New garden, old dirt

[Susan W]

I am looking an unused portion of my back yard. It has been various things over the years (before my taking over), and I have even tilled/had a garden there. Now has little grass, just weedy. Behind it is a fence with overgrown nasty wisteria (doesn't even bloom!). I plan to attack it, and try to get some of the runners (roots as big as your thumb) that come out into the yard.

Rather than till (don't have a tiller), thought to mow, if needed, put down newspaper or even cardboard. This would be about 4' x 10'. Put some bagged manure over that, then dirt. There is a growing pile of dirt tumped from container pots next to the area. Sometimes I fork leaves into that pile. The pile of container dirt is a mix of top soil, compost, old miracle grow, you name it!
There are also a few broken bags of whatever around that could be tossed in. A couple of those have ants. Correct me if I am wrong, but a few ants spread out seem to be OK, huge numbers a problem. If a bag looks especially active could spread out under the pecan trees where not much of anything grows.

The ground is uneven, so the build up will create a few inches above base and be level. I can then add some new topsoil, cotton burr compost etc. I don't plan to border this, just slope on the edge, and will be able to mow all around.

Plant, and once plants going, mulch.

I am looking for low maintainence, not fussy, not prone to bugs etc. Perfect garden, right?! The lot is on a slight slope, this being the lower side. There's no standing water, but can be damp with heavy rains. Planting plans in a new post.

[Bobberman]

I would just get some land scape boards at lowes when they go on sell for $1.99 for a 4 by 8. 4 would do the 4 by 10 area nicely! Then cover the grass with news papper and leaves and add soil to the top of the boards about 4 inches with the comost dirt. This way you will have a easier way to control the weeds which will die and give you a nice deeper soil! You can even put the paper down first then put the boards on top of the papper and leaves so you have more depth for the new dirt. I would also buy a 2 cubic foot bag of composted manure and put it on the very top mixed with a little sand and top soil!

[hit or miss]

I'm a big fan of spading new garden areas where possible. Dig it up with a shovel then spread the amendments over the top and plant! I think it gives the plant roots a lot better chance to develop and bring in nutrients more efficiently.