrompetadeDios7]

Those are great ideas, thanks. I have to get busy with my property since i have the same issues that you have. Its a blessing though.

[@CountryLivingExperience]

You’re welcome. It is certainly a blessing to have the property.

[@dmark6699]

Very Good tips, chickens or pigs can clear off a area of vegetation.

[@CountryLivingExperience]

Thanks

[@stanmagness3606]

Thanks I learned something today

[@CountryLivingExperience]

You’re welcome

[@mnj5089]

The only sumac I know breaks me out in rashes. But after a quick Google search, it seems like maybe depending on who you believe, there are other plants that fall under that title too that don't do that.

[@GavinStoneDIY]

We’ve had good success with those tarps. The only downside is rodents tend to live and breed under them in very little time. Then our snake population increased to meet demand. If it’s done in the summer we didn’t have that issue. The sun and hot weather killed the weeds off in 3 weeks.

[@CountryLivingExperience]

Thanks for the heads up about the rodents. Hopefully my cats will feast on them.

[@GavinStoneDIY]

@@CountryLivingExperience our little terrier definitely ate her fill! And every region is different I’m sure. No better way to kill weeds and prep a bed though. Chemical free and works every time. Thanks for the quality videos.

[@JimJWalker]

I have done this same thing with a plot of the same Bahia grass. I covered it with woven weed barrier over the winter. In the spring I removed the barrier and then raked and removed the grass. One thing I noticed. Starter plants do not like the dead grass rhizomes near them, especially peppers. Be sure that none are around the stem when you plant. It is impossible to get all of them during clean up.

[@CountryLivingExperience]

Bahia is a tough grass for sure. Hard to eliminate.

[@mnj5089]

GREAT VIDEO! I love this idea and want to try it.

[@CountryLivingExperience]

Thank you. Give it a shot.

[@bernelltrammell7470]

Thanks, great video

[@CountryLivingExperience]

You're welcome

[@ashleehouse5204]

Great info! Thanks!

[@CountryLivingExperience]

Glad it was helpful!

[@JamesHuey-nc3qm]

Before you tarp it over, why not apply Prene or any pre-emergent so that any residual grass or weed seeds will also die out before springing up?

[@CountryLivingExperience]

That is what a silage tarp does. The heat and moisture trapped sprouts any seeds. They briefly grow and then die out from lack of light.

[@dianajohnson7708]

I was thinking of leaving the tarp over winter. Is that a good idea?

[@CountryLivingExperience]

You absolutely can. We do that as well.

[@janepipkin8139]

Hi, just found your channel; it would be useful to know where you're located as some of the references refer to "climate". What state? Can you add that to your "about"? Example: I have bahia / rhizome grass also and I need to build up soil bigtime from just sand here in SC.

[@CountryLivingExperience]

Hello. We are in East Texas zone 8b. I mention it in most of my gardening videos.

[@janepipkin8139]

@@CountryLivingExperience thx! I in 8a in SC.

[@TakeTheRide]

It's going to take awhile to kill off everything under the tarp. How long is a while?

[@CountryLivingExperience]

About 6 months if sun is not strong and the grass is a tough variety.

[@kristyholman351]

What do you think is the bare minimum amount of time to keep a silage tarp down to be effective?

[@CountryLivingExperience]

It honestly depends on your weather. Cloudy cool days will slow things down a lot.

[@clarencewiles963]

Thumbs up 👍

[@CountryLivingExperience]

Thank you!

[@SetitesTechAdventures]

I've been wanting to do this but I am still deciding where on the property to do it yet. Can tilling before putting the tarp down speed up the process? Or will that make it worse by burying seeds?

[@CountryLivingExperience]

Tilling before would not work beforehand. I till after everything looks dead and then put the tarp over again to germinate the seeds that were a little too far down to germinate.

[@artichoke60045]

Is the microbiome really going to survive the steam treatment under the tarp?

[@CountryLivingExperience]

Yes

[@willbass2869]

Did you do a soil test?? What's your N-P-K? What's the pH? What about SOM(soil organic matter)? N-P-K isn't all to determine.... Calcium and the "minor" elements (boron, sulphur, magnesium etc). If that ground had been hayed for years your potassium (& calcium) has been stripped out since most "farmers" never bother maintaining hay fields & replenishing elements removed in the hay . They abuse hay fields like rented mules. Old saying ...if you don't measure (& record) "it", then you can't manage "it". Good luck.

[@CountryLivingExperience]

Not yet but I will in the future. I usually always test. Measurement is important. This is just the first step. It has not been hayed in probably 20 years but still has the bahia grass there.

[@TheHavocdog]

How long does it take before you can plant?

[@speaklifegardenhomesteadpe8783]

You can plant right away pretty much anywhere. Waiting for the tarp kill off could take months, seasons or years. A faster way than waiting to kill stuff with tarps is to use cardboard. Lay it out and cut a hole where you want to plant, I sprinkle leaves or animal bedding on top to hold it down and pile dirt where I'm planting. I made some videos but KZbin hates me. They wouldn't upload. I'm working on redoing them very soon. Use bricks or wood to hold cardboard down until it starts to get embedded into the earth. This promotes earthworms heavily which are great for everything. God bless!

[@mr.skeptical3071]

@@speaklifegardenhomesteadpe8783 doesn't the cardboard get all soggy and breakdown after a rain? Doesn't the grass just grow right back?

[@CountryLivingExperience]

It really depends on the weather. This is the first step to kill off the top layer of grasses and germinate seeds near the surface. Second step will be to lightly till then cover again. This will get the weed seeds below the surface. Those will germinate and die off. They you can flame weed it and plant. Should take about 9 months to a year depending when you start.

[@CountryLivingExperience]

@Speak Life Garden Homestead & Permaculture That is a perfectly viable method but different than what I presented. It costs a lot to truck in soil. That method is called The Back To Eden method. I did a video on it years ago.

[@CountryLivingExperience]

@Mr. Skeptical It takes a while for the cardboard to breakdown underneath several inches of soil placed on top. About 6 months minimum.

[@dinosemr8141]

💖❤️💖❤️💖❤️👍❤️💖❤️💖❤️💖

[@Doc1855]

Eric, Couldn’t you borrow a goat or 2 to eat down what you want taken out?

[@CountryLivingExperience]

The logistics would not work for me. This is much easier.

[@Doc1855]

@@CountryLivingExperience Got it. Enjoy your day and Be Blessed

[@CountryLivingExperience]

@@Doc1855 Thanks Doc. You too.

[@marcrenato3484]

Long hard job

[@CountryLivingExperience]

It is

[@manandatractor]

Is this the first time you've done this?

[@CountryLivingExperience]

No. I showed the other plot at the end of the video. I also did it to the tilled area of the main garden that is fenced in.

[@Tutterzoid]

[@sc2618]

Better cover that garden! Lots of planes flying overhead these days dropping who knows what! Do you really want to eat that?!