lasagna gardening comes to mind...

There are a few different ways you can do this, one is the Lasagna method, then there's the method where you turn the sod over to where the grass is underneath away from the light so that it stops growing. You can also cover the area where you want to create the veggie/flower garden with newspaper and cardboard and then add layers of compost and mulch, which is on the idea of a lasagna bed or vericomposting. Here's a link that might be useful:

Here is a link that might be useful: Planting Flowerbeds

Or you could do it the HARD way, like I did last spring : ) I suddenly had the idea to put in a veggie patch in the front yard, laid out the shape with the garden hose, pulled out the shovel and dug up 60 sq.ft. of sod.

(click to enlarge)
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Then I purchased as much compost as the garden center could fit in my DH's pickup using their front end loader.

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Bought some edging to make it look more like a flower bed, since it was in the front yard.

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...and started planting.

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I'm not saying the old fashioned way is the best. Lots of people on this forum swear by the lasagna method. This is just the way I chose to do it.

Happy gardening,
Bonnie

Bonnie, that looks awesome, you did a great job! I cut up layers of the grass, turned it over and then put a few layers of newspaper over it, added some coffee grinds, kitchen scraps, grass clippings and parcially crushed up leaves and left it for the winter. When it gets a little warmer here in zone 5, I will add compost and wood chips and plant my seedlings. I hope it looks as good as yours.

Linda

Oooh La La Bonnie!!! You make me wish I was young again or that at least my spine was. Very nice!

For now, I have to stick to lasagnas and do it similar to Linda.

If I want to plant into the garden within a month, I will simply dig up the sod, shake the soil off the roots, turn it upside down and place back with the roots sticking up. I will leave the roots up for a week to dry out and hopefully die and start turning into organic matter, and then place the soil which I shook off back on the top for cosmetic purposes.

Sometimes, before I place the sod back in upside down, I'll place a layer of alfalfa pellets or corn meal and finished compost and then wet it down, then place the sod pieces on top. My soil is so lacking in organic matter it need all the help it can get.

Everything I read says not to distrub the soils structure in the spring. So digging would not be a good idea. This is the front lawn so piling stuff up really could get ugly.
Hmmm, I guess it may have to be ugly for a bit before it looks nice.

lovelycherry: I doesn't have to look like a pile of garbage. If you build the hump, then top with a nice wood mulch, or straw, or whatever you prefer to use, it just looks like any ordinary garden bed. It necessitates spending a few $ for the mulch, but really a small investment for a new bed.

Karen

thanks for the enouragement everyone . I envision a mess in my neighborhood of pristine chemical lawns. I have some recycled brick I will use it around the edge. I can get wood chips for free from the tree guy. Are they alright to put in the bed or do they take too long to break down?

Cherry: I would just use the wood chips on top. It will make the bed look nice, and slowly break down to keep improving the soil underneath.

Nitrogen robbing can be an issue when wood is buried or tilled into soil, but not on top. It will serve as a nice mulch and do all that you want a mulch to do: moderate soil temp, suppress weeds, retain moisture, and feed the soil.

Karen

Thank you, Linda and Tiffy! Uhhh... BTW, I'm not THAT young, LOL.

Tiffy, if you are digging up the sod to flip it over, it doesn't seem like the way I did it was any more work than what you are doing.

When I described the lasagna method to DH, he had a horrified look on his face, like I wanted to put piles of trash in the frontyard. How long do you have to wait to plant in a lasagna bed?

Bonnie

Bonnie, I use woodchips that are mixed with compost by our county. It negates the nitrogen problem, and if you can get that kind of mix, it works well.
I did make lagsana beds cheap and plant right way just over a year ago. I used well rotted manure, some fill soil, leaf mold, rotted straw, newspapers and cardboard and paper shreddings. Finer stuff that breaks down faster. To that I added a few organic ammendments a touch of alfalfa to burn the browns faster, and some rock phosphates to add some micrnutrients and that was so easy. The beds did really well last year. I'll even re-make them this year since they got wiped out by the tornado this weekend. Luckily the bags of leaf mold stayed put, and I can get rotted manure and county compost for free.
We used broken concrete for the edging because we have it. If you have a driveway company in your area they might offer it to you for free when they dig up walks etc. Stacked, it looks just like "stone"! I just do sort "walls" about a foot deep, and it is so easy and looks great in places that you don't want a terracotta color of brick.

GGG

GGG: Obviously you are OK, glad to hear. Your family, too? Any damage to your home?

I read (or heard on the news) that Atlanta never had a tornado before this. Our weather just keeps changing... everywhere it seems.

Karen

GGG, I was wondering if you were ok. I'm glad you're here posting, and I hope the gardens aren't too messed up.

If anyone is planning to use recently ground-up trees, avoid both black walnut and "Tree of Heaven." Both of those release chemicals from their roots, wood, etc. that inhibit other plants from growing. I learned about Tree of Heaven the hard way :(

By the way, if you don't recognize the name, Tree of Heaven is that stinky weed tree that fills up empty lots.