Preparing a wooded lot

[chrisParticipant]

Hello,

I’m looking to start a new no dig garden of about 1/3 acre and have started taken trees down in a wooded area of my property. There will be stumps to deal with.

The soil and floor of that area has some great organic matter- any tips on preparing this area? Should I excavate the stumps and just build soil over time or leave everything in the ground and garden around the stumps and hope they rot over time and add organis matter?

Thanks.

[charlesModerator]

This sounds promising Seegull, whether the stumps regrow depends on what they are. Most conifers do not while many deciduous trees do, such as ash, sycamore, maple, hazel. So if it is those, I would hire s stump grinder to remove the central crown of trunk, leaving the rest of each trees roots to decompose in situ.

[chrisParticipant]

Thanks Charles. Are there any strategies for dealing with thorns and brambles? I’m thinking about renting a brush cutter to mow that down this fall.

Would a bio film cover or cardboard on the bed areas work to keep these down next spring?

Thanks for the ideas.

[charlesModerator]

You need a copy of How to Create a New Veg Garden where these issues are addressed e.g. dig out brambles, woody stuff as surface mulches do not kill them.

[chrisParticipant]

Cool will check your new book out. I have a couple of your other books and will go back and look as well. Cheers.

[chrisParticipant]

Hey Charles,

I have cleared the area with a brush cutter which took everything down to about 4 inches. Took the advice from the book and tried to take a garden spade to the thorn crowns – it’s very difficult and I have close to 1/4 acre to get through – there were lots and lots of the green thorns which have underground rhizomes.

In this case do you think I should hire an excavator or bobcat to come in and scrape off that 5″ and level out the ground? I’m afraid of losing some fertility but would still think about sheet mulching and adding the compost after this as well as grind the stumps out.

I’m a bit confused as to where to go from here in my garden?

[charlesModerator]

Fair point as you are tackling a large area. Its tricky for me advising here as I don’t see the plot and with that much woody root to contend with, hand work is a long job. Initially it sounded like tree stumps only. Hopefully the soil is not too wet or you will have some smearing/compaction from the machine.

[chrisParticipant]

Hey thanks Charles – I realize it’s a bit much to just go on a rough description. I really appreciate you taking the time to get back to me.

The area is fairly dry, I guess i could price out what the excavator might cost – to be honest I’d rather spend that money on compost. I’m just worried that this thorn may reappear in my beds in a year or so then I’d be hurtin.

I could post a photo if that may help.

[charlesModerator]

Yes a photo will help.
If it is blackthorn, they could regrow.
If its not too stony, I find a sharp copper spade is brilliant for small to med size woody roots.

[chrisParticipant]

Here are the photos Charles – we have a sandy soil here. As you can see the green thorns below – not sure what the variety is of these but they are pretty thick in certain areas and not many in other areas. I’d love to just sheet mulch on top of them but do not want a bed full of these in a few years

I guess this is called Green Briar Thorn – Smilax rotundifolia

[charlesModerator]

Oh my word Seegull I just looked up Greenbriar and its a difficult plant to clean ground of. Rhizomes and thorns.
Are you in the USA or Canada? I have not seen it in Britain, hope nobody corrects me.
No dig looks impractical as a starting point, yes I think you need to check with locals how they clear greenbriar.
Apart from that your lot looks fine and a lovely leaf mulch.
Best of luck!

[chrisParticipant]

Thanks Charles, I will check locally to see how to get rid of this organically – I’m not at all wanting to damage the soil with an herbicide as I’ve read online. Im located in the U.S.

Thanks again for the help and your books are outstanding.

[Author]

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