Simply Not Enough Time to Garden

It seems that I simply do not have as much time to garden as I would like to.

Sure, I want to be outside, getting my hands dirty in the soil, and I certainly have plenty to do out there. Yet, four children, a full time job, church, and that time sapping dissertation I am trying to complete all seem to take away so many, many minutes of each day. And, of course, I try to carve out special time between my lovely bride and myself. So, that leaves little time in the garden.

So, why in the world, then, am I creating yet another garden bed? I can’t answer that question other than to say that there is a bare spot that needs filling. It turns out that I have a large area behind my house that is getting mostly shade, and the grass has given way to weeds. So, a hosta, hydrangea, and shade plant bed is calling my name.

I do not have the time I wish to have to properly prepare the bed, as in amending the soil, etc. So, I am going to cheat a little, using some tricks that cut time in preparation in half.

To begin with, I marked out the bed with a hose, indicating the shape of the newest garden bed. Next, in order to prevent weeds, I placed newspaper down upon the ground, about six to eight pages thick. Certainly, you can place it thicker than this. Not only does the newspaper block any upcoming weeds, as the paper breaks down and decomposes, it adds nutrients back into the soil, as it is a wood based product.

Upon placing the newspaper on the ground, I then sprayed water upon it with a hose, simply in order to keep the newspaper in place from any wind.

After the newspaper is down, I cover the entire bed with a mulch. I use shredded wood chips, free from the city. Others use pine straw, which is also a great mulching material. Both of these aid in not only reducing weeds, but also to retain water.
Like the newspaper, these mulching materials will also decompose back into the soil.

Time is running short on me—my dissertation and my three year old daughter, are both calling to me. Yet, I need to get the plants into the ground. As my bed has not been properly tilled with organic matter, and the soil is still composed of red clay, rock, and, well…dirt, I still need to prepare a nice hole for the new plants.

Thus, I simply moved the mulch and newspaper apart, dug a hole, four times the width of the plant, and as deep as the plant, itself, and filled it with some composted material, such as bags of cow manure, top soil, or my home made compost, itself. Then, I placed the newspaper and mulch back, and watered the plant.

Indeed, this is not the most ideal way of making a bed, but it has served me well many a time in the past, and continues to do so. And, I have a new garden bed, full of shade plants, done in an afternoon’s work.

To top it off, it looks rather pretty, as well. Next time you are in a rush to make a new bed, grab the hose and newspaper, and some bags of mulch. Enjoy!