Cranmore15
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Joined: Sun Apr 16, 2017 2:43 pm

Cleared and overgrown garden need help.

My house came with a garden area all fenced in. The previous owner threw branches in there from the yard ( we told them to pick it up and they did and threw it there) so I cleared it pulled weeds and took vines off the fence.

When I cleared the ground of the leaves I loved something that loom like plywood and when I lifted it there were tons of bugs and roots from the plants I removed... should I remove this wood? Or can I just leave it and put souls over it? I plan to put a layer of dirt over the area but need to know if I should remove this or not.

I also found something that looks like fabric. Should I remove it? I think it was meant to prevent weeds but it grew through it lol . Not sure when this was cleared last . It had pine tree growing in it which I replanted for fun. Can I leave it or should I trash the fabric thing? I want to make a raised garden bed in this spot.

Also there is a verity of of things living in that area. Should I not bother them or should I spray something to get rid of them. It's a verity from spiders to other bugs. I don't know which ones are bad or not.

Thanks so much
I notice that there are a verity of insect and other bugs and spid

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rainbowgardener
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Joined: Sun Feb 15, 2009 6:04 pm
Location: TN/GA 7b

I would remove the plywood and the fabric weed barrier. As you can see the fabric is no longer working to prevent weeds. It just tangles them so you can't pull them and is generally an annoyance. When you make a raised bed, you are (usually) assuming that your plant roots will grow down through it and into the native soil. It just gives you some inches of nice loose fluffy enriched soil to help the plants get going. It doesn't have to be that way. I have built raised beds on top of a concrete patio, when that was all the sunny space I had. But in that case I built the raised beds 16" tall and probably would have done better to make them a little taller yet. If the roots can't grow down into soil, then you have to give them plenty of room, which means a lot of topsoil to buy. If they can grow down into the soil, then 8 - 10 or 12" (20 to 30 cm) is enough.

Don't kill bugs unless you know they are harmful ... and maybe not then, unless you have actual garden and significant harm is being done. Lots of bugs and spiders are beneficial in the garden. Most things you could spray will kill all the beneficial ones along with the harmful ones. And then the harmful ones will come booming back more than ever, since you killed the things that usually control them.

Think about if you went into an area and killed all the animals there - mice and rabbits and coyotes and foxes and everything, because you want to get rid of the mice. But there are thousands of mice in all the surrounding areas and they multiply very quickly. They will very soon re-populate your area. And because there are now no foxes or coyotes, etc to control them, very soon you will have way more mice than before. The coyotes and foxes are very few in number compared to the mice and they reproduce very slowly. So it will take them a very long time to come back. The insect world works the same way.

Cranmore15
Newly Registered
Posts: 3
Joined: Sun Apr 16, 2017 2:43 pm

Wow thanks . I didn't even think of that. Thank I will clear it out and leave the bugs there as well.



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