shady yard, but wan't (need) to garden...

[bornthrifty]

my yard is shady lots and lots of trees, and the earth is rooty

I can cut down one large tree and a couple very small ones to create a rather good sunny area,

the next problem is, I am concerned about the roots, and competition because of near by plants

these are the two scenerio's I am considering

1. rototill the soil amend heavily with lots of compost, cow manure and even topsoil if I need to, to create a lush garden soil of several inches deep,

my concern is the other near by stuff will also be atracted this area, and fear the roots will just find their way to my garden year after year,

however I don't mind rototilling to chop up the roots year after year if that will help to keep away the competition from my garden


2. build up raised beds with or with out bottoms, I thought maybe bottoms would keep the roots out of the boxes at least, and keep moles away, and would warm up faster in the spring, all good,

however my concern is the cost, and that even if I try to square foot garden method with intensive planting and growing what I can vertical,
my concern is I wont produce the yields I would with a more traditional approach



any thoughts?

thanks

 

[noobiechickenlady]

Good advice I was given is remember that not everything needs full sun. Some things, like your lettuces, like filtered light. I hear rhubarb & asparagus do well in semi-shade too.

What about a lasagna bed around the trees you plan to leave? If you amended it nicely, you should end up with plenty for the trees & edibles to share.

Then you could go with a raised bed or conventional bed in the areas where you are clearing out the trees.

 

[lupinfarm]

I have a very very very sunny yard, but are putting in raised beds this year because its just too hard to compete with the weeds and tree roots..

You could try SFGardening, google Square Foot Gardening, you don't necessarily have to use the whole method, but it'll give you a jumping off point for your garden.

 

[hwillm1977]

I've got a really sunny yard too, but we have really crappy soil, so I'm building the raised beds because it will take me ten years of tilling in soil amendments before I would have a half decent garden... with the SFGardening it's instant.

According to the SFG book, one adult can grow all the veggies they need for a year in 4 feet x 12 feet... personally I don't believe that and my raised beds total 8 feet x 36 feet for 2 people

I had a traditional garden last year, that did miserably... and a few raised beds that overflowed with herbs and veggies... this year I'm going totally raised beds.

I put down layers of newspaper under the raised beds, it will eventually compost, but blocked the weeds from coming up in the beds too...

 

[patandchickens]

I like your "rooty" - that's a great word!

It sounds to me like unless you want *large* amounts of stuff, you would be best off growing in containers. You could set up a drip system to water them off a cistern or rainbarrel or tap, so it's not so much work. That way you don't have to deal with crappy soil or the invasion of tree roots (and they WILL invade, plus if you go tilling up the roots it can weaken the trees and cause you to have eventual large tree-removal bills)

Good luck, have fun,

Pat

 

[Iceblink]

Raised bed gardens can be VERY expensive, if you are in a hurry and want everything to look nice, or they can be cheap/free and look great/crappy depending on the time you have to scrounge materials.

One thing I would recommend is to see if your waste disposal company sells compost. The garbage company here picks up separated yard waste and composts it then sells it fairly cheaply. If you need to fill a large area that might be a good option for you.

Good luck with your garden, and feel free to post pictures! We love pictures!

 

[bornthrifty]

thanks for the help

couple more questions in case any of you check back...

what is lasagna gardening? I mean I have an idea I guess, but do you keep layering year after year? or could I keep layering in order to sort of work with those other roots laying near by...
has anyone ever done lasagna gardening it and found it to be worth while?


about the roots, in this part of the yard if I cut one big tree down, for about six feet past the garden is more grass on one side, and raspberry bushes (wild surrounding the other three sides about six feet deep, then I have a half dozen elms that are going to be dying form dutch elm disease, as my other trees accross the yard are doing right now)

now there are only a few great big oaks (2 feet diameter, prob 75 feet tall)
how far away from them would I have to be, if I did want to till? (and not kill the trees?



my other option is the middle of the yard where I have the septic feild, in theory it should be safe to plant on top of that, but I could or wouldn't want to till cause I wouldn't want to damage my septic

what would you do, go over septic or near trees with this lasagna idea,
maybe that in a mix of boxes and such...I don't know, maybe I should drive 15 miles to my grandmas great big sunny yard instead?




thanks for all the good tips, post pictures?, lol, then I would have to figure out how to use this camera I bought, and then learn how to load them in to my computer, and then move them here, I am rotflol if you only knew how computer illiterate I am...I think it would just be easier to have you all over for a nice glass of ice tea instead, lol

 

[lupinfarm]

I wouldn't plant on your septic field at all. Realistically you could put down raised beds on it, but the risk is still there that you could plant something that is going to send roots down into the field and clog it up. Not a good thing.

IMO, raised beds are not that expensive to put in. All supposing you buy rough cut lumber, not cedar, and you already have tools. I am pretty sure I single handedly killed a big oak tree by tilling by it. If that helps. That oak tree now has to come down this year, its practically falling down by itself already. At least its firewood, right? lol

 

[Beekissed]

You can try Bag Gardening, where you buy bags of soil mix and plant directly into the bags.

You can also do hay/straw bale gardening and plant directly into the bales. At the end of your gardening of this type, you can break the bales and combine soil and straw into a lasagna-type gardening.

You can also do raised bed gardening with straw bale sides if you want to go with a cheaper option than wood sides.

You can produce a lot of food in a small space if you choose your types of veggies wisely, use succession plantings and use plastic or row covers to extend your growing season. Don't grow things that occupy too much space or take too long to mature, trellis your vines, and use the SFG and/or Guerilla Gardening methods.

Go to the bottom of this page and hit the link to TheEasyGarden.com for more great ideas from interested parties. There you will find pics and advice about the issues you are facing.

 

[FarmerDenise]

I used the Square Foot Garden system for many years and produced a substantial amount of produce for my family. Tree roots will find their way up into your raised beds and you will find yourself tilling them under. I don't know how much harm that would do to an oak. I am constantly fighting the neighbors oak tree and it hasn't died yet

I was able to get nice rectangular frames from a company that installed irrigation systems for free. The pipes are shipped in frames made of 2x4's and they are in sets of 2 or 3. I simply stacked these in my garden and then filled them with topsoil and compost. I anchored them with sticks at each inside corner. I have also used pallets to make my raised beds and sometimes you can find shipping crates made of wood that will make nice planters or raised beds.

You could plant shallow rooted crops over the septic lines and plant the taller stuff in the other area. I have grown vegies under less than optimal conditions for many years and in many locations.

Just start out with a small spot and go for it. Before you know it, you will have a big garden. Give yourself time to learn and to learn what grows well enough in your location.
I always enjoy researching at a library, because I can really take my time and once you are there, you see all kinds of interesting books, you never even considered. When I research on line, I get sidetracked to easily.