Hello all,
New to Rock gardening but not to gardening in general.
My upcoming project for this spring is to transform a difficult to mow hillside into a eye pleasing and hopefully mostly self-sustaining rock garden. The area is not large; roughly 20 feet long by about 4 feet tall with a slope of something a little more than 45 degrees.
I went boulder shopping last weekend and hope to go back within the next few weeks to pick my rock up but my first questions are regarding soil prep.
I've read several 'ezine' articles that state since tilling a steep slope is difficult that this step can and should be bypassed in favor of adding admendments to the planting holes instead. Since this goes against my conventional gardening methods I wanted to get the facts from the folks here.
Should I till and remove the sod, add compost and sand?
Should I simply kill the grass (roundup) and do as they say by sweetening the individual planting holes?
Contrary to the above, I've also read other articles that include tilling and composting the soil which is what my gut tells me to do but since success begins with the foundation, I'd sure appreciate any advice you can share.
My next posts will likely concern plant choices.
Fire away!
-steve