Vintage

• Start by using a herbicide like Round Up to kill all grass and weeds to the root. This will take 1 to 2 weeks. Make sure to apply this on a sunny day with little wind so it won’t drift.

• Prepare your soil by adding peat moss, hummus or manure. Spread it about 1-2” thick over the top of the existing soil. Then till it into the soil. This is heavy bed preparation, you can get away with much less, but you run the risk of your plants not thriving. * I would not recommend the generic “soil conditioner”, this is just bark that has been chipped into very small pieces and decomposes very slowly. It doesn’t do much for your plants.

• Always have underground lines located before digging. Call 1-800-DIGTESS.

• Outline the beds using a hose or paint and using a shovel make a small trench at the edge of the bed. This can count as your edge without using any edging material if you like. Try to measure the beds to make certain they are the same size as on the plan. If you want to keep weeds from coming up in your new beds this is the time to put weed cloth down. Cut slits for each plant and pin the cloth down to the soil. Get the cloth that has looks like felt on one side, this one works best.

• Plant your larger plants (1 gallon and up). You might want to throw some time release fertilizer into the hole when your planting.

• Put down your mulch. Make it 1-2” thick in the beds. This thickness is good at keeping weeds down and moisture in the soil. Use a shredded mulch (like shredded cypress mulch) not chips (they float).

• Now plant your smaller plants (Quart, 4” and smaller). It is easier to put the mulch down first because otherwise you bury the plants and have to dig them out.

• Water everything in well. Do this by hand. You can make sure to get all new plantings watered this way.

• Enjoy!